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    Diana Ross [[1976) The LP - a discussion

    lots of fun discussion on the post regarding the Supremes' Touch lp. So let's dig into another one. this time it's Diana's self-titled 1976 lp.

    This charted extremely well and included the mega hits Theme from Mahogany and Love Hangover. Plus too additional single releases with I Thought It Took a Little Time and One Love In My Lifetime. It also has a strong batch of album tracks IMO but i know others felt less excited about Kiss Me Now, Smile and You're Good My Child

    And with the EE, we got a range of alt versions of songs and unreleased tracks

    thoughts on this set? would you have used alt versions or replaced some tracks? were there too many producers and too varied in style and points of view?

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    I always liked the album but make the following obversations:

    Motown should have used all of the lead vocals cut for Love Hangover. Having heard the alternative version, it makes the song much more listenable and not so "gappy".

    ITITALT alternate version was more powerful with the longer chorus, seems much more like a celebration.

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    I was a teenager at the time of the DIANA ROSS album release, working at a record store weekends and after school. That album was big business. I recall that people loved it, as of course I did. The cover was so striking, and the singles from the album - "Love Hangover," "Do You Know Where You're Going To,"and "One Love In My Lifetime" sold quite well, too. I always felt Motown missed a chance by not re-issuing and re-promoting "I Thought It Took A Little Time" after "Love Hangover" peaked, but hey...Motown did a lot of dumb things back then.

    As for the content of the album, I loved every selection except maybe "Kiss Me Now," which was perhaps a little too broadway / ragtime for the rest of the set. "Smile" was in the same style more or less, but at least it was a good solid song.

    As a whole, I felt the DIANA ROSS album may have been Diana's commercial peak, though her Chic-produced set sold better and was also a milestone for her.

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    Not one of my favorites. There really isn't a bad song on the album though. But aside from the singles [[except Mahogany which I hate), nothing on the album wows me. "Smile" is horribly out of place. I really don't understand some of the decisions made for Supremes and Diana Ross albums. "Smile" is a beautiful song and beautiful vocal, but it had no business on that album. I would've replaced it with "Harmony". I agree with Rover regarding "Took a Little Time". I prefer the version with the longer chorus. I also agree with Mister, the song should've been re-released. Dumb decision.

    I think this would've been a perfect album to have Diana do some of what Natalie was doing at the time. Nick and Val probably should've over seen this project.

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    This is another of my favorite albums. When I first saw it in the record store, I was confused by the title. I never knew people could have more than one album with the same title. Small quibble.

    Even though it is sort of a quilt of songs from different producers, DIANA ROSS hangs together as a solid project, unlike her previous studio album, LAST TIME I SAW HIM. I also like how many of the songs such as as YOU'RE GOOD MY CHILD, LOVE HANGOVER, ONE LOVE IN MY LIFETIME, AIN'T NOTHING BUT A MAYBE, and even I THOUGHT IT TOOK A LITTLE TIME have an R&B slant that was missing in her records since the SURRENDER album.

    The only song I'm slightly less enamored with is KISS ME NOW, but it is short and sweet and ends Side 1 on a happy note.

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    i always found Kiss Me Now to be a fun track. sure it's not a masterpiece but its coy and makes you smile.

    I am surprised with all of the success Michael Masser had that they never allowed him to do an entire album, from start to finish, with Miss ross.

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    Quote Originally Posted by sup_fan View Post
    i always found Kiss Me Now to be a fun track. sure it's not a masterpiece but its coy and makes you smile.

    I am surprised with all of the success Michael Masser had that they never allowed him to do an entire album, from start to finish, with Miss ross.
    Diana has mentioned that although Masser was very talented, he was also difficult to work with.

    That said, aside from her early solo albums with A&S and Deke Richards, her subsequent albums were all multiple producer projects until her work with Richard Perry on BABY IT'S ME. And even after that, they reverted back to multiple producers with ROSS [[1978).

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    after the success of Touch me in the morning, she did a lot of work in a short period with Michael. enough [[almost) for an album

    Last Time I saw him
    No one's gonna be a fool forever
    Theme from Mahogany
    To love again
    After you
    I thought it took a little time
    Sorry doesn't always make it right
    Together

    And the Ron Miller productions from this time would easily work in without much trouble:
    We're always saying goodbye
    Sleepin
    You
    Where did we go wrong
    Get it all together
    Old Funky Rolls

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    Quote Originally Posted by sup_fan View Post
    lots of fun discussion on the post regarding the Supremes' Touch lp. So let's dig into another one. this time it's Diana's self-titled 1976 lp.

