You guys remember Diana Ross' huge 1980 hit "Upside Down"? It's from her album 'Diana' which was produced by Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards of Chic.This album also includes the smash hit "I'm Coming Out".When this album was completed,Diana wasn't totally satisfied with her vocals.She felt that the Chic influence was too overpowering and wanted HER vocals to be more upfront.So,being the strong,determined,independent diva that she is (and we LOVE her for this...lol)she took the tapes (without Chic's knowledge) and had them re-mixed to bring out her vocals.But,now for the first time,you will be able to hear the *ORIGINAL* album the way Chic intended it to sound!! And if all that wasn't enough,you get an entire second disc containing all types of rarities,outtakes,remixes,etc. Check out this amazing trackslist...



Diana Ross 'Diana' Deluxe Edition 2-CD set (due July 29)

DISC 1---Original Album Release
"Upside Down" (4:05)
"Tenderness" (3: 51)
"Friend To Friend" (3:19)
"I'm Coming Out" (5:23)
"Have Fun Again" (5:57)
"My Old Piano" (3:55)
"Now That You're Gone" (3:59)
"Give Up" (3:45)

***'Diana' (UNRELEASED ORIGINAL CHIC MIX)***
"Upside Down" (4:15)
"Tenderness" (5:07)
"Friend To Friend" (3:19)
"I'm Coming Out" (6:00)
"Have Fun Again" (7:09)
"My Old Piano" (4:51)
"Now That You're Gone" (3:39)
"Give Up" (3:59)



DISC 2--- 'Diana': Dance
"Love Hangover" (Extended Alternate Promo-Only Version)(10:23)
"Your Love Is So Good For Me" (12 Inch Version) (6:23)
"Top Of The World" (3:07)
"Lovin,Livin,Givin" (LP mix) (5:12)
"What You Gave Me" (12 Inch Version) (6:06)
"You Were The One" (4:01)
"Diana Ross and The Supremes Medley Of Hits" (12 Inch Version) (9:57)
"No One Gets The Prize/The Boss" (12 Inch Re-Edit) (9:39)
"I Ain't Been Licked" (12 Inch Version) (5:16)
"Fire Don't Burn" (3:20)
"We Can Never Light That old Flame Again" (Alternate Mix) (4:40)
"You Build Me Up To Tear Me Down" (5:40)
"Sweet Summertime Livin" (4:23)



A 10-minute version of "Love Hangover"??? The entire 'Diana' album the way Chic intended it to sound?? I'm ecstatic!!!



[This message was edited Mon Jul 28 6:04:19 PDT 2003 by DavidEye]

Here's some more info on the 1980 'Diana' album that I swiped form another board.It explains the drama surrounding it...


"As I understand it,Diana Ross was not impressed with the final mix of the album.She didn't think it highlighted her voice enough,it was buried under the Chic sound too much.So she "hijacked" the tapes and together with some engineer they remixed all the tracks---suitably altered to showcase her voice more and with the music toned down---without Chic's knowledge--and made the company (Motown) release HER altered version of the album.And the Chic people were not pleased.But it was still a big hit"


Wow,it's gonna be fun hearing the original version of the album.Notice that the songs are longer on the original version of the album.



[This message was edited Wed Jun 11 3:01:26 PDT 2003 by DavidEye]

While I can't stand Diana Ross, I would be interested in hearing this as well. Always have been a big fan of Nile Rodgers so it would be cool to hear what he had in mind for this album. What I would really like to find is Nile's solo album from the mid 80s. My vinyl copy is heat damaged. Other than "State Your Mind" I can't even find those tracks on kazaa.

This is one of my favorite albums of 1980. One of the albums that brought in the "decade of the musician-songwriter-producer."

This was a music-makeover for Diana at the time. And her career was NEVER the same after that. In its day, it was kind of like a Sheena Easton story.

Diana was making the rounds with popular producers at the time. Her previous album, the Ashford-Simpson collabo'd, "The Boss" had already gotten her some hit singles. Nobody had any idea that when Upside Down and I'm Coming Out came out how Diana's career would change.

