Reach out I'll be there - Diana Ross @ Return to Love

I saw a recording of the Return to Love tour from Madison Square Gardens, and thought that Diana's performance of her version of the Four Tops classic, was outstanding, it was vocally her best performance of the night, was the whole show broadcast on VH1 in the USA, because here in the UK there was none shown, only the VH1 Divas tribute to Diana Ross. It was a good show just a shame that it failed so dramatically, it may have been well received if it came to Europe, before it toured the States.
I did find it strange that she closed a Supremes show with some of her solo recordings.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ko48knvTFE4

This should have been a huge hit; Motown didn't get behind her on this one!!!

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Originally Posted by dickiemint

I saw a recording of the Return to Love tour from Madison Square Gardens, and thought that Diana's performance of her version of the Four Tops classic, was outstanding, it was vocally her best performance of the night, was the whole show broadcast on VH1 in the USA, because here in the UK there was none shown, only the VH1 Divas tribute to Diana Ross. It was a good show just a shame that it failed so dramatically, it may have been well received if it came to Europe, before it toured the States.
I did find it strange that she closed a Supremes show with some of her solo recordings.

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VH1 showed some songs from the first show on the series OPENING NIGHT LIVE.

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Originally Posted by jobeterob

This should have been a huge hit; Motown didn't get behind her on this one!!!

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I must admit that for years I was less than thrilled with Diana's version of this song. The recording seemed to be a blatant attempt to recreate AIN'T NO MOUNTAIN HIGH ENOUGH. But after seeing her perform it on a RTL tape, I began to appreciate the song. I was lucky enough to see Diana perform it on her 2002 tour, and it was the highlight of the evening.

It is an outstanding tribute to the 4 Tops ~~`Ross is at her best on this one.

Diana's version gives the song a completely different meaning than the Four Tops' original. Same lyrics, but completely different tones set the versions apart. It's like comparing apples to oranges.

I, too, think her version should have been a huge hit as it is extremely powerful. I think its own of her best singles. I think the reason why it didn't chart very well was due to the poor editing. It was so choppy that it really stopped the flow of the song. You really could tell where the edits were unlike "Love Hangover" which was edited perfectly. It goes from all calm to all powerful in seconds. What Motown should have done was release the song in its 5 and a half minute entirety. I think if Motown did it that way, the song would have done much better on the charts.

I've never heard the 45 edit before but just found this on YouTube - IMO the editing is so bad it sounds like "the needle jumping" :)

What a shame given Diana's superb vocal performance.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sl7Q7jkowK4

Eamonn

The awkard edit on the single probably didn't ruin sales that badly. It was probably just an awkward fit for a single no matter how you sliced it. It's a great arrangement of an old HDH tune in the vein of "Ain't No Mountain," though. "Mountain" had a very similar edit in its short version but had a faster, snappier beat.