    This charted extremely well and included the mega hits Theme from Mahogany and Love Hangover. Plus too additional single releases with I Thought It Took a Little Time and One Love In My Lifetime. It also has a strong batch of album tracks IMO but i know others felt less excited about Kiss Me Now, Smile and You're Good My Child

    And with the EE, we got a range of alt versions of songs and unreleased tracks

    thoughts on this set? would you have used alt versions or replaced some tracks? were there too many producers and too varied in style and points of view?
    Perhaps not her finest album, but i always had a soft spot for it. The only track i didn't like was Kiss me know which sounded so out of place. It should have been replaced by Sorry doesn't always make it right. A very varied album which i still love to this very day.

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    I got the Supremes anthology for Christmas the year b4 I fell in love with Diana Ross. then Do You Know Where your Going was #1. I was kinda young then but by 1976 I was working a fast food joint and had a few dollars,.
    loved the artwork and how diana looked. beautiful
    loved Love Hangover which I why I bought the album. then I loved the album,i think we can all agree Kiss Me Now should have stayed a B side .sounded like a leftover from Last Time I Saw Him. although I do like it.
    I think I would have went with To Love Again or Sorry Doesn't Always make it right , which was a single a few months earlier. but typical Motown.
    this album has always been my introduction to Diana after the Supremes so I have always had a soft spot for it and still play it often. great bunch of songs, I think there could have been one more single and I would have held the Hits album back to Christmas shopping and contined to promote DR76. and yes why another album called DR???????? seriously, who came up with this. we couldn't have called the lp Love Hangover .

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    This is my go-to example of a "multiple producers" album that amazingly works. I had to buy the album even if just for the cover. I'd only heard Theme from Mahogany and didn't know what to expect. The eclectic mix totally surprised me. Yet all the songs somehow fit together for a satisfying and appealing whole. I was mesmerized by Love Hangover and fell in love with I Thought It Took A Little Time. I even think the album title should have been Today I Fell In Love.
    I played the album a hell of a lot in 1976 and still return to it with pleasure.
    Last edited by lucky2012; 05-08-2019 at 12:36 AM.

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    Quote Originally Posted by daviddh View Post
    I got the Supremes anthology for Christmas the year b4 I fell in love with Diana Ross. then Do You Know Where your Going was #1. I was kinda young then but by 1976 I was working a fast food joint and had a few dollars,.
    loved the artwork and how diana looked. beautiful
    loved Love Hangover which I why I bought the album. then I loved the album,i think we can all agree Kiss Me Now should have stayed a B side .sounded like a leftover from Last Time I Saw Him. although I do like it.
    I think I would have went with To Love Again or Sorry Doesn't Always make it right , which was a single a few months earlier. but typical Motown.
    this album has always been my introduction to Diana after the Supremes so I have always had a soft spot for it and still play it often. great bunch of songs, I think there could have been one more single and I would have held the Hits album back to Christmas shopping and contined to promote DR76. and yes why another album called DR???????? seriously, who came up with this. we couldn't have called the lp Love Hangover .
    It was indeed a dumb decision to called this album "Diana Ross". Love Hangover would have been the obvious title for the album. We also got two albums called "Ross" and two called "Diana" if you include the tv soundtrack album. I despaired at such strange decisions.
    I have actually grown to like"kiss me now" but it still sounds strangely out of place on this otherwise excellent and cohesive album. This was one of those multi producer sets that worked a treat.

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    I've always loved the entire lp but have to agree with Bluebrock that 'Love Hangover' would have been a better lp title, both as identifier of the hit single's inclusion and as a conceptual lp title as all the songs do indeed reference some sort of 'love hangover'! And that cover ... Here's my 'interesting' memory. Back innaday we usually found out about new lps by either discovering them in the record store or by print ad. I had seen a print ad for this lp and drove to my local Sam Goody. I may have made more than one trip. As the lp was nowhere visible I asked an employee about it; he knew nothing. I found ONE copy in the 'Miscellaneous Soul' bin. But several weeks later a wall rack with multiple copies was indeed on view.

