Quote Originally Posted by Fullfillingnessfirstfinale View Post
Maybe Iīm a little strict with all these things, but for me personally Diana and Gladys are superstars born out of the "Motown-Hit-Factory". Itīs 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 donīt 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 Dionneīs 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 hadnīt 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.