Love Child is the late sixties Motown hit written for, and made famous by, Diana Ross & the Supremes. The song is about a woman who resists her lover’s unrelenting sexual advances in order to avoid the risk of becoming an unwed mother. At the time, it offered a fairly provocative commentary on the matter of illegitimacy; an interesting break from the group’s usual love songs. The lyrics were tailored to mirror Diana Ross’ fatherless childhood, which included having to share the emotional, social and financial burdens with her mother; something she swore her own children would never have to experience.
Diana Ross & the Supremes added Love Child to their string of hits when it reached #1 on the Billboard charts in 1968 and remained there for two weeks. It was their best-selling single and the last #1 for the disintegrating group before Ross embarked on her solo career in 1970. Ironically enough, Mary Wilson and Cindy Birdsong did not actually sing on the record, though the album was presented as a group endeavour.
In 1990, female trio Sweet Sensation covered Love Child as their album’s title track, and the single reached #13 on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart. Yet another female trio, Broadzilla, redid Love Child with a hard punk flair on their 2003 Lady Luck album.
