Chain Reaction

[Koach]

I know Chain Reaction by Diana Ross was never a Motown song, but I wondered if anyone else enjoyed it. I'm sorry it didn't do better in the U.S.

[mojoman]

I liked it a lot when it was released...fun record to listen to, and the video was pretty good also, as it attempted to recreate a 60s TV dance show.

[dickiemint]

This was a HUGE hit in the UK and is still played a lot to this day,it is catchy, sing a long and danceable, just as Motown was in the 60's and thats why the Bee Gees wrote this song for their Diana Ross album, if this had hit in the States I think that Miss Ross' career would be different today.

[waldo]

i feel there are better songs on her Eaten Alive set. Experience for instance..

[jobeterob]

Chain Reaction is a hugely popular song; I think its over a million or two million youtube views.

Ross had an unparallelled career; the hits dont go on endlessly for anyone........Madonna, the Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney, Aretha Franklin, Loretta Lynn...........but they, like her, are all musical legends.

[nomis]

"Chain Reaction" changed the direction of my life..first i saw a clip of it on Top Of The Pops,just a brief snippet of the video as it entered the top 20..and there was this woman..strutting and flashing her fur coat..then my sister told me the dj on radio one had said in the 60s she was called the stick insect..a tiny photo of The Supremes appeared in the teen magazine "NO.1"..there was three young women dressed funny like they were trying to act older than they actually were..I loved the song but seeing David Mallets video changed my life..the polish..the pizazz ,the glamour the expert editing creating the drama as the video escalated..who was this woman?She had something not even an obsessed 12 year old Madonna fan could explain..she was special..she was exotic,a goddess I was hooked..then the true delight was discovering that this woman had done so many other good pop songs in the past.."Chain reaction" opened the door to me discover Motown,The struggle for racial equality,The essence of a work ethic and untold hours of musical enjoyment.

[jobeterob]

Nice Nomis; in Canada, Baby Love did that for a lot of people; Baby Love, My Girl and Stop in the Name of Love!

[nomis]

David Mallet is a genius..Im good friends with model Gee Ling,she was David Bowies girlfriend and appeared in the Mallet - directed "China Girl" video,She loved working with him..Mallet was behind such things as Kenny Everetts show which was a groundbreaking visual presentation at the time,David Bowies "Ashes To Ashes" video,which has to be one of the greatest music videos ever made..in later years he filmed Tina Turner stadium shows..Chain Reaction ranks with some of his finest work..

[bradsupremes]

I've heard the story that the Bee Gees were afraid to give the song to Diana because they were afraid it would sound too much like a Supremes/Motown record. I have no idea why they thought that because the song sounded nothing like a Supremes/Motown/60's record. At a time when Phil Collins was hitting big with "Two Hearts" which sounded like a Motown/60's record in sound [[thanks to the help of Lamont Dozier), I didn't think this song sounded or reflected anything Supremes/Motown/60's. I love the song, but I have no idea where they thought it would be a throwback to her Supreme days.

[nomis]

My Mother and Sister told me as we watched it on Top Of The Pops that it was an old song - I think a fair part of the British public buying it did for nostalgia sake - Collins "Two Hearts" came out a couple of years later Im sure because I was living in New Zealand by then..at the time of Chain Reaction Phil was working on Genesis tracks..

[captainjames]

I remember ths song well and loved it. It was very big in the clubs at the time and on the big screen in the club they would continue playing Diana walking out in that white fur.

[Glenpwood]

It's really the best single she put out in the RCA era except for possibly Missing You. It captures the joy of her Supremes era singles that had been missing from her solo work for ages. That atrocious Eaten Alive song really killed the era for her with radio so this rightly got snubbed. I remember the Nickelodeon network used to constantly play this video along with another chart stiff, Dueling Bicycles sunny day by Ray Parker Jr and Helen Terry. It wasn't until a few years later when I really got into the charts and got my first billboard books that I found out both flopped.

