Ross/ Warwick?

[RanRan79]

Maybe I´m a little strict with all these things, but for me personally Diana and Gladys are superstars born out of the "Motown-Hit-Factory". It´s easier for me to say that, then my dissapointments are not so large, who sings on which singles ? Dionne Warwick is very talented solo artists, you have different styles in different decades. I plaid piano as a child and bought the notes of the Bacharach /David compositions, I discover there are complicated songs and complicated to sing for Dionne. I don´t know such challenges for Diana Ross. I like Diana Ross but for me personally Dionne is the greater one. Which decade do you prefer from Dionne´s music ?
I think both singer make music for different kind of audiences. Diana and Gladys started her careers with groups in the backround and I believe Berry Gordy did a lot to launch Diana as a solo star.
Maybe the reason are the "key-tracks" of Dionne which I heard "Anyone who had a heart" and "The windows of the world" reflected my soul life again, this I hadn´t with The Supremes or Diana Ross

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.

[lucky2012]

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.

Lol, RanRan. I knew you'd comment on this. You and I have agreed in a past thread about the subjectivity of judgements on singers and vocal talent. We definitely agree about Diana Ross.
Dionne Warwick is a favorite [[top 5)but I appreciate her Bacharach/David work most, maybe because I'm older and grew up in the 60's. I do like her 1979 album produced by Barry Manilow very much. It is one of the few that I can listen to the whole album.
Gladys Knight is another favorite [[top 10) but I really didn't need the toilet seat image. You have offended my sensibilities once before, but thankfully I can't recall it.

[RanRan79]

Lol, RanRan. I knew you'd comment on this. You and I have agreed in a past thread about the subjectivity of judgements on singers and vocal talent. We definitely agree about Diana Ross.
Dionne Warwick is a favorite [[top 5)but I appreciate her Bacharach/David work most, maybe because I'm older and grew up in the 60's. I do like her 1979 album produced by Barry Manilow very much. It is one of the few that I can listen to the whole album.
Gladys Knight is another favorite [[top 10) but I really didn't need the toilet seat image. You have offended my sensibilities once before, but thankfully I can't recall it.

Ha! What can I say? It's the best way I could put it in order to get my point across. Gladys possessed the type of voice that I think is excellently categorized as a "producer's dream". It's not that her voice isn't unique, it is. When you hear Gladys, you know it's Gladys. But what she's able to do with her voice, I think pairing her with any good producer would yield good results. Diana and Dionne have limits to their abilities- which doesn't make them any less of a singer- and couple that with how different they sound compared to many other voices and I think it's harder for a producer [[in the early days) to nail down a sound. After B&D I think many producers had an idea of what to do with Dionne, even when taking her completely out of that pop/MOR sound. Same with HDH, after them I think producers figured out a groove for Ross, so people as different as Ashford and Simpson, Michael Masser and Nile Rodgers could get hits off of her.