"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–)