NEW SOUNDS

DIANA ROSS

Diana Ross is one of our musical treasures who has still been quite active touring across the entire globe. But it has been a very long time since she has recorded any new music. That is about to change with the seventy-seven year old singer about to release her first new album (and twenty-fifth solo recording) in fifteen years called "Thank You" on Decca Records. 

The album was recorded at Ross' home studio during lockdown last year with a very unexpected name involved in the production; Jack Antonoff, the musician turned producer behind the recent recordings of pop-rock artists like Taylor Swift, Lorde, St. Vincent and Lana Del Rey. He brought in some contemporary songwriters like Jimmy Napes, Tayla Parx and Spike Stent to help co-write this album. Miss Ross was also very involved with the creation of the project by co-writing all of the tracks, a rare feat by the artist. The title track has been released with the song being a warm message of gratitude to all of the people in her life and the fans throughout her career. "Thank You" is due out in September with a tour planned for next year.



DONNY OSMOND

Since the age of five, Donny Osmond has been an entertainer; first performing with his brothers in a pop act in the 1960's before going solo and becoming a teen idol, then teaming up with his younger sister, Marie for a popular television variety show. While his fame may have cooled, Osmond has remained very busy. He had a television talk show with Marie for three years beginning in the late '90's and then the duo headed to Vegas where they had an eleven year residency that ended in 2019. And he won the top prize of the reality show, "Dancing With The Stars" in 2009.

Osmond had never given up music over the years (returning to the US pop chart in 1989 with the number two hit, "Soldier of Love") but most of his efforts didn't receive much attention. But he has just signed with BMG for his first album in seven years, "Start Again" due out in September. The album's title was inspired by the sixty-three year old's constant reinvention and that involved him co-writing and producing his own album for the first time ever in his long career. The first single is "Who", a slick dance-pop tune that actually fits quite nicely in today's musical landscape. And Osmond will be returning to Las Vegas with a solo residency at Harrah's beginning on August 31st.



And there is the return of the Swedish dance artist, Agnes who will be releasing her fifth studio album after an eight year absence this fall. Her latest single is "24 Hours", a glittery blast of nu-disco that's about the dramatic changes we go through in life, moving through a wide range of emotions in a twenty-four journey.

MARY WILSON (1944 - 2021)

Mary Wilson, an original member of The Supremes, the Motown act that became one of the most successful female singing groups of all time, passed away unexpectedly on February 8th. The singer, who remained with the group until 1977 yet would continue as a promoter of their legacy, died in her sleep at the age of seventy-six from unknown causes.

Wilson co-founded the singing group as a teenager with friends from the Brewster-Douglass housing project in Detroit, Florence Ballard, Diana Ross and Betty McGlown. They called themselves The Primettes and relentlessly urged Motown founder, Berry Gordy to sign them to his record label. He finally agreed in 1961 and their name was changed to "The Supremes". McGlown would leave the group the following year, becoming a trio, and struggled for a few years to achieve a successful single before their breakthrough, "When the Lovelight Starts Shining Through His Eyes" in 1963, peaking at number 23 on the pop chart.

But it would be the following year when The Supremes would have their first number one hit, "Where Did Our Love Go" which began a string of chart-topping successes which includes "Baby Love", "Stop! In The Name of Love", "You Can't Hurry Love" and "You Keep Me Hangin' On". The Supremes (who would go on to have twelve number one US singles), became international sensations who brought glamour and style to pop music. But Gordy's focus on Ross as lead singer, with the other two made essentially her back-up singers, created some serious tension within the group with Ballard eventually leaving the now-named, Diana Ross & The Supremes in 1967 (replaced by Cindy Birdsong) and Ross moving on for a solo career three years later.

Wilson maintained her place in the group (with Jean Terrell replacing Ross) and The Supremes would have a few more hits with "Up the Ladder to the Roof", "Stoned Love" and "Nathan Jones" but their glory days were behind them. 

After The Supremes ended, Wilson briefly stayed with Motown, recording one self-titled solo album in 1979 before being dropped from the label. She would go on to appear in stage musicals, was a contestant on "Dancing With The Stars" in 2019 and made regular appearances performing in Las Vegas casinos. Wilson wrote about her experiences as a member of one of the most successful pop music acts of all-time with two best selling memoirs; "Dreamgirl: My Life as a Supreme" in 1986 and "Supreme Faith: Someday We'll Be Together" four years later.

Here are a few highlights from the legendary career of Mary Wilson including her singing lead with The Supremes on a 1965 cover of "Our Day Will Come":

THE 61ST ANNUAL GRAMMY AWARDS

What a difference a year makes.

