Unexpected and sad news - Miss Mary Wilson, legendary co-founder of The Supremes, and quite likely the feistiest of all of 'em, has shimmied off to Fabulon. A trouper of the first order, her battles with Motown big-wigs, the music industry in general, and, of course, Miss Ross have been well-documented - and, having celebrated her 60th year in the music business in 2019, even as recent as this week she announced that she was working on releasing new solo material.
I have, of course, paid myriad tributes to Mary and the girls - with and without the saintly Diana - over the years so, by way of a tribute, I have dug out a real rarity. A song written by the great Northern-Soul-turned-Hi-NRG maestro DJ Ian Levine (apparently about one of his own bitter break-ups), this fabulously camp number sounds like it was written for her - and should have been a huge hit, in my opinion! Take it away, Mary...
Facts:
- In the late 60s she had a torrid affair with our very own Tom Jones - whose wife Linda, when she found out, threatened to cut his balls off!
- After she walked away from the final iteration of The Supremes (following a concert at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane in London in 1977), Mary found it difficult to make a success of her solo recording career - a fact that wasn't helped when she signed with CEO Records in 1992, which promptly went bankrupt.
- Bitter wrangling about fees and artistic control meant that, despite several attempts by all concerned, Miss Wilson never did reconcile with La Diana to join the "Supremes reunion tour" in 2000.
- In 2009 she appeared on The Paul O'Grady Show - which ended in a special performance with her, Paul O'Grady and Graham Norton as "The Supremes". [I would kill for a video of that routine, but YouTube has no record of this extravaganza.]
- In 2019, Mary was reunited with one of her gowns that was missing from her collection when a British vintage clothing store owner found one at a garage sale in France.
Man, we just keep losing the greats. She was the one who had that spark and crackle, who always caught the eye even behind La Diana. RIP, beautiful lady.
ReplyDeleteHers is a sad loss - and she was only 76; younger than Barbra Streisand, Christine McVie, Gloria Gaynor, Toni Basil, Joni Mitchell, Jane Fonda, Tina Turner, Lily Tomlin, Paul McCartney and Mick Jagger (to name just a few). Jx
DeleteI always liked and enjoyed her. And I still feel those Mary, Florence and Betty got the shaft from Ross. I am not a fan of Ross at all. To be honest, I think she's a cunt.
ReplyDeleteBetty wasn't a member of the Supremes, just the Primettes, but I digress... A juicy anecdote: "Diana Ross incurred the wrath of Martha Reeves when the Supremes opened a show for the Vandellas sporting the same outfits their headlining rivals were scheduled to wear. Diana fled after the show, leaving fellow Supremes Flo and Mary to fend off Reeves with hairbrushes."
DeleteA bitch, most definitely. Jx
Back in the later 70s, a good friend, long dead, had a good friend (a lawyer, surely dead since he was HIV+) who knew Mary & was coming to Boston to see Mary's show. Jimmy told my friend Donna that she could invite someone if she wanted to & she asked me. Uh, yah, I went. We went to her dressing room before the show & I was tongue tied in Mary's presence. She was fucking gorgeous, she was radiant. And she was just as sweet & cordial as pretty. Things went downhill when the show began. A perfect "Supreme," Mary really didn't have the chops to pull off her own show. I went & bought her album & listened to Red Hot a few times. I can still recall how awful it was. Maybe disco wasn't her forte, I don't know, but I admired her stamina. She fought against the Ross army for years.
ReplyDeleteI think I have her memoir somewhere that she signed.
DeleteFab anecdote, dear Norma! - such a shame she wasn't the greatest as a solo performer. She said it herself: "I was used to singing 'oohs' and 'babys'. Now there are words. I had to learn all over again." Maybe the learning wasn't as complete as she had hoped... Jx
DeleteBingo.
DeleteFabulon must be bursting at the seams!
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that "Don't Get Mad, Get Even" should have been a massive hit. Very catchy!
Poor Mr Levine. He produced hundreds of records with excellent singers that deserved better recognition than they did. Although many were huge in the gay clubs - including Miquel Brown (So Many Men, So Little Time and He's A Saint, He's A Sinner) and 7th Avenue (Love's Gone Mad) - but as far as I can gather, his entire chart career rests upon Evelyn Thomas's classic High Energy...
DeleteJx
He has had a Dr Who villain based on him though, which not many songwriters can claim. (in a terrible episode admittedly.) I didn't know he'd written the songs you mention. I'm having trouble getting my head round his parrelel careers.
DeleteBrilliant music, and a sad loss, RIP.
ReplyDeleteSx
With all the true greats dropping like flies, and Tina having retired, all we have left are the "poor imitators" like Beyoncé. Very sad indeed. Jx
DeleteShe was truly fab and should have been a bigger star than she was.
ReplyDeleteAlways the bridesmaid, never the bride. Jx
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