It’s My House

[Ollie9]

Although we as fans love the album, it’s possible the public at large just didn’t have that instant connection with the material in the same way they did with “diana”.
Perhaps a few more full on dance numbers might have helped it’s cause.

[Levi Stubbs Tears]

As with most of her 70s releases, Diana did very little tv.

From the early 70s, smart artists and smart record companies were producing music videos for singles and this alleviated some of the need to appear on TV to sing or lip-synch their new tunes.

Imagine how much higher such records as 'Mahogany', 'Love Hangover', 'The Boss', 'Upside Down', 'I'm Coming Out' and 'Endless Love' could have been with proper videos to promote them all over the world. Even a B-lister like Charlene had a music video to promote her big Motown hit.

It's a travesty that Diana's first proper music video was 'Why Do Fools Fall in Love".

[sansradio]

It's a travesty that Diana's first proper music video was 'Why Do Fools Fall in Love".

"My Old Piano"'s video predates WDFFIL's by a year, but your point definitely bears repeating.

[Levi Stubbs Tears]

"My Old Piano"'s video predates WDFFIL's by a year, but your point definitely bears repeating.

Oh yes - forgot that one. But my point probably stands. That video was produced by EMI in the UK rather than being a Motown decision.

But it helped 'My Old Piano' get to top 10 in the UK and down here in Australia whereas a stronger song like 'I'm Coming Out' flopped downunder without a music video to promote it

Actually, nationally Piano only got to #25 downunder though it went top ten in my home town. It was still a lot higher than I'm Coming Out which only just scraped into the top forty.

[Ollie9]

From the early 70s, smart artists and smart record companies were producing music videos for singles and this alleviated some of the need to appear on TV to sing or lip-synch their new tunes.

Imagine how much higher such records as 'Mahogany', 'Love Hangover', 'The Boss', 'Upside Down', 'I'm Coming Out' and 'Endless Love' could have been with proper videos to promote them all over the world. Even a B-lister like Charlene had a music video to promote her big Motown hit.

It's a travesty that Diana's first proper music video was 'Why Do Fools Fall in Love".

Very good point. For “Upside Down” they just used various screen shots which for 1980 was laughable. “The Boss” album in particular was really held back by lack of any video promotion. There was certainly plenty of scope for a feel good, fun video to accompany the “It’s My House” single. Perhaps it was Diana herself who had no interest in committing herself to such promotion. Vey short sighted if that were the case.

[Spreadinglove21]

Maybe a topic better suited for the larger Motown forum, but was Motown having business problems with their distributors in 1978/79? That could account for why few of their albums were hitting big and had nothing to do with the music or promotion. I'm reading a lot about Stax and one of the reasons why that company went down the tubes in the mid 70s was they landed what turned out to be a bad deal/relationship with CBS to distribute their product. Maybe Motown was going through a rough patch business wise?

[sup_fan]

Oh yes - forgot that one. But my point probably stands. That video was produced by EMI in the UK rather than being a Motown decision.

But it helped 'My Old Piano' get to top 10 in the UK and down here in Australia whereas a stronger song like 'I'm Coming Out' flopped downunder without a music video to promote it

Actually, nationally Piano only got to #25 downunder though it went top ten in my home town. It was still a lot higher than I'm Coming Out which only just scraped into the top forty.

i just saw a YouTube clip talking about this. of course i can't remember the clip in order to link it here and I'm gonna have to sort of summarize what i remember about it

it seems the UK was ahead of the US in regards to videos. during the 70s other artists in the UK like Rod Stewart were doing videos for exactly this reason. they could be played multiple times on various tv shows but without the logistics of actually appearing. this could be why the Sups did the High Energy videos. it would be easy enough to just send 1 song to a tv station and have it played on that show. or perhaps a show would use several and so a spotlight episode.

i don't recall the clip saying that UK artists were packaging up the videos for home viewing. IMO it seems a bit too early to be doing this since home video players were only just entering the market and were WILDLY expensive

[johnjeb]

the Boss lp and single were both released in May 79. IMH was released in Oct

what's curious is how slow the title track was do ANYTHING on the charts.

it was released 5/22 but didn't chart until 7/14!! that's nearly 2x as long. usually a song is entering the charts about 4 weeks after release. it then took from 7/14 until 10/6 to peak!!