[uptight]

I enjoyed the video more than I did the song. Here in the States, though, I wish she hadn't kept it in her live act for so many years. To me it was one of the most boring songs in her show. She had replaced others songs more quickly in the past as they fell off the charts. But it seemed like she wanted to force the U.S. audience to like it as much as the U.K. did, even after most folks had forgotten it. I don't even remember hearing it on the radio.

[daviddh]

here in the US and as soon as it got up to #66 ,radio started playing it but then ,yanked it. i think its one of her best RCA songs and i think it is a good throw back to the 60s tamla motown era and a great video.
the Bee Gees has written Islands In the Stream for Diana but apparently she didnt like it or it wasnt released. i think Andy Gibb had co written it and was to record it but passed away before he did so. i think when Diana turned down ISLANDS ,they came back with CHAIN REACTION. to me ,its one of her best. perhaps if it got airplay ,it would have charted higher. i think it made #7 dance

[soulster]

The song was released twice here in the U.S. The original mix didn't go anywhere in 1985, so they remixed it and reissued it in 1986. Still didn't do that well, but it is a popular song. I like it.

[reese]

I think when RCA released it the second time they were trying to repeat the success that they had with MISSING YOU the year before. When MISSING YOU was first released, it hit the R&B Top 10 but flopped on the pop charts. After Diana's video of it was shown on the American Music Awards, the song became popular on pop radio, and eventually hit the pop Top 10.

As others have written, CHAIN REACTION flopped at #95 on its original US release. Diana performed it on the American Music Awards, and RCA sent out a remixed version which unfortunately only made it as far as #66. It was too bad. It was one of the few songs on that album [[EATEN ALIVE) that I really liked. It might have done better had it been the first single. But they were trying to ride on MJ's coattails with his song EATEN ALIVE, and released that first. And even that was a flop at #77, although it did hit the R&B Top 10.

[nomis]

"More and More" was a good choice for the B side as it showed Dianas versality on both sides of the record..In the UK soon after Chain Reaction hit big Motown re-released "Aint No Mountain/Its My House" on "7 as Mountain had been used in a tv ad campaign..

[copley]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UaYHRx9-v2M

Replace the Bee Gees with the Andantes and you've got a classic Motown Supremes sound. #1 in the UK in '86 for 3 week. In the UK all her RCA recordings were issued on Capitol.

'Islands In The Stream' was written in '83 by Barry/Maurice/Robin Gibb for Kenny Rogers album 'Eyes That See in the Dark' which they wrote & produced. Andy had nothing to do with it and died 5 yrs later in '88. The song was originally a solo but Kenny didn't care for it. Dolly was brought in and the rest is history.

[rovereab]

The song was released twice here in the U.S. The original mix didn't go anywhere in 1985, so they remixed it and reissued it in 1986. Still didn't do that well, but it is a popular song. I like it.

I don't recall hearing the remix version in the UK. What are the key differences please?

CR has been very popular in the UK since its release. It crops up everywhere, clubs, parties, shops etc but never seems to become overplayed to the point of Baby Love. I still love the song as it captures the essence of 60s Motown IMO.

Diana also seemed to enjoy making the video given the smiles and glint in her eye that is obvious in so many places. This fun adds to the overall enjoyable package that CR is and I wouldn't mind betting that it will be re-released one day and become a hit again. I also like the way the video captures the different looks Diana had to that point in time - very clever. The white fur coat strut and "flash" do it for me :)

CR is not up there with the highest quality songs she has ever released IMO but it has immense appeal across the generations, at least in the UK.

[nomis]

Chain Reaction was re-released in the UK in '93 backed with One Shining Moment and made it up to #20,It was re released on "7/"12/cassette single and cd single...

[soulster]

rovereab, I never sat down to compare the two mixes. I went by my Joel Whitburn books, and it says the reissued single was remixed. It's probably the same case as the Pointer Sisters' "I'm So Excited". It was issued as a single twice, but the second time was a remix. I never sat down to compare the two, although the reissued mix was also edited.

