Farewell
Diana Ross played her last date with the Supremes in Las Vegas in January 1970, and a recording of the show was issued as a double album 13 April 1970.
What you get is exactly what it says on the label–a recording of a Las Vegas show. It’s slick, professional, and a long way from Motown. As I’ve said several times since January, there is absolutely nothing wrong with this record if this is the kind of record you like. Personally, I prefer their early sixties prime and I’m not greatly taken by slick performances of show tunes.
In any event, the attention of the world was elsewhere when this album was released. Apollo 13 launched on April 11 1970. Surprising as it might seem in retrospect, TV audiences were already bored with the notion that humans had walked on the moon, and interest in the Apollo programme itself was waining at higher levels. At just after 21.00 CST on 13 April, the crew were 330,000 kilometres from Earth on their way to make the third moon landing, when, 55 hours and 55 minutes into the mission, an oxygen tank exploded and Jack Swigert told Mission Control that they had a problem. From that point on it was a question of survival.
Still interested in Diana Ross and the Supremes? Neither was anyone else. Humans being what they are, walking on the Moon again was passé, but the prospect of lonely deaths in space live on TV brought the audiences flocking.
If you really want to listen to Diana Ross and the Supremes, the album is on Spotify under a different name. Meantime, David Bowie was in the charts with this:
Recent Comments