Diana and double disc projects

[sup_fan]

interestingly, diana has released very few double lp sets. obviously GHs in 67, LSTB soundtrack. but Donna Summer was hitting the tops of the charts with her later albums which were all double lps - Once Upon a Time, Live and More and Bad Girls. which went Gold, Platinum and Platinum, respectively.

now i agree that releasing a double album of a quality similar to Ross 78 would now have been wise. but what if The Boss could have been expanded. or if instead of the mish mash of Ross 78 you had a solid album and it was made into a double lp.

then of course there's the older Sing R&H set. i think the double lp MIGHT have worked for the girls then.

[reese]

then of course there's the older Sing R&H set. i think the double lp MIGHT have worked for the girls then.

In his discography for his last book on Diana, J. Randy wrote that R&H was originally going to be a double set. But I believe he also wrote that the single disc only sold about 135,000 copies. Maybe a double set would have been too much.

[RanRan79]

Don't forget An Evening With was a double, and I believe Ceaser's Palace was originally a double before being whittled down to a single disk.

Ross 78 could have worked as a double album if the concept had been the dance album. Two disks of party music would have probably sold like hotcakes.

The Boss would have been a great double album. IMO, aside from HDH, Nick and Val had the best read on how to produce a Diana Ross record. They had the best read on her artistry. I'm betting that expanding The Boss would have been a bigger artistic accomplishment, especially if Diana were to delve deeper into the personal side of life.

I may be in the minority, but I've always believed that Donna's music mostly sounds so dated. The hits still hit, and rightfully so because they have that special something that made them instant classics and so enduring. But the non hits, the album cuts, mostly sound so...meh. In contrast, the cuts on The Boss sound so fresh. Maybe I'm biased- although I do consider myself a Donna Summer fan, but I'd throw all of my Donna Summer collection [[which is just a few albums and a compilation or two) in the trash before I threw out one Diana album- but Diana's album tracks on The Boss kicks the butt of Donna's album tracks, song for song. Donna just happened to get some serious classic singles that mostly dusted Diana's singles around the same time.

Maybe with more time, more songs to choose from, as a double album, Nick and Val could have come up with some stuff that hit as hard as "Bad Girls" or "Hot Stuff".

[sup_fan]

Don't forget An Evening With was a double, and I believe Ceaser's Palace was originally a double before being whittled down to a single disk.

Ross 78 could have worked as a double album if the concept had been the dance album. Two disks of party music would have probably sold like hotcakes.

The Boss would have been a great double album. IMO, aside from HDH, Nick and Val had the best read on how to produce a Diana Ross record. They had the best read on her artistry. I'm betting that expanding The Boss would have been a bigger artistic accomplishment, especially if Diana were to delve deeper into the personal side of life.

I may be in the minority, but I've always believed that Donna's music mostly sounds so dated. The hits still hit, and rightfully so because they have that special something that made them instant classics and so enduring. But the non hits, the album cuts, mostly sound so...meh. In contrast, the cuts on The Boss sound so fresh. Maybe I'm biased- although I do consider myself a Donna Summer fan, but I'd throw all of my Donna Summer collection [[which is just a few albums and a compilation or two) in the trash before I threw out one Diana album- but Diana's album tracks on The Boss kicks the butt of Donna's album tracks, song for song. Donna just happened to get some serious classic singles that mostly dusted Diana's singles around the same time.

Maybe with more time, more songs to choose from, as a double album, Nick and Val could have come up with some stuff that hit as hard as "Bad Girls" or "Hot Stuff".

i'm a fan of Once Upon A Time. i think it's a great album but i don't know if the singles can really stand alone. maybe that's why they didn't chart like her previous songs. but to hit play on Track 1 and let it proceed through the lp is great.

and i'd totally die for a 2-disc The Boss. you could have included longer versions of the top dance cuts and then add a couple more tunes too

as for Ross 78, she was quoted as saying prior to working on The Wiz that she was recording material for a couple of albums so motown would have product ready while she was MIA. she mentioned one album was a love-making album and one was a disco album. we've all assumed the "love-making" one was Baby It's Me but i think that's too pop and bouncy for love making! lol

what if the 2-disc set was 8 songs done 2 ways? take 8 tunes and do them as disco tunes. then totally re imagine them as ballads and soft pop. or just go more straight forward and do Side 1 and 3 as disco and sides 2 and 4 as ballads, pop, etc. that way you could stack them on your turn table and not have to stop in the middle of whatever you're doing to flip the album over

[sup_fan]

In his discography for his last book on Diana, J. Randy wrote that R&H was originally going to be a double set. But I believe he also wrote that the single disc only sold about 135,000 copies. Maybe a double set would have been too much.

i know people have speculated that the public probably wouldn't have been interested in a double set. as for the actual chart performance, it peaked at 20 and was on the charts for 18 weeks. that's not terrible but definitely nowhere near as long as the regular studio albums from the DMF era. it is roughly the same chart duration as Sam Cooke, Talk of the Town, Sunshine, Cream, Together. So i would guess it sold more than 135K

it might have done better if they'd released a single from the lp. and if they hadn't also released GH not too long after. i'd assume that pretty much overwhelmed any other supremes albums. i wonder if GH helped Sing HDH drop off the charts faster too. it was on for only 29 weeks versus More Hits at 37, A Go Go at 52 and WDOLG for way over a year

[RanRan79]

i'm a fan of Once Upon A Time. i think it's a great album but i don't know if the singles can really stand alone. maybe that's why they didn't chart like her previous songs. but to hit play on Track 1 and let it proceed through the lp is great.

and i'd totally die for a 2-disc The Boss. you could have included longer versions of the top dance cuts and then add a couple more tunes too

as for Ross 78, she was quoted as saying prior to working on The Wiz that she was recording material for a couple of albums so motown would have product ready while she was MIA. she mentioned one album was a love-making album and one was a disco album. we've all assumed the "love-making" one was Baby It's Me but i think that's too pop and bouncy for love making! lol

what if the 2-disc set was 8 songs done 2 ways? take 8 tunes and do them as disco tunes. then totally re imagine them as ballads and soft pop. or just go more straight forward and do Side 1 and 3 as disco and sides 2 and 4 as ballads, pop, etc. that way you could stack them on your turn table and not have to stop in the middle of whatever you're doing to flip the album over

I have the Once Upon A Time album. I thought it was a brilliant concept. Been eons since I've listened to it though and the only song I remember actually loving is "I Love You".

I love the concept of doing songs in two ways. Not sure that would work for all the songs, but I definitely love the idea. Kind of like Evelyn King's "I Don't Know If It's Right", where there's one version considerably slower than the single version, which was very upbeat and danceable.