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Monday, April 07, 2003 DIRTY DIANArecently, my friend TOM asked me to put together a comprehensive DIANA ROSS compilation for him. he had just watched her E! TRUE HOLLYWOOD STORY and realized that he didn’t know the whole span of her musical career (he’s only 25). i read somewhere once that DIANA has made over 60 albums including the movie soundtrack albums, tv specials, live albums, compilations and her tenure with THE “super duper” SUPREMES. i have everything she’s ever recorded, so it took me a couple of weeks to fulfill TOM’S request. i focused only on her solo career, since her time with “the girls” is easily represented by their box set. my spin on a comprehensive ROSS compilation turned out to be a 6 disc set with the following categories : ballads one, ballads two, dance one, dance two, potpourri and early solo. i had a blast putting it together, and the process reignited my love for all things ROSS. DIANA was my first musical love. i began to worship her from the first moment i saw THE SUPREMES on THE ED SULLIVAN SHOW in 1965. back then, it was a rare occasion for black people to appear on television, and even more rare for black people to appear on television looking as poised, sophisticated and chic as THE SUPREMES did. they immediately became symbols of pride in the black community because they, along with, DR. KING, SIDNEY POITIER and CASSIUS CLAY, exemplified what we as black people could be and more. THE SUPREMES were exactly as their name implied, but DIANA in particular, caught my attention because of her energy, her beauty and her remarkable talent. she exuded that certain magic that can only be defined as “star quality” . add to that a perfect pop voice that could cut through the static of AM radio, and i had the idol i would pattern my own show business aspirations after. in fact, throughout her stellar solo career, she set the standard of glamour and elegance that every songstress who came up after her had to recognize. DIANA ROSS was the undeniable QUEEN OF POP. strangely, most people seem to forget that her voice has propelled 18 songs to the #1 pop position (a record she held for 20 years). when the hip hop music and rap culture exploded onto the scene in the early eighties, DIANA’s polished and flawless style no longer represented what urban audiences wanted to emulate. it became hip to be “real” and “ghetto” and not appear as if you were “trying to be like white folks”. by the second half of the eighties, the new sense of black pride spelled a serious backlash for DIANA’s career. this social archetype is similar to when jewish people stopped changing their last names to less ethnic sounding last names to avoid being discriminated against. i look forward to the day when the gay social revolution evolves into a new sense of gay pride that celebrates and encourages flamboyant behavior instead of trying to prove that we can be just as “straight acting” and boring as a GAP ad. if you are new to the DIANA ROSS experience, start with her best album ever, entitled THE BOSS, produced by the great NICK ASHFORD and VALERIE SIMPSON. another great ROSS album is also her biggest seller, simply entitled DIANA, produced by NILE RODGERS and BERNARD EDWARDS of CHIC. here is a list of my top ten favorite DIANA ROSS songs: 1. experience 2. summertime 3. to love again 4. since you came (electro remix) 5. i ain’t been licked 6. no one gets the prize 8. two can make it 9. until we meet again 10. upside down here is a list of my top ten favorite DIANA ROSS & THE SUPREMES songs: 1. some things you never get used to 2. love is like an itching in my heart 3. reflections 4. love is here and now you’re gone 5. the happening 6. in and out of love 7. back in my arms again 8. i hear a symphony 9. you keep me hanging on 10. my world is empty without you . | Permalink 2009 RuCo, Inc.—All Rights Reserved |
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