i always felt she got a bad rap.

she said it was berry's idea to start billing them
as "diana ross and the supremes."
i don't doubt that. he wanted to do it with the jackson 5, too.

folks blame her for flo's death, for some reason.
i don't see how that's even possible. i'm sure she was just as sad
as everybody else. but there's not much you can do in a situation
like that.

i know there was the incident at motown 25,
but she says that it was rehearsed one way, and that it went down another way during the show.



i'm sure she's no angel.
and she's definitely driven.

what is it about diana ross that makes her so unlikeable to so many people?


b.touch, i'm really asking you this question
b/c i know you've done more research on this.
do you trust her biography, or is it fluff?

>i always felt she got a bad rap.
>
>she said it was berry's idea to start billing them
>as "diana ross and the supremes."
>i don't doubt that. he wanted to do it with the jackson 5,
>too.
>
>folks blame her for flo's death, for some reason.
>i don't see how that's even possible. i'm sure she was just as
>sad
>as everybody else. but there's not much you can do in a
>situation
>like that.
>
>i know there was the incident at motown 25,
>but she says that it was rehearsed one way, and that it went
>down another way during the show.
>
>
>
>i'm sure she's no angel.
>and she's definitely driven.
>
>what is it about diana ross that makes her so unlikeable to so
>many people?
>
>
>b.touch, i'm really asking you this question
>b/c i know you've done more research on this.
>do you trust her biography, or is it fluff?
>
>
>
>
>
>
>

beyonce is close to be cold to kelly and michelle however diana ross owns that coldness

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motown_25:_Yesterday,_Today,_Forever#The_Supremes

Motown 25 was a showcase for the highly anticipated reunion of the Supremes: Diana Ross, Mary Wilson (original member Florence Ballard had died in 1976), and Supremes replacement Cindy Birdsong. Four of their greatest hits were to be sung that night, including "Someday We'll Be Together", "Baby Love" and "Stop! In the Name of Love", however this reunion was cut short. Richard Pryor opened the segment with a fairy-tale story of 'three maidens from the Projects of Brewster' which was then followed with a montage of various Supremes' video clips. Diana then started down the center aisle of the auditorium with her hit "Ain't No Mountain High Enough".

When Ross finished, she made a brief speech about 'the night that everyone came back' (although, as stated above, some artists were not invited, and some had died). After the beginning chords of "Someday We'll Be Together", the svelte Wilson strutted on stage in a dazzling fire engine red sequin gown and was greeted by a thunderous applause which quickly upstaged Miss Ross. Ross became frustrated when Wilson and Birdsong did not drop back but moved with her as she walked closer to the edge of the stage. By this time Ross was so confused and bewildered that Wilson took over the lead vocals which prompted Ross to push her. A few moments later, Motown labelmates such as Smokey Robinson, Stevie Wonder, and others quickly filled the stage for an impromptu finale. Although producer Suzanne de Passe had instructed Diana to introduce Berry Gordy after leading the finale, (a fact unknown to Mary) Wilson decided to do the honors, by calling Berry down herself. This led to Diana yelling at Mary "it's been taken care of". Wilson also made a brief tribute to Ballard, who Gordy had removed from the group years before. By the time the reunion aired on May 16, the Ross altercations had been excised from the special, but they were widely reported (including an article and pictures in Us Weekly), and the performance resulted in bad publicity for Ross.

