I think Mr Lee is still better than much of the final product on Eaten Alive. at least here her vocals aren't 1) muffled and muted and 2) combined with the grating falsettos of the Gibbs

the whole RHRAB project was both good and bad. as a tv special, there was some merit to exploring the history of the R&B music, re-exploring more of the songs that were influential to Diana when she was a young girl in Detroit - could totally see her and mary dancing around on the street corner singing Mr Lee. So on tv as a special, it works

as an lp, it MIGHT have worked had it been released as a soundtrack to the tv special. but even then, i think the general record-buying public wasn't overly interested in retro in 87 or 88. You had recent songs like True Blue or Walking On Sunshine but those were one offs and were by young artists. Diana was already considered "old" and so highlighting "old" songs just amps that up