[whitesoxx]

The remixed version is an edit of the 12" version.

[midnightman]

The song was very Motown-esque anyways so yeah I loved it. One of the first songs that got me to know about Diana Ross. :)

[smark21]

I wonder if it was the presence of the Bee Gees on background that contributed to CR flopping in the US? Their sound was very passe by the mid to late 80's. Also, Ross hit that 20 year wall that most long lasting acts hit when it comes to scoring radio hits in the US as the torch was being handed off to younger dance/pop artists of the time like Madonna, Janet, [[and shorter lived successes) Debbie Gibson, and Expose.

[reese]

I don't think the Bee Gees on background contributed to the song's failure, although I do think they might have been seen as square by that time. Diana's pop recording success had already started to slide as early as the single SO CLOSE in 1983, followed by the relatively unsuccessful singles from the ROSS album. She gained momentum again with the SWEPT AWAY album, but unfortunately it was only temporary. I also think some of her choices for singles, like SO CLOSE and EATEN ALIVE, didn't help.

[soulster]

I wonder if it was the presence of the Bee Gees on background that contributed to CR flopping in the US? Their sound was very passe by the mid to late 80's. Also, Ross hit that 20 year wall that most long lasting acts hit when it comes to scoring radio hits in the US as the torch was being handed off to younger dance/pop artists of the time like Madonna, Janet, [[and shorter lived successes) Debbie Gibson, and Expose.

I think you almost nailed it as far as the "Eaten Alive" album is concerned. Ross's music ceased to be interesting at that point. It's not like the song was out of date. Ross's contemporaries Aretha Franklin, Barbra Streisand, and Jermaine Jackson were still riding high at this time. Consider a few of the hits during that length of time:

I Think It's Love - Jermaine Jackson
Who's Zoomin' Who - Aretha Franklin
Kiss - Prince
Money For Nothing - Dire Straits
Say You, Say Me - Lionel Ritchie
Freedom - Pointer Sisters
How Will I Know - Whitney Houston

[topdiva1]

Very youthful record for a woman of her age at the time - very Martha and The Vandellas circa 1966 - and it was a flop for a Diana Ross record. Ross was searching and reaching for a hit and Chain Reaction proved to be a bad reaction.

[nomis]

..which are all more intelligble than the lyrics of Eaten Alive..after the neon tropical nights or whatever of Pieces of Ice you think Miss R would be more choosy with lead-off-the bat single choice for the album..what we got was the hysterics of Barry,Micheal and Lady Di in one hot mess...

[stephanie]

The reason why Chain Reaction didnt do well was because it didnt get an airplay in the US. The video was GREAT and if it had heavy rotation it would have done very well. As many here have stated it is one of the few songs during her RCA tenure that was not boring and listenable. I was amazed at how great she looked in the video it reminded me of Shindig and Hullaballoo. I never tire of that video or the song. I was so glad to hear her do it on the AMA awards and I thought it would take off but who knows why it didnt I think the Bee Gees did a wonderful job on the song.

[soulster]

I don't think the Bee Gees on background contributed to the song's failure, although I do think they might have been seen as square by that time. Diana's pop recording success had already started to slide as early as the single SO CLOSE in 1983, followed by the relatively unsuccessful singles from the ROSS album. She gained momentum again with the SWEPT AWAY album, but unfortunately it was only temporary. I also think some of her choices for singles, like SO CLOSE and EATEN ALIVE, didn't help.

Lets look at her output on RCA/Ross Records:

Why Do Fools Fall In Love - Hardly a bad track on it. A classic album!
Why Do Fools Fall In Love - Great song! A perfect choice to kick off her new label.
Mirror Mirror - Again, perfect choice!
Work That Body - Bad choice. It had a long chart run, so what do I know?

