Diana Ross

[idratherjack]

I don't want to put Diana in the dumper but I fear this is where she'd be moved to anyway!

I've got tickets to see her in May and can't wait - I'm anticipating big hair and a lot of costume changes.

I've just discovered her song with Michael Jackson called Eaten Alive (it was the single before Chain Reaction) and for some reason it only got to number 71. This is an awesome record, really the sound of Diana having a quivering disco breakdown and I wholeheartedly recommend it to all regular visitors to the PJ Retirment Facility. You won't be disappointed!

What other forgotten gems from Ms Ross should I be looking for?

 

[xenomania]

Over in ILX there's a discussion on CHIC, and apparently a re-release of "Diana" includes the entire album in it's original CHIC mixes. Also, there's a bonus disc with some amazing stuff too. I'm definitely going to get a copy of it soon.

 

[nnnumb]

Over in ILX there's a discussion on CHIC, and apparently a re-release of "Diana" includes the entire album in it's original CHIC mixes. Also, there's a bonus disc with some amazing stuff too. I'm definitely going to get a copy of it soon.

It's not just the Chic version. It's got the released version of the album, the Chic version, a bonus disc of extended mixes / exclusive stuff and very, very interesting liner notes. One of the best reissues I've ever seen.

Not that it's really a forgotten track, but 'The Theme From Mahogany (Do You Know Where You're Going To)' is certainly my favourite Diana track. I remember my Mum playing it to death when it came out.

 

[bungle]

It's worth tracking down Ease on Down the Road from The Wiz, which was also a Jackson/Ross duet.

By the way, my favourite Ross track is 'You Keep Me Hanging On' (OK, so it's with the Supremes) - it's really quite angry, and I love the Almighty mix of it, although I know that Mr PJ doesn't, sadly. Chain Reaction (another obvious one) is just second. It's one of the greatest songs ever. Even Steps couldn't fuck it up.

 

[vasilios]

Oh being a new Diana fan is a task.
I never liked her that much but always had a soft spot one her - and after finding a vhs ep of her 1985-ish videos for 50p, a 1979 book, the Supremes dvd and reading the Diana Ross book (unoficial but really good, by that Taraboreli guy) I started wanting everything she's done... and it is sooooo much. I have Diana, The Boss, Red Hot Rhythm Blues, Workin' Overtime, The Remixes, Marvin & Diana and just ordered her last 4 albums from secondspin. A 1993 Greatesh Hits Video from Amazon is on the way - which leads me to... how much does she need a good dvd?

Try those youtube bits of her early 80's Park concerts, the bit were she does Billie Jean and Muscles is amazing!

 

[manlove]

well, if i could recommend one lost miss ross classic, it would have to be the sublime in all its 12" extended glory... 'Paradise' 1989 ... mixing all the influences of the day, it should have been huge... i have it on 12" poster bag slv, and it is worth dragging my turntables out now n then just to hear it again...

and if any one knows where i can get it on cd/mp3...

:)

Mx

 

[babsboy]

oh god.....so many!!!! "pieces of ice", "tenderness", "take me higher"....such a lovely woman despite all the rumours. i spent 4 hours with her once as a personal shopper and she was a delight.....check out her 94 TV movie, "out of darkness"......astonishingly good

 

[ciaranmccoy]

The "Diana" Universal Deluxe Edition is the best pop re-issue of recent years as far as I'm concerned (it was re-issued in August 2003, the same week as Neil Young's "On The Beach"). A proper 24 carat gold original album, a "legendary" unreleased "the album they didn't want you to hear" version and a bonus disc of Diana disco extras and raritites with a big booklet featuring interviews with Nile Rodgers and all the info and photos you could wish for? Absolutely extraordinary job. Worth paying the £20 (or €25.99) over and over again as far as I'm concerned.

 

[vasilios]

Manlove give me an email and I can fix you with those Inner City-like Paradise Remixes, I have the cd single, bought for 10 cents last year!

 

[manlove]

ooh, bless you vasilios... thats so kind! i have emailed ... i cant believe it was actually released on cd ... thats such good news!!!!

:)

Mx

 

[Pablo]

For me, ''The Boss'' (1979 Diana Ross single, written by Ashford & Simpson) is simply one of the best pop songs ever.

 

[swinginglondontown]

That''ll be "Miss Ross" to us normal folk!

 

[peteyjames]

Over in ILX there''s a discussion on CHIC, and apparently a re-release of "Diana" includes the entire album in it''s original CHIC mixes. Also, there''s a bonus disc with some amazing stuff too. I''m definitely going to get a copy of it soon.

Me too.

 

[slimane]

Has anyone read this new autobiography of her, its unofficial but from what I understand its really well researched and has had great reviews. Apparently Miss Ross hates it.

 

[Robert]

How can you have an unofficial autobiography? Hehe.

 

[undisco_me]

I can''t get enough of the rapturous Take Me Higher, her flighty vocals work really well and when she shouts "go!" it sounds like her P.A. has just been made to fall down the stairs with fear. Definately deserving of more than the UK #32 placing it generated - it''s a dance classic.

 

[lisaj]

When I was a kid I loved Work That Body, took me years to track it down again (50p for the 7"). But as for favourites, Stop! In The Name Of Love is a classic pop song and I also love Ain''t No Mountain High Enough and Love Hangover.

 

[AugustMoon]

Try those youtube bits of her early 80''s Park concerts, the bit were she does Billie Jean and Muscles is amazing!

I was at that concert, together with half a million others. It was supposed to be only one, but there was a thunderstorm, so she repeated it the day after. Most memorable bit for me was her using rude words to get us out of the park. And booing progressing through the crowd at one point before the concert, as the legendary Ed Koch walked to the stage. He wasn''t that popular with black New Yorkers at the time.

The YouTube clip has actually Beat It together with Muscles, which makes sense, since it was the new single then. I thought I remember her doing Muscles, which was fine, but can''t remember Beat It. I might have fainted at that stage - New York had Michael Jackson fever at that time, and I was struck by it too. (Madonna possibly too - she picked MJ''s manager for herself because of that single.) Or maybe Ross just didn''t have time to perform them before the rain.

As for the original question, it''s difficult to say. Ross has had a capacity to make weak songs feel rather amazing - stuff that would be excruciating in the hands of somebody like Lisa Scott Lee, or whoever. You sometimes don''t even know if it''s good at all when it seems like a classic. You could be duped. But the Rodgers/Edwards (Chic) production was definitely a thrill when it came out.

 

[vasilios]

I hope she was using rude words to get you out of the Park because of the looming thunderstorm, non?

 

[Pablo]

As I''m a great Diana Ross fan, I''ll try to reactivate the debate.

The lack of good pop traditional songwriters, that''s the problem she has, with a tendency to make mediocre records.

She''s been great when she teamed with the early Motown writers (Holland/Dozier Holland, etc.), with Ashford and Simpson (in the magnificent The Boss), with Chic, the Michael Masser ballads, etc.

In my opinion, the best she''s done in recent years is 2000 "Everyday is a new day", it''s a good example of a balanced record you can listen as a whole, not as 2 good songs and some fillers.