High Energy (The Supremes album)

High Energy is the twenty-eighth studio album by the Supremes, released in 1976 on the Motown label. The album is notable for featuring the last Billboard Hot 100 Top 40 pop hit for the group, "I'm Gonna Let My Heart Do the Walking". The album sold around 125,000 copies in the USA.[2]

High Energy
Studio album by
the Supremes
ReleasedApril 1976
GenreSoul, disco
Length26:10
LabelMotown
ProducerBrian Holland, Edward Holland, Jr.
The Supremes chronology
The Supremes
(1975)		 High Energy
(1976)		 Mary, Scherrie & Susaye
(1976)
Singles from High Energy
  1. "I'm Gonna Let My Heart Do the Walking"
    Released: March 16, 1976
  2. "High Energy"
    Released: April 1976
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic [1]

Overview

The penultimate studio album released by the group, the Supremes began recording High Energy in December 1975, when its lineup consisted of Scherrie Payne, Mary Wilson and Cindy Birdsong. Birdsong left the group in February 1976, and her replacement, Susaye Greene, was overdubbed onto two tracks, including "I'm Gonna Let My Heart Do the Walking". Greene also assumed lead vocal duties on the title track featuring Joe Sample on piano.. Along with Meet The Supremes and Reflections, these are the only studio albums to include four members of the group rather than the usual three. (Let the Sunshine In and Cream of the Crop both had Florence Ballard appear on a previously recorded track for each album, though she had long been dismissed from the group).

Lead vocals on the other tracks were split between original group member Wilson and Payne. Wilson takes the lead on the album's ballads "Don't Let My Teardrops Bother You", "Till the Boat Sails Away" and "I Don't Want to Lose You". Wilson and Payne split the lead duties on "You're What's Missing in My Life", opening up the dance numbers "I'm Gonna Let My Heart Do the Walking", "You Keep Me Moving On" and "Only You (Can Love Me Like You Love Me)" for Payne. In the US, the single reached number 40 on the Billboard Hot 100, marking the final Top 40 single release for the Supremes.

Alternate mixes of "High Energy" and of "Don't Let My Teardrops Bother You" appeared on the Supremes' The '70s Anthology compilation. "Room at the Top" was also recorded during the sessions, but Eddie Holland felt that the song didn't fit with the feel of the remainder of the album. This track also surfaced on The 70s Anthology. Scherrie Payne was the original lead vocalist on the title track "High Energy;" however her vocal take has yet to be found. Payne has also stated that Cindy Birdsong also recorded a lead vocal for "High Energy," but her version has yet to be found as well.

The entire album was released for the first time on CD on May 17, 2011, on the three-disc set Let Yourself Go: The '70s Albums, Vol 2 – 1974–1977: The Final Sessions which also includes the complete album in a different mix by Russ Terrana.

Track listing

Side one


  1. "High Energy" (Harold Beatty, Brian Holland, Edward Holland, Jr.) - 5:25
  2. "I'm Gonna Let My Heart Do the Walking" (Harold Beatty, Brian Holland, Edward Holland, Jr.) - 3:33
  3. "Only You (Can Love Me Like You Love Me)" (Harold Beatty, Brian Holland, Edward Holland, Jr.) - 3:04
  4. "You Keep Me Moving On" (Brian Holland, Edward Holland, Jr., Richard Davis, Hugh Wyche) - 3:35

Side two
  1. "Don't Let My Teardrops Bother You" (Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier, Edward Holland, Jr., Richard "Popcorn" Wylie) - 4:59
  2. "Till the Boat Sails Away" (Barry Payne, Harold Beatty, Brian Holland, Edward Holland, Jr.)/"I Don't Want To Lose You" (Thom Bell, Linda Creed) - 8:03
  3. "You're What's Missing in My Life" (Harold Beatty, Brian Holland, Edward Holland, Jr.) - 3:56

Personnel

Charts

Weekly charts
Name Chart (1976) Peak
position
High Energy Billboard 200 42
Billboard R&B Albums Chart 24

Singles
Name Chart (1976) Peak position
"I'm Gonna Let My Heart Do the Walking" Billboard Hot 100 40
Billboard R&B Singles Chart 25
Billboard Hot Dance/Disco Singles 1
"High Energy" Billboard Hot Dance/Disco Singles 1

References
  1. Lowe, John. High Energy at Allmusic
  2. http://www.greasylake.org/the-circuit/index.php?%2Ftopic%2F116321-the-supremes-diana-ross-stevie-wonder-and-ray-charlesusa-album-sales%2F
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