Mark Ribowsky is the author of He's a Rebel: Phil Spector, Rock & Roll's Legendary Producer Don't Look Back and other books on music, sports, and popular culture. He lives in New York.
Music Media Monthly, 5/10/10 "If you cherish the memory of songs like 'Stop! In the Name of Love,' 'Baby Love' and 'You Keep Me Hangin' On,' you'll want to read all about the back story and intrigues that made The Supremes the best of Motown's R&B and Soul groups of its day...A great read." Barnstable Patriot, 6/4/10 "[A] saga of supremely talented, yet sordid, lives. This is a dishy, dirty look at Berry Gordy and the trio of ghetto girls who he made stars...A tale as harrowing as it is nasty, this roller-coaster ride will finally tell you exactly where the love went." The TMR Zoo, 6/15/10 "A much needed 440 page book on one of the greatest 'girl groups' of all time...Ribowsky-very wisely-keeps the history front and center...What the author has done here is no small achievement. He's managed to put a solid document together of this incredible hit machine, and bring the humanity of each individual involved to center stage...Ribowsky handles all of the bad and the good with objectivity and diplomacy...Highly recommended." Neworld Review, August 2010
Music Media Monthly, 5/10/10 "If you cherish the memory of songs like 'Stop! In the Name of Love,' 'Baby Love' and 'You Keep Me Hangin' On,' you'll want to read all about the back story and intrigues that made The Supremes the best of Motown's R&B and Soul groups of its day...A great read." Barnstable Patriot, 6/4/10 "[A] saga of supremely talented, yet sordid, lives. This is a dishy, dirty look at Berry Gordy and the trio of ghetto girls who he made stars...A tale as harrowing as it is nasty, this roller-coaster ride will finally tell you exactly where the love went." The TMR Zoo, 6/15/10 "A much needed 440 page book on one of the greatest 'girl groups' of all time...Ribowsky-very wisely-keeps the history front and center...What the author has done here is no small achievement. He's managed to put a solid document together of this incredible hit machine, and bring the humanity of each individual involved to center stage...Ribowsky handles all of the bad and the good with objectivity and diplomacy...Highly recommended." Neworld Review, August 2010
Biographer of Phil Spector (He's a Rebel), among others, Ribowsky takes a dishy, insider look at Berry Gordy's making of the Supremes, with some nasty swipes at Diana Ross while elevating Flo Ballard as the trio's martyr. In his detailed look at how Berry engineered his Motown empire, thanks to his smart sisters and a lot of luck and fortuitous pairing of talent, Ribowsky nicely intersperses some hindsight reflections by the main players, such as the brothers Brian and Eddie Holland of the legendary songwriting team with Lamont Dozier, with comparative accounts by Mary Wilson, Ross and others in order to sift the truth from the legend. While the author constantly snipes at Ross for her "popping eyes" and naked ambition, it was largely her single-minded drive that garnered attention to the trio's early incarnation as the Primettes, and her high girl-woman singing voice that established the Supremes' distinctive sound. Moreover, Ross's influence on Gordy (and his faith in her future solo stardom) motivated him to keep pushing the group into the limelight, in spite of other girl groups that had a bigger top hit following, such as Martha Reeves and the Vandellas. In this engaging, vivacious account, Ribowsky energetically and thoroughly underscores the Supremes' significance as one of the first crossover successes. (July) Copyright 2009 Reed Business Information.
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