Encyclopedic entry concerning the Supremes

Savage, Ann M.

Digital Commons @ Butler University

Butler UniversityDigital Commons @ Butler UniversityScholarship and Professional Work -Communication College of Communication2007SupremesAnn M. SavageButler University, asavage@butler.eduFollow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.butler.edu/ccom_papersPart of the Communication CommonsThis Book Chapter is brought to you for free and open access by the College of Communication at Digital Commons @ Butler University. It has beenaccepted for inclusion in Scholarship and Professional Work - Communication by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ ButlerUniversity. For more information, please contact fgaede@butler.edu.Recommended CitationSavage, A. M. (2007). The Supremes. In C. Mitchell and J. Reid-Walsh (Eds.), Girl Culture: An Encyclopedia. Westport, CT:Greenwood Publishing Group. Avaialable from: digitalcommons.butler.edu/ccom_papers/15The Sup remer :hieved a high pro­·e tary o f the AST \ H er videotape and Trnl BO'wingJ tbrough [son: UnivcrsiLY of :4) with M arvin Ra­inva luable somce on or non-string play-president of the lUng (b . 192 5), from ing her presidency )J1] 4,1 25 to 5,301, to include member­uominating award 5 for special project d the position of cx­)inted a publi cations U1 editorial 'ldvisory the size of the jour­"ired or formcdnew created new policies hapters. Also during , N1usic E ducator's 1S held more ASTA ~vious years. In her ity of TeX,lS at Aus­or her String Project swdents tcach chil­setting. She has also s to enhancc string Swing Gmm (Austin: Press, 1 (78) and The niversity of Texas f leadership i n strin~ lY Strauh (b. 1(41), )m~n string educator t of thc .'Vl nsic Edu­)nfercnce U,lE:-JC), She taught in Con-built a strong' string continues to supf'r­nure as president of ization adopted the for the Arts as rc­qucsted by the federa l secretary of edu­cation to improve teaching in America. T he ar ts were the first subject area to complete trus task. This document con­tinues to guide the music education pro­fession into the twenty- first century. A flnaJ event worth noting ·was the re­lease o f a Miramax movie featuring a woman string educator, Roberta Guas­pari. Meryl Streep played the lead role in Music of the H ean (1 999)-a film abOll t Glla~pa ri, who built a string· program in Harlem and fought to keep it when the financial support was eliminated . The VHl SlIve the Music cable television show, in conjunction with Nl.ENC: T he Na­tional Association for Music Education, );fAMM: International Music Products Association, the NARAS foundation, and the American Music Conference, spear­headed efforts to use the movie to pro­mote string teaching, playing, and music education in general in this coullbY. At the end of the twentieth cenrury there was a greater awareness of the value of string education and of the important role women played in creating that awarelless. Women string educators owe a debit of gratitude to the feminists who fought for this awareness in the 1960s and opened doors to a diversity of jobs and leadership roles . Continued work to­ward the acceptance of women conduc­tors of professional orchestras and an increase of women orchcstral players is grcatly needed. See also Music Education; Organ iza­tJons, Mus ic Education; Performer, String For Further Reading A1IIt'rit'(w String Tenche-r. Q uancrl)' ]luhliclt iol1 of the American String- Teachers . \s~()c i ~l ti on with the National School Orchc:'>tra Associatioll. l lme'rican Suzuki ]()lI1'IWf. Q uarterly puhlicHioll of lhe Suzuki Association of dlC Americas. Joa.nne En,ril1 ~ 633 The Supremcs One of the most succcssful voca l groups of all time, the Suprcmes originally started as an all-girl grOllp while the members were school g.irls in Detroit, U. Formed in 1 %0 as thc l'rimertes (a sister group to the all-male Primes), the members included Florence Ballard (1943- 1976) , Diana Ross (h. 1(44), and Mary Wilson (11. 1944). At times the group also included fletty T ravis and Barbara ~Martin. After a few recordings with the Detroit-hased Lupine lahel, flal­lard, Ross, and \;\Tilson were signed to Motown Records as a tri o. Renamed the Supremes, the group released their first album, iV/eet the Supremes, in 1963 (the Primes, who also signed with Motown, were renamed the Temptations). After a number of changes that ineluded Ross being repositioned as lead singer, and the new coll aboration with songwriting team I-Ioll and-Dozier-Holland, the Supremes had their first major hit with "Where D id Our Love Go'" (Motown MOTD­5270) in 1964. T his was th e first of 12 number one hits the group would have, including "Baby Love," "Come See about Me," "S top' III the N ame of Love," and "Someday We'll Be To­gether." Poised and glamorous, they rep­resented the trademark