By JoB (204.42.12.2) on Wednesday, August 13, 2003 - 05:41 am:

...I'm not sure if this was a repeat and I'm just late as usual, but I saw the bio story on the Supremes and Diana Ross earlier today (technically it was on Diana Ross, but the whole first half was about the Supremes)...although a lot of it I already knew through books and stories I've read or things I already have heard about them, it was really good, with some great footage of them that I've never seen, and some stories I've never actually heard before. Most of it IMO is safe to believe, since although some accounts were given by music historians and people who studied the Supremes just like you or me, most of the accounts were given by the folks who were actually THERE, like Mary Wilson, Brian and Eddie Holland and Lamont Dozier, Suzanne DePasse, etc.

Like the one about a particular Supremes performance where Flo's earring fell off, and Diana (accidentally?) stepped on and crushed it...Flo being a professional kept her cool during the rest of the show, but after the show in the dressing room it took about 3 people to pull her off of Diana :o)
And they also talked about the infamous Motown 25 incident...the big Motown reunion concert (1985 I think?), where as the legend goes Diana pushed Mary or took her mike or something like that...in actuality, according to the people who were there, at the end, they were all going to do a big presentation of BG...and Mary got real excited and started to call him up to the stage, but the directors had instructed Diana to do it a different way, and Diana simply put her hand over Mary's mike and told her, "no Mary, their going to do it a different way." Now being the scandal and drama-loving society that we are, I'm sure that most people just jumped to believe the first version of the story, but to tell the truth, the less-confrontational version just sounds more realistic and truthful to me. I believe that although Diana may have her diva-like moments, she really cares about what her public thinks of her, and would never do something like push Mary away from her mike, right in front of the camera with millions watching (offstage would probably be a different story, I might even believe it then)...
The funniest part was when they said how in the 90's Diana revealed her "secret" to the world that Rhonda (her firstborn) was actually BG's daughter, and not her husband's of the time (I forget his name, Bob Ellis or something like that I think)...Secret? Who the heck did she think she was kidding? I can remember when I first started really getting into the Supremes and DR, and I saw a picture of Rhonda---I immediately knew who's child she was, and she sure wasn't that blue-eyed guy's on the page following that showed Diana's husband at the time. I can remember thinking, "is she serious?? Ain't no way on EARTH..."
The sad part was, of course, about Flo's Death, and the famous funeral when Diana showed up, and one of the commentators said, "...it's really sad how even in death, Flo had to compete with Diana for attention...". He (the commentator, who actually attended the funeral) said how when Diana was walking down the aisle, she actually did some sort of swooning/fainting spell thing that just looked "sooo rehearsed and orchestrated"...One thing I don't understand, though, is how people could actually blame Diana for Flo's downfall and eventual death...when people who were there even said that towards the end of Flo's stint as a Supreme, she started doing things and acting as if to say, "...yall gonna HAVE to put ME out...". Even Mary said that she herself agreed that it was just the best decision, considering everything.

I also got the idea from the show that the unfortunate fate of the "Return to Love" tour was being blamed on Mary Wilson, for going around doing all sorts of interviews as to why she would NOT do the tour, but I don't think it was her fault...I don't blame her for not doing the tour, correct me if I'm wrong but it was supposed be a SUPREMES reunion tour, not a DIANA ROSS AND THE SUPREMES reunion tour (almost 2 completely different groups, IMO), and I think that what they were offering Mary to join was a slap in the face. She has (from what I hear) a fairly successful touring career of her own, and doesn't need money that desperately to settle for the pennies being offered to her in comparison of what was being offered to Diana.
Ok I've got more to say on the show but I'm going to save it for another time and place (I hate when my posts get this long :o)

By NY-DELL (12.14.39.66) on Wednesday, August 13, 2003 - 08:27 am:

JoB: I MAY BE WRONG BUT THE WAY I HEAR IT WAS THAT THE TOUR WAS ACTUALLY DIANA'S, "SOMEONE" CAME UP WITH THE IDEA THAT A SUPREMES SEGMENT WOULD BE A GREAT IDEA, AND HELP PROMOTE TICKET SALES, I HEARD DIANA AGREED. I NEVER HEARD THAT THE TOUR WAS A "SUPREMES" TOUR. ALSO FROM WHAT I'VE LEARNED THE MONEY THAT MARY WOULD HAVE MADE WAS GREAT CONSIDERING THAT 1- THE TOUR WASN'T THAT LONG 2-THE "SUPREMES" DIDN'T HAVE TO CARRY THE TOUR & 3- SHE COULD HAVE MADE ON THAT TOUR WHAT IT GENERALLY TAKES HER A YEAR TO EARN.