>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motown_25:_Yesterday,_Today,_Forever#The_Supremes
>
>Motown 25 was a showcase for the highly anticipated reunion of
>the Supremes: Diana Ross, Mary Wilson (original member
>Florence Ballard had died in 1976), and Supremes replacement
>Cindy Birdsong. Four of their greatest hits were to be sung
>that night, including "Someday We'll Be Together", "Baby Love"
>and "Stop! In the Name of Love", however this reunion was cut
>short. Richard Pryor opened the segment with a fairy-tale
>story of 'three maidens from the Projects of Brewster' which
>was then followed with a montage of various Supremes' video
>clips. Diana then started down the center aisle of the
>auditorium with her hit "Ain't No Mountain High Enough".
>
>When Ross finished, she made a brief speech about 'the night
>that everyone came back' (although, as stated above, some
>artists were not invited, and some had died). After the
>beginning chords of "Someday We'll Be Together", the svelte
>Wilson strutted on stage in a dazzling fire engine red sequin
>gown and was greeted by a thunderous applause which quickly
>upstaged Miss Ross. Ross became frustrated when Wilson and
>Birdsong did not drop back but moved with her as she walked
>closer to the edge of the stage. By this time Ross was so
>confused and bewildered that Wilson took over the lead vocals
>which prompted Ross to push her. A few moments later, Motown
>labelmates such as Smokey Robinson, Stevie Wonder, and others
>quickly filled the stage for an impromptu finale. Although
>producer Suzanne de Passe had instructed Diana to introduce
>Berry Gordy after leading the finale, (a fact unknown to Mary)
>Wilson decided to do the honors, by calling Berry down
>herself. This led to Diana yelling at Mary "it's been taken
>care of". Wilson also made a brief tribute to Ballard, who
>Gordy had removed from the group years before. By the time the
>reunion aired on May 16, the Ross altercations had been
>excised from the special, but they were widely reported
>(including an article and pictures in Us Weekly), and the
>performance resulted in bad publicity for Ross.

instead of 1/2 of Diana's background singers.

lol

LOL

.

Diana freaked out.

couldn't tell anything happened

You'll have to whoop a whole gang of lightskinned niggas before you try to post THAT one to YouTube, lol.

The Motown 25 special was taped, so before it aired, they edited the FOCK out of it.

a great stylist who had that it. she was from the hood and got polished by gordy.

money songs and a true diva.

she paid a price for being a classy black artist.

and she had ego and insecuritys that blurred things, however she knew the game.

in truth she didn't have a role model for what she did.

This isn't a secret. It's a pretty popular entry on "Bad Movies We Like" lists everywhere.

They could have made a good film out of it, but Universal's first mistake was casting Diana Ross, something Berry Gordy (for once) did not want to do.

Their second was letting Joel Schumacher write it.

Their third was letting Sidney Lumet - a brilliant director but one whose resume in no way qualifies him to direct a musical fantasy - direct. IIRC, he personally apologized in later years for fucking that movie up.

after having dealt w/her a bit in person.

or, i think however much of __ was Berry's/Someone-Else's idea, Diana didn't raise any/many meaningful objections where the __ benefited her at the expense of the group.

It was 98% Gordy.

In fact, were it not for the "someone elses" at Motown the Supreme would have been done in about 1966 or 1967. Berry only always saw Diana.

and crew to never look her in the eye if for some reason they had to address her it was always to be Ms. Ross.

I heard it on the radio when one of the DJs was discussing it and I wrote her off because of that at the age of 8.


**********
"naive as the dry leaves on the ground looking past the trees to the blue sky asking 'why me?'" -Blu

Why I still fuzz with the Lesson
http://open.spotify.com/user/brothersport86/playlist/3DhEhilho77Z0UCPbJlEJf

is this some bullshit that gets slapped on every female who is difficult or was Ross the architect of that shit?

>is this some bullshit that gets slapped on every female who
>is difficult or was Ross the architect of that shit?


Madonna. MJ. various movie stars.

i don't know if it's true. it's really something i can't imagine
a human being saying. no matter how demanding they are.

me was supposedly on the same shit!!! They all said "man, for real, if you pass her in the hallway, they said do NOT look her in the eye!!" and I said "but...she called us, and was nice." They said "that's because she needed help. She's a bitch, believe me."

I forget WHO it was...it miiiight have been Olivia Munn.

that rumor is not unlike that rumor about ___ being a hermaphrodite. or __ having swallowed a gallon of semen and having his stomach pumped. or ___ having had a gerbil/hamster removed from his rectum.

etc etc.

i dont believe that

-------------------------
“The other dude after me didn’t help my case. It was just like…crazy nigga factory going on.”
Dre makes no apologies for his own eccentricities. “I was young, and searching, trying to find myself,” he says. “Never did.”-- Andre B

I've heard lots of stories about her being a bitch and they've never strained credulity to me... her whole steez has always struck me as cynical and manipulative. That whole pretending to be a nerd and love nerd-boys shit from AOTS... *shrug*

