Diana - Reach Out vs Mountain

Seems like most everyone agrees that Diana's version of Mountain is one of the highlights of her career. and i agree. love it

And we've all heard and read about the "mountain backlash" for her subsequent singles. how almost anything released would pale in comparison. Remember Me did well but, surprisingly, Surrender didn't. I think Surrender is exciting and so dramatic. love it

What about Reach Out, I'll Be There?

Had she not done Mountain, do you think this song would stand on its own? Or if it had been remade first, do you think it would have had the same impact? And let's go with the lp version on Surrender vs the Ross version or the 45 single version

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Originally Posted by longtimefan

Speaking of ... Am I the only one who feels that REACH OUT AND TOUCH was an “odd” choice for Diana‘s initial solo release? While I am a huge fan and feel that Diana can sing anything, I think this is a totally dreary song. I guess it is good for audience participation. Yawn :-) However, it remains at the bottom of my list of her songs to listen to or for seeing at a live performance.

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Berry Gordy did not want Diana Ross to release Reach Out & Touch because he felt the song was slow, it was a waltz and would not have the desired start to her solo career.Miss Ross was the one who pushed for the song because she felt it spoke to reaching out to help those who were suffering, on drugs,etc. It reached #20 on the pop charts, similarly the Supremes' second single sans Ross was a similar type of slow sing a long, "Everybody's Got The Right To Love" which reached #21.Like Miss Ross, Mary Wilson felt we needed more songs like "Everybody" to help heal our World. Ross' exciting single version of Ain't No Mountain High Enough had all the makings of the start of her solo career and went to #1 Pop, similarly when The Supremes released the exciting Stoned Love as their next single it hit #1 R & B and #7 Pop.

'Reach Out' is a gorgeous record and as jtigre says a perfect song for the moment in time. It immediately became a signature song for Ross. It's true that 'snappier' records could have been released as the first single and may or may not have climbed higher on the charts, but 'Reach Out' is a masterpiece of a record. Quality and timelessness over trends, I guess.

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Originally Posted by PeaceNHarmony

'Reach Out' is a gorgeous record and as jtigre says a perfect song for the moment in time. It immediately became a signature song for Ross. It's true that 'snappier' records could have been released as the first single and may or may not have climbed higher on the charts, but 'Reach Out' is a masterpiece of a record. Quality and timelessness over trends, I guess.

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I adore Diana's version of "reach out , i'll be there". It puts a whole exciting new slant on the song. No-one will ever top the Tops version, but i adore it. I also love "reach out and touch". Diana always thought it should have been a bigger hit. In hindsight i think i would have released "mountain" as the initial single with "roat" as the follow up.
"remember me" is perhaps my all time favourite Ross performance. It is a beautiful lush song that was huge here in the UK as indeed was "surrender". They both went top 10. This was such an exciting time for her solo career and i often listen to these albums.

I must admit that for years, Diana's REACH OUT I'LL BE THERE wasn't one of my favorites. When I first heard it, I thought it was the B-side to CLOSE TO YOU, which I liked much better. I ended up liking the full-length album version a bit more. But I don't think I really came to appreciate it until she performed the song during the RETURN TO LOVE tour.

I still think that many of those first solo singles like REMEMBER ME, REACH OUT AND TOUCH, SURRENDER, etc. might have done much better if she had promoted them on television, but she didn't. She didn't even sing AIN'T NO MOUNTAIN HIGH ENOUGH on tv until it had already hit #1.

Re REACH OUT AND TOUCH, it is funny that in MOTOWN THE MUSICAL, Berry took credit for releasing it. Even going so far as to have Diana respond to his suggestion by saying "Is he out of his f***king mind?"

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Originally Posted by sup_fan

And we've all heard and read about the "mountain backlash" for her subsequent singles. how almost anything released would pale in comparison. Remember Me did well but, surprisingly, Surrender didn't. I think Surrender is exciting and so dramatic. love it

What about Reach Out, I'll Be There?

Had she not done Mountain, do you think this song would stand on its own? Or if it had been remade first, do you think it would have had the same impact? And let's go with the lp version on Surrender vs the Ross version or the 45 single version

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Diana's version of "Reach Out, I'll Be There" is fantastic, but it's not even in the same league as "Mountain" in my mind, so no, I don't think it would have ever had the same impact as "Mountain" no matter the circumstance. I definitely understand why Motown thought it a good idea to release it as a single, since it had a "Aint No Mountain High Enough" vibe to it, but with hindsight I think they should've gone with something else.

"Remember Me" is a great song, definitely one of my favorites, but I can't say I'm surprised that people weren't running to the record store to spend their last penny on this one. "Surrender" is the one I'm shocked about. I would've thought this was a sure fire hit.

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Originally Posted by Bluebrock

I adore Diana's version of "reach out , i'll be there". It puts a whole exciting new slant on the song. No-one will ever top the Tops version, but i adore it. I also love "reach out and touch". Diana always thought it should have been a bigger hit. In hindsight i think i would have released "mountain" as the initial single with "roat" as the follow up.
"remember me" is perhaps my all time favourite Ross performance. It is a beautiful lush song that was huge here in the UK as indeed was "surrender". They both went top 10. This was such an exciting time for her solo career and i often listen to these albums.

