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  1. #1
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    Instead of Endless Love

    I might be in the minority here, but I never cared much for DR's duet with LR. I much preferred All of You with JI. If you felt the first two could duet another tune, do you have one in mind? I think Even the Nights Are Better would have suited them perfect.

  2. #2
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    what do you think of Dreaming Of You?

    EL is lovely but so sugary you could get a cavity.

  3. #3
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    I hate All of You! Perhaps the only Diana recording I just can't listen to, then or now!

  4. #4
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    I love Dreaming of You. I almost forgot it. Thanks for them reminder

  5. #5
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    according to Randy's latest Diana bio, there was supposedly a lot of airplay of Dreaming Of You but it was only ever released as a promo version to djs. it was never an actual single to the public.

    but i think it definitely could have made an excellent f/u to Endless Love

  6. #6
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    I never read his books. Endless Love grates on my nerves. The only time I liked it was from a 2007 video of her doing it live. I don't bash on Diana ever at all, but this song was so cheesy to me. It never appealed until then.

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    This to me makes me think it could make a good duet.

  8. #8
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    Song may not have been written yet, but what about "Hello"?

  9. #9
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    Endless Love could never be topped or replaced

  10. #10
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    You Gave Me Love, a duet by Thelma Houston and Jerry Butler, is among the best non-Tammi/Marvin duets, and it has a maturity as well as an over-the-top infrastructure that would have made it appropriate as a Diana Ross/Lionel Richie release.

    I rarely listen to either Dreaming Of You or All Of You; I thought each was better than okay, but neither was all that memorable to my set of ears. They were inoffensive, pleasant-to-listen-to songs; if they appeared on a CD I was listening to, I'd let them play, but if they didn't appear, I wouldn't object. Still, Diana did have a nice playful sound on Dreaming Of You; it might be an interesting counterpoint to Last Time I Saw Him on one of those endless anthologies or compilation releases that always include the same dozen or so songs.

    If you were to wake me up in the middle of the night to ask me to sing Endless Love, I could give you quite a concert. If you wanted to hear the other two, Dreaming Of You and All Of You, I would not know the first word or the structure of the orchestration and arrangement; I might remember a few lines of the lyrics from here and there, but I would not know if they were from the opening verse or the closing chorus.

    But please don't wake me up to sing a concert for you; my voice is not quite as good as Levi Stubbs' voice was when he was at his peak, nor does it approach the performance level of Seger Ellis, Ray Eberle, Merald Knight, Jr., Bobby Taylor and The Vancouvers, Bobby Bloom, Rare Earth, Nilsson, Bruce Springsteen, Dwight Yoakam or Kieran Kane, to name some who are or were a bit better than I, except when I'm in the shower.

  11. #11
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    I think Endless Love is one of the most beautiful duets of all time.
    Last edited by vgalindo; 08-05-2021 at 11:56 PM.

  12. #12
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    I hated "Endless Love" for the longest time. It was just too syrupy for me. In recent years, and I do mean very recent years, it has grown on me to the point where I no longer hate it. What does that look like? Well, when it comes on I don't skip it and I may even sing along. I don't make it a point to play it, though.

    I much prefer "Dreaming Of You", which was sure to be a hit had it been released as a single, and "All Of You", which I play quite often.

    As far as duets that could've been, I think the obvious is "Islands In the Stream". I know Diana is said to have been offered the song first, but I don't know whether or not Kenny Rogers was always the intended duet partner. I think the song would've suited both Diana and Lionel well together.

  13. #13
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    Quote Originally Posted by vgalindo View Post
    I think Endless Love is one of the most beautiful duets of all time.
    I tend to agree. A timeless classic. I think “All Of You” a pretty ballad, but nothing particularly special. “Dreaming Of You” might have made top 15 given the popularity of both artists at the time.

  14. #14
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    I’ve never cared for Endless Love and still don’t. I’m ecstatic it has been missing from her shows for so long. I wish she’d have done Islands In The Stream - with anybody - instead. I happy for those who love EL, clearly it’s a masterpiece that my tin ear cannot hear.

  15. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by TheMotownManiac View Post
    I’ve never cared for Endless Love and still don’t. I’m ecstatic it has been missing from her shows for so long. I wish she’d have done Islands In The Stream - with anybody - instead. I happy for those who love EL, clearly it’s a masterpiece that my tin ear cannot hear.
    Love the duet but never really cared for the solo version performed live.
    As regards “Islands In The Stream”, i believe Barry Gibb intended the song as a duet for himself and Diana.
    What an interesting blend of voices that might have made for.

  16. #16
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    Islands In The Stream sounds to me like a cheap remake of Everyday People, and Diana's listless, uninspired cover version of that song was not exactly one of her best moments.

  17. #17
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    Quote Originally Posted by Ollie9 View Post
    Love the duet but never really cared for the solo version performed live.
    As regards “Islands In The Stream”, i believe Barry Gibb intended the song as a duet for himself and Diana.
    What an interesting blend of voices that might have made for.
    I love the version she did in Central Park. The version on the Fools album is okay, but not something I prefer to listen to.

    The combo of Diana and Barry Gibb does not excite me in any way. If recording the song meant Diana had to do it with Barry, I'm okay with "Islands" being the one that got away.

    Speaking of Barrys, I wonder what a Diana Ross/Barry White duet would've been like. The combo of her sweet, high voice with his rich, deep bass, could've made for an interesting pairing.

