Diana Ross [[1976) The LP - a discussion

[Ollie9]

This is a lovely album that still sounds great today. The cover shots of Diana are truely stunning.
I think "Love Hangover" really stands out and without doubt should have been the second single. "ITITALT" is a nice song but just that.
I would like to have seen "Ain't Nothin But A Maybe" released as a single, perhaps after LH had that been the second single. Diana sounds sexy and soulful on this one and it still sounds fresh today. I wish she had recorded more songs like this.
When i was younger i would play the love songs to death. Now being a bit of a cynical bastard as far as love is concerned i'm not so into them. Having said that the lyrics to "After You" are quite poignant.

[Bluebrock]

This is a lovely album that still sounds great today. The cover shots of Diana are truely stunning.
I think "Love Hangover" really stands out and without doubt should have been the second single. "ITITALT" is a nice song but just that.
I would like to have seen "Ain't Nothin But A Maybe" released as a single, perhaps after LH had that been the second single. Diana sounds sexy and soulful on this one and it still sounds fresh today. I wish she had recorded more songs like this.
When i was younger i would play the love songs to death. Now being a bit of a cynical bastard as far as love is concerned i'm not so into them. Having said that the lyrics to "After You" are quite poignant.

I never heard it as a hit single at the time, but 43 or so years later perhaps it could have been. There were a few other versions out there including the original Ashford and Simpson recording and a good version by Rufus and Chaka. Perhaps that may have held it back?

[Ollie9]

I never heard it as a hit single at the time, but 43 or so years later perhaps it could have been. There were a few other versions out there including the original Ashford and Simpson recording and a good version by Rufus and Chaka. Perhaps that may have held it back?

I have heard Chaka's version and think it rather good, though I still think Diana's version could have done very well as a follow up to LH. All the songs on the album hang together really well considering their diverse recording dates.. I actually prefer the alternate version of "Your Good My Child" to the one that was released.
I find "After You" a far more memorable song then ITITALT with much better lyrics. ITITALT kind of reminds me of "Love Me". Both are very pretty songs, but just lacking that certain something that turns a song into a hit.

[RanRan79]

While I obviously hold an extreme opposite opinion of "Thought" [[I'm tempted to block you for even mentioning "Thought" and "Love Me" in the same sentence.), I think it's possible, possible, that with a different mix "Aint Nothing But a Maybe" might have made an interesting single, although I'm not sure it would've done any better than "One Love" did. "After You" is a beautiful song. Not single worthy but it's a great album track. I neglected to mention before that's it's a fav.

[Ollie9]

While I obviously hold an extreme opposite opinion of "Thought" [[I'm tempted to block you for even mentioning "Thought" and "Love Me" in the same sentence.), I think it's possible, possible, that with a different mix "Aint Nothing But a Maybe" might have made an interesting single, although I'm not sure it would've done any better than "One Love" did. "After You" is a beautiful song. Not single worthy but it's a great album track. I neglected to mention before that's it's a fav.

I actually prefer "Love Me". I think it's the lyrics that do ITITALT an injustice. "Perhaps i have such special needs" I mean......REALLY!!!. That aside i think it a nice song.
Out of curiosity dear, why do you love ITITALT yet hate Theme From Mahogany when both are lush ballads?.
Answers on a postcard pleeeze.

[TheMotownManiac]

For me, this was and remains the quintessential Diana Ross album: smash singles, diverse selection of great album cuts and art work to die for. There was a review at the time either in Billboard or rolling stone that said in its praise” this is the kind of album that Aretha Franklin and Dionne Warwick should be doing but are not. “I remember laughing to myself thinking it took Motown six years to do an album like this on her - they don’t just fall from the sky.

I understand the dilemma they had as far as single release scheduling. ITITALT was the perfect follow up to mahogany, however, love hangover was a definite number one and it makes sense to release your strongest material first. However, ITITALT might sound schmaltzy or, less than, if released after love hangover so I see why they did what they did. As far as one live in my lifetime, I don’t know if I would’ve followed it up from love hangover or re-released I thought it took a little time…… Only this time, The single mix would be eschewed for the original album cut mix. After those, I would have sent ain’t nothing but it may be out, and then, just for fun, smile. That would’ve done extremely well on adult contemporary and may have crossed over to Pop.

[RanRan79]

Out of curiosity dear, why do you love ITITALT yet hate Theme From Mahogany when both are lush ballads?.
Answers on a postcard pleeeze.

I love a good lush ballad, so that's not my problem. "Mahogany" lacks soul IMO. There's not much, if any, soul in Diana's lead, nor in the track itself. In another thread I once mentioned that I put the song in the obvious pop category, which makes it an odd song considering most of Diana's 70s work. I've said it before and I'll say it again, Diana was best on songs that had, at the very least, a little bit of r&b to it. "Mahogany" however aint the one. No surprise that it's the one major pop hit [[top 10) of her career that didn't make it's way into the r&b top 10. I suspect it got as high as #11 just on the strength of her name, the success of the movie, and how popular she was with Black audiences. For me, I'm generally not a fan of her overly pop work, although there are a few exceptions.

[Ollie9]

I love a good lush ballad, so that's not my problem. "Mahogany" lacks soul IMO. There's not much, if any, soul in Diana's lead, nor in the track itself. In another thread I once mentioned that I put the song in the obvious pop category, which makes it an odd song considering most of Diana's 70s work. I've said it before and I'll say it again, Diana was best on songs that had, at the very least, a little bit of r&b to it. "Mahogany" however aint the one. No surprise that it's the one major pop hit [[top 10) of her career that didn't make it's way into the r&b top 10. I suspect it got as high as #11 just on the strength of her name, the success of the movie, and how popular she was with Black audiences. For me, I'm generally not a fan of her overly pop work, although there are a few exceptions.

Now i'm really confused monsieur RanRan. If as you say you are not really a fan of Diana's overly pop work, how is it that by your own admission you favour such pop confections as "Crying My Heart Out For You etc etc???.... Songs that are as MOR as is possible.
Allowing for the fact that we all have our own personal definitions as to what constitutes a more soulful sound, would i perhaps be correct in thinking that you would consider the Carpenters or possibly even Doris Day as less then overly pop..