Its been written that after those two albums, Diana got too big for her britches and started commanding more $$ from Motown. Motown's view was that while Diana was an artist in her own right, her recent success really came from the production talent. Diana left for Capitol and hasn't really enjoyed that kind of consistent FULL-ALBUM success since.

I guess I can understand her want to get credit for her success,

...but it'd be like Prince finding some people to sing while he produced, wrote and played all the instruments. (BIG SMILE)


"Yeah, aiight... you got the face and the voice, but who got the bottom, son?"

Thanks Davideye for the heads up.Since you know a lot of upcoming releases regarding remasters, how about Grace Jones? She is way overdue for remasters of her back catalogue...

PhilG said:

Grace Jones is cool,I dig some of her old stuff too.Speaking of remasters,all of Lisa Stansfield's albums have been re-mastered and I think there are bonus tracks on each one.

Is the album 'Eaten Alive' which she did with the Bee Gees any good? I only know Chain Reaction!

Cloudbuster said:

I've never heard that entire album,but the few tracks I heard were pretty good.And I'm sure you heard the title track,which was written by Michael Jackson.He even appears on the song,singing background vocals.

DavidEye said:

I haven't heard the title track. I know it was released as a single but it bombed. The album didn't do too well either. You would think that a project that involved Diana Ross, the Bee Gees & Michael Jackson would've done good business.

Cloudbuster said:

The song "Eaten Alive" is a cool song.I'm not sure it was a total bomb.In my area,it received alot of radio airplay when it came out in the summer of 1985.Like many MJ songs,it has a haunting,paranoid,intentionally creepy feel to it (think "Thriller","Torture" and "Threatened").Check out the chorus...


"I don't wanna be Eaten Alive
cause you're so dangerous,no more hearts I can trust
I don't wanna be Eaten Alive
to be eaten alive,eaten alive
I don't ever wanna be (huh huh) Eaten Alive!"


But the most interesting part of the song belongs to Michael,when he sings near the end...

"you can rip my shirt,drag me in the dirt
I will be your slave,anything you say
but I don't ever wanna be...huh huh...Eaten Alive!"

Well, hopefully they'll get around to remastering this album too. There was a third single 'Experience' but I've not heard that either.

Cloudbuster said:

The songs "Chain Reaction" and "Experience" can be found on the Diana Ross CD called "The RCA Years" or something like that.I have it and it's great.It concentrates on her 80s stuff after she left Motown in 1981 and signed with RCA.

so,who's buying this set tomorrow?

DavidEye said:

I'm gonna pick this up - sounds great. I've always loved the bass-line in Upside Down. Come to think of it, the bass-line in all Chic produced stuff is funky as hell.

Shafty said:

I think you'll *really* be able to hear the bassline in the "Chic Mix" version of the album,which is included in this set.

I'm a little disappointed with this Deluxe double cd issue of this album.

I only wanted the second disc because I thought the 10 minute version of "Love Hangover" was gonna have me putting it on continuous replay for days on end. Not the case. I actually find this version much less compelling than the single version I used to hear on the radio all the time. I haven't had time to read everything yet, but is the 10 minute version the same as the 12" version of the song? The other material on that disc doesn't interest me in the least bit.

I'm not what you'd call a Diana Ross fan, but I do remember loving this album when my older brother bought it back in 1980. Back then we were interested in anything Chic-related.

The Chic mix of the album on the first disc is interesting to listen to. Both versions clearly have their stamp, but I like the fact that some of the songs were longer on the Chic mix, and her vocals are clearly more precise on the second version. And aside from "Upside Down" on the unreleased Chic mix I have yet to discern that her vocals are down lower in the mix than on the originally released version. The difference in her vocal performance is obvious, in some small cases to the point that she seems to be straining a bit.

I had forgotten that Nile, Bernard and Tony Thompson had come up with the reggae inflected "Now That You're Gone"...as a matter of fact, I didn't remember the song at all. It seems to be the one I listen to all the time now.

It's probably the only solo Diana Ross album I'll ever own.

