DR - Take Me Higher

[thommg]

The other thread about "lost" singles from Diana Ross got me thinking.... While I liked all of her "Return To Motown" albums [[save Workin' Overtime), I think Take Me Higher was the exceptional one. I just don't understand how this could not have been marketed and pushed by Motown right through the roof. I don't think there is a weak track on the whole album. And there was one extremely hot mix of Take Me Higher that was just killer. What happened with this project? Perhaps, like Baby It's Me, from her first tenure, the powers that be just didn't know what to push and so did nothing.

[jobeterob]

I think they pushed the wrong single first. I think it should have been Voice of the Heart. But wasn't Motown in turmoil at the time? Also, Diana was 50 years old at the time ~ way old in the pop market. I'm not sure anything would have done it.

[alanbill1074]

I don't think Voice Of The Heart would have done much, even as the first single. It's very nice but tepid.

I think TMH was a great album, but there's no one standout for a single. TMH was probably the best choice. Great chorus but very weak verses. I wondered if I Will Survive was added last minute as a safety net.

[Glenpwood]

They threw a lot of singles out there to diffferent formats and I had no trouble locating them in the stores so I can't honestly say Motown put no effort into promotong if. It got great write ups and adds in Billboard for the whole album and each single. Fred Bronson listed Gone as one of his favorite singles of 1995 I recall.

Take Me Higher
Gone
If Youre Not Gonna Love Me Right/ Voice Of The Heart

She was 51 by this time and US pop radio was out of the question. I was. More shocked that it didnt sell better in the UK coming off two megaselling CDs....

Her best album of the post RCA years for sure...

[jobeterob]

I think you both made good points.

[Ollie9]

I have a great version of "Never Loved A Man" on cassette that to me is far superior than the cd version as it has far more punch. Also, "I Thought That We Were Still In Love" with a beautiful, longer almost classical intro.
I don't recall Diana being played much on mainstream radio here in the UK at the time. She had to do a lot of tv promo here in the UK to get "I Will Survive" moving up the charts. Although she looked fantastic around this period, age i'm sure played a huge part in her music, no matter how strong being overlooked.

[Bluebrock]

Diana looked and sounded fabulous during this period. She was awesome on Letterman performing "take me higher", and I recall her doing "voice of the heart" on the lottery show here in the UK and "Gone" on Pebble Mill as well as "I will survive" on TOTP but somehow the album didn't have the same long term impact as "tfbtp". I would love an expanded edition.

[captainjames]

Sorry I don't think the age was a big enough factor to base the argument. Ross would have done well with "If Your Not Gonna Love Me Right" it that song was promoted right and they have done a real nasty mix i the middle. I remember back in the "day" when "Take Me Higher" would come on in the clubs that people would run for the dance floor. However, if you play just the vocals of "Take Me Higher" without the music it sounds like Diana did not give it her all in the studio. I have never heard any other vocals of this song except the one. Sometimes I wonder if it was one of those songs that she just didn't like and did not want to record. It is evident that she prefers "Carry On"because it is included in here repertoire at her concerts.

[marybrewster]

I loved this album. It's hard to believe it was released TWENTY years ago, LOL.

Honey, you couldn't be in a club and not hear either "TMH" or "IWS". I was there and can tell you, both songs ALWAYS packed the dance floor.

[Bluebrock]

Sorry I don't think the age was a big enough factor to base the argument. Ross would have done well with "If Your Not Gonna Love Me Right" it that song was promoted right and they have done a real nasty mix i the middle. I remember back in the "day" when "Take Me Higher" would come on in the clubs that people would run for the dance floor. However, if you play just the vocals of "Take Me Higher" without the music it sounds like Diana did not give it her all in the studio. I have never heard any other vocals of this song except the one. Sometimes I wonder if it was one of those songs that she just didn't like and did not want to record. It is evident that she prefers "Carry On"because it is included in here repertoire at her concerts.
She performed "if your not gonna love me right2 on Jay Leno. I remember she looked and sounded stunning. Great song.

[florence]

Diana looked and sounded fabulous during this period. She was awesome on Letterman performing "take me higher", and I recall her doing "voice of the heart" on the lottery show here in the UK and "Gone" on Pebble Mill as well as "I will survive" on TOTP but somehow the album didn't have the same long term impact as "tfbtp". I would love an expanded edition.

On the face of it this looks like a successful album for Diana in the UK having gone top 10 but a lot of fans bought in the first week giving it a high chart position and then it quickly disappeared.

It was really something of a disaster given the TV promotion she did here for it following the 500k+ selling The Force Behind The Power and the 4xPlatinum One Woman.

The British public just didn't take to it and it didn't even sell the 60k required to merit a Silver Disc- one of very few Diana albums not to.

Even Baby It's Me which didn't manage to chart at all wasn't far short of 100k.

Diana was more of a singles artist in the UK and TMH just wasn't mainstream enough to gain mass acceptance.

[alanbill1074]

I Will Survive should have been the first UK single. Would've gone top 10. Then the title track.

[jobeterob]

On thinking about it, in retrospect, I Will Survive should have been the lead single.

