Word: diana
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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Inevitably, little frustrations set in. "We were working so constantly we didn't have a chance to spend any money," Diana says. In 1967, Florence split and was replaced by a look-alike named Cindy Birdsong. Perhaps not coincidentally, it was also around this time that the group's billing was changed to "Diana Ross and the Supremes." But the sound stayed the same-in fact, it was beginning to set like concrete...
...tumultuous rock coming from San Francisco and from across the Atlantic began to make the girls sound too smooth. They branched out, adding some show tunes to their repertory. They even tried playing three nuns on the Tarzan TV series. But things weren't the same. Diana felt that "the spirit was gone" from the group and started to make plans for a solo act. Says one Motown executive: "It occurred to us we might have a 2-for-1 stock split...
Static Electricity. The firm found a replacement for Diana ("someone who could live in the clean and wholesome way these girls have lived") in Jean Terrell, a soulful but unknown lead vocalist. Then it invested $100,000 in Diana's solo act, $60,000 of which went for elaborate clothes and new arrangements. Without Diana, though, the Supremes sound more homogenized than ever, and audiences have to memorize their wigs to remember which is which...
...Diana, meanwhile, is still all static electricity. She leaps in and out of an assortment of costumes, dances from time to time with two smiling male partners, and makes her way through a repertory of tunes borrowed from the likes of the Beatles, Tony Bennett, Peggy Lee. She even sings a medley of old Supremes hits, but she seems to get through them very quickly...
...Diana's solo act does, at last, allow her the leisure to enjoy things material. She owns a Rolls-Royce (a gift from the thrice-wed Gordy) and a new home in Beverly Hills. "I have clothes for every mood," she boasts. Her collection ranges from dungarees and bathing suits to "very classy suits for traveling or teas." Her aim, naturally, is to be an actress. Doris Day advised her that it was not necessary to study acting, and Diana says, "If Jim Brown can do it, I can do it-whatever he's doing." She is especially...