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    Quote Originally Posted by PeaceNHarmony View Post
    I've always loved the entire lp but have to agree with Bluebrock that 'Love Hangover' would have been a better lp title, both as identifier of the hit single's inclusion and as a conceptual lp title as all the songs do indeed reference some sort of 'love hangover'! And that cover ... Here's my 'interesting' memory. Back innaday we usually found out about new lps by either discovering them in the record store or by print ad. I had seen a print ad for this lp and drove to my local Sam Goody. I may have made more than one trip. As the lp was nowhere visible I asked an employee about it; he knew nothing. I found ONE copy in the 'Miscellaneous Soul' bin. But several weeks later a wall rack with multiple copies was indeed on view.
    Remember that LOVE HANGOVER wasn't even a single when this album was released. In fact, hearing it on this album is what inspired the Fifth Dimension to cover the song and release their version as a single, beating Diana to the punch.

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    FYI for us diehards: there are two slightly-different versions of the front cover. On one, the title is above Diana's head. On the other, the title is beneath Diana's head. I have no idea which was released first or why it was changed.

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    I think the first cover had her name at the bottom and was changed to the top of the cover at a later date. I imagined it was for sales purposes in order to see her name if only the top of the record album was visible in a bin. I always thought that just her face on the cover, even without her name, would have easily identified who it was.

    This is such an iconic picture and cover that having a title would detract from the overall effect. I didn't like the name change from the bottom to the top for this reason. If any album should have been called "Diana Ross" it is this album.

    I was usually [[and still am, more or less) on top of all Diana and Supremes releases. I think back then new releases came out on a Friday. Somehow I missed this. On Saturday night I was at a club in Boston and the last song was Love Hangover. I didn't know what it was and a friend who knew I loved Diana was excitedly telling me the details. He also mentioned specifics about the cover and said a large poster was hanging in the record store window. I went across the street to the store at 2:00 a.m. and saw the display window in all its' glory. This was back in the day before department stores were open on a Sunday in Massachusetts. Fortunately record stores in Boston were considered gift stores and opened on Sundays. I was there at noon when the store opened that day!

    I loved the album back then, and like most, enjoy Kiss Me Now but would have preferred if it was on a different album or at least on Side 2. I also had wished that Motown re-release It Took A Little Time following Hangover's success. When released it was climbing the chart pretty well and could have been another #1. Following LH it might have at least gone Top 10. A real missed opportunity. Even though Diana was popular after Mahogany went #1 it goes to show that in this era it was not easy or certain that even a star of her stature could have 2 hits at the same time.

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    Quote Originally Posted by daviddh View Post
    I got the Supremes anthology for Christmas the year b4 I fell in love with Diana Ross. then Do You Know Where your Going was #1. I was kinda young then but by 1976 I was working a fast food joint and had a few dollars,.
    loved the artwork and how diana looked. beautiful
    loved Love Hangover which I why I bought the album. then I loved the album,i think we can all agree Kiss Me Now should have stayed a B side .sounded like a leftover from Last Time I Saw Him. although I do like it.
    I think I would have went with To Love Again or Sorry Doesn't Always make it right , which was a single a few months earlier. but typical Motown.
    this album has always been my introduction to Diana after the Supremes so I have always had a soft spot for it and still play it often. great bunch of songs, I think there could have been one more single and I would have held the Hits album back to Christmas shopping and contined to promote DR76. and yes why another album called DR???????? seriously, who came up with this. we couldn't have called the lp Love Hangover .
    This was also my first introduction to Diana Ross too. My mom had bought me the blue double album Diana Ross and the Supremes Greatest Hits. At this time I also fell in love with Diana Ross. I bought the 45 single of “Do you Know”. Then I got this album and the rest is history. I was only 14 years old. Lol

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    If I were going to set my bias aside and rank Diana singles based on my overall idea of what constitutes "greatness" [[as opposed to what simply makes me like a song), "I Thought It Took a Little Time" would still rank extremely high. Easily top 10. For me it's a perfect cut: Diana vocal, the track, the lyrics, the background singers. Great.

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    i think after the massive success of LH, they didn't want to go back to a lush ballad but see if they could hit again with a hot dance track. hence One Love In My Lifetime.

