Baby It's Me Diana Ross

[daviddh]

I was curious to what everyone thought of Diana's album Baby ITs Me.
this was my second Ross album and I have been hooked ever since.
I was about 17 when this was released and I remember being a bit ticked that it took so long for it's release as it seemed that it took a year and half between albums and finally the album was released and Motown dropped the ball.
I thought it was one of her best albums and it seemed that there was something for everyone. a few of the tracks even sounded like the supremes. also I noticed that Diana wasn't very visible during this time frame and ,if and when she did, she wound sing Lady Is a Tramp or Aint No Bodys Biz instead of promoting her own material. I think that cost her in record sales and with the supremes they always performed their new singles. in her solo years she hasn't always done the same.
the deluxe edition is great and I have been amazed at the out takes especially ROOM FOR TWO, COUNTRY JOHN. not sure what two songs I would replace them with but I think both songs are great and I would have included them. it also makes me wonder why Motown would release Ross 78 with older tracks that were already released but leave gems in the vaults.

[luke]

Loved the album!!

[marv2]

Loved the album!!

It was her best album.

[BayouMotownMan]

I think it's a great album, a solid work, but I would not say it's her best lp. Some things about it were not in her best interest. It was 1977 and Richard Perry seemed intent on putting Diana back into the 60s Motown bag [[All Night Lover is clearly a Supremes knock-off as is Gettin' Ready For Love). To boot, the wrong singles were chosen. To my ear, The Same Love That Made Me Laugh was the hit here. Soul Train used to play it. Gettin' Ready For Love just had no umph to it. Your Love Is So Good For Me was just a quick disco cut.


I think her best solo work at Motown was her debut lp. A close second would be the Touch Me In The Morning lp. Both were solid efforts without a bad cut on them. OK, I'll volunteer that he remake of Keep An Eye was lame.

[rovereab]

The album exuded class to me - the cover and the songs.

I always like it when Diana's albums include a 60s Supremes style of song - it's such a wonderful era of music and still has relevance.

[BayouMotownMan]

The album exuded class to me - the cover and the songs.

I always like it when Diana's albums include a 60s Supremes style of song - it's such a wonderful era of music and still has relevance.

I would agree with that except that when she did the imitation songs as mentioned above, they seemed empty without the Supremes backing her. It made me miss the group even more.

[sup_fan]

it's a very solid album, great to listen to and has held up well. however when it was released it was, IMO, a bit too innocuous. having "something for everyone" diluted the overall impact and with disco being the main rage on the charts, the dance songs here are just too lightweight. With Saturday Night Fever and other things taking disco to stronger, more aggressive materials, this is a little too puff.

[luke]

Loved Top of the world.

[Ollie9]

This was and is my favourite Diana album cover of all time. As for the albums content, i find it just a wee bit to pop and glossy for my own taste. Two stunning ballad performances in "To Shy To Say" and "Come In From The Rain", but for me that's about it. Not one i listen to very often.
It was incredibly strange that the album flopped in the UK, as it was very well promoted here at the time.

[lakedistrictlad1]

Love this album. It's in my top 5 favourite solo Diana albums.

The whole album just seemed loaded with hit singles. 'Gettin Ready for love' still gives me a kick after all these years. And the ballads are perfect for Diana. Some of the most beautiful ballads she's ever sung.
I didn't get the expanded edition.
I'm still waiting in hope it will be issued on CD someday.

[Bluebrock]

I bought the expanded version recently. I got a friend of mine to transfer it to cd and am delighted with it. One of her more consistent albums up there with the three Ashford and Simpson produced albums. It is an album with no weak songs and Diana delivered some fine vocal performances.
As regards it flopping in the Uk it is true it did not figure on the charts but according to a friend of mine still in the industry it sold close to 100,000 copies over a lengthy period. I found this hard to believe but he stands by his statement.
lakedistricylad1. If you want the expanded edition on good quality cd send me a private message.

[LuvHangOva]

Without a doubt my favorite Diana Ross album. Straight ahead pop music at it's best. Miss Ross is one of the finest pop vocalists of all time [[in my book). She sounds best to me when she is just having fun as she is on this one. Proves my theory that if the performer is having fun it's contagious...if you've seen her in concert then you've seen this principle in action.

[daviddh]

did anyone like the out takes .really like COUNTRY JOHN

[jobeterob]

I printed the booklet and made the cd - rather it was done as a birthday present for me.