Take Me Higher isn't that strong a song I don't think. I still believe Voice of the Heart was a stronger potential single.

[Bokiluis]

Unfortunately, Motown's radio promotion staff was considered one of the weakest in the business. "Take Me Higher", the single should have been worked on the Dance Top 40 stations. Many of the tour markets had these kinds of radio stations. I was hoping that if Diana could be convinced to do short radio interviews in those markets: WKTU/ New York, KISS/Boston, KMEL/San Francisco, etc. This could have insured a few weeks of AirPlay on these key stations. Usually those stations were in large cities with a huge reach.
To expect R&B radio to break this kind of record was shortsighted. The second single, "If You're Not Gonna Love Me Right" would have had a better base at R&B radio.
But there are a few sad realities to contend with. Once an artist turns 50, radio play is hard to come by. If you could believe this, both first singles from Madonna's last 2 albums never charted on the Hot 100, despite her album debuting Top 3 and a strong tour.
The other sad reality is the Motown that Mr. Gordy created that could compete with the big pop stations, was long gone. Motown had been turned into an R&B indie again, something it hadn't been since 1963. In short, Motown's pop radio and/or Adult Contemporary radio, had no juice. Around that time, only Boyz II Men may have gotten pop radio play. Johnny Gill's self-titled album, released a year or so after "Take Me Higher", was a double platinum hit and only 2 of its 4 key singles got pop play.
The Motown Diana returned to, was a fascimile of itself. [[Actually, Diana made two questionable choices in signing with an American label. RCA, despite its longevity, was known as the R.ecording C.emetery of A.merica, where artist's career goes to die. That's a little strong. But that was the perception that RCA had post-Elvis.
EMI International, on the other hand, was a highly regarded entity....hence, her records did infinitely better in international markets. [[I sorely miss EMI UK because I knew a lot of good people there. They respected Diana and treated her accordingly. On the other hand, I've heard ex-Motown staff calling Diana many names that are unprintable here. Under Mr. Gordy, that would never had been tolerated).

[florence]

I don't think I Will Survive was ever going to be a big hit for Diana.

Sure she did a good version and made it the focal point of her tour but it is an iconic song which the public will always associate with Gloria Gaynor.

The #14 position in the UK was particularly disappointing. Her profile was still high and she had the optimum promotion slot - the National Lottery on the Saturday night before release.

[midnightman]

If You're Not Gonna Love Me Right was my favorite track of the album... had a strong hip hop soul vibe to it but still classic Diana that it didn't seem out of place. Promotion was messed up from the get go, Motown wasn't what it used to be and styles had changed that many of the old guard couldn't be on radio with only a few exceptions [[as Cher proved to be three years after TMH came out).

[alanbill1074]

I don't think I Will Survive was ever going to be a big hit for Diana.

Sure she did a good version and made it the focal point of her tour but it is an iconic song which the public will always associate with Gloria Gaynor.

The #14 position in the UK was particularly disappointing. Her profile was still high and she had the optimum promotion slot - the National Lottery on the Saturday night before release.

I think had she mimed on TOTP instead of singing it live, it would have gone up the charts further. Sadly, 90s TOTP were destroyed by having to sing live, and the performances never came off as well as they did in the 80s, where the mimed performance clips became the definitive performance clips in years to follow. Also a reason why 90s TOTP clips don't get seen as often I'd guess. A live recording just doesn't work as well as the single version, which relied on the production.

[Bluebrock]

I think had she mimed on TOTP instead of singing it live, it would have gone up the charts further. Sadly, 90s TOTP were destroyed by having to sing live, and the performances never came off as well as they did in the 80s, where the mimed performance clips became the definitive performance clips in years to follow. Also a reason why 90s TOTP clips don't get seen as often I'd guess. A live recording just doesn't work as well as the single version, which relied on the production.
I seem to recall she sang it live on totp. It was the last time she did sing live on that show. She mimed to "in the ones you love" and "not over you yet" but survive was a live performance.

[midnightman]

And NOYY became a top ten hit in the UK as a result...

[Bluebrock]

And NOYY became a top ten hit in the UK as a result...
NOYY could have been even bigger. She mimed it on totp, Lottery Show and An Audience With Diana Ross. In fairness it would be a tough song to sing live. Never really cared for it personally. For me there were better songs on EDIAND but each to their own.

[LuvHangOva]

On thinking about it, in retrospect, I Will Survive should have been the lead single.

Take Me Higher isn't that strong a song I don't think. I still believe Voice of the Heart was a stronger potential single.

I like Take Me Higher a lot but analytically it has a strong "vibe" while lyrically not so much. I think sometimes Diana focuses too hard on trying to make sure her singles have an "important" message. To me this was also the case with The Force Behind the Power as a single....in trying to be "profound" the message ends up not being quite as clear as it could be. Everybody can understand what If You're Not Gonna Love Me Right and Gettin Ready For Love [[one of my all time fav Ross recordings) are saying. The messages are clear, to the point and easily digestible.

[luke]

Well said..I love the music and her performance is great though.