    According to the notes in Randy's book by George, the single version of OLIML cut a verse and replaced it with additional instrumental which would clearly make it less radio-friendly. Plus the single was released right after the release of the Greatest Hits lp. and so you had 2 superior versions on 2 lps vs a crappy version on the 45.

    as for Kiss, if you look at the flow of the songs on the lp it works. it's obviously a slower pace than LH but still dance-able. LH basically consists of two parts - the erotic foreplay and then the hot steamy sexy. Kiss is the coy playfullness of after-glow

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    Quote Originally Posted by RanRan79 View Post
    If I were going to set my bias aside and rank Diana singles based on my overall idea of what constitutes "greatness" [[as opposed to what simply makes me like a song), "I Thought It Took a Little Time" would still rank extremely high. Easily top 10. For me it's a perfect cut: Diana vocal, the track, the lyrics, the background singers. Great.
    Definitely one of her very best. I was always disappointed that in the late 70s she didn't include this in her LIVE performances. When Love Hangover started getting airplay I recall a co-worker my age wondering why she was no longer hearing "I Thought It Took A Little Time".

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    Quote Originally Posted by sup_fan View Post
    i think after the massive success of LH, they didn't want to go back to a lush ballad but see if they could hit again with a hot dance track. hence One Love In My Lifetime.

    According to the notes in Randy's book by George, the single version of OLIML cut a verse and replaced it with additional instrumental which would clearly make it less radio-friendly. Plus the single was released right after the release of the Greatest Hits lp. and so you had 2 superior versions on 2 lps vs a crappy version on the 45.

    as for Kiss, if you look at the flow of the songs on the lp it works. it's obviously a slower pace than LH but still dance-able. LH basically consists of two parts - the erotic foreplay and then the hot steamy sexy. Kiss is the coy playfullness of after-glow
    I think in another thread I had the re-release following "One Love", because it did make sense to follow up "Hangover" with another uptempo cut. But once it became clear that "One Love" wasn't going to get anywhere near the success of "Hangover", "I Thought" should've been sent out again- maybe with a different mix- since I'm sure Motown was aware of the response the single was getting before "Hangover" was rushed out. Between "One Love" and "Gettin Ready" there's a year of no single release, so "I Thought" could've filled that void.

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    Quote Originally Posted by johnjeb View Post
    Definitely one of her very best. I was always disappointed that in the late 70s she didn't include this in her LIVE performances.
    I thought I read on here that the song was in her shows for a brief time? It is a travesty that it wasn't a staple of the shows. She had to have known that her fans really loved the song. Goes back to a comment I made in another thread sometime ago, Diana never really seems to know her audience.

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    Quote Originally Posted by sup_fan View Post
    i think after the massive success of LH, they didn't want to go back to a lush ballad but see if they could hit again with a hot dance track. hence One Love In My Lifetime.
    One Love is my least favorite track on the album. I was disappointed it was the next single. I understand the reasoning about a dance track. I still think I Thought It Took a Little Time would have been the better and classier follow-up. Maybe if it had been released just as Love Hangover had peaked, it would have benefited from that mega-hit's momentum and reminded people of Diana Ross's pop versatility and virtuosity.
    as for Kiss, if you look at the flow of the songs on the lp it works. it's obviously a slower pace than LH but still dance-able. LH basically consists of two parts - the erotic foreplay and then the hot steamy sexy. Kiss is the coy playfullness of after-glow
    I like Kiss Me Now and is the perfect song to follow Love Hangover on the album.
    Last edited by lucky2012; 05-09-2019 at 10:11 AM.

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    I wish they would have tried I Thought It Took A Little Time again but I suspect they saw the first response and felt there was not sufficient reason to try again.

    In retrospect, I think it's a better song than Love Hangover.

    I think the album cover even helped sell this album.

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    Quote Originally Posted by sup_fan View Post
    i think after the massive success of LH, they didn't want to go back to a lush ballad but see if they could hit again with a hot dance track. hence One Love In My Lifetime.

    According to the notes in Randy's book by George, the single version of OLIML cut a verse and replaced it with additional instrumental which would clearly make it less radio-friendly. Plus the single was released right after the release of the Greatest Hits lp. and so you had 2 superior versions on 2 lps vs a crappy version on the 45.

    as for Kiss, if you look at the flow of the songs on the lp it works. it's obviously a slower pace than LH but still dance-able. LH basically consists of two parts - the erotic foreplay and then the hot steamy sexy. Kiss is the coy playfullness of after-glow
    Good points, and I also loved KMN. I'm not sure if it would have been a hit single but I liked it as an lp follower of LH. KMN was a sorta novelty track, a fun song expertly sung by Diana [[as always).

