....and it was heaven for Black Music lovers. I bought so many albums during that period, I lost count.
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I like the point you make about “As” enduring as a well known song despite not being a huge hit during its initial release.
Question: What songs were above Getting Ready for Love the week it reached its chart peak? I wonder how many are classics of some sort and how many are pretty much forgotten.
I like Getting Ready for Love, but I can see why it wasn’t a smash. But Baby It’s Me is an excellent album—good set of songs, cohesive production and fine performances by Diana Ross.
It is a bit strange [[but in a good way), that there was an abundance of music released in 1977-78 that are now considered classics from artists as diverse as Chuck Mangione to the O'Jays, to the Bee Gees. If you get the chance, just browse through the charts from roughly Aug. 1977 through July 1978.......whew!!!
Duly noted and faced! ;) Perhaps the deluxe release will get it some overdue appreciation...Quote:
Face it: we like BIM, but it just didn't do that well commercially.
Commercially, BIM was no Diana Ross 1976, Diana 1980, or Lady Sings the Blues. But it may have been as successful as The Boss ~ chartwise it was, but it has never been recognized as that successful for some reason.
But as time moves along things change; for example, The Wiz was regarded as a fairly catastrophic Dianafailure in 1978 and now it's her most popular movie, constantly being repeated, reissued and often in the Top 100 on some of the DVD charts.
I can't quite see that happening for BIM ~ but commercial and critical success are often different.
Oh, heck. I might as well throw in my two cents on Baby It's Me. I always felt it was one of Diana's more cohesive, adult records. Richard Perry did a great job providing her with arrangements that really suited her style and voice. Of the solo years, I think only Ashford and Simpson did better in really showcasing Diana. That being said, I this Getting Ready For Love was too slick for a single release. It seems great for the opening number of her act or as an album track but not so much for radio. The lyrics run by too fast to really get them and I always feel that the first thing about a single should be the ability to sing along while driving in the car. [[Oops, I think my 1960s are showing!). For my money, the killer track on the cd [[filled with many killer tracks) was The Same Love That Made Me Laugh. I think Diana just shines on that song.
Ok, the 28 Songs above GRFL the two weeks it peaked at #27 were....
How Deep Is Your Love - Bee Gees
Baby Come Back - Player
Blue Bayou - Linda Ronstadt
Back In Love Again - L.T.D.
Here You Come Again - Dolly Parton
You Light Up My Life - Debby Boone
Slip Slidin' Away - Paul Simon
Sentimental Lady - Bob Welch
You're In My Heart - Rod Stewart
Hey Deanie - Shaun Cassidy
Come Sail Away - Styx
You Can't Turn Me Off - High Inergy
We Are The Champions - Queen
Runaround Sue - Leif Garrett
It's So Easy - Linda Ronstadt
Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue - Crystal Gayle
Short People - Randy Newman
Just The Way You Are - Billy Joel
Serpentine Fire - Earh Wind & Fire
Turn To Stone - ELO
I Go Crazy - Paul Davis
My way - Elvis Presley
Love Is Thicker Than Water -Andy Gibb
The Way I Feel Tonight - Bay City Rollers
Sometimes When We Touch - Dan Hill
Dance Dance dance Yousah Tousah - Chic
Desiree - Neil Diamond
Stayin' Alive - Bee Gees
Bonus: The albums above Baby It's Me the two weeks it peaked at #18
Linda Ronstadt - Simple Dreams
Fleetwood Mac - Rumours
Steely Dan - Aja
Commodores - Live
Rod Stewart - Footloose & Fancy Free
Lynyrd Skynyrd - Street Survivors
Kansas - Point Of No Return
Debby Boone - You Light Up My Life
Rose Royce - In Full Bloom
Steve Martin - Lets Get Small
Santana - Moonflower
ELO - Out Of the Blue
Barry White - Songs For Someone You Love
Crystal Gayle - We Must Believe in Magic
Kiss - Alive II
Foreigner - Foreigner
Elvis Presley - Elvis In Concert
Earth Wind & Fire - All N All
Queen - News Of The World
Bob Welch - News Of The World
Bonus Bonus: The albums that surged ahead of Baby in the Xmas rush the week it fell from its peak to #26
Boz Scaggs - Down Two Then Left
Olivia Newton John - Greatest Hits
Billy Joel - The Stranger
Neil Diamond - I'm Glad Your Here With Me Tonight
Shaun Cassidy - Born Late
Elton John - Greatest Hits Volume Two
Styx - Grand Illusion
Randy Newman - Little Criminals
Beatles - Love Songs
Definetely shows how competitive the LP market was that holiday season.....
It also shows that I was right and my memory hasn't failed me yet! LOL! The 28 songs listed that came in above "I'm Getting Ready for Love" are all pretty much considered "classics" now [[with the exception of perhaps Hey Deanie - Shaun Cassidy). There was truly a lot great music being released at that time which indeed make things a lot more competitive than today.
