OUGD603. Extended Practice. Secret 7" Competition Brief. Research.

from the brief i went on to choose the artist and track i would design for



 http://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2014/oct/08/diana-ross-the-supremes-10-of-the-best#img-1

i chose to do Diana Ross and the Supremes: Reflections because it is a song that for a long time i have really enjoyed and motown music was one of the first genres i took an interest and liking to independantly when i was around 11.

the song not only holds meaning to me but also to the 1960's and the summer of love and was the first example of psychedelic rock released by a motown artist.

background:

The Supremes were an American female singing group and the premier act of Motown Records during the 1960s. Founded as the Primettes in Detroit, Michigan, in 1959, the Supremes were the most commercially successful of Motown's acts and are, to date, America's most successful vocal group^[2] with 12 number one singles on the Billboard Hot 100.

Founding members Florence Ballard, Mary Wilson, Diana Ross, and Betty McGlown, all from the Brewster-Douglass public housing project in Detroit,^[4] formed the Primettes as the sister act to the Primes (with Paul Williams and Eddie Kendricks, who went on to form the Temptations).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Supremes


 the song:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2uwSVDOWh4Y 

After this song was recorded, the group's name was changed to Diana Ross and the Supremes, something the other Supremes were not happy about. This was their first song to be released under that name.

This was released during The Summer of Love (1967) when the Vietnam War was raging. This made it an appropriate choice for the theme song of the TV series China Beach, which was set in Vietnam during the war.

http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=2792

influenced by the psychedelic rock sounds of bands such as The Beatles and The Beach Boys, represented a shift in Motown's pop sound during the latter half of the 1960s.^[3] One of the last released 45s with Florence Ballard and Mary Wilson collaboratively singing background, the psychedelic influence is apparent in the song's arrangement, which featured relatively early use of synthesizers on a popular record.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reflections_%28The_Supremes_song%29

 Reflection only leads to regret for Ross, as she dwells on the happiness she once had, the hurt that followed, and “the love you took from me”. Her lonely introspection is scored by sweeping screes of synthesised noise – the work of engineer Russ Terrana, abusing a signal generator used to test electronic equipment – as producers Holland/Dozier/Holland doffed their caps toward the psychedelic rock scene. But the track’s true magic lies in more traditional tools – James Jamerson’s restless bassline, the brooding keyboards, the relentless tambourine rattle and insurgent snare drum through the chorus, not to mention a delicious call-and-response middle eight, in which Ballard and Mary Wilson got to share the spotlight for a few seconds. This moment of harmony was deceptive, however: Reflections saw the Supremes rechristened Diana Ross & the Supremes, and, by the time of its release, former leader Ballard had been fired following a drunken performance at the Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas, and replaced by Cindy Birdsong. Ballard signed with ABC Records for a solo album that remained unreleased until 2002. After a descent into poverty and alcoholism, she attempted a comeback in 1975, but died the following February of coronary thrombosis, aged only 32.
http://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2014/oct/08/diana-ross-the-supremes-10-of-the-best


the lyrics:

DIANA ROSS AND THE SUPREMES
"Reflections"

(Brian Holland/Lamont Dozier/Edward Holland, Jr.)

Through the mirror of my mind
Time after time
I see reflections of you and me

Reflections of
The way life used to be
Reflections of
The love you took from me

Oh, I'm all alone now
No love to shield me
Trapped in a world
That's a distorted reality

Hapiness you took from me
And left me alone
With only memories

Through the mirror of my mind
Through these tears that I'm crying
Reflects a hurt I can't control
'Cause although you're gone
I keep holding on
To the happy times
Oh, when you were mine

As I peer through the window
Of lost time
Looking over my yesterdays
And all the love I gave all in vain
(All the love) All the love
That I've waisted
(All the tears) All the tears
That I've taisted
All in vain

Through the hollow of my tears
I see a dream that's lost
From the hurt
That you have caused

Everywhere I turn
Seems like everything I see
Reflects the love that used to be

In you I put
All my faith and trust
Right before my eyes
My world has turned to dust

After all the nights
I sat alone and wept
Just a handful of promisses
Are all that's left of loving you

Reflections of
The way life used to be
Reflections of
The love you took from me

In you I put
All my faith and trust
Right before my eyes
My world has turned to dust...

http://www.oldielyrics.com/lyrics/diana_ross_and_the_supremes/reflections.html 

 

having gathered a bit more understanding into the song and its socio-cultural background i went on to develop my design outcome for the record sleeve. this can be found on a separate post named 'development/outcome'