-------------------------
“The other dude after me didn’t help my case. It was just like…crazy nigga factory going on.”
Dre makes no apologies for his own eccentricities. “I was young, and searching, trying to find myself,” he says. “Never did.”-- Andre B

**********
"naive as the dry leaves on the ground looking past the trees to the blue sky asking 'why me?'" -Blu

Why I still fuzz with the Lesson
http://open.spotify.com/user/brothersport86/playlist/3DhEhilho77Z0UCPbJlEJf

(who went on to groom the J5 and later became a multimedia exec and gave us "Sister, Sister", "Smart Guy", "Class Act" and a lot of westerns and TV movies, some of which were about her old job) started the "Call Her Miss Ross" shit on the set of the "TCB" special in late August 1968 (it aired in December):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYE4c8sxZFQ

Everyone on the production - including Mary Wilson and the four legacy Temptations, all of whom had known Diana since she was a child - were all required to call her "Miss Ross", which they found ludicrous.

But this was obviously calculated internal marketing to present Diana - even to her colleagues - as a "star" apart from the other stars. It just happened to stick.

Usually I'm not one to pass judgment on someone I've never met but there's been so much written about Diana's bitchiness (first hand accounts) over the years that's it's hard to think that all these people are lying.

It started, I believe, with Mary Wilson's 1986 autobiography 'Dreamgirl: My Life As A Supreme.' It's been so long since I read that book that I can't remember any specific anecdote written about Diana but do recall that the picture she painted of her one time friend and group mate was less than favorable. Then there's J. Randy Taraborrelli's 'Call Her Miss Ross' (1989) which really blew the lid off. The one that really stuck out in my mind from this book was using her pull with Berry Gordy to be cast as a thirty-something year-old Dorothy in the Wiz, ousting Stephanie Mills. To this day I get pissed hearing her warble "Home" in the that film, knowing Stephanie would've knocked it out the park. In the respective autobiographies of Patti LaBelle and Gladys Knight, they also shared less than favorable memories of the woman Knight branded "Miss Cute." Patti's story of Diana's backstage shenanigans when the Supremes shared the bill with the Bluebelles are priceless. Here's a short youtube clip of Patti discussing her issues with Miss Ross lol: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4h3tbNtv4r0

In the book 'Motown: Music, Money, Sex & Power' there was an alleged incident involving her trying to run over Martha Reeves in the Motown parking lot.

It should also be noted that Diana received the most lukewarm response of anyone to get the Lifetime Achievement Award at the BET Awards. Folk know.


_______________________________________
"I whipped him with a switch and a belt. I never beat him. You beat someone with a stick." - Joe Jackson

>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4h3tbNtv4r0
>

the incident with the dresses, i mean.
damn.




>In the book 'Motown: Music, Money, Sex & Power' there was an
>alleged incident involving her trying to run over Martha
>Reeves in the Motown parking lot.
>


wtf?

> The one that really
>stuck out in my mind from this book was using her pull with
>Berry Gordy to be cast as a thirty-something year-old Dorothy
>in the Wiz, ousting Stephanie Mills. To this day I get pissed
>hearing her warble "Home" in the that film, knowing Stephanie
>would've knocked it out the park.

Her pull with Universal, not Gordy. Gordy wanted, if not Stephanie Mills, some teenaged girl to play the part. Not grown-ass Diana Ross, lookin' like Skeletor when she hits that last note of "Home" at the end of the picture.


Patti's story of Diana's backstage
>shenanigans when the Supremes shared the bill with the
>Bluebelles are priceless. Here's a short youtube clip of Patti
>discussing her issues with Miss Ross lol:
>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4h3tbNtv4r0

Diana was a little notorious for stealing outfit ideas, choreography, riffs, stage stylings, etc. from any and every artist she saw. I guess she took that "great artists steal" thing to heart.

>
>In the book 'Motown: Music, Money, Sex & Power' there was an
>alleged incident involving her trying to run over Martha
>Reeves in the Motown parking lot.
>

Not Martha Reeves, but Gladys Horton from the Marvelettes, whom Diane (at the time) Ross had deemed her sworn enemy. Eve better was Gladys telling her to "Come on! Hit me, you crazy bitch!"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5CvHMl1wRgI

**********
"naive as the dry leaves on the ground looking past the trees to the blue sky asking 'why me?'" -Blu

Why I still fuzz with the Lesson
http://open.spotify.com/user/brothersport86/playlist/3DhEhilho77Z0UCPbJlEJf

DVD Universal Music put out a few years ago...

