Daily Dirt: Diana Ross and the Supremes, Ronettes and Martha Reeves and the Vandellas — the best of the best

Daily Dirt for Friday, June 24, 2022

You can’t hurry love, no you’ll just have to wait … Welcome to today’s three thoughts that make up Vol. 319 of The Daily Dirt.

1. In another tribute to Black Music Month, here are my all-time favorite Black girl groups:

• Gold medal: Diana Ross and the Supremes will always be the gold standard for girl groups, no matter what the genre. The Supremes were Motown Records royalty. The original members were Ross, Florence Ballard, Barbara Martin and Mary Wilson. (Martin left the group in 1962. Motown president Berry Gordy renamed the group Diana Ross & the Supremes in 1967 and replaced Ballard with Cindy Birdsong.) They produced a dozen No. 1 hits on Billboard’s Hot 100. At the height of their popularity and success, they arguably were on par with the Beatles. Favorite Supremes song: “You Can’t Hurry Love.”
• Silver medal: The Ronnettes, who featured lead vocalist Veronica “Ronnie” Spector. She had one of the most recognizable voices in all of pop music. Spector’s “woh-oh-ohs” became her trademark. Favorite Ronettes song: “Baby I Love You.”
• Bronze medal: Martha and the Vandellas pumped out a series of major hits in the mid-to-late 1960s, but they never received their due. They always found themselves in the shadow of Diana Ross and the Supremes. Favorite Martha and Vandellas song: “I’m Ready for Love.”

2. The other day I put a thought on Facebook about products you should always buy new before using. Of course, the responses proved interesting. These were my five favorites, in no particular order:

• Kleenex
• Toilet paper
• Chewing gum
• Enemas
• Underwear

Can’t really argue with any of those.

3. This week’s Daily Dirt rankings of the top five and bottom five MLB teams:

The best

• 1. New York Yankees: When do we start seriously considering this bunch might establish an all-time victory record?
• 2. New York Mets: They’ll have a chance to reclaim the top spot once Max Scherzer and Jacob De Grom return.
• 3. Houston Astros: Let’s accept the fact the Astros will be in the playoffs again. Let’s also accept the fact they are going to be extremely difficult to beat with that pitching staff.
• 4. Atlanta Braves: Holy cow, are these guys on a roll. At one time, they were in the bottom five.
• 5. Toronto Blue Jays: Let’s be honest, this last spot could go to any one of about six to eight clubs. I’m still leaning toward Toronto, if for no other reason than the Blue Jays have a solid, solid uniforms.

The worst

• 1. Washington: Nats have two pitchers (Joan Adon, Patrick Corbin) who could easily lose 20 games.
• 2. Kansas City: Just wake the Royals fans when the season is over.
• 3. Oakland: Ditto.
• 4. Cincinnati: Give Reds credit. Since that 3-22 start, they have gone 20-24.
• 5. Colorado: Rockies fans are anxiously awaiting the start of Broncos training camp.

Steve Thought O’ The Day
The Diana Ross and the Supremes concert I was fortunate enough to attend in January 1969 in Ashland, Ohio, will always rank as one of my favorite musical experiences. I was about 10 rows from Ms. Ross. Tickets were $3.50. That is not a misprint.

Steve Eighinger writes daily for Muddy River News. It is believed Steve was confused as a young lad when he heard Diana Ross and the Supremes were coming to Ashland. He thought it was a woman delivering pizzas.