Former Ladies of the Supremes
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The Former Ladies of the Supremes, or FLOS, are an incarnated lineup of The Supremes that was formed by 1970s Supremes Jean Terrell, Lynda Laurence and Scherrie Payne, in 1986. Though they weren't actually Supremes members, singers Sundray Tucker and Freddi Poole have also sung with the group with Poole in the most recent lineup of the group.
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[edit] Biography
[edit] Early years
In 1985, eight years after the Supremes officially broke up in 1977, Scherrie Payne, who was the last of the Supremes to be an official lead singer, was signed to Superstar International Records, an Los Angeles based record company who approached her with the idea of reforming the Supremes, to which she agreed to, calling on former Supremes Mary Wilson and Cindy Birdsong to reform the group. Wilson declined, instead opting to continue her solo career while Birdsong agreed and coaxed former Supreme Jean Terrell to join the lineup.
The three of them set about forming a new incarnation of The Supremes, atlhough due to contractual difficulties over the ownership of the name (Mary Wilson was involved in on-going lawsuits with Motown over ownership and rights to the name) decided to create an entirely new group under the name "FLOS,"The Former Ladies of the Supremes. Before the group got off the ground though, Birdsong left for a solo career recording for Hi-Hat Records. Former Supreme Lynda Laurence joined the lineup and in 1986, the group was officially formed. The group released the song, "We're Back", but since the label they were signed to didn't distribute with a national label, the song failed to chart. The group began touring around this time.
[edit] Motorcity Records
In 1989 the FLOS signed to British producer Ian Levine's Motorcity Records project, joining a roster of former Motown artists at the label. The first single by the FLOS on the label was an original tune, released in the summer of 1989 as "Crazy About The Guy" (MOTC 13), which featured Jean's silken voice on lead vocals. This single, together with all releases by the group on the Motorcity Records label ran the credit as Jean, Scherrie & Lynda Formerly of The Supremes. The follow-up single was a re-make of the classic Supremes hit "Stoned Love" (MOTC 56) which saw Scherrie and Jean splitting lead vocal duties between them. The 'b' side contained a live version of 'Crazy About The Guy'. The next single was the wonderful "I Want To Be Loved" (MOTC 77), showcasing the lead vocals of all three ladies. the 'b' side contained two remixes of the track. The final single for Motorcity, the Lynda-led "Hit & Miss" (MOTC 88), was released in 1991 and became a dance/club favourite. The ladies also released a single with label-mates, The Originals, a groovy original tune, "Back By Popular Demand", which Laurence has stated as one of her favorite songs on the Motorcity label. An album, "Bouncing Back" was scheduled to be released but the label ran into financial difficulty before the album could be released. The album eventually was released by different labels.
[edit] Enter Sundray Tucker
The FLOS' lineup changed again when in late December 1992, Jean Terrell left and was replaced by Lynda's sister, Sundray Tucker. Sundray made her concert debut with the group in March 1993 when the group made another tour of the country. Several shows from the tour were recorded but have not been released. One track taken from this tour 'Suki Yaki' saw release on the limited edition album 'Something Special' in 1998 which featured several tracks by the group as well as a couple of solo tracks by both Lynda and Cindy Birdsong.
In 1994 The FLOS released their first studio album with Sundray Tucker onboard. The resulting album 'Supreme Voices' featured all three ladies taking lead vocal duties. All three ladies shared lead vocals on three songs, 'Give Me The Night', a remake of the George Benson classic hit; a remake of 70s Supremes hit, 'Up The Ladder To The Roof', which featured guest vocals by former Supreme Cindy Birdsong; and on 'How Do You Keep The Music Playing', which has become the group's signature tune.
The following year another album, this time produced by Steve Weaver, was released and entitled 'Supremely Yours'. Following on the same format as the previous album, all three ladies have equal number of lead vocals and also share lead vocals on three songs ' Stop To Love', 'Feel Like Making love' and another 70s Supremes classic 'Touch'. Steve recorded over 40 songs with the ladies.
Later the same year, the ladies were invited to perform with Mel Carter at an engagement, which was recorded and released as 'Mel carter: Live In Hollywood'.
Sundray remained with the group for four years, contributing to several albums and establishing herself as a fan favourite before being replaced by veteran singer Freddi Poole, who remains in the group to this very day.
[edit] The Current Line-up
In the summer of 1996 Jean Terrell made a brief comeback to the group, reuniting with both Scherrie Payne and Lynda Laurence for two special concerts held at the Industry Cafe in Los Angeles. This reunion coincided with the departure of Sundray and recruitment of Freddi.
Their most recent song was 2006's "Sisters United (We're Taking Control)", which was debuted at the group's twentieth anniversary concert at The Music Box in Hollywood in July 2006. September saw the group depart for a brief but very successful tour of Australia.
[edit] Personnel
- Scherrie Payne, Jean Terrell and Lynda Laurence(1986-1992)
- Scherrie Payne, Lynda Laurence and Sundray Tucker (1992 - 1996)
- Scherrie Payne, Lynda Laurence and Freddi Poole (1996 - present)
[edit] Discography
[edit] Singles
Superstar International Records
- "We're Back" /"Get Away" (with Ollie Woodson of The Temptations) (1987)
Motorcity Records
- "Crazy About The Guy"/"Crazy About The Guy (Instrumental)" MOTC 13 (1990)
- "Stoned Love"/"Crazy About The Guy (live)" MOTC
- "I Want To Be Loved"/"I Want To Be Loved (US Remix)" MOTC77 (1991)
- "Hit And Miss"/"Hit And Miss (US Remix)" MOTC88 (1991)
Driving Wheel Records
- "Stoned Love" DWCD01 (1998)
- "Someday We'll Be Together" DWCD02 (1998)
New Material
- "Light The World (With The Flame Of Love)" (2000)
- "Finally / Good Intentions" (2002)
- "Sisters United (We're Taking Control)" (2006)
[edit] Albums
- Bouncing Back (1991) - Motorcity Records
- Supreme Voices (1994) - Altair
1. How Do You Keep The Music Playing 2. Rescue Me 3. Road To Freedom 4. Keep On Loving Me 5. Give Me The Night 6. Breaking & Entering 7. Don't Rocky My World 8. I'm A Fool For Love 9. Piano 10. Up The Ladder To The Roof 11. Somewhere Out There
- Supremely Yours (1995)
1. Feel LIke Making Love 2. Who Do You Love 3. Just Like That 4. Stop To Love 5. Private Number (with Edwin Starr) 6. First time on A Ferris Wheel 7. Colours of LOve 8. Stop1 I don't Need No Sympathy 9. I Still Believe 10. Never Can Say Goodbye 11. If I Love Again 12. Sweet Freedom 13. Suave 14. Touch 15. Private Number (with Edwin Starr) Slammin' Jammin' Mix
- Reflections (1996)
- Where Did Our Love Go (1996)
- Live and More (1997)
- Legendary Ladies Live (with the Three Degrees and Sister Sledge) (1997)
- I Hear A Symphony (1997)
- Simply Supremes (1997)
- Reflections: The Supremes Hit List (1998)
