Top 200 Albums of All Time: S artists part III

Pretzel Logic: Steely Dan (1974)
Before Steely Dan essentially became a duo, they released their best album Pretzel Logic. The supporting tour would mark the last time Steely Dan appeared live for decades. Donald Fagen and Walter Becker grew disillusioned with audience response to their complex music and Steely Dan became a studio tour de force. Pretzel Logic went platinum on the strength of the lead single “Rikki Don’t Lose That Number.”

Aja: Steely Dan (1977)
Pretzel Logic went platinum, but Aja sold more copies. To date, it has sold over 5 million copies and became the subject of a VH-1 Classic Album documentary. In 2011, the Library of Congress added Aja to U.S. National Recording Registry for being historically important.

The Supremes: Where Did Our Love Go (1964)
The Supremes became the first act to have three #1s off the same album. “Where Did Our Love Go?”, “Baby Love”, and “Come See About Me” hit the top of the charts in succession. The album made the Motown sound mainstream while the Supremes were perhaps the only act to rival the Beatles in popularity.

#19 The Supremes

The Supremes were Motown’s flagship band in the 1960's. The act is America’s most successful vocal group in history with twelve number one hits. At their height, The Supremes were nearly as popular as the Beatles. The Supremes laid the foundation and groundwork for subsequent all female groups. En Vogue, TLC, Destiny’s Child and others owe their success to the formula put forth by Motown’s Supremes. As the sixties wore on, Diana Ross began to receive the lion share of attention and soon became the headliner. This caused dissension within the group and within Motown as a whole. Ms. Ross left in 1970 and the Supremes continued on until 1977.


Rock n Roll Moment: Diana Ross and Barry Gordy dated for a time causing all sorts of problems. The Supremes were jealous of the relationship and it caused tensions. Other Motown acts, such as Martha Reeves (imagine that), also felt Gordy paid too much attention to The Supremes and not enough on them.

Essential Supremes:

Where Did Our Love Go? (1964)
More Hits by the Supremes (1965)
I Hear a Symphony (1966)

Supremes’ Top 10:

Where Did Our Love Go?
Come See About Me
Stop! In the Name of Love
I Hear a Symphony
My World is Empty Without You
You Can’t Hurry Love
You Keep Me Hangin’ On
Reflections
Love Child
Love is Here and Now Your Gone