80-71-61-57-45-40-36-32-28-25-22-21-19-19-44-92

the album was much more typical. released 5/23, entered charts on 6/16 and peaked 9/29. it was on the charts longer than many other lps, running longer that Touch Me In the Morning or Diana Ross 76

maybe word got out about how strong the overall lp was and so people rushed to buy it instead of the singles? maybe if they had released the single ahead of the lp by a few weeks or a month, it would have generated excitement for the overall project.

I saw Diana Ross in late March 1979. There was not a word, or even a hint, of an upcoming release, single or album. What a waste of a promotional opportunity, imo.

As for the slow climb up the chart, I seem to recall that, at the time, disco music didn't get immediate airplay, even for top-name acts, generally only receiving attention if the record was generating strong reaction in the discos.

[reese]

Very good point. For “Upside Down” they just used various screen shots which for 1980 was laughable. “The Boss” album in particular was really held back by lack of any video promotion. There was certainly plenty of scope for a feel good, fun video to accompany the “It’s My House” single. Perhaps it was Diana herself who had no interest in committing herself to such promotion. Vey short sighted if that were the case.

Was there really a video for UPSIDE DOWN? I thought that was just something put together for her ONE WOMAN video collection.

Re Motown and videos, I don't think they invested much in them initially. I remember Smokey doing one for BEING WITH YOU and Stevie doing one for DO I DO. But some like the Tempts' STANDING ON THE TOP and TREAT HER LIKE A LADY just seemed to be bare minimum performance slots.

[Ollie9]

Was there really a video for UPSIDE DOWN? I thought that was just something put together for her ONE WOMAN video collection.

Re Motown and videos, I don't think they invested much in them initially. I remember Smokey doing one for BEING WITH YOU and Stevie doing one for DO I DO. But some like the Tempts' STANDING ON THE TOP and TREAT HER LIKE A LADY just seemed to be bare minimum performance slots.

It was shown on Top Of The Pops which was a prime time chart show in the UK. I remember being really disappointed by it as a kid.
Agree that motowns investment in promo videos was pretty sporadic. So many songs might have charted better otherwise.

[reese]

It was shown on Top Of The Pops which was a prime time chart show in the UK. I remember being really disappointed by it as a kid.
Agree that motowns investment in promo videos was pretty sporadic. So many songs might have charted better otherwise.

So it is different from the video on ONE WOMAN, I guess?

That said, I don't know if there were that many outlets to show the videos on in the US, at least initially. VIDEO SOUL was a prime outlet but I don't believe they started until 1981 or so. There was also NIGHT TRACKS and FRIDAY NIGHT VIDEOS which came a bit later. And of course, there was MTV but they rarely played videos by black artists until Michael Jackson.

[sup_fan]

I saw Diana Ross in late March 1979. There was not a word, or even a hint, of an upcoming release, single or album. What a waste of a promotional opportunity, imo.

As for the slow climb up the chart, I seem to recall that, at the time, disco music didn't get immediate airplay, even for top-name acts, generally only receiving attention if the record was generating strong reaction in the discos.

that's a good point, how disco songs usually had to really hit hard in the clubs and THEN made the jump to pop. just pulled up the Billboard charts and The Boss entered the disco charts on 6/23 at # 63. it also notes that this is the 12" mix. later it would be simply listed as "entire album" as djs were spinning all sorts of songs off the lp. but the 12" definitely broke in first with the djs

and this is in line with how pop songs would have charted. typically about 1 month after the release, you start to see chart activity. Also on the 6/9 issue of Billboard, Diana is on the cover using the album front pic and announcing the release of the lp and to watch for it.

[reese]

There was also a tv ad promoting THE BOSS album.

[Ollie9]

So it is different from the video on ONE WOMAN, I guess?.

No, the exact same one reese.

[Ollie9]

There was also a tv ad promoting THE BOSS album.

I think this was the most naturally beautiful Diana ever looked.

