Diana (album)

Infobox Album | Name = diana
Type = Album
Artist = Diana Ross


Released = May 22, 1980
Recorded = 1979-1980
Genre = R&B/funk/disco
Length = 34:14
Label = Motown
5155
Producer = Bernard Edwards & Nile Rodgers
Reviews = *Allmusic Rating|3|5 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&token=&sql=10:dz6dtr79klmx link]
Last album = "20 Golden Greats (Diana Ross album)"
(1979)
This album = "diana"
(1980)
Next album = " To Love Again"
(1981)
Misc = Singles
Name = diana
Type = studio
single 1 = Upside Down / Friend to Friend
single 1 date = June 20, 1980
single 2 = I'm Coming Out / Give Up
single 2 date = August 22, 1980
single 3 = My Old Piano / Now That You're Gone
single 3 date = December 21, 1981

"diana" is a 1980 album by American R&B singer Diana Ross, released on the Motown label. The album was, and remains, the biggest-selling studio collection of the singer's career.

Conception

In late-1979, Diana Ross was at a major crossroads in her career. After the end of her movie career following the critically panned Motown production of "The Wiz", with most reviewers directing their criticism directly at Ross, her music career was also at an ebb. Save for the clubs who were playing her old hits with the Supremes, pop and R&B radio paid little attention to Ross' solo recordings. Following the moderate U.S. success of 1979's "The Boss", Ross wanted a fresher, more modern sound. Production team Bernard Edwards and Nile Rodgers of Chic had recently written a whole album's worth of material with Aretha Franklin in mind. Franklin had however declined the offer and all the songs, including "Upside Down", were subsequently passed on to Ross.

What proved to be a grueling recording process with the singer was made even longer when Ross abandoned the sessions after producers Edwards and Rodgers had the misfortune of informing her she was singing flat. Despite repeated conflicts between the producers and the singer during the recording sessions, the album was against all odds completed. Reportedly, Ross was however anything but pleased with the results. Following an advance preview of the record, to be released in the aftermath of the so called anti-disco backlash, an influential New York City disc jockey warned Ross it would even be the end of her career.

When the master tapes were submitted to Motown in March 1980, a nervous Ross consequently had resident Motown engineer Russ Terrana remix the entire album, toning down the funkier elements of Chic's playing, removing extended instrumental passages - and most noticeably, speeding up the tracks to give the singer's voice a brighter, more youthful sound. The remixing of the master tapes and the re-recording of all Ross' lead vocals was done without the knowledge or approval of Rodgers and Edwards. When they were presented with the "official" version of "diana" the producers publicly objected and at one point even considered taking their names off the record - still Motown and Ross persisted and the version released was Terrana's smoother and more commercial mix of the album; when asked to produce Ross' follow-up album Rodgers and Edwards politely declined. Rodgers and Ross were however to collaborate on album "Workin' Overtime" in 1989 and Edwards did produce one song for her in 1984 ("Telephone").

Reception

Released in May 1980, the "diana" album introduced Ross to a new generation of fans not only in the United States but worldwide. Reaching number two on the Billboard 200 album chart and #1 on the Billboard Soul Albums Chart, as well as yielding two Top Ten singles including the number one single "Upside Down", the album would sell over six million copies in the US alone and be certified platinum within months. In the UK it spun off three massively successful singles; "Upside Down" (#2, 12 weeks on the chart - marking the highest peak performance from Ross as a solo artist since "I'm Still Waiting" in 1971), "My Old Piano" (#5, 9 weeks) and "I'm Coming Out" (#13, 10 weeks). A fourth single, "Tenderness", was also released in certain territories and was later included on several greatest hits compilations. Some thirty years after its release "diana" remains Ross' best-selling studio album to date.

"diana" was one of four albums written and produced by Bernard Edwards and Nile Rodgers in 1980, the other three being Sister Sledge's "Love Somebody Today", Sheila and B. Devotion's "King of the World" including European hit single "Spacer", and Chic's fourth studio album "Real People".

The success of "diana" managed to resurrect Ross' music career. Following the release of two more singles, the duet "Endless Love" with Lionel Richie and "It's My Turn", both worldwide hits, Ross left Motown and signed a then-record breaking $20 million deal with RCA Records. The first album for the label was 1981's self-produced "Why Do Fools Fall in Love". "diana" was remastered and released as a double CD in 2003 containing the original unremixed versions, together with a selection of other Motown dance tracks from the same period.

Track listing

Original album
"All tracks written by Bernard Edwards and Nile Rodgers."

Side A
#"Upside Down" – 4:05 (Original mix: - 4:15) audio|Diana Ross - Upside Down.ogg|Listen
#"Tenderness" – 3:52 (Original mix: - 5:07)
#"Friend to Friend" – 3:19 (Original mix: - 3:18)
#"I'm Coming Out" – 5:25 (Original mix: - 6:00) audio|Diana Ross - I'm Coming Out.ogg|Listen

Side B
#"Have Fun (Again)" – 5:57 (Original mix: - 7:08)
#"My Old Piano" – 3:55 (Original mix: - 4:51) audio|Diana Ross - My Old Piano.ogg|Listen
#"Now That You're Gone" – 3:59 (Original mix: - 3:39)
#"Give Up" – 3:45 (Original mix: - 3:59)

2003 Deluxe Edition:

Disc 1
"All tracks written by Bernard Edwards and Nile Rodgers."