By Randy Russi (169.139.180.100) on Wednesday, August 13, 2003 - 08:31 am:

As far as I recall that tour which ended up being
the Return to Love tour was originally going to be
Diana Ross & the Supremes (Mary & Cindy).
I even heard about it two years prior to the
actual tour and had heard that it was Berry's
idea. When Mary & Cindy did not agree to do
the tour it was no longer called a reunion.
People STILL call it that! People still insult
Scherrie and Lynda by calling them fake Supremes.

By stephanie (68.50.216.139) on Wednesday, August 13, 2003 - 08:34 am:

I saw the show and of course it was edited but like you said the accounts are true. The only problem I had is that Suzanne Depasse said that it was an urban legend and Diana's lawyer said it too that the whole story with Diana pushing Mary was misconstrued. US magazine (i didnt see this but it was reported) had a picture of Diana pushing Mary. If it wasnt that bad how come Smokey Robinson had to come out and how come they cut that part of the film if it was not true?

Read Mary Wilsons book Supreme Faith and talk to some people who were at the taping and see if you believe Ms DePasse. There is something about her that disturbs me. I admire her business acumen but she has always been a Berry Gordy sympathizer and I understand he helped her to get started....

I thought it was a good special and it put Diana in a good and bad light. The only interview I didnt care for was Gerald Posner but the other Supremes historians pretty much got everything on the money and everything they said has been pretty much agreed upon when it comes to other Motown stars giving their stories. Its no secret that Diana Ross was talented and driven and a very calculating woman who wouldnt let anything stand in her way. She put herself in the positions of those who were powerful to get what she wanted. I dont know how true the stories are about her being mean to people but that is nothing new a lot of celebs are due to the demands and pressures of the job and some are not. Her private life has always been under scrutiny but the woman is talented and she can sing and act and that is why we pay to see her and hear her records.

I personally believe that if Mary Wilson HAD to have the money she would have done the tour but she has a lot of work and is very successful in her own right. She may not be filthy rich like Diana but she appears to be happy and is one of the most successful background singers from an oldies standpoint right now. She has carved a niche for herself and she is very good live and puts on a great show whether she is on her own or part of a Motown package. She is only 59 so I can see her going for several more years..
Stephanie

By Randy Russi (169.139.180.100) on Wednesday, August 13, 2003 - 09:02 am:

I wasn't there, but I know several people who
were, and by their accounts--she PUSHED her!
The video release of the program shows them
having a reunion for about one minute, because
of editing.

By Reese (12.15.169.254) on Wednesday, August 13, 2003 - 09:20 am:

I found Suzanne dePasse's explanation of the "shove" at MOTOWN 25 to be fishy as well. At least two magazines at the time (PEOPLE and RIGHT ON!) reported that Diana "appeared" to shove Mary. And this was way before Mary did any press or wrote either of her books. Considering the bad press that Diana received at the time, it would have made more sense for Suzanne to offer her explanation back then.

From what I have read about the RETURN TO LOVE tour, the reported $20 million that Diana received included her being responsible for payment of the musicians, the musical arrangements, the dancers, the crew, transportation, hotels, etc. Whereas whatever Mary and Cindy were offered, they got to keep. If this is true, I think the slant that the public took on the tour (Diana making ten times as much as Mary) should be corrected.

That said, I do think that the tour itself was set up wrong. There was no way that Diana alone should have been responsible for the tour. As soon as the idea came up, I believe that Diana, Mary, and Cindy should have gotten together, formed their own corporation, and then went back to the promoters and negotiated as a group. As soon as I heard the deals were being handled separately, I knew the reunion was doomed.

By Randy Russi (169.139.180.100) on Wednesday, August 13, 2003 - 10:04 am:

I have recently been told that when the promoters
wanted to cancel the remaining dates of the tour,
which they did, Diana offered to work for free as
long as everyone else got paid. It was an excellent show! I saw it in Tampa, Florida.
Huge orchestra, dancers, background singers (in
addition to Scherrie & Lynda). Again, it had
too much negative publicity because of what was
originally in the media about a reunion.
The souveniers sold, however, were way over-priced, I thought. Ex: A plain coffee mug with
the writing Diana Ross & the Supremes in regular
print, nothing fancy, was $18! The program with
pictures was $25! None of the pictures were
professionally done, I don't think. Yes, they
were color, but not really a lot of time was
put into them.