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I like the idea of "Mountain" being the first single, but I never would have sent out "Reach Out and Touch" behind it. "Reach Out and Touch" is another absolute favorite of mine, but I think it did as well as it did because it was the first single. After a monster sound like "Mountain", "Reach Out and Touch" would have sounded like a dud.

I know that Mountain was the huge hit but I find myself gravitating to Reach Out more often. I think it suffered as a Mountain wannabe but, for me, it stands on its own and is even grander than Mountain. Perfectly happy to have this dilemma - which of these I like more!

'Remember Me' is considered to be the perfect Motown single by many fans that I know and I agree. It made #7 in the UK one place below 'Mountain'. The follow-up to that was 'I'm Still Waiting' [['Reach Out I'll Be There' was the 'b' side) which of course got to #1. 'Surrender' came next which was another corker and reached #10.

I wonder if ROATSH might have worked better if it did rhythm change to 4/4 like the Sup/Tops duet. Theirs could use some fire too but I think it might have worked. Would have made it more interesting to do that change

I liked all of them but Diana was not visible during most of the early 70s. If she had promoted some of these they would have done far better but BG kept her off tv infuriating Ed Sullivan.

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Originally Posted by sup_fan

Seems like most everyone agrees that Diana's version of Mountain is one of the highlights of her career. and i agree. love it

And we've all heard and read about the "mountain backlash" for her subsequent singles. how almost anything released would pale in comparison. Remember Me did well but, surprisingly, Surrender didn't. I think Surrender is exciting and so dramatic. love it

What about Reach Out, I'll Be There?

Had she not done Mountain, do you think this song would stand on its own? Or if it had been remade first, do you think it would have had the same impact? And let's go with the lp version on Surrender vs the Ross version or the 45 single version

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Maybe SURRENDER repeats the same lines a bit too much? Without enough story line to back it up? That odd give it to me part makes me think of odd parts of NO MATTER WHAT SIGN YOU ARE. Horrible non-ending too. Not bad overall just incomplete, imo.

I do think that without MOUNTAIN , REACH OUT ILL BE THERE would've fared much better . Not likely reaching the same level, but definitely far more appreciated. Those two remakes so close together and so early in her new solo career seems a bit risky also. Listening to ROIBT , it strikes me that there is a bit of LOVE HANGOVER to its composition. The slow sleepy first part that builds into something more . ROIBT is sort of a similar sounding also ran to AINT NO MOUNTAIN , in the same way that NO ONE GETS THE PRIZE is to THE BOSS imo, which without THE BOSS likely could've done something .

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-Cv5LSYxQY

I think "Reach Out and Touch", "Ain't No Mountain" and "Remember Me" are close to perfect. Definitely perfect for Ms Ross. Not as big a fan of "Reach Out, I'll Be There" by her and "Surrender" is one of my least favourite Motown songs. I think UK Tamla Motown had it right by putting "Reach Out, I'll Be There" on the B' side of "I'm Still Waiting" - a deserved number 1.

"Mountain" came first and got the lions share of attention. New sound, new mood, powerful....same would have been said if "Reach Out I'll Be There" came first. I never heard Nathan Jones, Surrender or ROIBT on WABC...Remember Me and I'm Still Waiting, River Deep yes. Even "You're A Part of Me" and "My Mistake"...and I was certain "Everybody's Got The Right To Love" went top 10 because I heard that one several times a day...

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Originally Posted by mysterysinger

I think "Reach Out and Touch", "Ain't No Mountain" and "Remember Me" are close to perfect. I agree ! Definitely perfect for Ms Ross. Not as big a fan of "Reach Out, I'll Be There" by her and "Surrender" is one of my least favourite Motown songs. I think UK Tamla Motown had it right by putting "Reach Out, I'll Be There" on the B' side of "I'm Still Waiting" - a deserved number 1.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_pfnLybgCY

Not familiar with this and I'm trying to imagine this as a #1 record. It must have to grow on you .

What does strike me is that the [[non) Supremes are just as present as ever even as Diana goes solo. Which tells me it wasn't the sound of The Supremes she objected to , [[ but maybe she wasn't given a choice) and realized that most times her voice benefited greatly from that additional highlighting.

In 1971 we weren't as sophisticated...I'm Still Waiting was a nice current sounding pop/soul single at the time, with it's lift and drop tempo....I liked Surrender...still do. But really it just stomped all over the place from start to finish and the NMWSYA type cat wails at the end were a bit much

Reach out i'll be there=Diana Ross gets my vote for her worse song ever it droans on and bores the kecks off me,horrible.

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Originally Posted by Boogiedown

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_pfnLybgCY

Not familiar with this and I'm trying to imagine this as a #1 record. It must have to grow on you .

What does strike me is that the [[non) Supremes are just as present as ever even as Diana goes solo. Which tells me it wasn't the sound of The Supremes she objected to , [[ but maybe she wasn't given a choice) and realized that most times her voice benefited greatly from that additional highlighting.

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We have DJ Tony Blackburn to thank for much of the exposure of "I'm Still Waiting". He was a big Motown fan and loved those early Diana Ross solo efforts. Those background vocals seemed to be a signature on Ross records. To be honest, I never tire of hearing "I'm Still Waiting".