FIRST OFF . . .

Ex-Supremes singer Mary Wilson could have broken into a strain of “Stop! In the Name of Love,” but it wouldn’t have stopped a federal appeals court from ruling to prevent her from using the group’s name in her concert tours. Wilson, who along with Diana Ross and Florence Ballard formed the popular trio in the 1960s, has tried to use the name Supremes in connection with some of her performances since the original group disbanded in the early 1970s. She has also been tangled in lawsuits with Motown Records, which has owned the right to the name since 1974. The 3-0 vote late Friday of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco overturned a 1985 lower court decision which allowed Wilson to use the name in promoting her own show. Alan Dowling, a lawyer for Motown, said the company had offered to let Wilson mention the Supremes in her billing--with a name like “Mary Wilson of the Supremes”--but had drawn the line at “Mary Wilson and the Supremes.”