By Reese (12.15.169.254) on Wednesday, August 13, 2003 - 10:21 am:

Unfortunately, the RTL tour was pulled the week it was scheduled to hit Boston, so I never got the chance to see the show live. However, I have seen tapes of various performances and the show itself was fantastic. It was great to hear Diana singing some Supremes songs, most of which she hadn't performed since she left the group.

By moanman (24.44.218.110) on Wednesday, August 13, 2003 - 10:39 am:

Ms. DePasse has been a close personal friend of Miss Ross' for decades. She is also godmother to Rhonda Ross, Diana's firstborn. Do the math. Is it such a stretch that she'd want to paint her dear friend in the best of all possible light?

By stephanie (68.50.216.139) on Wednesday, August 13, 2003 - 01:43 pm:

I have the tape and Ross did a good job on the RTL tour..but it just didnt seem right seeing Scherrie and Lynda with her thats all. She was in fine voice and seemed to enjoy herself. When they announced it before the negative publicity started I KNEW it was too good to be true. Everybody and their mom wanted to see Diana and Mary and Cindy again people were so excited and then when it was Scherrie and Lynda everyone was confused because only us die hards know who they are.

I will say this Ross has a great chance to get some PR going if she could get back with Mary and Cindy. To the poster who said Diana and Mary and Cindy should have done this themselves I absolutely agree with you. I knew when SFX was involved it was going to be a fiasco. They didnt realize the importance of Mary and Cindy to the image of the group as well as the sound.
Mary Wilson still knows those routines and she would have caught on quickly.

Moanman is right since Depasse is a friend of Ross and Gordy's she is not going to say anything detrimental about them. Maybe Mary did get excited but the people who were there said Diana pushed Mary and even if she didnt WHY did they block it out if it was such an innocent shove? If Depasse and Gordy were not trying to cover anything up they would have left the film alone and they could have explained things the next day. All of this happened way before Marys books came out. Ross likes to be the center of attention and everyone at Motown has confirmed that so it does not shock me that she did this at all. She has never commented on it either which leads me to believe she really pushed her.

If you all have seen her on Oprah and Arsenio when she is asked about these things she ignores them and wont answer she says "The public knows me and knows that I have a private life" When she was on Oprah and Oprah listed a couple of Supremes rumors Ross didnt even address it...Oprah asked her was it true that she used to look at the monitor and put her hands in front of Mary and Cindy's face and Ross just spread her arms out and the audience laughed she never answered the question. She was promoting her book Secrets of a Sparrow at the time. Forget Gordy she never even answers basic Supremes questions. If you ask her about Florence she wont address that either she just says it was a sad period for us and what happened to Flo was bad and thats it..there has to be some guilt there or she would answer these basic questions. A woman of her stature (and I guess she wasnt thinking at the time) should have known that Mary and Cindy being there would have made her look good. If I were Diana I would have given BOTH of them 4 million to start and a part of the merchandising they could have made goo gobs of money on that tour and then sell the merchandise for 10.00 a pop. Man if this thing had gone off right I would venture to say after taxes Mary and Cindy could have made at least 2 million dollars and they would have been set the rest of their lives and Miss Ross would have been left with some good PR and all of them could have gotten more gigs especially Mary not so much Cindy since she is more involved in church work.

Forget having weird albums at RCA and the WIZ ..Ross not picking the promoter and having the original Supremes there was the biggest mistake she has ever made in her career in my estimation. If it were to happen again it would have to be a TV special or something I cant see another promoter risking her unless it was overseas.

Steph

By Randy Russi (169.139.180.100) on Wednesday, August 13, 2003 - 01:57 pm:

One more thing on the "shove" or "push" at
Motown 25 in April 1983--Diana, Mary & Cindy
were supposed to do a medley of Supremes' hits
after "Someday". Didn't happen did it? It was
S. DePasse who sent Smokey on the stage out of
fear there was going to be a fight. Again, I
wasn't there, but I certainly know some very
famous folks who were. It bothers me about what
DePasse now says about it, because if she has
the chance to say something negative about Mary,
I believe she does and has.

