In the 80's, These Guys LOVED Their Divas! But Where's Diana?

**Albator** · 02-27-2020, 03:23 AM

Originally Posted by RanRan79

She did do the duet with Julio Iglesias, which was a beautiful song. It's actually one of the handful of Diana RCA tunes that I keep in constant rotation.

Really? I often wonder if the song is remembered in the US. It was quite a hit elsewhere in Europe, but it's like a forgotten song today. Maybe because Iglesias suffer from a bad image.

**florence** · 02-27-2020, 04:34 AM

And yet it didn't do very well in the UK.

**Ollie9** · 02-27-2020, 08:13 AM

Originally Posted by RanRan79

I know you don't mean any disrespect with your comment Ollie, but I have to say I take exception to it and the disregard for the "40 million" plus Black people [[and others who love R&B and listened faithfully to radio stations that played that kind of music) who consumed the songs that made the R&B chart, both by radio and by sales. If you buy into the notion that only what white people or pop music fans consume is memorable or noteworthy you're certainly entitled to that opinion. But as someone who is Black and grew up in the Black community, steeped in the culture, and was once a faithful listener to some of the nation's leading radio stations devoted to r&b music, I can tell you, there are indeed songs that are MASSIVELY popular but were not successful outside the genre.

Take Stephanie Mills' "I Feel Good All Over". Number one r&b hit in 1987. Find me a Black person born between 1940 and 1983 who cannot sing at least the chorus to this song, and that would be a Black person who was not listening to r&b radio in 1987. Stephanie can step on any stage, anywhere, with a sizable Black audience and turn the place out doing this one song alone. Yet "I Feel Good All Over" didn't chart at all on the Hot 100. All that means is that a segment of society felt it, while other segments didn't get it.

It does suck to be told that a song popular with one segment of society doesn't carry the same weight as another song popular with another segment of society, especially when there are countless songs popular with non r&b loving folks that most Black people have never heard nor find memorable. As I said before, I doubt this is the way you've thought about this. Hopefully you get the other side of this and understand it better.

Yes i do RanRan, and most certainly no disrespect was meant. Perhaps i should have just said i really don't think NMWYD is generally that well remembered, even by R&B fans of which i am one.
It's funny, but being a fan of r&b i was delighted when the record came out. This was the genre of music i so wanted to hear from Diana and i remember playing the 12" to death. Loved the various remixes of the song. I was even happy with the WO set.

**RanRan79** · 02-27-2020, 04:33 PM

Originally Posted by Albator

Really? I often wonder if the song is remembered in the US. It was quite a hit elsewhere in Europe, but it's like a forgotten song today. Maybe because Iglesias suffer from a bad image.

I really don't believe much of any of her RCA stuff is remembered much, outside of the biggest hits she had during her time there. I personally enjoy the melody and the way they sing the song.

**RanRan79** · 02-27-2020, 04:36 PM

Originally Posted by Ollie9

Yes i do RanRan, and most certainly no disrespect was meant. Perhaps i should have just said i really don't think NMWYD is generally that well remembered, even by R&B fans of which i am one.
It's funny, but being a fan of r&b i was delighted when the record came out. This was the genre of music i so wanted to hear from Diana and i remember playing the 12" to death. Loved the various remixes of the song. I was even happy with the WO set.

Yeah, I agree, ultimately the song isn't remembered by too many folks. Sometimes it's like that. As I said before, Al has some cuts that are unforgettable. And certainly Diana has more than her share, particularly when you factor in the Supremes. Someone mentioned "It's My House" earlier in the thread. Excellent example. Number 12 r&b but unforgettable. Waaaaayyyyy more people remember "House" rather than "No Matter", I imagine.

**blackguy69** · 02-27-2020, 07:38 PM

I mentioned it. I thought that was a great example.

Originally Posted by RanRan79

Yeah, I agree, ultimately the song isn't remembered by too many folks. Sometimes it's like that. As I said before, Al has some cuts that are unforgettable. And certainly Diana has more than her share, particularly when you factor in the Supremes. Someone mentioned "It's My House" earlier in the thread. Excellent example. Number 12 r&b but unforgettable. Waaaaayyyyy more people remember "House" rather than "No Matter", I imagine.

**Albator** · 02-28-2020, 03:39 AM

Some Supremes LPs were much bigger on the R&B ranking than the Pop charts.
"Love Child" spent 5 w in the top 5 and above all, "Cream of Crop" with 7 w in the top 5 while it barely made the top 40 pop.

**Jaap** · 02-28-2020, 06:07 AM

"All of You" was quite a big hit around the world [[with the exception of the UK). I personally never liked it as I can't stand Julio Iglesias's singing and the song is more in his style than Diana's. The strategy to make a crossover into English-language pop [[including the US market) worked though, working with Diana Ross, The Beach Boys and Willie Nelson. 1100 Bel Air Place is undoubtedly his most popular album. That Diana also included the song on the Swept Away album makes sense [[releasing the album with already one Billboard Top 20 hit included), but the song really doesn't fit the album at all. I've always assumed "All of You" replaced "Fight for It" [[would have been better if it had replaced "We Are the Children of the World"!). The video is a quite nice 1980s guilty pleasure though!

**PeaceNHarmony** · 02-28-2020, 06:51 AM

Originally Posted by vgalindo

Thank you Roberta! Half these songs they are listing also didn’t hit the the top 100. But I guess Diana Ross is held you a higher standard. He would be over the moon if Mary had a top 5 R&B hit.

Or any hit, including her stealing 'Ooh Child' from the 5 Stairsteps. Or 'Here's To Life' from Shirley Horn. Or 'Imagine' from John Lennon.

**vgalindo** · 02-28-2020, 01:50 PM

Originally Posted by PeaceNHarmony

Or any hit, including her stealing 'Ooh Child' from the 5 Stairsteps. Or 'Here's To Life' from Shirley Horn. Or 'Imagine' from John Lennon.

And don’t forget “Can’t take my eyes off of you”. She wore that Frankie Valli song out. For a while I thought that was the only song she knew. Lol.

**PeaceNHarmony** · 02-28-2020, 04:09 PM

Originally Posted by vgalindo

And don’t forget “Can’t take my eyes off of you”. She wore that Frankie Valli song out. For a while I thought that was the only song she knew. Lol.

So true! And, let's not forget 'Everybody Gets To Go To The Moon', stolen from Thelma Houston. I guess the only thing she couldn't steal was attention away from Diana