Bad Weather

Album: At Their Best (1973)
Charted: 37 87
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Stevie Wonder wrote this with Ira Tucker, Jr., the brother of Supreme Lynda Laurence. The "bad weather" represents a stormy relationship in this one.
  • This was released as a single in 1973, three years after Diana Ross left the group. Their singles at this time had a hard time cracking the Hot 100 - quite a comedown for a group that charted 12 #1 hits. The song's first appearance on an album was in a collection of their previous hits called At Their Best, which was released in 1978.
  • This was the last Supremes song to feature Lynda Laurence and Jean Terrell. In October 1973, Laurence left the group to start a family and Terrell quit because of the group's lack of promotion and publicity. >>
    Suggestion credit:
    Jerro - New Alexandria, PA, for above 2

Comments: 2

  • Kristin from Bessemer, AlWhen Motown slowly began to lose interest in the Supremes, Mary Wilson, the only original member at the time, scrambled for ways to put the Supremes back on top - since current member Lynda Laurence was a member of Stevie Wonder's back-up group Wonderlove, Wilson asked Laurence if Stevie could write/produce a song for them - this is the result. its a great song, but Motown simply was not interested in pushing it.
  • Kent from Toronto, CanadaUp until "Bad Weather", strangely enough, all Supremes singles following Diana Ross's departure had fared significantly better than they had with her for years... in the UK. (Their last UK top ten hit had been "Reflections", #5 in 1967. With the new line-up, the first five consecutive singles made top ten: "Up The Ladder To The Roof": #6, "Stoned Love": #3, "Nathan Jones": #5, "Floy Joy": #9, "Automatically Sunshine": #10. Compare to the seven preceding Ross & Supremes positions, chronologically: #13, #28, #34, #15, #14, #37, #13.) "Bad Weather" broke the run by peaking at #37 in that market... bad, indeed, although the song is quite OK.
see more comments

Editor's Picks

Judas Priest

Judas PriestSongwriter Interviews

Rob Halford, Richie Faulkner and Glenn Tipton talk twin guitar harmonies and explain how they create songs in Judas Priest.

Brian Kehew: The Man Behind The Remasters

Brian Kehew: The Man Behind The RemastersSong Writing

Brian has unearthed outtakes by Fleetwood Mac, Aretha Franklin, Elvis Costello and hundreds of other artists for reissues. Here's how he does it.

Sending Out An SOS - Distress Signals In Songs

Sending Out An SOS - Distress Signals In SongsSong Writing

Songs where something goes horribly wrong (literally or metaphorically), and help is needed right away.

Bob Daisley

Bob DaisleySongwriter Interviews

Bob was the bass player and lyricist for the first two Ozzy Osbourne albums. Here's how he wrote songs like "Crazy Train" and "Mr. Crowley" with Ozzy and Randy Rhoads.

Facebook, Bromance and Email - The First Songs To Use New Words

Facebook, Bromance and Email - The First Songs To Use New WordsSong Writing

Where words like "email," "thirsty," "Twitter" and "gangsta" first showed up in songs, and which songs popularized them.

Danny Clinch: The Art of Rock Photography

Danny Clinch: The Art of Rock PhotographySong Writing

One of rock's top photographers talks about artistry in photography, raising funds for a documentary, and enjoying a County Fair with Tom Waits.