Last year, Lorde was the only female nominated for Album Of The Year and the only spot she was offered on the show was being a part of the Tom Petty tribute (which she respectfully turned down). Now with The 2019 Grammy Awards, there were five female artists receiving a place in the Best Album category. And the fifteen-time Grammy winner, Alicia Keys was selected as the host of the telecast which is the first time a woman has done that in fourteen years. With this year's Grammys, women dominated the evening by delivering some of the most electrifying performances of the night while also receiving a fair share of the trophies handed out including the top prize of Album Of The Year.

Ms Keys proved to be a perfect host, bringing a positive energy and laid-back style to the event. She brought some excitement almost immediately when she brought out an impressive roster of powerful women to the stage; Lady Gaga, Jennifer Lopez, Jada Pinkett-Smith, and the very missed, former First Lady, Michelle Obama who all shared the importance of music in their lives. Keys later in the program displayed why she won all those Grammys as she impressively played two pianos at the same time (which she acknowledged was in the style of jazz pianist, Hazel Scott) and performed a melody of her favorite old tunes (a tribute to birthday girl, Lauryn Hill) and new (Ella Mai's Grammy-winning hit, "Boo'd Up").

This year had a particularly strong line-up of musical performances that kicked off with Camilla Cabello celebrating Latin music in a lively production number of her hit, "Havana" with some help from Ricky Martin and J Balvin, which they ended the performance with his song, "Mi Gente". A tribute to Dolly Parton, who was this year's MusiCares honoree, was a respectable affair to the beloved country artist starting with Kacey Musgraves and Katy Perry doing a shaky version of "Here You Come Again". Parton, who seemed to take over this retrospective medley at this point, sang with Miley Cyrus for a cover of "Jolene"  before they were joined by Maren Morris for a beautiful rendition of "After The Gold Rush". Little Big Town came out to join Parton on a new song from the "Dumplin" soundtrack, "Red Shoes" before everyone took the stage to close with Dolly's biggest hit, "9 To 5".

Unlike Ms Parton, Diana Ross didn't need anyone's help to pay tribute to her career. With her proudly announcing she's celebrating her seventy-fifth birthday next month, the still quite stunning singer had the usually jaded industry crowd mesmerized as she did lively versions of "The Best Years of My Life" and "Reach Out and Touch (Somebody's Hand)". Sure, she was a little pitchy but she still displayed why she has remained a musical legend.

Other highlights include Janelle Monáe tearing it up with a futuristic fembot staging of her songs, "Make Me Feel", "Django Jane" and "Pynk"; H.E.R. taking advantage of her first major television appearance and delivered a solid performance with "Hard Place"; Dua Lipa and St. Vincent bringing a sensual Sapphic vibe to a mash-up of their songs "One Kiss" and "Masseduction" while briefly shouting out Aretha in the middle and we had Andra Day, Yolanda Adams and Fantasia together to sing "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman" which I think was one of the best tributes for the Queen of Soul to date.

Cardi B had a very good night for her first time at the Grammys. She dazzled during a performance of "Money" in a Busby Berkeley styled production (with a few stripper moves added) before she was left almost uncharacteristically speechless after winning Best Rap Album which she became the first woman to take that prize.

My absolutely favorite moment of the night was when the sister act, Chloe X Halle did a perfectly harmonized version of Donny Hathaway (who was honored this year with a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award) and Roberta Flack's "Where is The Love?" before presenting an award. It was stunning and way too short.

And that leads me to what I thought was the worst moment which was Jennifer Lopez doing a musical tribute for the 60th anniversary of Motown Records. I could have thought of many different ways to honor one of the first black-owned record labels that brought soul music to a worldwide audience and helped create respected African-American pop superstars but JLo and her high-flying, Vegas showgirl routine would not have been one of them. And no, the brief appearance by Motown legend, Smokey Robinson in the middle did not help.

While it was inspiring and long overdue in honoring so much female musical talent, I'm just hoping this is not some short-lived event for the Grammys. During her acceptance speech for Best New Artist, Dua Lipa reminded the audience of the words by the now-outgoing President of the Recording Academy, Neil Portnow implying that female artists needed to "step up" in order to win the award that stirred a backlash last year. It may seem like this might be an overreaction to that uproar but it is important to recognize that in order to have diversity and inclusion, a conscious effort has to be made to ensure that can happen.

