Everyone has moved past the negativity that first entered this thread. We're now on to debating "The RCA Years: What Happened?". Mr. Ralph you gotta keep up.:p
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Understood, Ranran. Problem is hitting 75 yesterday. I'm never sure what I'm supposed to keep up on............
All this can be very subjective but a compilation of Billboard top 50 ranking shows something else.
Diana Ross
Upside down # 1
I’m coming out # 5
It’s my turn # 9
Endless Love duet # 1
WDFFIL # 7
Mirror # 8
WTB # 44
Muscles # 10
So close # 40
Pieces of ice # 31
All of you duet # 19
Swept away # 19
Missing you # 10
Aretha Franklin
Love All the Hurt Away # 46
Jump to it # 24
Freeway of love # 3
Who’s zooming who # 7
Sisters are duet # 18
Another night # 22
Jumpin jack flash # 21
Jimmy Lee # 28
I knew you where waiting for me # 1
Through the storm duet # 16
Willing to forgive # 26
A rose is still a rose # 26
Dionne Warwick
No night so long # 23
Friends in love duet # 38
Heartbreaker # 10
Take the short way home # 41
How many time can we say goodbye duet # 27
That’s what friends are for # 1
Love power duet # 12
Patti Labelle
If only you knew # 46
New attitude # 17
On my own duet # 1
Oh People # 26
Gladys Knight
Landlord # 46
Love overboard # 13
That’s what friends are for # 1
Diana had 13 single in the top 50, among them, 10 top 20, 8 top 10, 3 top 5, 2 top 1.
Aretha had 12 top 50, among them 5 top 20, 3 top 10 and one top 1.
Dionne had 7 top 50, 3 top 20 and one top 1
Glady, only 3 top 50
Patty Labelle 4 top 50.
What may be remarquable is that Diana's commercial appeal disappeared after 1984, but it can't be say that others did better.
If you check the touring schedule it's even more stunning. Maybe only Aretha maintained a strong appeal.
And if you take foreign sales into the picture, Diana is even more bigger.
Albator, Diana at Motown, she was the biggest thing happening. It's her post Motown career that's in question. And again, even though she had some hits, most of them do not stand up in the public's mind like the ladies you present above. And there's no questioning her concert draw appeal. We're speaking strictly music.
After Motown she never again had a number one song nor a number one, or close to it, album on the pop charts. Diana reached the top 10 on the r&b album charts three times at RCA. Not one time did she reach the pop chart top 10 during the same span. Even Patti Labelle managed to get a number one pop album during those years. What these things tell me is that despite Diana's vocal talent, despite her ability to put on a damn good show, her music material wasn't jiving with the public like her contemporaries. "New Attitude" may have only hit #17, but who didn't know that song? Who doesn't know it now? Which of Diana's RCA songs is iconic? "Missing You" maybe. And that's a soft maybe.
I disagree. Everybody seemes to know Missing You. Everyone that I talk to that are really not fans know and love Missing you. And let's be real Gladys Knight and the Pips were not having hits in the 80s. And I didn't know Patti had a number one pop album? Which one?
Gladys Knight and the Pips had two number one r&b hits to Diana's one during that time frame, and IMO they were picking songs that kept in line with their "brand" while remaining fresh, which is the crux of my issue with Ross at the time.
Patti's "Winner In You" album hit number one r&b and pop in 1986 or 1987. "Missing You" isn't even in the same league of iconic songs as "New Attitude". I love "Missing You", I tolerate "New Attitude", but there's no way I put money on "Missing You" in a general population survey. No way.
Are you kidding me? Gladys Knight and the Pips were having hits in the 80s and no not everyone remembers the song "Missing You" because it is never played anywhere, anymore even though it is 33 years old.
Gladys Knight & the Pips 80s Hits:
1980 - "Landlord"
1980 - "Taste of Bitter Love"
1981 - "I Will Fight"
1983 - "Save the Overtime [[For Me)"
1983 - "You're Number One [[In My Book)"
1987 - "Love Overboard"
1987 - "Lovin' on Next to Nothin'"
Exactly regarding Gladys Knight & the Pips hits. This is why
I ask people that post misinformation on here their age. I rather believe that they just don't know because of their age rather than blatantly lying to make Diana Ross look better compared to other artists.
