Quote Originally Posted by reese View Post
I just started re-reading Sharon Davis' book CHINWAGGIN. It features interviews with a lot of pop/soul acts. During her interview, Natalie Cole spoke about working with Michael Masser.

"Michael is a perfectionist, a little on the neurotic side when it comes to producing, and he couldn't make up his mind what he wanted..." She went on to say that on one of their collaborations, she might have done the vocal 60 times. She was probably exaggerating to make a point but Diana probably had similar feelings about working with him.
You want the truth in black and white?
Masser was a very hard taskmaster in the studio, and whilst Diana had to tolerate him working her hard in the studio whilst signed to Motown there was no way she was going to work that hard when she didn't have to. Masser would have been distraught at Diana's lack of passion with her vocals on the Fools and Silk Electric albums. She wouldn't work with anyone who took her out of her comfort zone anymore. That was a great pity because he knew how to get the best out of her.
So now you know, and it is time to move on.