‘Where Did Our Love Go?’: How Berry Gordy tore The Supremes apart
Success is an exciting, yet destructive power – burning brightly and crashing down in an equally spectacular fashion. Motown Records certainly saw its fair share of success during its 1960s heyday, launching a plethora of groundbreaking hit singles and establishing multiple now-iconic artists from Stevie Wonder to Martha Reeves. At the same time, however, the management style and profit-focused approach of label boss Berry Gordy ended up dividing and destroying groups like The Supremes.
It was back in early 1961 when The Supremes first signed to Motown Records, then under the name The Primettes. During those early years at the label, the group experienced repeated knock-backs, owing from their seeming inability to break into the pop charts. Gordy often prioritised chart hits above all else; after all, it was those successes which kept the lights on at Hitsville USA. Yet, The Supremes were so unsuccessful that they spent many a year performing odd jobs and backing vocals around the Motown offices.
Eventually, with the aid of the Holland-Dozier-Holland songwriting trio, The Supremes managed to break into the mainstream with the 1963 track ‘When the Lovelight Starts Shining Through His Eyes’, and their first number-one single, ‘Where Did Our Love Go?’ followed only a few months later. By that time, however, Gordy had drastically altered the line-up, sound, and ethos of the vocal group.
During their early days with Motown, vocal duties were shared equally by Florence Ballard, Mary Wilson, and Diana Ross, leading the group to take on a range of different styles and atmospheres to suit the voices of each member. The cult track ‘Buttered Popcorn’, for instance, exemplified the vastly underappreciated voice of Ballard, which suited a different style of song than the commanding voice of Diana Ross.
It was Gordy, however, who determined that Diana Ross would be the group’s leading voice after taking a special interest in the group and spurring them onto success. Admittedly, this practice worked out quite well for the trio, as smash hits like ‘Baby Love’ or ‘Stop! In the Name of Love’ made them by far the most successful act to record for Motown. However, the success brought with it a number of challenges and left Ballard and Wilson feeling more than a little alienated.
Ballard, for instance, pointed the finger at Gordy for causing a rift within The Supremes after making Ross the ‘star’. This, coupled with Gordy’s demanding schedule for the group, led to high tensions and health problems within the group, which only became more intense once the Motown boss entered a romantic relationship with Ross. He was accused of being overly controlling; Ross suffered a nervous breakdown thanks to his management style, Ballard turned to alcoholism, and Wilson largely sank into the background.
Eventually, The Supremes’ success dried up, as the Holland-Dozier-Holland team left Motown acrimoniously and Gordy replaced Ballard with Cindy Birdsong in 1967 as her addiction to alcohol worsened. The next few years would see the group officially rebranded as Diana Ross and The Supremes, before The Supremes name was dropped entirely and Ross was established by Motown as a solo performer.
The Supremes might have given Motown some of its most enduring hits and stand-out stars, but the hands-on management style of Berry Gordy coupled with his uncompromising desire for colossal chart success was also responsible for the demise of the vocal group. He had destroyed his cash-cow, and even Diana Ross left Motown for RCA during the early 1980s.