Silk Electric A personal favorite of mine, but it basically bombed.
Muscles - Good song! It had that Michael Jackson sound.
So Close - Maybe she shouldn't have remixed it for the single. It worked better as an album track. There were other cuts off this album that were more popular, like "Who".

Ross Half of this album was brilliant! Getting Steely Dan's producer was a perfect move. Soul Train was playing almost every cut on it.
Pieces Of Ice - Good lead-off single.
Up Front - Too much Ray Parker Jr. It sounds like he should have kept it for himself. After all, he recorded, played, produced, and mixed it all himself. He probably just took his vocals off and gave it to her.
Let's Go Up - Good single! It should have been the second single.

Swept Away - Excellent album!
All Of You - Bleccch!
Swept Away - Again, a great pick for a producer. In this case: Daryl Hall. Sounds update.
Missing You - Very sentimental ballad about Marvin Gaye. Another winner.
Telephone - It was almost an R&B top 10 hit, but still respectable at #13.

Eaten Alive - She started to lose me here.
Eaten Alive - Bad song.
Chain Reaction - Got no reaction
Chain Reaction - remixed and reissued. Popular song that got nowhere.

Red Hot Rhythm and Blues - Actually a pretty good album! Bad album cover. Her sound is now out of date.
Dirty Looks - first single

There were other popular songs from this album, but there were no other charting singles. "Rescue Me" would have been a good pick, but, again, the album was out of date. It had some 60s covers, but still...

[captainjames]

I loved Chain Reaction and I think the die hard fans rushed to purchase it but to the rest of the world I think they thought this was an old Supreme song. Just for the record regarding the Dirty Looks album I was hoping Diana would pull "Stranger In Paradise" as the single. I remember playing that song and everyone loved it and couldn't believe it was Diana.

[nomis]

..I dont think Diana would have been too bothered by hearing the 60s flavour of CR at demo stage she had been doing a kind "something for everyone" approach to her LPs by now..Swept Away had 60s Rescue Me- there was also the obligatory "rock" track [[Upfront then that god -awful Children Of The World)..Barry has been interviewed and he found Diana to be "distracted" in the making of Eaten Alive..lets face it by now the money was in the bank and it was a case of sign up a producer with a proven hit track record - Hall,Ritchie then Gibb. I think Diana was living the jet set life and it was all just a job like the stage shows that lacked the 70s pizazz - she was working hard but treading water at the same time..Its her power as a vocalist that makes you believe in CR -Im sure she has no personal affection for the song apart from it scoring big internationally..It would have been just another track to sing between jetting the kids to some exotic destination and singing for Steve Wynn...

[soulster]

Just for the record regarding the Dirty Looks album I fixed the title. I got it wrong at first.

Regarding that album not sounding like Diana? Man, everything she records sounds like Diana!

[stephanie]

The problem with Miss Ross is that when she is in a controlled environment she is fine! Look at her videos for Chain Reaction, and Pieces of Ice [[horrid song but great video) if she is dancing and there are people around her she is fine. Dirty Looks video [[perfect example below)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ES-c5MK5ET8

When she is left to her own devices and its me me she comes off as self centered and not talented. This video would have been so much better if it told a story or had her with the dancers. Swept Away the video worked because there were other people there and it told a story. I used to hate seeing her on television and for YEARS they would show that montage from Central Park I got tired of it. Couldnt she just come out and sing! There was always some 2 minute mural of pics of her and all of her accomplishments. She ran amok over at RCA and when she self produced it was self mutilation. There were some winners Mirror Mirror, Why do Fools Fall in Love and others but she got lazy in these two songs she pushes her vocals. So Close, Mr Lee, Selfish One was not the Ross we know and she could still belt but she sounded like she was whispering and the material wasnt strong. Diana Ross is a good vocalist and has a keen sense of fashion but being the center of everything gets boring after a while. She is great when she is on but when her productions are self centered they are horrid.

[nomis]

Hmmmm....I mean shes self centered she always has been- that makes her Diana Ross ! As for the RCA videos,Its like the songs -hit and miss..

