Quote Originally Posted by TheMotownManiac View Post
All of the focus in the world won’t help singles that are inappropriate for their marketplace. The only song from either act that I feel had hit record written all over it, was Nathan Jones. The problem with Nathan is too many of the lyrics are garbled making the record hard to follow. Everyone I knew that liked the sound of that record had no idea that the first line was packed your bags, or, later, “the key that you’re holding won’t fit my door” we had to wait for song hits to come out months later and by then the single was dead. If those had been cleaned up, and the fade more dynamic, you could’ve had a number one record there.
completely agree. it's almost like they were in such a rush to get this out. they essentially abandoned the whole NW project. by early 71 they should have released a 2nd song from the lp. that would have given them a little more time to perfect NJ. Jean is a great singer but she didn't have [[frankly no one has) the insanely perfect diction that Diana has. you have to be able to understand the lyrics, generally, if you want a record to sell

and agree about the fade. after the bridge the song just doesn't bulid like it should to a dramatic finish