By stephanie (68.50.216.139) on Wednesday, August 13, 2003 - 03:31 pm:

I know some people think that Mary takes digs at Diana and that isnt really true, her book was pretty tell tale on everybody and herself as well.
People always wondered what happened to Flo and the true story was told Gordy and Ross never told it until their books came out YEARS later when they saw the Motown artists were coming out with the good and bad at Motown. I think there was more good done at Motown though. Have you noticed that everybody has good things to say about Cholly Atkins and Miss Powell!!!

Diana really needs to do something about her image though and I hope she will. Mary Wilson wrote the book because she needed money and it did well but her book doesnt come anywhere near Call Her Miss Ross with tarnishing Diana's image and there were always rumors of Miss Ross and her difficulties anyway so its not secret to any of us. Again Im not dissing Miss Ross I have 85 percent of her albums and records and I also have all of the 70s Supremes output. I hate to say this but the way that Motown 25 was put together and Motown at the Apollo if you have seen those shows and the 10 second spots they gave Jr Walker and Martha Reeves and only a mention of the Marvelettes by Richard Pryor I have NO respect for this woman. She had the nerve to make some statement that Standing in the Shadows of Motown was not the true Motown story or something to that effect. I dont buy that excuse that she came in the late 60s so she wouldnt know I mean I can accept that but she KNOWS the history of Motown and to have that special not honor those people properly was criminal. They didnt need Linda Ronstadt and Adam Ant they could have put someone else in those spots. I DO realize the show was edited it could have been a two part special. Smokey should have put that special together to be honest with you it was not a suprise for Berry he knew they were doing this honor for him Im shocked he didnt insist on some of them being there. Hell even the Isleys should have been there and the Velvelettes. Again Ms DePasse has made quite a name for herself with Lonesome Dove and the movie with Vanity and handling the Sister Sister show but when it comes to Motown her talents are truly lacking if you ask me. I think this woman had an affair with Gordy (just an opinion) when it comes to specials like this
I dont know why it was put together like that. The opening with the Dancing in the Street number should have had Martha singing it. When it comes to these Motown specials like the one Robert Townsend hosted everybody there is not from Motown and during Motown 25 a lot of the people were still living. What a great chance ruined!! I know the show won an Emmy but it could have been so much better IMO. If it were not for the Temps and the Tops and Michael Jackson I wouldnt have enjoyed it at all and I liked Marvin Gayes number too but who wouldnt like Marvin. I just think Ms DePasse is a Gordy sympathizer thats all.......that show could have had old clips of the good old days and I dont mean snippets!!!!

I think that the existing groups of Motown that are left have done a wonderful job of handling the legacy. Frankly I dont even want to see another Motown special unless there are a lot of old clips or original people or Funk Brothers there. We have been ripped off too many times its too bad Harry Weinger didnt put the special together they could have won an Emmy and made the groups more popular again.
Stephanie

By Handsome (170.118.157.133) on Wednesday, August 13, 2003 - 05:19 pm:

Stephanie-I agree with you. The show could've been MUCH MUCH better. I understand that the Marvelettes weren't even invited to sing, and when they did find out, it was too late. I didn't like the fact that Martha Reeves (by the way, she was "Vandella-Less" that night), Jr. Walker & Mary Wells barely had 5 minutes to sing! Where were the Velvelettes, Edwin Starr, Jimmy Ruffin, & Chris Clark? It would be nice to hear the Andantes chirp on some of the songs as well...they were an intregal part of the Motown Story. Where was Ray Singleton?

Did you also notice that when Diana Ross came out she only called Mary & Cindy from the wings? Not once were they announced as "Diana Ross & The Supremes". Just an observation. I am also suprised that they didn't do a medley of their hits. What a shame!

Handsome

By stephanie (68.50.216.139) on Wednesday, August 13, 2003 - 07:46 pm:

Leave it in the hands of Suzanne Depasse!!! Like I said no more Motown specials for me unless there is something showstopping.
Stephanie

By Reese (12.15.169.254) on Thursday, August 14, 2003 - 11:07 am:

According to the book CALL HER MISS ROSS, the only rehearsal of the Supremes segment took place barely a half-hour before the doors were to be opened to the public. So Diana decided that they would just do SOMEDAY WE'LL BE TOGETHER. I gather she felt that would be easier to perform than a newly-formed medley.

By Charmedes (142.165.249.129) on Thursday, August 14, 2003 - 11:54 am:

Flo's leaving the Supremes, the best decision? Hardly. The group never sounded as united or soulful ever again. Instead the world now had to say "Diana Ross and the Supremes," Mary and Cindy often appearing to be not singing on the records at all.

