"No Matter What Sign You Are" is a song released for

Diana Ross & the Supremes The Supremes were an American girl group and a premier act of Motown Records during the 1960s. Founded as the Primettes in Detroit, Michigan, in 1959, the Supremes were the most commercially successful of Motown's acts and the most successful ...

by the

Motown Motown Records is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. It was founded by Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on June 7, 1958, and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau of ''moto ...

label.

Background

Originally intended to be Diana Ross & the Supremes' final single before the departure of

Diana Ross Diana Ross (born March 26, 1944) is an American singer and actress. She rose to fame as the lead singer of the vocal group the Supremes, who became Motown's most successful act during the 1960s and one of the world's best-selling girl groups o ...

and penned by

Berry Gordy Berry Gordy III (born November 28, 1929), known professionally as Berry Gordy Jr., is a retired American record executive, record producer, songwriter, film producer and television producer. He is best known as the founder of the Motown record la ...

, the song failed to fulfil Gordy's expectations as the single did not reach the top 20 in either the US and UK, peaking at 31 and 37 respectively in July 1969. The song released as the third single from ''

Let the Sunshine In "Medley: Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In (The Flesh Failures)" (commonly called "Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In", "The Age of Aquarius" or "Let the Sunshine In") is a medley of two songs written for the 1967 musical ''Hair'' by James Rado and Gerome ...

''. As with most singles released under this billing of the group,

session singers Session musicians, studio musicians, or backing musicians are musicians hired to perform in recording sessions or live performances. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a recording artist on a t ...

perform the backing vocals on the recorded single as opposed to Supremes group members at the time, Mary Wilson and

Cindy Birdsong Cynthia Ann Birdsong (born December 15, 1939) is an American singer who became famous as a member of The Supremes in 1967, when she replaced co-founding member Florence Ballard. Birdsong had previously been a member of Patti LaBelle & The Blueb ...

Personnel

*Lead vocals by

*Background vocals by

the Blackberries The Blackberries were a female vocal trio composed of experienced backing vocalists. They backed various artists, including Pacific Gas & Electric, Humble Pie, Ringo Starr, and Pink Floyd. The Blackberries recorded for Motown's West Coast subsid ...

(

Venetta Fields Venetta Lee Fields (born 1941) is an American-born singer, musical theater actress and vocal coach. She was a backing vocalist for American and British rock and pop acts of the 1960s and 1970s, including Ike & Tina Turner, Pink Floyd, Humble ...

Clydie King Clydie Mae King (August 21, 1943 – January 7, 2019) was an American singer, best known for her session work as a backing vocalist. King also recorded solo under her name. In the 1970s, she recorded as Brown Sugar, and her single "Loneliness ( ...

, and

Sherlie Matthews Sherlie Matthews (born November 10, 1934) is an American singer, songwriter and former Motown Records producer, best known as a backing vocalist for pop, R&B and rock groups from the mid-1960s to the present time. Early life Matthews started ...

) *Instrumentation by

the Funk Brothers The Funk Brothers were a group of Detroit-based session musicians who performed the backing to most Motown recordings from 1959 until the company moved to Los Angeles in 1972. Its members are considered among the most successful groups of stud ...

Track listing

*7" single (9 May 1969) (United States/United Kingdom/Netherlands) #"No Matter What Sign You Are" – 2:38 #"The Young Folks" – 2:29

Chart history

Later versions and samples

It was recorded in 1983 by

Russell Grant Russell John Dammerall Grant (born 5 February 1951) is a British astrologer and media personality. He has written several books on astrology, provides syndicated newspaper horoscopes and operates premium rate astrology phone lines. In March 20 ...

and the Starlettes. It was sampled in 1989 by the

Beastie Boys Beastie Boys were an American rap rock group from New York City, formed in 1978. The group was composed of Mike D, Michael "Mike D" Diamond (vocals, drums), Adam Yauch, Adam "MCA" Yauch (vocals, bass), and Ad-Rock, Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz (voca ...

on "

Shake Your Rump Shake may refer to: * Handshake * Milkshake * Tremor * Shakes (wood), cracks in timber * Shake (shingle), a wooden shingle made from split logs Shake, The Shakes, Shaking, or Shakin' may refer to: Geography * Shake, Zimbabwe * Shake, anothe ...

" from their acclaimed second album ''

Paul's Boutique ''Paul's Boutique'' is the second studio album by American hip hop group Beastie Boys, released on July 25, 1989, by Capitol Records. Produced by the Dust Brothers, the album is composed almost entirely from samples, and was recorded over two y ...

''.

References

1969 singles 1969 songs The Supremes songs Songs written by Henry Cosby Songs written by Berry Gordy Song recordings produced by Berry Gordy Song recordings produced by Henry Cosby Psychedelic soul songs {{1960s-R&B-song-stub