To this day, Nile still plays one of the feircest rhythm geetars I've ever heard. And 'Nard is ALWAYS in the pocket, leading the pocket, ahead of the pocket, behind the beat, on the side of it, etc. That's what a bass player should sound like. Damn. Damn. Damn.



Sincerely,


Florida Evans

Hi Supernova


I've been listening to this Deluxe Edition non-stop for the past two weeks.I was familiar with this album in 1980 because my sister is a huge Diana Ross fan.She used to play this particular album constantly.It is arguably Diana's best solo record.There isn't a bad song anywhere in the bunch.Songs like "My Old Piano","Have Fun (Again)","Friend To Friend" and "Now That You're Gone" are top-notch tracks (and I didn't even mention the two hit singles from this album!).Chic did a tremendous job producing this album.It's just as fierce and intoxicating as their own albums.Surprisingly,I find the original mix of the album by Chic to be not quite as the strong as the released version.I agree with Russ Terrana (the Motown engineer who remixed the original version)..."Suzanne dePasse played me the original mix in the studio.It had a very nice,clean,rich sound.But I felt a song would come on and,20 seconds later,it was still there---NO PEAKS AND VALLEYS.The dynamics seemed limited".In any case,it's great to finally have the original mix,after all these years.

I admit,I was also slightly dissapointed with the "Love Hangover" extended alternate mix.It's cool,but not quite what I expected.I guess I was really expecting to just hear the original song,but extended much longer than the single version.This alternate mix has alot of other things on it,including those annoying,repetitive background vocals.It's funny,years ago in a club,I heard a long extended mix of "Love Hangover" and it was exactly what I wanted...the original song extended.Perhaps that is the 12" version? I wish they had included that version here too.

The bonus disc that comes with this set (titled "Diana:Dance") is a mixed bag.There is Diana's attempt at a Girogio Moroder-styled EuroDisco song ("Lovin,Livin,Givin"),a really awful medley of old Supremes hits,and several forgotten album tracks of little merit.But it IS nice to have the 12" single "No One Gets The Prize/The Boss".


...
[This message was edited Sat Aug 9 18:14:39 PDT 2003 by DavidEye]

DavidEye said:

Hey David. I probably haven't listened to it as much as you since I bought it, but so far I can't say I agree with Russ about the dynamics. If anything I think the originally released version is more polished for the pop/dance market, but not necessarily lacking dynamics. It's more precision-like, pristine, and less prone to leave things to chance like the original, unreleased version sounded. But there is no doubt that in some instances her voice should have been more out front, and the background singers slightly lower in the mix. To me lacking dynamics was the antithesis of the way Chic sounded at that time. But admittedly, I might hear it differently as I listen more.

I like the way the trombone solo on "I'm Coming Out" starts out with a little drag phrase at the very beginning. Listening to different studio takes of the same classic songs can be revelatory. I even like the fact that Diana's slightly strained phrasing in some parts of that song isn't so perfect. Although her voice has never floored me, like the great singers. Listening to it it makes me wonder how Nile and Diana felt about Puffy's mumbling over the track 20 years later.

And I wholeheartedly disagree with Nile that Chic couldn't get away with a song like "Now That You're Gone"...that's classic Chic. Chic got away with a few tracks that weren't exactly atypical. Remember "Can't Stand To Love You" from the Risqué album?

Speaking of "Love Hangover", do you have the Disco Box set? I have it, but right now I'm too lazy to get it and find out if that song is on there. The intro to LH just REEKS of nothing but sweaty sex.

Are you referring to "The Disco Box" from Rhino Records? It's a 4-CD set and yes,I do have it.Unfortunately,the song "Love Hangover" is not on it but I'm sure you have that song on other CDs anyway.


"The intro to "Love Hangover" just REEKS of nothing but sweaty sex"


Indeed.It's fitting that this song was featured in the 1977 film 'Looking For Mr.Goodbar',a film that perfectly captures the carefree sexual attitudes of the 70s...lol...did you know that this song was originally recorded by The Fifth Dimension?? I think their version came out in 1975,but it wasn't a hit.Diana re-made it and took it straight to the top.