‘Diana!’: Showtime In 1971 For The Post-Supremes Diana Ross

[Motown Eddie]

From uMusic.com-
It may seem, from this distance, that Diana Ross had it all her own way and became an immediate solo sensation when she left the Supremes. But in the first two years of the 1970s, as she set out on her own path at Motown, it wasn’t all plain sailing.

Her first, self-titled album was a No.1 on the R&B chart in 1970. But it only reached No.19 on Billboard’s US pop countdown. The swift follow-up Everything Is Everything was an R&B No.5, but ran out of steam in the pop market at No.42. Then on April 24, 1971, she entered the US pop list with the soundtrack of her first solo television special.

It was titled Diana!, not to be confused with the smash hit 1980 set diana produced by Bernard Edwards and Nile Rodgers. The 1971 LP [and the show] featured Ms Ross with her “protégés” the Jackson 5 and comedians Danny Thomas and Bill Cosby. The soundtrack album was released, perhaps oddly, just before the show itself had aired. But when the ABC TV show went out, it was a ratings success. It made the Top 20 and led to Emmy nominations for Diana, designer Bob Mackie and in technical categories.


“Remember Me,” which had just been a Top 20 US pop hit, was included in the album and show, along with the No.1 that preceded it, “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough.” The special also had Ross covering other artists and writers, including Bacharach & David’s “[They Long To Be] Close To You,” the Carpenters’ version of which had topped the charts in 1970. She did Aretha Franklin’s “Call Me” and, true to Motown and Berry Gordy’s enthusiasm for cabaret material, Bob Merrill and Jule Styne’s “Don’t Rain On My Parade,” from the 1964 musical Funny Girl.
All of those factors, plus the Jackson 5’s two medleys and the Thomas and Cosby segments, helped the Diana! album reach No.3 on the Billboard R&B chart. But in the pop listings, it was another modest achiever, reaching only No.46.

In the UK, Motown delayed the release of the album until after the BBC2 broadcast of the TV special, on September 18. It spent one week on the chart there, at No.43. But the LP was eclipsed by the debut, at No.10 on the same countdown, of her new studio set. Titled Surrender in the US, that was renamed I’m Still Waiting for a UK audience that had recently made the song of that name a No.1 single.

[PeaceNHarmony]

I can still recall the excitement surrounding this special, before and after its airing. It was a very much of-its-time musical special and though we can question this 'n that these [[gulp!) 52 years later it certainly was an all-around success and stepping stone for Diana's soon-to-be legendary and record-breaking career.

[sup_fan]

the mediocre chart performance just highlights the lack of interest by the general public in her cabaret/MOR style shows. and that audience that typically attends those shows lack of interest in purchasing a vinyl copy of it. The tv special itself was of course the primary objective here. to give her a nationally televised event to show her growth and development since the 2 Sups tv specials. and to let everyone see how she's doing on her own. the tv show accomplished that very nicely, holds up pretty well and did the trick. releasing the soundtrack was simply an additional outlet for revenue. i can't imagine anyone really saw it as a major milestone but knew her fans would gobble it up so why the hell not

this approach was obviously taken on nearly all of the label's live albums. the At The Copa set for the girls was different because that was truly historic. and the same could probably be said for TCB. sure TCB went to #1 and most of the album holds up strongly still.

it might have been interesting to do a live album of hits. sort of like the "Evening With..." cd supplement to the pink box set. piece together their greatest hits from various shows. that might have sold much better than Talk of the Town or Farewell.

[reese]

I still remember my mom, an older cousin, and myself watching the DIANA! special. My cousin wanted to see the J5 and I, of course, wanted to see Diana.

That Christmas, my grandmother bought me the soundtrack album. When we walked into the record store, she told the cashier "My grandson likes Diana Ross and the Supremes. What do you have by them?" So he brought out DIANA!, as well as LET THE SUNSHINE IN by DRATS and RIGHT ON by the Supremes. I asked for all three but she told me I had to choose. Since I remembered the tv special, I picked that one.

[sup_fan]

I still remember my mom, an older cousin, and myself watching the DIANA! special. My cousin wanted to see the J5 and I, of course, wanted to see Diana.

That Christmas, my grandmother bought me the soundtrack album. When we walked into the record store, she told the cashier "My grandson likes Diana Ross and the Supremes. What do you have by them?" So he brought out DIANA!, as well as LET THE SUNSHINE IN by DRATS and RIGHT ON by the Supremes. I asked for all three but she told me I had to choose. Since I remembered the tv special, I picked that one.

lol great story. wasn't that just cruel of our parents and relatives to make us pick! lol

I wonder how many times us fans picked based on the cover art. something really cool even if we didn't know what the music was inside

[Motown Eddie]

I can still recall the excitement surrounding this special, before and after its airing. It was a very much of-its-time musical special and though we can question this 'n that these [[gulp!) 52 years later it certainly was an all-around success and stepping stone for Diana's soon-to-be legendary and record-breaking career.

And I remember the excitement that came with Diana Ross' first TV Special as well. My whole family loved Motown so we watched any time one of their stars were on television. I truly wish that there was a home video release so that we could relive the experience of Diana's special [and other Motown TV specials] 50+ years later.