Quote Originally Posted by sup_fan View Post
isn't gordy still listed as Executive Producer for The Boss? clearly that was mostly just a title rather than actually partnering with the team on the content. and maybe that was the link for bringing them back into the motown studios. sort of like the Hollands with the Supremes.

diana was hot as hell with her 76 album and Hangover. the problem is motown bungled any solid follow up. One Love is probably the next best dance track on the album but it pales compared to LH.

then in 77 she went on and did BIM. this is a glorious album but out of place, timing-wise. it was released in fall of 77 just prior to Saturday Night Fever and the total explosion of DISCO across the US. the content on BIM is too pop and lightweight to compete with the heavy dance songs like Stayin Alive and the others. had it been a year earlier or a couple years later, i think it would have been huge.

and in 78 she did Ross with some disco tunes but none truly massive ones, along the lines of LH.

So by 79, she was no longer really hot in the discos. back to back lp disappointments plus the Wiz debacle. i could see people in the motown offices saying "WTF - we need a surefire hit on DR." Michael Masser was all about lush ballads so he wasn't the answer. so who else had had massive hits with DR? A&S. plus they'd had a lot of recent successes themselves.
As i posted, i’m almost certain it was Diana herself who approached Nile and Bernard to write and produce the “diana” album for her.
As regards ”The Boss”, i guess we can only speculate. One can imagine Diana’s anger that Motown would follow a flop film with a dud of an album. It’s more then possible that being friends with A&S it was she who suggested teaming up again. Who knows?.
I do find it hard to believe at that crucial point in her career, and after the disaster of “Ross” she would have left the decision making entirely to the company.