Diana Ross - Diana (1980)

Note: the CD I listened to was the 2003 two disc Deluxe Edition.

A fantastic album because someone had the brilliant idea of having Ross team up with Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards of Chic. A match made in NYC disco/funk heaven - Chic grooving hard with Ross floating above it all. It might be Ross' best album or not, but either way, this is the only Ross CD currently on my shelves.

The huge draw of this Deluxe Edition was the inclusion of the "Original Unreleased Chic Mix." If you want the whole story on that, it is available elsewhere, including the autobiographies of Rodgers and Ross. Suffice it to say that someone was unhappy with the original Chic mix, so Motown had the thing remixed before it was released. The released mix sounds like a Diana Ross album and the unreleased Chic mix sounds like a Chic album, so no big surprise there, but it's fun to hear both versions. Liner notes include lengthy quotes from both Nile Rodgers (original producer) and Russ Terrana (who remixed the album for release). Basically, it wasn't a battle of wills so much as a desire to make money selling a more commercial product. Remember, disco was on its last legs when this was released and the grass is always greener, etc. Like everybody, I have my own preferences (see below), but what I question is the sequencing. I can't imagine burying I'm Coming Out at the end of side one. That Rodgers guitar scratch over Tony Thompson's booming drums shoulda been side one, track one (and that's how it is usually sequenced at this house: 4, 2, 3, 7, 1, 5, 6, 8) Having said that, I will concede that Give Up is the best choice for ending this thing on a high note (figuratively, not literally).

The second disc oddly consists of absolutely no music related to the 1980 album. Aside: what kind of world are we living in when extended 12" versions of Upside Down and I'm Coming Out were never created?!? I guess the same world where Ross never won a Grammy. ☹ Nonetheless, we're treated here to the disco-oriented sides from 1976-79 that led to Diana, and it is full of delights, including many 12" versions and unreleased songs. I'd rather have those than demos or thrown together b-sides so thanks for that. You also get a lot of bang for your buck: Disc 1 is 16 tracks, 72 minutes; disc 2 is 13 tracks, 79 minutes.

Update: In its 2020 list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, Rolling Stone ranked Diana at #394.

Press of the time:

• CashBox: "The Chic/Ross marriage won't break ground musically, but it's a combination that should be a winner"
• Rolling Stone: "gymnastic dance rock"
• Smash Hits (5 out of 10): "does not rise above the by now easily recognisable Chic stereotype sound."
• Stereo Review: "eight routine disco songs"
• Robert Christgau (A-): "Her perky angularity and fit-to-burst verve could have been designed for Rodgers & Edwards's synergy"

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard Top 200: #2
• Billboard R&B: #1 (8 weeks)
• CashBox: #3

Tracks:  On the original album, I'm a fan of almost all the songs. I rarely skip tracks, but if I do, it's usually Friend To Friend and Now That You're Gone

Here's my mix preferences of the 1980 music, if any:

Title	Released	Chic	Toss-up
Upside Down	✔
Tenderness		✔
Friend To Friend			✔
I'm Coming Out	✔
Have Fun (Again)		✔
My Old Piano			✔
Now That You're Gone		✔
Give Up		✔

On the second disc (bonus material), the standout track is a 10½ minute DJ-only extended alternate version of the sultry, exquisite 1976 single Love Hangover.  Also worth a listen: Top Of The World, the disco-tastic What You Gave Me, and I Ain't Been Licked.

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Personal Memory Associated with this CD:  The two huge singles from this album remind me of bus trips to summer swim meets. Our coach was a chain-smoking beer drinker who knew next to nothing about swimming, but he was an also an Army veteran, faithful member of the local Episcopal church, and was once named "Man of the Year" by the local chamber of commerce for his work with the youth of the city. He just wanted us to do well and cared so much for us as people that his vices didn't matter much and never became an issue to swimmers or our parents. Now that I think about it, maybe he was our answer to Coach Buttermaker.

In addition to those singles, the Paul McCartney's Coming Up (Live in Glascow) also reminds of those bus rides. And yes, embarrassing photos of me wearing a Speedo during that summer do exist.