The only ones on the singles list I would say are truly lost to time [[and oldies radio) are the singles from Shawn Cassidy, Bay City Rollers, and Leif Garrett and that has more to do with their association with being teen heartthrob acts than anything else. Debby Boone's hit lives on more by reputation for being the longest running Number One singles of the 1970's than airplay since it doesn't test well at all since it got burned out by programmers back then so you never hear it. I have heard the Bob Welch and High Inergy often on Sirus XM as pop lost oldies but not on regular radio. The Randy Newman single is now considered too un-PC these days to get rotated much. The ELO, Neil Diamond, & Earth Wind & Fire singles are the equivalent of "Nothing But Heartaches" or "LILAIIMH" in their artists catalogs. Great songs but get passed over by radio to rotate the bigger hits they had like "Strange Magic," "Sweet Caroline," or "Shining Star" since those have higher familiarity test scores. That same argument can be made for GRFL that it gets passed up to play "Touch Me In The Morning" or "Upside Down" instead.
My point is that most people that were around during that time would immediately recognize 90% of the songs on that list today! Hardly any of them are played on commercial radio in the New York City Metro today. Commercial radio here is probably the absolute worst!
Here is a great station that tries to emulate the legendary CKLW [[the broadcast from the old studios of the Big 8!) If you want to hear some good variety of classic oldies, check them out:
http://www.am580radio.com/
Thanks Glenpwood. There are a lot of sappy songs and cheesy songs on that chart. Perhaps Too Shy to Say should have been the single? It’s not cheesy, but the sentiments in the lyrics are certainly syrupy enough. And certainly during this particular week there wasn’t much of a Black woman presence on the pop charts.
The curse of "Come In From The Rain"?
Another oddity I never realized until this weekend even though I've owned all three CD's for years. "Come In From The Rain" was on three different albums that all topped out a virtually the same position on The Billboard LP's chart. "Come In From The Rain" was originally released by it's author Melissa Manchester on her 1976 LP "Better Days & Happy Endings" which topped out at #24. Here's where it gets interesting. The next April the Captain & Tennille make it the title track of their third A&M disc which topped out at #18 with the single faring worse, stalling at #61 on the Hot 100. A poor showing after two years of big hits and it was a follow up to a top 20 single, "Can't Stop Dancin.'" That fall Diana records her version of it for Baby It's Me and as we know that LP stalled at #18 as well. In 1982 Melissa revisited the song with a bolder new version for her "Hey Ricky" LP and it gets released as a follow up to "You Should Hear How She Talks Abot You" but misses the Hot 100. The LP itself almost equals Baby It's Me & the C&T's showings peaking one position lower at #19.
The simililarities of all three albums boasting one top 40 hit single and peaking virtually the same amused me so I thought I'd share....
Hi all,
After being away from this forum for several years, it is nice to come back and see so many interesting discussions going on… so hello again!
On the topic of Baby It’s Me, it surprised me to see that on a 1978 episode of The Muppet Show, with special guest Raquel Welch, Welch sang two songs of the Baby It’s Me album: the title track Baby It’s Me [[first section of the show) and Confide In Me [[second section of the show). Does anybody has more information about this?
Clip One, Baby It’s Me starts at 2:37
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58OI7iwFGNw
Clip Two, Confide In Me starts at 5:44
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFHKEuSp59s
cheers,
Jaap
Amsterdam
I remember seeing that episode of the Muppets as well and always wondered the same thing...
RELEASE DATE! [[Sort of )
Baby Its Me is being released November 28th according to CD Japan but not the expanded version we've all been waiting for, its a SMH-CD carboard sleeve straight reissue with no bonuses. Lets hope this means Universal will not undercut the expanded versions sales by putting out Baby Expanded before 11/28. They are also listing Ross 78 which has never made it to CD as coming that day as well.... [[all ten Ross solo LPs appear to be involved much like the Supremes reissues earlier this summer)
...1977 was a very busy year for Motown releases...