Motown sound and look. In 1967 BClll ard left thc group and was rep laced by former backup singer Cindy !3irdsong (b. 1939). At that time the focus of the group almost completely shifted to Ross, and thc group was renamed Diana Ross and the Supremes. Ross left the Su­preules in 1970 for a solo career, and Jcan Terrell (h. 1(44) was brought in to fill tbe vacancy. Following Ross 's depar­ture, the trio continued to record songs that charted in the Top 20, such as "Stoned Love" (1970), "Nathan Jones" ~ Suzuki, Pat (1971) , and "floy Joy" ([1972] Motown 37463 -5441-2). The lineup did not re­main permanent, however, and the group went through severa l other manifesta­tions throughout the 1970s. Birdsong left in 1972 and was replaced by Lynda Laur­ence. Scherrie Payne replaced Terrell when she left in 1973. Birdsong returned, and left again, to be replaced by Susaye Greene. The 1976 album Mary, Scherrie, and Suraye (Motown S-873) was the Su­preme,' last album before disbanding. In 1988 the Supremes, with the original lineup of Ballard, Ross, and \,yilson, were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. See also Motown; Rock "nd Popular Music Genres; Rock and Foil •hI! of Fame For Furtbet: Reading Taraborl"clli , ] , Randy. Call Her ,Viiss Ross: The Ul/{Iutbor~d Biogmpby of D ill/hI Ro.lS. New York: Carol Publishing Group, 1989. Wilson, Mary, and Paoicia Romanowski. Supreme FtJlrh: Someday We'lJ Be Togetbe'r, ]\-ew York: HarperCo\lins, 1990. Kri.ftil1(l Ltlmpe Sbaman Suzuki. Put (1 930- ) Pat Suzuki was one of the first Asian American women to take a starring role in American musical theater with her role as Linda Low in the 1958 original Broad­way production of Rodgers and Ham­merstein's Flower Drum Song, the first Broadway production to feature an all­Asian cast. Despite negative attitudes to­ward Americans of Japanese descent in the post-World War II years, Suzuki rose to stardom through her talent and perseverance. Her career as a singer and actress has taken her from nightclubs to the recording studio, from Broadway to television. In her prime, she was com­pared to Judy Garland (1922-1969), Ear­tha Kitt (h. 1927), Ella Fitzgerald (1917­1996), Billie Holiday (1915-1959), Sarah Vaughan (192-1--1990), and Ethel Mer­man (1909-1984). Pat Suzuki was born Chiyoki ("a thou­sand times good") Suzuki in Cressy, CA, on 23 September 1930. Her parents em­igrated from Toyohashi, Japan, and set­tled on a farm in Yamato Colony i!l Alerced County, where she grew up. At the outbreak of World War II, when thousands of Japanese American families were gathered into internment camps, she and her family were held in Alllache (G ranada), CO, for four years. Suwkj studied fine arts and education and grad­uated fro m San Jose State Univcrsity with a B.F.A. degree (1953). After gnld­uating she moved to . ew York Cit)', where she auditioned and was cast in a walk-on part in the national touring company of Teahouse of the August ,,10011. She left the tour in Seattle and launched her singing career at tl,e Colony, a then­fashionable supper club, where she 0[­tracted the attention of RCA Records and talent scouts at tl,e William Morris Agency. In 195 7 Suzuki was voted Best Female Singer of the annual D01Vnbeat Magazine Disc Jockey Polio During rue next three yea rs she released four solo al­bums of jazz standards and Bro<ldway show tunes with RCA Victor Records: The Many Sides of Pat Suzuki (Vll LX­1127), Pat Suzuki's Broadway ')9 (RCA Victor LSP-1965) . and Looking £It rOil (RCA Victor LSI'-Ll86). In 1958 Suzuki was approached hy Richard Rodgers to play the role of Linda Low in his forthcoming lIlusical Flower Drum Scmg, an adaptation of C. Y. Lee's book of the same title. T he lJJusical opened on 1 December 1958 at the St. James Theatre on Broadway, and Suwki was catapulted to stardom as a lllusieal tl,eater personality. Later that month she gr<lced the cover of her co-star, Miyoshi won a Most Promisi! from rhe thea tel' Blum's Theatre f,Vo"/, In 1 'Hi0 Suzuki m Mark Shaw anel too from performing to son Davi d. She soor tive performi ng an, throughout the Uni and Europe, indudi! the 1970 world's fa She continued to p' mid-1970s. Suzuki i from performing blr guest appearances fc r<.lising events , See also Asian Ame! Theater for FunI'er Re.ding Gussow, Mel. "St:rlng Pa' I Son." lVr.v YQ1'k Tiu Lace Edi tion, Fi.naJ Scc KOl1la i, ... hris. "'AUss P Shimp" (II May 1994): Sv iga ls. Alida (Jq Vio lini.st and compo considered one of t kle7.1l1er fiddlers. S prom inent force not of kl e7.mer music hu contemporary Jewist iOlll that comhinc~ Yi with ~ modern aesthE plays klczmer music hundreds of students the best professiona l worked with Itzh~k bum In the Fiddlli1"s 1 anel also appeared na cluction on radio ant ing the Emmy Aw 

Supremes

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