THE sad death of Mary Wilson, an original member of the famous American Tamla Motown group the Supremes, will rekindle memories for many Islanders of an amazing concert the group did at Sandown Pavilion on November 3, 1983.

It was a full house and the audience stood and roared their approval after the trio's 65 minute set.

By that time, Diana Ross had left the group, who had 13 number one hits, to go solo and Mary became their lead singer.

She had been an original member of the group alongside Ross and Florence Ballard and appeared on every one of their records.

I was thrilled to interview Mary after the show and she revealed how tough life had been in the group's early days.

Their first singles had all been flops and they were branded "the no hit Supremes of Motown." Baby Love, their worldwide hit, changed all that and they became the world's most successful all-girl group.

Mary went on to write her best selling autobiography called Reflections - My Life As A Supreme, which proved a very controversial publication.

Backstage at Sandown Pavilion she told me: "Being a Supreme has been one of the biggest blessings anyone could have because of where we came from and how we grew up.

"Being black and growing up in the '50s was not easy. To come from that point and travel all over the world, have the support of your family, live a wonderful life and have people admire you is unbelievable."

That night the IW Weekly Post photographer Murray Sanders, who later went on to work for the Daily Mail, took some stunning photos of the Supremes, including a brilliant action shot of Mary fronting the group.