Why Do Fools -Quality video tape,good setting,it works she suits the Vegas strip [[in a good way!)
Muscles -Awful,all thats missing is a free membership to a sauna and a bottle of amyl..the editing is up to scratch but that Weather Girls/Olivia physical vibe is just tacky..my father saw me watch it once and said "God thats rubbish.."
Mirror Mirror -also expensive video tape and shes acting for all her worth,a little boring but not embarrising
Work That Body -hideous early 80s over lit cheap video tape,It was crap then and its crap now
Pieces Of Ice -It looks like money has been spent,MTV wouldnt play it and that caused friction with RCA,again best editing you can get and in a 4 min vid thats everything
Missing You -Beautiful..classy elegant.quality video tape again,good lighting,
Swept Away -Camp- when Diana pushes that woman you know she means it!Again top notch editing..has a soap opera quality..but great shots of her batting her apricot eyeshadow
Eaten Alive- Just as good video as Micheal and Madonna was making...dramatic editing people enjoy this video
Chain Reaction - A Plus
Experience..then things go wrong,Its cheesy -some of the video mixing is by then out of date..I would have asked RCA for a remount if I had seen the finished cut
Dirty Looks -Horrible lighting,cheap film [[only the breif shots on the beach are good film stock)the dancers are naff
Mr lee -awful,horrible mess cant she find leading men who look barely heterosexual?terrible split screen photography of diana x3..bad hair day,tacky crap warehouse -set..yuck
..she has had as many wins as she had fails..but MTV was never gonna play her - they were racist.. so her chart status suffered in the US..

[soulster]

There were some winners Mirror Mirror, Why do Fools Fall in Love and others but she got lazy in these two songs she pushes her vocals.

Say what???? Mirror Mirror JAMMED! That was funk! It was perhaps the best song on the album!

And, who cares about videos? It's all about the music.

[jillfoster]

..which are all more intelligble than the lyrics of Eaten Alive..after the neon tropical nights or whatever of Pieces of Ice you think Miss R would be more choosy with lead-off-the bat single choice for the album..what we got was the hysterics of Barry,Micheal and Lady Di in one hot mess...

Well, to be fair, Bee Gees lyrics have always been very obtuse... "I looked at the skies rubbing my hands over my eyes, and I fell out of bed, hurting my head, from things that I said."

[jillfoster]

..I dont think Diana would have been too bothered by hearing the 60s flavour of CR at demo stage she had been doing a kind "something for everyone" approach to her LPs by now..Swept Away had 60s Rescue Me- there was also the obligatory "rock" track [[Upfront then that god -awful Children Of The World)..Barry has been interviewed and he found Diana to be "distracted" in the making of Eaten Alive..lets face it by now the money was in the bank and it was a case of sign up a producer with a proven hit track record - Hall,Ritchie then Gibb. I think Diana was living the jet set life and it was all just a job like the stage shows that lacked the 70s pizazz - she was working hard but treading water at the same time..Its her power as a vocalist that makes you believe in CR -Im sure she has no personal affection for the song apart from it scoring big internationally..It would have been just another track to sing between jetting the kids to some exotic destination and singing for Steve Wynn...

Robin said that they basically had to "make" her do it. They had Chain Reaction all along, but were afraid to play it for her. When they did, she was totally non-plussed, because she didn;t want to sing something that was a Supremes song. They just told her "that's all we have", and she HAD to have another song on the album, per contract stipulations, and the Bee Gees had to produce it. But then Robin said after she recorded it, she changed her mind, and decided she liked it.

[simplysupreme]

I used to hate seeing her on television and for YEARS they would show that montage from Central Park I got tired of it. Couldnt she just come out and sing! There was always some 2 minute mural of pics of her and all of her accomplishments.

Um, that's because when they showed these montages she was being HONORED..LOL Refresh my memory as to when this type of salute was shown and she came out to perform afterwards? I know she did on the Soul Train Hall of Fame special, but again, she was being honored.

