Originally Posted by
Jaap
There is a wonderful interview with Diana Ross in Q magazine [[October 1987) by Charles Shaar Murray, entitled "The Gospel according to Miss Ross," in which she explains why she selected the songs for Red Hot Rhythm and Blues. Mr. Lee because of her children listening to the Stand by Me soundtrack, Tell Mama because she always was a big fan of Etta James, There Goes My Baby because she used to sing that with the Primettes, including the talent contest in Canada, Shine because Mick Hucknall wrote that for her after she got in touch with him based on an interview she read in which he talks about the R&B artists he admired. Ross also goes into the history of black music [[although explicitly saying "I'm not an authority on this"). She also discusses quite openly why her film career did not go as well as she had hoped, her regret that she doesn't know fellow artists such as Aretha Franklin and Tina Turner very well on a personal level, and also talks about the ABC television special, including saying that LL Cool J was "sweet" adding: "But he has this thing he does, and I had to tell him, You just can't do that on television! 'Cause he kept grabbing his... [[she mimes the action on her own body and lowers her voice as she does so) balls. I had to keep saying, I don't think ABC will allow that."
It is one of the most interesting interviews with Ross I have ever read, as she talks about the music much more than in any other interview.