It is nearly impossible to put in to words the significance of The Supremes and how they embody the essence of what we think a girl group should be (and look like). The idea of the girl group was nothing new before 1964, the year that The Supremes scored their first number one single. Hell, even the idea of having one girl stand out—both in terms of vocal ability and marketing—while the others sing backup and dress the same was nothing that Diana Ross, Mary Wilson, and Florence Ballard invented. What The Supremes did (with the help of Motown founder Berry Gordy), though, was perfect the girl group archetype—right down to providing the cautionary tale of the out-of-control diva wreaking havoc on nearly all creative and production equilibriums.
When you think of The Supremes you think of Diana Ross and you think of “Baby Love” or “Stop! In The Name Of Love.” It is probably a natural procession of association. And to be sure those two aforementioned songs are iconic and worthy of Pantheon status. But there is something about “Where Did Our Love Go” that seems so much more timeless and perfect. Maybe it is because it was their first number one single, its arrival into this world untouched by the chaos that Ross’s and Motown’s atmospheric rise would eventually unfold down the road. Maybe it is because Ross’s vocals here tread perfectly within the spheres of sultriness and heartache.
The track starts with a few seconds of clapping, a simple beat, a piano, and Ross singing “Baby, baby/Baby don’t leave me” which is followed by her letting out an ooh that would slice some men in half. It is a nearly impossible task to decide which is the best element of the song, Ross’s vocals or the music itself, as both are so damn perfect.
With Diana Ross here you have an enchanting combination of great source material to work with (the lyrics written by the Holland-Dozier-Holland songwriting team) and an excellent performance of the material. Just listen to how effortlessly “I’ve got this yearning, burning/Yearning feelin’ inside me” is sung; the vocals themselves bounce around with ease and Ross owns all of it leading up to another naturally, can’t-fake-it-or-copy-it, sexy ooh.
As for the music itself, its depth lies in its simplicity. It is an anti-Phil Spector arrangement yet it still somehow manages to sound lush with all of its notes hit with a perfection that was the blueprint of the Motown sound.
You will notice that there has only been a fleeting reference to the other two women of the group, Mary Wilson and Florence Ballard. At the end of the day, yes, it is unfair that history has essentially written them off as the two women not named Diana Ross but Ross, like she does with other tracks, owns this song. And maybe that is why Ross’s disruptive tendencies would eventually manifest themselves later on the down the road: she was the engine of the band’s first number one song.
Some people become severely altered by the realization that they had a majority stake in creating something viewed as being great. At the end of the day you cannot really fault Diana Ross for drinking her own Kool-Aid as it were from time to time (just like you cannot really blame Berry Gordy for falling in love with her and making some questionable changes afterwards). Which is why for the purposes of this Pantheon “Where Did Our Love Go” gets the nod over “Baby Love” and “Stop! In The Name Of Love”—it was not born out of internal rifts or out of quasi-gimmickry[1]—it was simply the product of an amazingly talented girl group, born out of a desire to escape the Frederick Douglass housing project in Detroit.
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[1] I.e.–the built-in stop gesture naturally incorporated into the dance when “Stop! In The Name Of Live” was performed live.