You are wrong! Hardly anyone under the age of 40 would know that song. [[If you were 7 years old at the time that song was out, you would now be 40 years old). You are talking about a song that wasn't even a number one record and I doubt that it remained at #10 for more than a week. Ask some one over 50 years old to name a "Diana Ross" song, they are going to name a Supremes song like "Baby Love" They will never name "Missing You".
That is not true! Patti LaBelle tore up the late 80s and early 90s
"If You Asked Me To" was a fine song for example and a Top 10 R&B hit in 1989. You want to tell us what great music Diana
Ross was releasing in 1989? Yeah, that's right. You guys always try to downplay the accomplishments of all other artists to try to make Diana Ross bigger. She was not. She is not now either! Believe it or not, there are people that would step over a dozen Diana Rosses to get to see Patti LaBelle, etc Don't even make me go there with Aretha or Chaka.
When was the last time you heard "Missing You" anywhere in public? on the radio or on television? How are people suppose to know about a nearly 35 year old record that barely scrapped the Top 10? Name me 5 other Top 10 records from 1984 without having to research them. When you say things like you did, just remember that you are only referring to Diana Ross hard core fans and yourself. That is not a lot of people trust me.
People remember Michael Jackson's mega-hits
Well this has now devolved into the usual. I remain steadfast in my opinion: Diana Ross' RCA years does not stand up in comparison with her fellow divas during the same time span. This does not take away from her abilities in any way. The truth is that while she may not have been knocking people dead with her recorded music, she was still able to pack folks into STADIUMS to see and hear her sing it all. It was what it was. I'm out.
Yeah, I am going to comment as it is my right to do so. I am not lying, so it should not devolve into anything. I do not like it when I see these guys dragging down artists that are favorites of others just to try elevate Diana Ross. You can have an opposing opinion. I do not worship this singer. In the 80s it was all about Anita Baker, Patti LaBelle, Sade, Evelyn King, Whitney Houston and Aretha to an extent. You had artists with a song like Jennifer Holliday's "And I Am Telling You" that blew everything away for a time in the 80s. Diana Ross was not a force on radio in the 80s in America [[at least not on Urban Radio) which is why her song "Chain Reaction" flopped big time and to this day most Americans have never even heard it.
Anita Baker had 4 number one albums in the 80s on the R&B Charts and 4 Top 5 albums during the decade. I can promise you that when anyone put on an Anita Baker album on in the 80s, no one was thinking about Diana Ross' music. Same thing in regards to Whitney Houston. These women along with Sade were selling millions of a single album compared to 100,000 -200,000 per Diana Ross album.
8 posts within an hour from a person who dislike Miss Ross. Somebody need help.
I think the difference is if you were in the U.K., Diana was knocking it out of the park while here in the states she got off to a good start but she couldn't maintain the hits. Musical taste had changed and her fellow divas followed suit
I love Gladys Knight and the Pips. But none of the songs were big hits. None charted high on the pop charts. And Missing you was a billboard pop top ten hit. So stop trying to down play it. It was a bigger hit than all of the above Gladys hits and that's a fact!! I don't care if they play Missing You on the radio now or not It still was a bigger hit. And I'm sorry but I haven't heard any of those Gladys Knight and the pips songs on the radio in years !
And for the record. I am one of Gladys Knights biggest fans. I have followed her forever. Have all her albums and CDs. I am not trying to say anything negative about her. But it is plain silly so say she had more hits in the 8os than Diana Ross.
"A License to Kill" by Gladys was better than anything Diana Ross recorded in the whole decade of the 80s!
Love overboard made it to # 13 pop and # 1 r&b. R&B happens to be the "genre" that started rock n roll. How demeaning to dismiss Gladys like that. She is a brilliant ARTIST
Before we start world war 205, let's be honest, most of these songs mentioned does not get regular play today. you might be lucky to catch it , but more than likely not. Oh and by the way, that comment comparing Missing You to Live Overboard. Missing You might have been a top ten song, but Love Overboard took home a Grammy. Just a thought.
It's more about frustration and the need to put down in order to feel better.
It happened again. RanRan said it perfectly a few post ago. How many times does this have to happen. Marv pushes a few buttons and the Ross fans go ape crazy defending Diana . It's only his opinion just ignore it . Truth be told, I think most couldn't ignore marv even if you were offered a billion dollars. His crappy opinion doesn't take away from your fondness for Diana so why let him get under your skin. And since we're talking double standards, the same said fans that get frustrated with marv does the exact same thing to Mary. It's kinda hard to scream double standards while you're being a hypocrite.