What If Diana Had Recorded Streisands "Guilty" Album ?

[sup_fan]

In my opinion Streisand is THE greatest female vocalist of all time. I am amazed by some of the comments on here. Technically she is in a class of her own. Ella said it. Aretha said it. Sinatra said it. I am happy to be in agreement with those late legends.
I guess we all hear things in different ways.
I also regard Barry as one of the all time great singer/songwriter/producers of the pop era. The Bee Gees great body of work stands up alongside any of the great songwriting partnerships of the 20th century. Their songs have been covered by so many artists in so many genres over the past 53 years or so. Their legacy is almost unrivalled.

Blue - was there the same visceral backlash against the Bee Gees in the UK and commonwealth like there was in the US? i remember as a teen in the 80s that EVERYONE hated them. passionately! to our core!! lol they were... [[gasp) DISCO!!!!! lol

of course i'm overstating this a bit but anything tainted by disco in the US really had an uphill battle. and even if the music industry was not openly joining in on this backlash, they certainly appeared to be doing nothing here to maintain the public's awareness or appreciate for the bee gees overall accomplishments and work

[Bluebrock]

Blue - was there the same visceral backlash against the Bee Gees in the UK and commonwealth like there was in the US? i remember as a teen in the 80s that EVERYONE hated them. passionately! to our core!! lol they were... [[gasp) DISCO!!!!! lol

of course i'm overstating this a bit but anything tainted by disco in the US really had an uphill battle. and even if the music industry was not openly joining in on this backlash, they certainly appeared to be doing nothing here to maintain the public's awareness or appreciate for the bee gees overall accomplishments and work

They had a quiet few years during which time they worked with Babs, Dionne, Kenny and Diana.
They did make a big musical comeback with the no.1 hit You Win Again in the latter part of the 80's, and they followed this with several more hits including the very Chain Reaction like Secret Love which was a big hit in the 90's. The UK market was undoubtedly more loyal than the US market for whatever reason. I have been a fan since the late 60's, and then got to know all four brothers in the early 80's. I got along especially well with Barry and i liked Andy very much too, but i didn't get to know him very well due to his problems. I don't want to say much more out of respect to Barry who carries enough guilt and heartache without me reopening old wounds which have never been allowed to heal. His poor mother Barbara outlived 3 of her sons which is just cruel beyond words. I have outlived one of my sons and that is an unbearable situation, and i do not know how Barbara got through that. Barry's father passed away in the early 90's, just a short while after Andy's passing.

[sup_fan]

They had a quiet few years during which time they worked with Babs, Dionne, Kenny and Diana.
They did make a big musical comeback with the no.1 hit You Win Again in the latter part of the 80's, and they followed this with several more hits including the very Chain Reaction like Secret Love which was a big hit in the 90's. The UK market was undoubtedly more loyal than the US market for whatever reason. I have been a fan since the late 60's, and then got to know all four brothers in the early 80's. I got along especially well with Barry and i liked Andy very much too, but i didn't get to know him very well due to his problems. I don't want to say much more out of respect to Barry who carries enough guilt and heartache without me reopening old wounds which have never been allowed to heal. His poor mother Barbara outlived 3 of her sons which is just cruel beyond words. I have outlived one of my sons and that is an unbearable situation, and i do not know how Barbara got through that. Barry's father passed away in the early 90's, just a short while after Andy's passing.

Blue - thank you for sharing this. we often overlook the human side to our idols and superstars. we think about the loss of these men in terms of the loss to the recording industry and maybe there's even a touch of selfishness in there, in terms of our never getting any more great songs from them. But at the end of the day, they were someone's child. someone's sibling. that's a far more terrible and significant loss than what fans lose.

[nomis]

They had a quiet few years during which time they worked with Babs, Dionne, Kenny and Diana.
They did make a big musical comeback with the no.1 hit You Win Again in the latter part of the 80's, and they followed this with several more hits including the very Chain Reaction like Secret Love which was a big hit in the 90's. The UK market was undoubtedly more loyal than the US market for whatever reason. I have been a fan since the late 60's, and then got to know all four brothers in the early 80's. I got along especially well with Barry and i liked Andy very much too, but i didn't get to know him very well due to his problems. I don't want to say much more out of respect to Barry who carries enough guilt and heartache without me reopening old wounds which have never been allowed to heal. His poor mother Barbara outlived 3 of her sons which is just cruel beyond words. I have outlived one of my sons and that is an unbearable situation, and i do not know how Barbara got through that. Barry's father passed away in the early 90's, just a short while after Andy's passing.

Bluebrock so sorry to hear of your loss I have a special love of The Bee Gees as my big sister had the "Saturday Night Fever" soundtrack when I was very young and then yrs later she bought "You Win Again" single which was a fantastic comeback track in 1987..i was once djing a retro party for a guy and played "You Win Again" in my set which he let me know he wasnt keen on but i trust my big sisters taste more !

[Levi Stubbs Tears]

In regard to the original topic, I don't think it would have worked.

As a teenage music fan in 1980, I probably thought Diana Ross was something of a has-been. A singer of dreary love songs and best suited to K-Tel albums.

But Chic were hot and so the diana album caused me [[and, no doubt, many other young people) to realise Diana Ross still had it! She could still put out groovy new music which the kids could dance to.

The Guilty album [[as good as I later realised it was) would not have done this. I would have just thought 'more dreary love songs'.