#"Upside Down" - 4:05
#"Tenderness" - 3:52
#"Friend to Friend" - 3:21
#"I'm Coming Out" - 5:25
#"Have Fun (Again)" - 5:57
#"My Old Piano" - 3:55
#"Now That You're Gone" - 3:59
#"Give Up" - 3:50
#"Upside Down" (Original Chic Mix) - 4:17
#* Previously unreleased mix
#"Tenderness" (Original Chic Mix) - 5:10
#* Previously unreleased mix
#"Friend to Friend" (Original Chic Mix) - 3:20
#* Previously unreleased mix
#"I'm Coming Out" (Original Chic Mix) - 6:01
#* Previously unreleased mix
#"Have Fun (Again)" (Original Chic Mix) - 7:09
#* Previously unreleased mix
#"My Old Piano" (Original Chic Mix) - 4:52
#* Previously unreleased mix
#"Now That You're Gone" (Original Chic Mix) - 3:40
#* Previously unreleased mix
#"Give Up" (Original Chic Mix) - 3:59
#* Previously unreleased mix

Disc 2
#"Love Hangover (Extended Alternate Mix) (McLeod, Sawyer) - 10:25
#* Previously unreleased mix. Original version appears on 1976 album "Diana Ross"
#"Your Love Is So Good for Me" (12-Inch Version) (Peterson) - 6:36
#* Previously unreleased. Original version appears on 1977 album "Baby It's Me"
#"Top of the World" (Snow) - 3:09
#* From 1977 album "Baby It's Me"
#"Lovin', Livin' and Givin'" ("Ross" album remix) (Davis, Stover) - 5:12
#* From 1978 album "Ross". Original version appears on 1978 original motion picture soundtrack "Thank God It's Friday"
#"What You Gave Me" (12-Inch Version) (Ashford, Simpson) - 6:08
#* Original version appears on 1978 album "Ross"
#"You Were the One" (Patterson, Wright) - 4:04
#* From 1978 album "Ross"
#"The Diana Ross & the Supremes Medley of Hits" (12-inch Mix) (Dozier, Holland, Holland) - 9:59
#* Originally released as 12" single in 1977. Re-released as 12" and edited 7" single in 1980 and 1981.
#"No One Gets the Prize/The Boss" (12-Inch Re-Edit) (Ashford, Simpson) - 9:41
#* Original versions appear on 1979 album "The Boss"
#"I Ain't Been Licked" (12-inch Mix) (Ashford, Simpson) - 5:18
#* Original version appears on 1979 album "The Boss"
#"Fire Don't Burn" (David, Holland, Holland) - 3:26
#* Previously unreleased recording, recorded 1975-1977. Proposed for inclusion on cancelled 1981 album "Revelations"
#"We Can Never Light That Old Flame Again" (Alternate Mix) (David, Holland, Holland) - 4:38
#* Original version released as non-album single, 1982. Remixed in 1990.
#"You Build Me Up to Tear Me Down" (Holland, Holland, Miller) - 5:42
#* Previously unreleased recording, recorded 1975-1977. Mixed in 1978 for possible inclusion on album "Ross"
#"Sweet Summertime Livin'" (Stover) - 4:25
#* Previously unreleased recording, recorded 1975-1977. Mixed in 1978 for possible inclusion on album "Ross". Remixed in 1981 and proposed for inclusion on cancelled album "Revelations"

Personnel

* Alfa Anderson - vocals
* Fonzi Thornton - vocals
* Luci Martin - vocals
* Michelle Cobbs - vocals
* Bernard Edwards - bass guitar
* Nile Rodgers - guitar
* Tony Thompson - drums
* Andy Schwartz - keyboards
* Raymond Jones - keyboards
* Eddie Daniels - saxophone
* Meco Monardo - trombone
* Bob Milliken - trumpet
* Valerie Haywood (The Chic Strings) - strings
* Cheryl Hong (The Chic Strings) - strings
* Karen Milne (The Chic Strings) - strings
* Gene Orloff - conductor

Production

* Bernard Edwards - producer for Chic Organization Ltd.
* Nile Rodgers - producer for Chic Organization Ltd.
* Bob Clearmountain - engineer proposed side A; tracks 1-4
* Bill Scheniman - engineer proposed side B; tracks 1-4
* James Farber - engineer
* Neil Dorfsman - engineer
* Ralph Osborn - engineer
* Abdoulaye Soumare - assistant engineer
* Jeff Hendrickson - assistant engineer
* Lucy Laurie - assistant engineer
* Peter Robbins - assistant engineer
* Dennis King - mastering
* All songs originally recorded at Power Station in New York. Lead vocal re-recordings: Electric Lady, New York; Motown/Hitsville U.S.A. Studios, Hollywood, California.
* All songs originally mixed at: Power Station, New York. Remixed by Russ Terrana and Diana Ross at Artisan Sound Recorders, Hollywood, California.
* Mastered at Atlantic Studios, N.Y.

Footnotes

References

*Easlea, Daryl (2004). "Everybody Dance: Chic and the Politics of Disco." London: Helter Skelter. ISBN 1-900924-56-0
*Chin, Brian (2003). "diana (Deluxe Edition)" [Liner notes] . New York: Motown/Universal.
*Wangler, Petra. (May 5, 2000). [http://svt.se/svt/jsp/Crosslink.jsp?d=39412&a=421210 Interview with Aretha Franklin] . "Musikbyrån". SVT Sweden.
* [http://www.chartstats.com/artistinfo.php?id=2192 Chartstats UK]