[jillfoster]

Um, that's because when they showed these montages she was being HONORED..LOL Refresh my memory as to when this type of salute was shown and she came out to perform afterwards? I know she did on the Soul Train Hall of Fame special, but again, she was being honored.

Since you asked:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7sWU_Fuops&feature=related

[Koach]

If Diana somehow reunited with Mary and Cindy on stage, I'd want them to do Chain Reaction. I know that D.R. did sang one of her solo songs with Scherrie and Lynda on the Return to Love tour. Did they do Chain Reaction as well?

[reese]

If Diana somehow reunited with Mary and Cindy on stage, I'd want them to do Chain Reaction. I know that D.R. did sang one of her solo songs with Scherrie and Lynda on the Return to Love tour. Did they do Chain Reaction as well?

It probably changed from show to show. I've seen a tape where they accompanied her on REACH OUT I'LL BE THERE. On another, they accompanied her on UPSIDE DOWN.

[soulster]

Looks like this thread is turning into another damn reunite the Supremes discussion.

[daviddh]

i wanted to clarify my earlier post, i meant to say that Andy Gibb had cowrote CR with his brothers,.. not,ISLANDS IN THE STREAM. i saw an interview with the Bee Gees and they had stated they had ISLANDS for diana but she must have turned it down. i may have it wrong as its been a while since i saw the interview but i will look it up

[copley]

i wanted to clarify my earlier post, i meant to say that Andy Gibb had cowrote CR with his brothers,.. not,ISLANDS IN THE STREAM. i saw an interview with the Bee Gees and they had stated they had ISLANDS for diana but she must have turned it down. i may have it wrong as its been a while since i saw the interview but i will look it up

On my copy of CR the writers are B, R & M Gibb. Andy had nothing to do with it.

[daviddh]

i just checked on the documentary KEPPEL ROAD BEE GEES and they stated they had written ISLANDS for diana and CHAIN REACTION was the last song to be added to the album. wonder if diana recorded ISLANDS or turned it down.

[daviddh]

thanks Copley

[simplysupreme]

Since you asked:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7sWU_Fuops&feature=related

That's not what she was talking about. That was years before Central Park.

[smark21]

I think the 60's Hulabaloo parts of the CR video are excellent, but the other parts, Diana preening in gowns narcissistically and the crew in the production truck acting crazy while looking at Ross are just cheesy.

While I can't blame Ross for wanting to have more control over her career after nearly 20 years under Berry Gordy's thumb, the results of the RCA years proved she needed a strong hand, or at least a sympathetic hand, to guide her. Though the hits really dried up in the US by the time she returned to Motown in 1989, the quality of her recording work and concerts was much better in the 90's.

[supremesouluk2]

Chain Reaction is a great pop song and always popular on the radio, at parties etc.
It has also been recorded by two chart-topping acts in the UK, Steps and The Nolans.

[marv2]

I didn't like it. I am from the U.S.

[jonc]

I didn't like it. I am from the U.S.

You didn't like a Diana Ross song? I'm shocked as you are such a big fan.

[soulster]

You don't have to like everything an artist does just because you are a fan.

[topdiva1]

You don't have to like everything an artist does just because you are a fan.

Very true and sensible.

[phyl]

You didn't like a Diana Ross song? I'm shocked as you are such a big fan.

marv isnt a dinan ross fan hes a mary wilson fan and tats one of the reasons why hes my firend and i love him so much.

[marv2]

marv isnt a dinan ross fan hes a mary wilson fan and tats one of the reasons why hes my firend and i love him so much.


You tell 'em Phyl!

[luke]

Chain Reaction is like Motown redux! Thats the effect they were going for!!!

[midnightman]

Chain Reaction is like Motown redux! Thats the effect they were going for!!!

Exactly. The Bee Gees immediately approached the song like Diana was still with the Supremes.