  18. #18
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    Quote Originally Posted by benross View Post
    Islands In The Stream sounds to me like a cheap remake of Everyday People, and Diana's listless, uninspired cover version of that song was not exactly one of her best moments.
    I know we all have different likes and dislikes, different takes and opinions, and that makes things so much more interesting around here than if we all agreed on everything Supremes. But sometimes y'all say stuff that leave me scratching my head so hard that I'm leaving scars.

    What resemblance is there between "Islands In the Stream" and "Everyday People"? Trying as hard as I can, I can't find any similarity in lyrics or melody. So what exactly am I missing?

  19. #19
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    Quote Originally Posted by Ollie9 View Post
    Love the duet but never really cared for the solo version performed live.
    As regards “Islands In The Stream”, i believe Barry Gibb intended the song as a duet for himself and Diana.
    What an interesting blend of voices that might have made for.
    i frankly shutter to think about this. maybe because i'm so scarred from the hideous EA collection lol. I just did not like the combination of Diana's already nasal vocal quality with the nasal, falsettos of the BGs. of course Barry most likely would not have been using his head voice on his lead parts of the song. just like Guilty. And i realize the Barbra also has a nasal quality to her voice. but for whatever reason, i think her album works better. the BG falsettos don't grind against her voice like I think they do on EA.

    What about a duet with Diana and Kenny? the merging of Pop/R&B with Country?

  20. #20
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    Quote Originally Posted by sup_fan View Post
    i frankly shutter to think about this. maybe because i'm so scarred from the hideous EA collection lol. I just did not like the combination of Diana's already nasal vocal quality with the nasal, falsettos of the BGs. of course Barry most likely would not have been using his head voice on his lead parts of the song. just like Guilty. And i realize the Barbra also has a nasal quality to her voice. but for whatever reason, i think her album works better. the BG falsettos don't grind against her voice like I think they do on EA.

    What about a duet with Diana and Kenny? the merging of Pop/R&B with Country?
    I’m not crazy about the song, but folks seem to really like it. I think Lionel Ritchie would have been the perfect duet partner for her on this one as he has a kind of cosy, country inflection in his voice.
    I have come to like “EA” a little more over the years, but will never love it. It might have worked better as a duet. Diana & Barry fighting to out nasal each other on those top notes would certainly have cut through the airwaves.

  21. #21
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    RanRan 79 , the first similarity of Everyday People and Islands In The Stream is the instrumental introduction. Each recording begins with a sustained note, followed by two short notes, another sustained note and two more short notes. The opening of the Diana Ross & The Supremes’ recording of Everyday People repeats this sequence twice. While the Islands In The Stream imitation of this pattern is executed at a slower pace, the resemblance is unmistakable. This three-note motif continues throughout both recordings, lending a feeling of cohesion at best or a lack of imagination at worst.


    The second similarity is in the almost childishly simple staccato structure of the vocals. In each case, there is a short phrase that seems to be mostly monotone although it may fluctuate over a few notes, followed by a second phrase almost twice as long with an extended string of several higher notes. Like the instrumental introduction template, this pattern is repeated twice in each verse.

    Specifically, in Everyday People, the four-line verse is:

    Sometimes I’m right – four syllables
    And I can be wrong – nine syllables
    My own beliefs – four syllables

    Are in my song – eight syllables

    while in Islands In The Stream, the four-line verse is:

    Baby, when I met you – six syllables
    There was peace unknown – ten syllables
    I set out to get you – six syllables

    With a fine tooth comb – eleven syllables.

    On the even-numbered lines, the last word – wrong, song, unknown, comb – is emphasized and often is elongated over two or three syllables. This basic choppy format is repeated, verse after verse, in what can seem to be a tiresome, predictable way. Fortunately, there are some variations in the choruses that provide needed relief.

    These songs can succeed when the vocalists’ interpretations and tones project life and liveliness and/or hint at intelligence in the sometimes clumsy rhymes and strict structure of their composition. Or these songs can fail very easily. To me, the Kenny/Dolly Islands In The Stream is a failure.

  22. #22
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    Quote Originally Posted by benross View Post
    RanRan 79 , the first similarity of Everyday People and Islands In The Stream is the instrumental introduction. Each recording begins with a sustained note, followed by two short notes, another sustained note and two more short notes. The opening of the Diana Ross & The Supremes’ recording of Everyday People repeats this sequence twice. While the Islands In The Stream imitation of this pattern is executed at a slower pace, the resemblance is unmistakable. This three-note motif continues throughout both recordings, lending a feeling of cohesion at best or a lack of imagination at worst.


    The second similarity is in the almost childishly simple staccato structure of the vocals. In each case, there is a short phrase that seems to be mostly monotone although it may fluctuate over a few notes, followed by a second phrase almost twice as long with an extended string of several higher notes. Like the instrumental introduction template, this pattern is repeated twice in each verse.

    Specifically, in Everyday People, the four-line verse is:

    Sometimes I’m right – four syllables
    And I can be wrong – nine syllables
    My own beliefs – four syllables

    Are in my song – eight syllables

    while in Islands In The Stream, the four-line verse is:

    Baby, when I met you – six syllables
    There was peace unknown – ten syllables
    I set out to get you – six syllables

    With a fine tooth comb – eleven syllables.

    On the even-numbered lines, the last word – wrong, song, unknown, comb – is emphasized and often is elongated over two or three syllables. This basic choppy format is repeated, verse after verse, in what can seem to be a tiresome, predictable way. Fortunately, there are some variations in the choruses that provide needed relief.

    These songs can succeed when the vocalists’ interpretations and tones project life and liveliness and/or hint at intelligence in the sometimes clumsy rhymes and strict structure of their composition. Or these songs can fail very easily. To me, the Kenny/Dolly Islands In The Stream is a failure.
    It seems quite obvious now....

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