"the Supremes"

[Mark A Mandel]

On Fri, 4 Jan 2002, James A. Landau wrote:

#1.  I would have thought "the Supremes" meaning the US Supreme Court or the
#Justices thereof was an artifact of the post-campaign campaign after the last
#Presidential election.  However, I just discovered the same usage in 1994 in,
#of all places, Analog Science Fiction magazine.  Does anyone have an earlier
#cite?

Not offhand, but I'm pretty sure I remember it from earlier.

#2.  Probably hopeless, but does anyone have evidence that this expression
#was, or was not, derived from the name of the Motown group "Diana Ross and
#the Supremes"?

Similarly: although without evidence, that was exactly how I
thought of the expression in this usage the first time I
heard it, and I have always thought that was the derivation.
It is, of course, obvious and striking for those of us who
had Motown in the music of our teens in a way that cannot be
so strong for later generations.

-- Mark M.