By marv (205.188.209.109) on Thursday, August 14, 2003 - 06:58 pm:

Suzanne DePasse lied on that show! Why did it take her 20 years to give an explaination (her version) of the "shove". Also if it didn't happen, then why not release the original video tape of the show that she has locked up somewhere?

By marv (205.188.209.109) on Thursday, August 14, 2003 - 07:02 pm:

This particular show made Diana look like a anti-social, malcontent, bordline schizo! LOL. I mean they spent the majority of the program dissecting and examining Ross' career mistakes and blunders only to end it with the most hilarious ending I've seen on tv in years. In the last 60 seconds or so, they show clips of all the people that were interviewed earlier in the program giving nice, light little humoruous tidbits about Ross at the end. This was in stark contrast to the rest of the program that dealt with her "issues". The 3 guys that did most of the narration don't even know Ross personally and they were on camera even more that she was!

By stephanie (68.50.216.139) on Thursday, August 14, 2003 - 08:13 pm:

Marv,
Have you noticed that when something bad is said about Diana its immediately covered up with nice little tidbits...LOL Either say something nice the whole time or something mean or have a balance..........When it comes to Miss Ross it seems like people adore her or hate her but whatever the weather she is talented. I dont think the show made her look like a schizo that is a bit much.

I think it made her look like a celebrity who made it to the top by doing any and everything she could and grabbing anyone for attention and
using her talent to branch out into movies and singing and having a solo career. I get the feeling that the program showed that she wanted control in her life and it went amuck....I really do think that she is human and has compassion but I think that she is only non compassionate when it comes to the hired help. If you read things about her she is nice to her peers its the hired help or if someone gets in her way of her being the center of attention when the problems come. But there are plenty of people who want to be important and I dont want to turn this thread into a diana ross bashing thread..........

By stephanie (68.50.216.139) on Friday, August 15, 2003 - 07:51 am:

Charmades,
Some people would say that Flos leaving didnt affect the Supremes sound and although Diana was the lead singer in a roundabout way it DID. I think it hurt the group morale and with Flo out of the way the name change comes and VIVA Diana...

From a business aspect I can see why Gordy got rid of Flo showing up drunk and not showing up but I think if she and Mary had been treated better he wouldnt have to let her go. Smokey and Berry always said it was business that they had to let Flo go and nothing personal but she didnt come into that group drinking she was reliable it was the riff with her and Diana and the subpar treatment that lead her to these antics. Flo had a wonderful soprano and she was great comic relief in the show. People I have talked to who have seen the Supremes live with Flo said she would get a loud round of applause when she did the lead on People and folks in the know said Miss Ross would get jealous.

Well whatever the weather both Miss Ross and Flo and Mary had wonderful voices. I think that Flo should have remained but I guess things had gotten out of hand by then. I think the live show suffered when Flo was gone. There was promise on her singles Love Aint Love and Forever Faithful but for the most part Flo didnt sound the same on her ABC solo album and her voice was nowhere near what it was with the Supremes.
Stephanie

By Charmedes (142.165.249.129) on Friday, August 15, 2003 - 10:38 am:

Stephanie:
The group always sounded weaker and diluted to me without Flo even on the singles on which Cindy was reportedly present, producing for the most part a kind of colorless accompaniment lacking the sass and character present on an album like, for instance, "We remember Sam Cooke." However, Patti Labelle spoke highly of Cindy's talent in her autobiography, while one of the other girls in Patti's group reportedly called Cindy's singing monotone.

Flo also had a very regal, statuesque way of carrying herself; a touch of class that seemed gone with her departure.

In any case the group was never the same vocally or visually.

This whole episode seems to be one of the most disturbing leaving a lingering dark cloud over the history of contemporary music.