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    one of her best selling albums as well. think this could have done better if they didnt release the Hits album so early, it killed sales from this album but typical motown.
    i would have rereleased It Took Time To Fall In Love as well.beautiful song.in my top 5

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    Listed at 700000 in sales

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    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.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Ollie9 View Post
    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?

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    Quote Originally Posted by Bluebrock View Post
    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.

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    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.

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    I Thought It Took a Little Time and After You are both masterful Masser compositions with gorgeous Ross performances.

    I am surprised with all of the success Michael Masser had that they never allowed him to do an entire album, from start to finish, with Miss ross.
    Such an album could have been amazing, like the Ashford & Simpson and Chic albums. Motown would have had to invest some time and support for him to create and craft quality songs, with collaborators like Ron Miller, Gerry Goffin and Pam Sawyer.

    Several years after Mahogany we got the compilation To Love Again. I was impressed with Diana's vocal interpretations, especially on One More Chance, Cryin' My Heart Out For You
    and It's My Turn. Had she grown and matured into these songs? I had never been especially
    enamored of her earlier Masser tracks like No One's Gonna Be a Fool Forever and Sorry Doesn't Always Make It Right. [[I really don't like Together).
    I have also read that some songs Masser recorded on Natalie Cole and other artists after leaving Motown were originally meant for Ross. I can totally hear Ross singing Someone That I Used To Love or Miss You Like Crazy.

    In this era of digital playlists my Diana Ross/Michael Masser To Love Again album
    would be short and sweet:

    1. Stay With Me
    2. Cryin' My Heart Out For You
    3. One More Chance
    4. Touch Me In The Morning
    5. After You
    6. Do You Know Where You're Going To?
    7. It's My Turn
    8. I Thought It Took A Little Time [[But Today I Fell In Love)
    9. In Your Arms [[*from Silk Electric)
    10. To Love Again
    Last edited by lucky2012; 05-13-2019 at 11:21 PM.

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    Lucky I read the same thing about some Masser productions, except I think the ones originally intended for Diana ended up going to Dionne Warwick. "Cryin My Heart Out for You" is one of my fav Diana songs period. It doesn't seem to get much love around here.

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    i am surprised that Masser wasn't ever assigned a full Diana project until To Love Again in 81

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    Question

    Quote Originally Posted by RanRan79 View Post
    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.

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    Quote Originally Posted by RanRan79 View Post
    Lucky I read the same thing about some Masser productions, except I think the ones originally intended for Diana ended up going to Dionne Warwick. "Cryin My Heart Out for You" is one of my fav Diana songs period. It doesn't seem to get much love around here.
    interesting.......that’s whats great about this forum - there’s something for EVERYONE. This song, to me, is weak lyrically - especially the chorus/somewhat better melodically yet it somehow works better as a whole to the listenable stage for me. I love her vocals except I don’t think she really nails the “once again....” part and I’ve always felt it wasn’t completed. I was shocked it went out as a single, but, I didn’t know she was gone yet.

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    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.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Ollie9 View Post
    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.
    Last edited by RanRan79; 05-14-2019 at 03:02 PM.

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    Quote Originally Posted by TheMotownManiac View Post
    interesting.......that’s whats great about this forum - there’s something for EVERYONE. This song, to me, is weak lyrically - especially the chorus/somewhat better melodically yet it somehow works better as a whole to the listenable stage for me. I love her vocals except I don’t think she really nails the “once again....” part and I’ve always felt it wasn’t completed. I was shocked it went out as a single, but, I didn’t know she was gone yet.
    It may be a lyrically weak song, and lyrics do matter, but for me the appeal is in the track and Diana's vocal and the background singers. It just comes across as a beautiful song to my ears.

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    Quote Originally Posted by RanRan79 View Post
    It may be a lyrically weak song, and lyrics do matter, but for me the appeal is in the track and Diana's vocal and the background singers. It just comes across as a beautiful song to my ears.
    I listened to it for the first time in years today and it’s better than I recall and I agree: it does sound good-light to me. Glad I gave it a new chance

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    Wink

    Quote Originally Posted by RanRan79 View Post
    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..
    Last edited by Ollie9; 05-15-2019 at 05:29 AM.

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    IMO there's a happy medium between some of the smaller Masser ballads that are nice but sort of missing something [[like To Love Again) and the overwrought new tracks on To Love Again [[Crying my heart over you).

