Florence Ballard
American singerWikipedia
28
MENTIONS
7
EPISODES
7
PODCASTS
Search complete. 28 mentions across 7 episodes found for "Florence Ballard".
Oct 19, 2026
Paul AbbottHOST
So potted history of the Supremes.
Paul AbbottHOST
They start out with, the story starts with Florence Ballard, who was born in 1943, sadly only made it to 1976.
Paul AbbottHOST
She meets some of the guys from a singing group called The Primes.
Paul AbbottHOST
This is in Detroit.
Paul AbbottHOST
is a bit of a funny thing, really.
Paul AbbottHOST
It's a bit like a sub sort of thing.
Paul AbbottHOST
But basically you have Florence Ballard, you have Betty McGlown, who was a girlfriend of one of the Primes, I think.
Paul AbbottHOST
And then they recruit Mary Wilson, who was born in 1944, was with us until 2021.
WillamHOST
I would've done my own group.
WillamHOST
I would've done just like Florence Ballard did, my birthday sister, and splintered off, done my own thing.
WillamHOST
Which group would you do?
AlaskaHOST
I'd, I'd wanna be in the smaller group because I think you get more of a chance to shine.
BenHOST
It's an older band, older group.
BenHOST
You get Florence Ballard.
BenHOST
Nope.
BenHOST
This is Motown.
Chris GoldenHOST
My World Is Empty Without You, another Holland-Dozier-Holland composition.
Chris GoldenHOST
Supremes at the time were Diana Ross, Mary Wilson, and Florence Ballard.
Chris GoldenHOST
But first, here's Stevie.
speaker_8SOUNDBITE_SPEAKER
Well, don't you know I'm wondering? Little girl, I'm wondering.
Jeff StrueckerHOST
And what I want to do for just a few moments today is tell you about a teenage girl.
Jeff StrueckerHOST
Now, you've probably never heard the name Florence Ballard, but I'm certain you've heard her voice.
Jeff StrueckerHOST
You see, back in the late 1950s, there was a musical group, an all-male group in Detroit that started to gather some attention.
Jeff StrueckerHOST
The group called themselves the Primes.
Jeff StrueckerHOST
Now, the Primes would eventually become the Temptations and huge superstars.
Jeff StrueckerHOST
So there were lots of teenage girls that were watching the Primes, but one of those teenage girls was living in the projects in the Brewster-Douglass housing area of Detroit.
Jeff StrueckerHOST
Her name was Florence Ballard.
Jeff StrueckerHOST
And Florence was watching the Primes and she decided, what if we make a female version of the Primes? So Florence reached out to a couple of her friends, a lady by the name of Betty and Mary and Diana, and said, hey, what if we come together and we make a female version of what would eventually become the Temptations? We're going to call ourselves the Primettes.
Mark BegoGUEST
Well, then we got this book deal to bring out the current, the brand new edition, the 2026 version.
Mark BegoGUEST
And it needed a big updating chapter because the other three members of the band were had all passed away since 2004 when the last edition came out.
Mark BegoGUEST
So that fell upon my shoulders to do.
Mark BegoGUEST
So I brought the book totally up to date.
21 MINS LATER
Mark BegoGUEST
The Platters were a group from the 50s.
Mark BegoGUEST
And they had their original lead singer.
Mark BegoGUEST
And the four other members of The Platters were harmonizing.
Mark BegoGUEST
They said, no, I think it was... his name was Tony something.
Mark BegoGUEST
I was going to become an artist.
Mark BegoGUEST
Well, I ended up developing a love for music, especially all the current music I saw on uh shindig and hullabaloo and and ed sullivan and all the tv shows of the day that precluded mtv and all that and i just fell in love with with current music and the mamas and the papas were the first uh albums and singles i bought and then it was the supremes and then it was sunny and share and three dog night and and of course 60 years ago i remember watching the debut of the Monkees on TV and getting very excited about it.
Mark BegoGUEST
I was 13 years old at the time, and I thought this was so exciting and so revolutionary and so unlike anything I'd really heard or seen.
Mark BegoGUEST
And I love the Monkees a lot.
28 MINS LATER
Mark BegoGUEST
Mickey didn't want to have part of it.
Mark BegoGUEST
He said, I did the book about what I did with the monkeys back in 93.
Mark BegoGUEST
And I just want to leave it as a statement as to how I remembered it then.
Mark BegoGUEST
and let you do the updating chapters.