[florence]

I bought the expanded version recently. I got a friend of mine to transfer it to cd and am delighted with it. One of her more consistent albums up there with the three Ashford and Simpson produced albums. It is an album with no weak songs and Diana delivered some fine vocal performances.
As regards it flopping in the Uk it is true it did not figure on the charts but according to a friend of mine still in the industry it sold close to 100,000 copies over a lengthy period. I found this hard to believe but he stands by his statement.
lakedistricylad1. If you want the expanded edition on good quality cd send me a private message.

A lot of love for this album with the fans but somehow for me it never really gelled.

Vocally Diana was competent and the songs were all solid if not spectacular but there wasn't really a stand out track on which the album could focus.

Berry Gordy insisted the title track be the first single but others disagreed and it certainly didn't help Gettin' Ready when many radio stations preferred to play other tracks although it was a medium sized hit and a top 20 album is nothing to be sneezed at.

I certainly wouldn't have chosen You Got It for a single.

As for the UK alhough it only reached #23 Gettin' Ready For Love was in the charts during a period of high sales and sold somewhere in the region of 90k which is a respectable total when100k was something of benchmark.

I remember being pretty surprised when Top Of The World was chosen as the follow- up single here thenYour Love Is So Good For Me - both these were among the very few Diana singles which failed to officially chart at all in the UK although this was only a top 50 at the time of release and Top Of The World was #62 in the rival Gallup chart.

The album did perform strangely. It sold consistently over a period of time.

The BMRB which compiled the UK charts produced a monthly top 200 UK albums for the record industry and Baby It's Me was in this for October, November and December 1977 - even records at the bottom end of this in December would have pretty healthy sales. It just didn't sell enough in any one week to break into the chart but it must have been quite close.

By mid-December it had shipped over 85k and the fact that it continued to do so would indicate that the shops were selling these. So you're right in suggesting it sold towards the 100k.

Although regarded as a "flop" it in fact well outsold albums such as To Love Again which made #26 with 10 weeks on the chart or even Eaten Alive which got to #11.

[Albator]

The BMRB which compiled the UK charts produced a monthly top 200 UK albums for the record industry and Baby It's Me was in this for October, November and December 1977 - even records at the bottom end of this in December would have pretty healthy sales. It just didn't sell enough in any one week to break into the chart but it must have been quite close.

By mid-December it had shipped over 85k and the fact that it continued to do so would indicate that the shops were selling these. So you're right in suggesting it sold towards the 100k.

Although regarded as a "flop" it in fact well outsold albums such as To Love Again which made #26 with 10 weeks on the chart or even Eaten Alive which got to #11.

According to the UK BPI, "Baby it's me" went silver, meaning it sold in between 60 000 and 100 000.
It didn't chart in Japan, another important market for Diana Ross. A non charted LP in japan can do 50 000 or even more in some case.
For exemple in Japan,"Barbra Streisand greatest hits 2" went gold [[100 000) and it's nowhere one the charts, and on the opposite she had a few charted LPs with no certifications.
This is hard to explain but a lot of RIAA certified albums never charted.

[daviddh]

I don't really know what happened here in USA, we waited over a year for this album to be released, way to long between album ...imo.... then it was released but nothing. Motown dropped the ball. loved it.played it to death.i think this was Diana best era...1976-1980 vocally.

[Albator]

Maybe, even if she was on top in 76, Diana seamed old fashioned with this glossy LP. Trends change so fast , you'r in and you'r out in one year. In 1977 it was the beginning of Donna Summer disco sound.
I Didn't know Diana Ross in 77 but I was already a fan of Donna Summer. When I discovered "getting ready for love" back in 83/84 , I though it was an attempt to capture the sound of the thirties - like "i remember yesterdays" by Donna. It was not hot and I think , it wasn't right for 77.
Out of this context, it's a great album.

[jobucats]

Here's my 2 cents worth. "Baby It's Me" is my favorite of Diana Ross's albums. I so vividly remember listening to it the first time in my tiny apartment back in my college days. Looking at the album cover while listening created an image in my mind of a small concert at a tiny venue. Sonically [[audibly), the album's tracks sound very smooth while possessing just enough reverb to create an intimate sound. It appears that Richard Perry had his engineers to pour a thin layer of syrup on the vocal track [[I am speaking figuratively) to assure that Diana's voice had a warm, silky output. Favorite tracks: The Same Love That Made Me Laugh, All Night Lover, and Top of the World. It's hard to name a least favorite song.

[LuvHangOva]

The delirious happiness of Gettin Ready For Love is one of my favorite Roas moments!! I can see why Bertry Gordy liked it so much. Another is the grande opening sequence of Ain't Mo Mountaim High Enough. Vocally and musically both are iconic visceral experiences for me.