Saturday 9: Baby Love

Saturday 9: Baby Love (1964)

Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.

1) When this song was popular, the Supremes were known for their elaborate hairstyles, make up and full-length gowns. When was the last time you got dressed up?

A. Really dressed up? My grandmother's funeral, I suppose. Otherwise, I made an effort on our anniversary, and for me that was "dressed up" but not, well, dressed up.

2) "The girls," as they were known to the engineers and executives at Motown Records, were Florence Ballard, Mary Wilson and Diana Ross. They began singing together when they were high school classmates. Are you still in touch with any friends from your high school days?

A. Not really. There are a bunch on Facebook that I see post but I seldom interact with them. However, my husband's first cousin was in my class from elementary school through high school, and we are friends. That's more of a "through marriage" kind of thing.

3) Mary Wilson was born in Mississippi and her family moved a great deal before settling in Detroit, where she fatefully met Florence and Diana. Were you uprooted often when you were a child? Or did you spend your school years in the same neighborhood?

A. My parents moved three times after I entered school, but it was always in the same area and I went to the same schools.

4) The Supremes began as a quartet called the Primettes. In addition to Mary, Flo and Diana, there was Betty McGlown. In 1960, Betty left the group to get married and was replaced by Barbara Martin. In 1962, Barbara left the group to have a baby. They quit trying to replace the fourth voice, soldiered on as a trio, and made pop history. Have you ever found yourself in a position similar to Betty's or Barbara's, where you had to make a difficult decision and choose between your personal life and your career?

A. Not so much "personal life" as health over career.

5) Thinking of babies and "baby love," is anyone in your life expecting a baby in 2018?

A. Not that I am aware of.

6) With twelve #1 hits on the Billboard Hot 100, The Supremes remain America's most commercially successfully recording group, and this song (along with "Stop! In the Name of Love") is one of the most popular karaoke songs. If we handed you the mic this morning and absolutely insisted you perform, what song would you choose (any song, any genre)?

A. Oh my. I know so many. But let's go with I Will Survive by Gloria Gaynor.

7) Original group member Florence Ballard left the group in 1967. She died of cardiac arrest in 1976 at the age of 32. Since February is National Heart Month, it seems appropriate to ask: Is anyone in your life battling heart disease?

A. At my last doctor visit, my doctor told me not to worry about dementia because I'd be dead of a heart attack long before I started losing my mind.

8) Florence Ballard's brother, Hank, wrote Chubby Checker's famous dance song, "The Twist." When did you last dance?

A. This morning while I was folding clothes.

9) Random question: Close your eyes and visualize the most beautiful place you've ever been. Now describe it to us.

A. The only place I can think of is soft and hairy, because it is in my husband's arms.
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