Originally Posted by
RanRan79
Interesting viewpoint. I guess it just boils down to what affects you, and how deeply it does so. Honestly when it comes to Dionne, I'm a bigger fan of her post B&D work. She sounds lovely on the stuff, but personally I've always been a bit bored and underwhelmed by a lot of their compositions that I've heard. I enjoy the work Dionne did in the 70s immensely, but believe it or not, my favorite period kicks off with "I'll Never Love This Way Again" and continues through the 80s.
Gordy got behind Ross, but without her voice and her entertainment skills, she would've never succeeded, I don't care how much time and attention Gordy devoted to her. Would Ross have been just as big with Dionne's material? I don't think so. Not because she couldn't do it- Dionne songs might be hard to sing, but I don't think Diana has ever had a problem doing it- but because I don't think she would've ever connected to the material in the same way Dionne did. I think Dionne hooking up with B&D, and vice versa, was destiny. Which is pretty much how I view the pairing of the Supremes with HDH. Would the group have hit under another producer? I think so. Would they have become the force of music they became under another producer than HDH? No, not consistently. And I think it all boils down to Diana and Dionne's uniqueness as vocalist. Someone like Gladys could probably get a hit while sitting on the toilet. Voices like Diana and Dionne need particular attention, not because they are any less singers, but because their voices have a certain special quality that had to be mastered by someone so that any subsequent producers would have a blueprint on what and what not to do.
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