By STUBASS (206.135.204.254) on Friday, August 15, 2003 - 12:08 pm:

I DON'T KNOW THAT DIANA IS FULLY TO BLAME FOR HER PERCIEVED "TAKEOVER" OF THE SUPREMES!!!...LETS FACE IT...BERRY GORDY WANTED HER OUT FRONT...BOTH FOR PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL REASONS!!!...PERSONAL...BECAUSE THEY DID HAVE A ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIP!!!...PROFESSIONAL...BECAUSE SHE *WAS* THE LEAD SINGER AND STAR...AND BERRY WAS VERY ANXIOUS TO LAUNCH HER MOVIE CAREER!!!...STUBASS

By janebse (68.63.5.177) on Friday, August 15, 2003 - 12:21 pm:

Talking about Diana calling Mary and Cindy from the wings, why didn't the Supremes perform in the show? Why did Diana come from the audience as a sort of after thought? My thought is that Diana didn't want to perform with them, either as The Supremes or Diana Ross and the Supremes, but the producers didn't want to ignore the impact of the Supremes so they did it that way.

By Handsome (170.118.157.134) on Friday, August 15, 2003 - 01:22 pm:

You hit the nail on the head janebse!

Also I thought about something else..Where was Gladys Knight & The Pips?

Handsome

By Handsome (170.118.157.134) on Friday, August 15, 2003 - 01:35 pm:

And as far as medleys go, Diana Ross & The Supremes could've did the same medley done on TCB, Live At London's Talk of the Town or Farewell albums, instead of skipping up and down the aisles!

Handsome

By stephanie (68.50.216.139) on Friday, August 15, 2003 - 02:38 pm:

We can analyze this all day long again I say that special didnt immortalize Motown the way it should have and I KNOW we all know that. Rumor has it that Gladys Knight and the Pips were asked to come and Gladys said no..maybe someone on the forum can provide more information. If any of you saw the Soulsville USA special which
celebrated STAX last week and yesterday or 10 years ago that tribute to Atlantic Records which had Debbie Gibson and The Young Rascals and others..THOSE tributes are what Motown 25 should have been!!! I hate to sound so glum but the whole thing was a tribute to Berry Gordy and the songwriters IMO not the groups the groups were just used. YES it brought out the Motown spirit but look at it this way I love Motown but before Harry Weinger came into the picture (thank God for him)
A. Motown always put out the same haphazard compilations and milked their fans of the same thing.
B. The CD quality was not that great until the last 10 years
C. Atlantic put out an awesome Box Set on their company
D. James Brown's Box Set Startime was awesome
E. No offense to Atlantic but there is a much bigger market for Motown and its almost a guaranteed success especially if they had done it when the Big Chill came out for Motown to do a good Box Set on the company.
G. When it comes to Anthologies the best ones were when they had those 2 album ones for the Four Tops and The Marvelettes and Diana Ross and the Supremes one had three records.
H. Motown has redeemed themselves though and have become very fan sensitive in the things they put out now..Supremes 70s Anthology and the
Four Tops BoxSet and the others you are all familiar with on Hippo.....
I. I have always felt that Rhino Records was fan sensitive and I wish Motown had been that way with their specials. But that is in the past.
If Harry Weinger was in charge of these specials or if the guy who did Standing in the Shadows of Motown were involved it would have been much better and I KNOW it would have gotten even higher ratings and people would know more about the history of Motown. People know about Motown but Atlantic and STAX people know the good history because of the informative and fan friendly specials.

By Randy Russi (169.139.180.100) on Friday, August 15, 2003 - 02:47 pm:

I do think Diana gets a lot of negative things
said about her when she isn't even at fault.
Also, when she does something really nice, it
barely gets around. For example, she donated
$15,000 to help Mary Wells when her health failed;
reportedly Florence received $50,000 not long
before her death and the word I heard was it
was a gift from Diana.

By janebse (68.63.5.177) on Friday, August 15, 2003 - 03:01 pm:

With so many of the Motown acts touring successfully now, why doesn't Diana tour, either as a solo act or with Mary and Cindy? I know she planned to either earlier this year, or was it last year? And then there was that incident with the police, but even before that she appears to have cancelled plans she had made to tour. Is her voice failing or are there other problems?

By stephanie (68.50.216.139) on Friday, August 15, 2003 - 04:52 pm:

You are right Diana does do a lot of good things that dont get reported,,
Stephanie

By marv (152.163.252.68) on Friday, August 15, 2003 - 07:53 pm:

Gladys Knight said in an interview at the time, that she was basically boycotting the show because she didn't want to be a hypocrite. She said that she felt the show should have been a celebration of the artists that made the Motown Sound, instead it was a tribute to the company. In Gladys words "What about the artists?"

If you noticed, Rick James did not appear live on the program either. He refused for similar reasons as Gladys. He also felt that since he was a current Motown Artist at the time, he did not want to share the stage with former artists. Artist that had jumped ship.