[sup_fan]

the ad and the album artwork really were new and fresh. it was glamorous but not as glitzy or artificial as previous. totally chic and hip but not vegasy.

Randy described the cover of the lp as looking like a true woman of the 80s. the mane of hair and the sexy but not too provocative pic. showing skin and chest but not being slutty. plus she's recently moved to NYC. you did get the feeling that this was more the "real" diana versus the motown contrived product

[Boogiedown]

I saw Diana Ross in late March 1979. There was not a word, or even a hint, of an upcoming release, single or album. What a waste of a promotional opportunity, imo.

As for the slow climb up the chart, I seem to recall that, at the time, disco music didn't get immediate airplay, even for top-name acts, generally only receiving attention if the record was generating strong reaction in the discos.

Except that right then is when disco exploded as a radio format. Sleepy little WKTO changed its EZ listening programming to disco, shot up in listenership and for the first time ever WBLS wasn't the hottest station in NYC.
Radio was extremely competitive with ratings coming out every three months if I remember correctly and any point movement upward meant everything. And any movement downward brought with it a lot of angst. Those ratings attracted sponsors, or not. Stations changing formats to chase those ratings was not unheard of but now suddenly a new pot at the end of the rainbow was being offered. A new untapped format !
In Hawaii alone there were suddenly three stations now playing disco ....one had been playing traditional Hawaiian music since its inception in the fifties.
All this displacement of their beloved radio stations really angered listeners .....another reason disco had to die.


And all this all likely hurt THE BOSS , because now every disco song was easily available to be heard even by people who never went to the clubs. Over saturation and these records were now working against each other for sales and attention. No one was going to buy every single disco record they were hearing.

THE BOSS then became but one of MANY great disco records that came out during "the glut."

[sup_fan]

but the problem is many, if not most, disco albums were NOT great. sure there might be a super hot hit on it but the rest of the lps often suffered from a lack of strong material. it's sort of like some early Motown albums. like Please Mr Postman - great single and huge hit. and they raced to get an album out but the final result was a mismash of mediocre material.

[Boogiedown]

yes disco and albums, not a good match hence another reason disco had to die. 12” were what disco was about … one song at a time .

Is the single of the BOSS or the LP the topic ?

[RanRan79]

Maybe a topic better suited for the larger Motown forum, but was Motown having business problems with their distributors in 1978/79? That could account for why few of their albums were hitting big and had nothing to do with the music or promotion. I'm reading a lot about Stax and one of the reasons why that company went down the tubes in the mid 70s was they landed what turned out to be a bad deal/relationship with CBS to distribute their product. Maybe Motown was going through a rough patch business wise?

I don't know if that was the case or not. It has been alleged that because Gordy and Ross were on the outs at the time that Motown's full promotional efforts were not put behind the album. Perhaps if Diana were on TV as much as Donna Summer was during this time, the album may have reached it's full potential.

[soren1974]

If you haven't yet, do check out this phenomenal live version by Valerie Simpson. As an interesting curio, Jerry Barnes - who performs in Nile Rodgers' current CHIC line-up - plays the bass here.

[Guy]

I was intrigued by John Mayer's cover of "It's My House." The lyrics feel slinky and feminine but he gave it some masculine energy. It has not been one of my favorites but Nick & Val were such a strong songwriters and arrangers all of the songs on "The Boss" have 'pizzazz.'

[Ollie9]

I was intrigued by John Mayer's cover of "It's My House." The lyrics feel slinky and feminine but he gave it some masculine energy. It has not been one of my favorites but Nick & Val were such a strong songwriters and arrangers all of the songs on "The Boss" have 'pizzazz.'

Being a fan of JM i love this version Guy. “it’s My House” is one of the very few Diana songs which works well on other artists. Arguably the best remembered and most covered song from the album.

[lucky2012]

Being a fan of JM i love this version Guy. “it’s My House” is one of the very few Diana songs which works well on other artists. Arguably the best remembered and most covered song from the album.

Oh my, yes! A wonderful surprise. John Mayer's male energy does indeed work on this classic sensual Diana Ross track.