"Reflections" is a 1967 song recorded by American
soul music group
The Supremes for the
Motown label. The single release was the first Supremes record credited to "Diana Ross and the Supremes", and the song was one of the last Motown hits to be written and produced by
Holland–Dozier–Holland before they left the label.
It peaked at the #2 position on the United States'
Billboard Hot 100 pop singles chart as well as the #5 slot on the
UK Singles Chart in September 1967.[1]
"Reflections" peaked on the charts in the late summer and early autumn of 1967. Making the highest debut on
Billboard Hot 100 in the week ending August 12, the song reached number 2 in the week ending September 9, 1967. One place short of being the group's eleventh American number one, "Reflections" stalled at the penultimate position for two weeks behind
Bobbie Gentry's "
Ode to Billie Joe", which
Diana Ross would cover for the Reflections album.[4] "Reflections" also peaked at number 5 on the
UK Singles Chart.[5]
Cash Box said that "electronic effects are put to much use on this new outing from the Detroit mill, and the
feedback play adds a cute appeal to the steady throbbing blues lament for an old love."[6]
The first nationally televised performance to feature
Florence Ballard's replacement
Cindy Birdsong as a member of the Supremes (now billed as "Diana Ross & the Supremes") was on an episode of the
ABCvariety showThe Hollywood Palace first broadcast on September 26, 1967.[7]
A 2003 remix of the song, running 3:16, features a cold closing as originally recorded instead of a
fade-out.
^
abBrend, Mark (2012). The Sound of Tomorrow: How Electronic Music Was Smuggled into the Mainstream. London: Bloomsbury Academic. pp. 164–65.
ISBN978-0-8264-2452-5.
^Joseph Murrells (1984). "THE SUPREMES". Million Selling Records from the 1900s to the 1980s: An Illustrated Directory.
London:
B.T. Batsford. pp. 251–252.
ISBN0-7134-3843-6.
Chronology(The band's name history: The Primettes 1959–1961 / The Supremes 1961–1967 / Diana Ross & The Supremes 1967–1970 / The Supremes 1970 / Diana Ross & The Supremes 1970 / The Supremes 1970–)