An Evening With Diana Ross [[Live!) Diana Ross
Deep In My Soul SmokeyRobinson
Down To Love Town TheOriginals
Gettin' Ready MichaelQuatro
Keep It Comin' ValerieSimpson
Moods And Grooves TheJu-Par Universal Orchestra
One To One Syreeta
Suite For A Single Girl JerryButler
The Sundowners WendelAdkins
You're What's Missing In My Life GC Cameron
Class Reunion DelaneyBramlett & Friends
Live! At The London Palladium Marvin Gaye
Motown's Preferred Stock - Stock Option 1 Various Artists
Motown's Preferred Stock - Stock Option 2 Various Artists
Motown's Preferred Stock - Stock Option 3 Various Artists
Totally Táta TátaVega
Commodores TheCommodores
In Good Taste Flavor
Mandré Mandré
Songs Of Love Charlene
Give And Take TheDynamic Superiors
Havin' A House Party WillieHutch
In My Stride DavidRuffin
Thelma & Jerry ThelmaHouston & Jerry Butler
Albert Finney's Album AlbertFinney
Big Time [[Soundtrack) SmokeyRobinson
Rarearth RareEarth
Country Days And Country Nights Pat Boone
Feel The Fire JermaineJackson
Greatest Hits TheMiracles
Kenny Seratt KennySeratt
Slick EddieKendricks
Sly Slick And Wicked SlySlick & Wicked
The Country Side Of Pat Boone Pat Boone
This Is Dorsey Burnette DorseyBurnette
I Sing My Songs For You Phillip Jarrell
Rich Love, Poor Love Syreeta& GC Cameron
Baby It's Me DianaRoss
Love Away Her Memory Tonight Jerry Naylor
New Old-Fashioned Love Ronnie Dove
Porter Sings Porter PorterJordan
Presenting Bob And Penny Bob & Penny
The Devil In Me ThelmaHouston
The Sundowners WendelAdkins
Turnin' On HighInergy
A Little Love SusanAllanson
Commodores - Live! TheCommodores
Doug Momary DougMomary
It All Comes Out In My Song Jerry Butler
Livin' In The Country RonnieDove
Please Take Me Back Larry Groce
Tucker And Schoonmaker Rick Tucker& Lloyd Schoonmaker
Wendell Adkins Wendel Adkins
You Are The Sunshine Of My Life Marty Mitchell
Looking Back [[Anthology) Stevie Wonder
:)
Thank you for the info, Glenpwood! I wish I could buy all of those cardboard sleeve reissues being released. I guess I will only buy Ross [[1978), since it's the only one I don't have on CD and I can't afford to buy all of these albums yet again! :) Too bad they aren't reissuing her live albums "Live at Caesar's Palace" and "An Evening With Diana Ross" in Japan as well.
...Those cardboard sleeve reissues are over $30 each. Ouch!
Baby Its Me is one of my favorite DR albums.love it.
hmmm,if Ross 78 comes out on cd ,i may have to pick that one up as well
[QUOTE=grapevine;124158]...1977 was a very busy year for Motown releases...
However
http://www.bsnpubs.com/motown/mc/mc.html
Several of the titles quoted were not released commercially.
I just read this on Andy Skurow’s Facebook page:
www.facebook.com/home.php#!/andy.skurow?hc_location=timeline
Last night was the opening of Motown The Musical. As promised, here are some details. It was incredible. As I approached the street heading towards the red carpet, the screams were insane. Diana Ross had arrived and was taking pictures with Smokey and Mr. Gordy. The people who walked the carpet was solid A list, from Motown Royalty HDH, Gladys Knight, Ross, Robinson, and so many others. Also on the red carpet: Jane Fonda and beau Richard Perry [[who was recently interviewed by Christian John Wikane for our upcoming Diana Ross - Baby It's Me - Expanded Edition), Sting, Bono and more.
Seems like the expanded edition is on its way.
Great news!
Yes I posted on Andy's wall saying the BIM news was exciting.
Of course Andy we would love any more little hints you may have . . .
One thought about the cigarette-smoke cover: I remember thinking when it came out that they subsequently might have had Diana's first name added to the artwork for use as the album's front cover--perhaps thinking just "Ross" wasn't enough. The album was released as ROSS and the record itself is labeled ROSS. I thought the artwork was so much more effective without it--as is shown in the small photo of the artist's rendering on the back cover. If it was a marketing decision to have "Diana" added, it really wasn't necessary. Moreover, it detracts from the artist's beautiful and striking and original concept. I'd love to know if it was, in fact, a marketing decision. Anyone know?
How soon is soon?
I have to disagree with just about everyone here - including: SURPRISE!: Marv - I don't care for this album that much. I think, next to Funny Girl and Red Hot Rhythm & Blues, it's the album that gets the least amount of spins on my turntable. I don't think it's a bad album, but nothing really compels me to grab it. My faves, Come In From The Rain and Same Love That Made Me Laugh didn't get single attention. I adore Gettin Ready For Love - until the chorus begins. I know the writer tried to "pop" it up' but this was ridiculous. That wonderful jazzy verse is light years from the chorus. I knew it wouldn't hit - how do you program THAT??? Answer: you don't. Your love Is So Good, I felt, was a run-of-the-mill, uninspired dance song that peaked at #15 dance - where it should have. Miss Ross should have kept Don't Leave Me This Way and given Your Love Is So Good to Thelma. I like the album enough to play it, but there's nothing really with an edge except the verse of Gettin Ready and maybe "Same Love" so I'm not surprised the singles failed - in fact, I'm surprised Gettin Ready hit #25. Maybe if it had been out a month before the album, the extra sales would have helped it chart better and get more adds. The success of the album always surprised me as well, but, as a follow up to the best LP of her career, I'm sure a lot of people snapped it up expecting more of the same. Their disappointment evidenced in the total lack of interest in 78's hodge podge "Ross" [[which I prefer.)
Anyone know what Richard Perry said?
Relating to this thread......
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rq2shkk1SHI
Supremester, I guess you aren't a fan of scatting.
This is one of my four favorite 70's Diana Ross albums [[the others being Diana Ross 1970, Surrender and The Boss)and I am tapping [[patiently) for the expanded release of BIM.
Here's Getting Ready For Love for those who love the song [[like me). Enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywbUh0KjNPQ
I like the album because it is NOT the typical Ross album.
Your love is so good for me!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3sQ2x10B5g