What they mean by "what we thought was 'Diana Ross & the Supremes' was really 'Diana Ross & the Andantes'" is that, as opposed to actually using Mary and Cindy to sing the backups on the singled recorded after Ross was given top billing in June 1967, the backups are by the Motown in-house session singers The Andantes.

The Andantes (Google them) sung on thousands and thousands of Motown records, singing backup for Marvin Gaye ("I Heard It Through the Grapevine"), The Four Tops (all of their major hits), and so on. Motown had already been using them to mask the fact that the Marvelettes couldn't harmonize, and now that Gordy wanted to take Ross solo, he was desperate to (a) come up with a hit single for Ross and (b) make sure those pesky Supremes weren't on it.

Mary and Cindy still appear on some of the album tracks, and on everything the group did on their Temptations duet recordings (such as "I'm Gonna Make You Love Me"). But the Supremes' own singles:

Forever Came Today
Some Things You'll Never Get Used To
Love Child
The Composer
I'm Livin' in Shame
No Matter What Sign You Are
Someday We'll Be Together (with backups actually by the Waters sisters, not the Andantes)

are essentially Diana Ross studio recordings. And that list actually comprises all of their singles released in 1968 and 1969.

When she finally went solo in 1970 ("Someday We'll Be Together" was supposed to be her solo debut, but given that title they couldn't help but use it as a Diana Ross & the Supremes swan song), there was no need to change personnel. Business as usual.

>i always felt she got a bad rap.
>
>she said it was berry's idea to start billing them
>as "diana ross and the supremes."
>i don't doubt that. he wanted to do it with the jackson 5,
>too.

It was indeed Gordy's idea. His actual first idea was to pull Diana out of the group in fall 1966 and bring in Barbara Randolph (she: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RV_cs-T2Y-Q) as the new lead singer. When that didn't work (Diana was too nervous to go it alone just yet), then came the "Diana Ross & the Supremes" idea to get more booking money (singer + group, not just group) and start the pull of Ross away from the other two. Randolph was still supposed to come in to replace Flo Ballard (and be floated into the lead singer seat once Ross went solo), but Ross - what's the phrase the kids use? - "did not feature" Randolph, so Cindy Birdsong was plucked from Patti LaBelle & the Blue-Belles instead.

>
>folks blame her for flo's death, for some reason.
>i don't see how that's even possible. i'm sure she was just as
>sad
>as everybody else. but there's not much you can do in a
>situation
>like that.

This is true. Flo Ballard's death, to be honest, was primarily Flo Ballard's fault. She had unresolved issues from a rape as a teenager, and neither she nor her friends/family/colleagues got her therapy to help with her temper and drinking. Her ouster from the group was up to Gordy, but let's be honest - what manager _wouldn't_ have let Flo go given her behavior in the world's second biggest musical act?

>
>i know there was the incident at motown 25,
>but she says that it was rehearsed one way, and that it went
>down another way during the show.

It was, but she ain't have to push nobody! Now THAT was all Diana.

>
>i'm sure she's no angel.
>and she's definitely driven.
>
>what is it about diana ross that makes her so unlikeable to so
>many people?
>

The casting couch worked for her. That's why mofos hate her. She was awkward, skinny, and with a thin voice (of course that thin voice brought the Supremes all those white fans that made their record sales go sky high, but NIGGAS DONT CARE SHE WASNT HOOD WIT IT), and "only" became famous because the boss was infatuated with her (now, *I* won't say "only" - Gordy's obsession w/ Diana did fuel and shape not only her career, bu the direction the entire company went in up to when she did "The Wiz". Diana Ross was Berry Gordy's golden Willy Wonka ticket to white money)

>
>b.touch, i'm really asking you this question
>b/c i know you've done more research on this.
>do you trust her biography, or is it fluff?
>
>
I've never read a single page of her autobiography. I don't imagine I want to. I'm scared it'll be like Gladys Knight's (read: self-deifying and written in a juvenile voice) and make me lose (more) respect for Diana.