The diana album was EXACTLY what her career needed at this point.

[nomis]

In regard to the original topic, I don't think it would have worked.

As a teenage music fan in 1980, I probably thought Diana Ross was something of a has-been. A singer of dreary love songs and best suited to K-Tel albums.

But Chic were hot and so the diana album caused me [[and, no doubt, many other young people) to realise Diana Ross still had it! She could still put out groovy new music which the kids could dance to.

The Guilty album [[as good as I later realised it was) would not have done this. I would have just thought 'more dreary love songs'.

The diana album was EXACTLY what her career needed at this point.

Diana could have recorded with Rogers a year or so later from Guilty and two smashes..she had successfully alternated between the dance floor and ballads for the 5 yrs previously at this time period.

[Levi Stubbs Tears]

Diana could have recorded with Rogers a year or so later from Guilty and two smashes..she had successfully alternated between the dance floor and ballads for the 5 yrs previously at this time period.

I think it would have been much better if a Gibb album had come after the Chic one, preferably with an up-tempo song like Chain Reaction.

Thic Chic sound became less popular after 1980 - thanks to 'disco sucks' etc - that year was really its' last hurrah [[until later when critics and listeners realised how great the music had been).

I'd argue Diana hadn't quite 'successfully alternated' in the late 70s. After 'Love Hangover' she didn't really have a major hit [[only one single out of the ten released made the top 20) until 'Upside Down'.

The Boss and its' singles deserved more success certainly but I blame Motown's poor marketing for this [[and for even 'diana' and its' singles not achieving more success).

For me, the kid, the 'alternating' didn't really work. I remember seeing Diana's new single at the record store and rushing home to play it. "Oh" said I as 'It's My Turn' started to play. "She's gone back to the dreary old ballads"..

[Ollie9]

I think it would have been much better if a Gibb album had come after the Chic one, preferably with an up-tempo song like .

For me, the kid, the 'alternating' didn't really work. I remember seeing Diana's new single at the record store and rushing home to play it. "Oh" said I as 'It's My Turn' started to play. "She's gone back to the dreary old ballads"..

If my memory serves me correct, a lot of fans at the time felt exactly the same way. Diana lost a lot of the momentum she had built when “To Love Again” was released.
She had successfully proved she could appeal to a younger generation then suddenly here she was back to same old.
I agree in that a Gibb collaboration might have been better accepted coming after the ‘diana’ album. Preferably featuring plenty of up-tempo songs.

[Guy]

I think it would have been much better if a Gibb album had come after the Chic one, preferably with an up-tempo song like Chain Reaction.

Thic Chic sound became less popular after 1980 - thanks to 'disco sucks' etc - that year was really its' last hurrah [[until later when critics and listeners realised how great the music had been).

Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards shaped the sound of 80s pop and rock. Nile produced the biggest selling albums in the careers of David Bowie [["Let's Dance") and Madonna [["Like A Virgin"). Separately, they produced the biggest hits Robert Palmer, Mick Jagger, Rod Stewart and Duran Duran had during the decade.

Apparently, Disco only sucked when Black artists made it.

[RanRan79]

I think it would have been much better if a Gibb album had come after the Chic one, preferably with an up-tempo song like Chain Reaction.

Thic Chic sound became less popular after 1980 - thanks to 'disco sucks' etc - that year was really its' last hurrah [[until later when critics and listeners realised how great the music had been).

I'd argue Diana hadn't quite 'successfully alternated' in the late 70s. After 'Love Hangover' she didn't really have a major hit [[only one single out of the ten released made the top 20) until 'Upside Down'.

The Boss and its' singles deserved more success certainly but I blame Motown's poor marketing for this [[and for even 'diana' and its' singles not achieving more success).

For me, the kid, the 'alternating' didn't really work. I remember seeing Diana's new single at the record store and rushing home to play it. "Oh" said I as 'It's My Turn' started to play. "She's gone back to the dreary old ballads"..

Interesting takes! And it is enlightening to ponder the different ways Diana's fans of different age groups might have viewed her output. I was a baby during this time, so for me I look at it all with hindsight and it's hard for me to see anyone thinking Diana was a has been at that point in her career. But I can see a point where Baby It's Me and The Boss, even "It's My Turn" might have appealed to a more mature crowd than a bunch of 14 year olds.

I think Diana's best bet post diana80 was Quincy Jones, maybe Lionel Richie. I also would've loved her working with Arif Mardin.

[PeaceNHarmony]

In regard to the original topic, I don't think it would have worked.

As a teenage music fan in 1980, I probably thought Diana Ross was something of a has-been. A singer of dreary love songs and best suited to K-Tel albums.

But Chic were hot and so the diana album caused me [[and, no doubt, many other young people) to realise Diana Ross still had it! She could still put out groovy new music which the kids could dance to.

The Guilty album [[as good as I later realised it was) would not have done this. I would have just thought 'more dreary love songs'.

The diana album was EXACTLY what her career needed at this point.

That's actually a very good take on the idea -

[Levi Stubbs Tears]

Barry's father passed away in the early 90's, just a short while after Andy's passing.

Over the weekend, I was reading 'The Gibb Files' [[excellent internet resource at http://www.columbia.edu/~brennan/beegees/) where it was stated Gibb Senior passed away on what would have been Andy's birthday