    Some of the ballads like To Love and Raining Again are lovely and excellent lp tracks but they sort of lack something. their strong structure might not be as tight or strong, lyrics might be a bit vague

    And some ballads can easily become too saccharine and over-the-top. It's my Turn does a good job of building drama but without crossing the line to overwhelming and just "too much." But Crying My Heart and One More Time are just too much

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    Quote Originally Posted by Ollie9 View Post
    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..
    I'll refer you to this part of my post that you replied to: "...although there are a few exceptions." "Cryin" would fall into the category of "a few exceptions". As for the Carpenters and Doris Day...I'm not familiar with Doris' work other than some of her movies which I used to like to watch when I was a kid [[actually the only one I remember is something about a cat), so I can't comment on her music. However, I think the Carpenters made good music. I am a fan of pop music and I love overly pop work by pop artists. I have never considered Diana to be a pop artist, even though she sometimes records pop songs, and thus I'm more of a fan of her r&b stuff than her pop stuff.

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    Quote Originally Posted by sup_fan View Post
    IMO there's a happy medium between some of the smaller Masser ballads that are nice but sort of missing something [[like To Love Again) and the overwrought new tracks on To Love Again [[Crying my heart over you).

    Some of the ballads like To Love and Raining Again are lovely and excellent lp tracks but they sort of lack something. their strong structure might not be as tight or strong, lyrics might be a bit vague

    And some ballads can easily become too saccharine and over-the-top. It's my Turn does a good job of building drama but without crossing the line to overwhelming and just "too much." But Crying My Heart and One More Time are just too much
    I am not familar with the songs "Raining Again" and "One More Time" sup.. Might they be from an impending Lost And Found album lol.

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    Quote Originally Posted by RanRan79 View Post
    I'll refer you to this part of my post that you replied to: "...although there are a few exceptions." "Cryin" would fall into the category of "a few exceptions". As for the Carpenters and Doris Day...I'm not familiar with Doris' work other than some of her movies which I used to like to watch when I was a kid [[actually the only one I remember is something about a cat), so I can't comment on her music. However, I think the Carpenters made good music. I am a fan of pop music and I love overly pop work by pop artists. I have never considered Diana to be a pop artist, even though she sometimes records pop songs, and thus I'm more of a fan of her r&b stuff than her pop stuff.
    I know exactly whay you mean RanRan. There are those who would still consider Diana a pure pop artist. I myself have never viewed her in that light, Nothing But A Maybe" and "Love Hangover being just two examples of why.

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    Quote Originally Posted by RanRan79 View Post
    I have never considered Diana to be a pop artist, even though she sometimes records pop songs, and thus I'm more of a fan of her r&b stuff than her pop stuff.
    She is considered a Pop Diva by many, as is Dionne Warwick. And some [[black, white or otherwise) label her an R&B artist. I don't think she is a "Soul singer", as she is sometimes [[conveniently) labeled. But that's the problem with labels. We fans just love her music. I love that I can listen to Diana Ross sing all kinds of pop music genres.

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    Quote Originally Posted by sup_fan View Post
    And some ballads can easily become too saccharine and over-the-top. It's my Turn does a good job of building drama but without crossing the line to overwhelming and just "too much." But Crying My Heart and One More Time are just too much
    Sometimes I'm in the mood for a good bubble bath.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Ollie9 View Post
    I am not familar with the songs "Raining Again" and "One More Time" sup.. Might they be from an impending Lost And Found album lol.
    Haha sorry. Meant to type After You

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    The best tracks on the DR '76 album to me were:
    Love Hangover [[I agree, they should've used the "alternate" version) - this song, I'm sure, shocked a lot of DR/Motown/Supremes fans when they first heard it.
    I Thought It Took a Little Time [[But Today I Fell in Love) - the first time I heard this, I couldn't stop playing it. It had the right dramatic effects that Diana usually went for in her ballads.
    One Love in My Lifetime
    Ain't Nothin' But a Maybe [[though Rufus & Chaka produced the ultimate version, Diana's version is pretty good too)
    Kiss Me Now
    Smile [[I think she recorded this for the delayed "Blue" album so Motown may have stuck in it the last minute)

    I liked After You and Mahogany but I feel there were too many ballads on this album but I guess this was gonna be the direction Motown tried to take her. She's great with ballads but it can get corny.

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    ^supposedly After You and Theme were intended for the soundtrack for the film and not a standard studio lp. interesting idea

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