Here is a partial list of winners of the 2019 Grammy Awards:

Album of the Year: "Golden Hour" - Kacey Musgraves
Record of the Year: "This Is America" - Childish Gambino
Song of the Year: "This Is America" - Donald Glover and Ludwig Goransson, songwriters (Childish Gambino)
Best New Artist: Dua Lipa
Best Pop Vocal Album: "Sweetener" — Ariana Grande
Best Pop Solo Performance: "Joanne (Where Do You Think You’re Goin’?)" — Lady Gaga
Best Pop Duo/Group Performance: "Shallow" — Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper
Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album: "My Way" — Willie Nelson
Best Rock Album: "From the Fires" — Greta Van Fleet
Best Rock Performance: "When Bad Does Good" — Chris Cornell
Best Rock Song: "Masseduction" — Jack Antonoff and Annie Clark, songwriters (St. Vincent)
Best Alternative Music Album: "Colors" — Beck
Best Rap Album: "Invasion of Privacy" — Cardi B
Best Rap Song: "God’s Plan" — Aubrey Graham, Daveon Jackson, Brock Korsan, Ron LaTour, Matthew Samuels and Noah Shebib, songwriters (Drake)
Best Rap Performance: "King’s Dead" — Kendrick Lamar, Jay Rock, Future and James Blake and "Bubblin" — Anderson .Paak (tie)
Best Rap/Sung Performance: "This Is America" — Childish Gambino
Best R&B Album: "H.E.R." — H.E.R.
Best R&B Song: "Boo’d Up" — Larrance Dopson, Joelle James, Ella Mai and Dijon Mcfarlane, songwriters (Ella Mai)
Best R&B Performance: "Best Part" — H.E.R. featuring Daniel Caesar
Best Traditional R&B Performance: "Bet Ain’t Worth the Hand" — Leon Bridges and "How Deep Is Your Love" — PJ Morton featuring Yebba (tie)
Best Urban Contemporary Album: "Everything Is Love" — The Carters
Best Dance/Electronic Album: "Woman Worldwide" — Justice
Best Dance Recording: "Electricity" — Silk City and Dua Lipa featuring Diplo and Mark Ronson
Best Country Album: "Golden Hour" — Kacey Musgraves
Best Country Song: "Space Cowboy" — Luke Laird, Shane Mcanally and Kacey Musgraves, songwriters (Kacey Musgraves)
Best Country Solo Performance: "Butterflies" — Kacey Musgraves
Best Country Duo/Group Performance: "Tequila" — Dan + Shay
Best Bluegrass Album: "The Travelin’ Mccourys" — The Travelin’ Mccourys
Best Jazz Vocal Album: "The Window" — Cécile Mclorin Salvant
Best Jazz Instrumental Album: "Emanon" — The Wayne Shorter Quartet
Best Latin Pop Album: "Sincera" — Claudia Brant
Best Latin Rock, Urban or Alternative Album: "Aztlán" — Zoé
Best Reggae Album: "44/876" — Sting and Shaggy
Best Americana Album: "By the Way, I Forgive You" — Brandi Carlile
Best American Roots Performance: "The Joke" — Brandi Carlile
Best American Roots Song: "The Joke" — Brandi Carlile, Dave Cobb, Phil Hanseroth and Tim Hanseroth, songwriters (Brandi Carlile)
Best Folk Album: "All Ashore" — Punch Brothers
Best Gospel Album: "Hiding Place" — Tori Kelly
Best Gospel Performance/Song: "Never Alone" — Kirk Franklin and Victoria Kelly, songwriters (Tori Kelly featuring Kirk Franklin)
Best Roots Gospel Album: "Unexpected" — Jason Crabb
Best World Music Album: "Freedom" — Soweto Gospel Choir
Best Comedy Album: "Equanimity & the Bird Revelation" — Dave Chappelle
Best Musical Theater Album: "The Band’s Visit" — Etai Benson, Adam Kantor, Katrina Lenk and Ari’el Stachel, principal soloists; Dean Sharenow and David Yazbek, producers; David Yazbek, composer and lyricist
Best Song Written for Visual Media: "Shallow" — Lady Gaga, Mark Ronson, Anthony Rossomando and Andrew Wyatt, songwriters (Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper)
Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media: "The Greatest Showman" — Alex Lacamoire, Benj Pasek, Justin Paul and Greg Wells, compilation producers (Various Artists)
Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media: "Black Panther" — Ludwig Göransson, (composer)
Best Music Film: "Quincy" — Alan Hicks and Rashida Jones, (video directors); Paula Dupré Pesmen, (video producer)
Best Music Video: "This Is America" — Childish Gambino
Best Spoken Word Album (Includes Poetry, Audio Books and Storytelling): "Faith - A Journey for All" — Jimmy Carter
Producer of the Year (Non-Classical): Pharrell Williams

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ARETHA AND DIANA

I didn't realize this but two iconic female vocalists (and two of my all-time favorites) celebrated birthdays over this past weekend.

"The Queen of Soul", Aretha Franklin turned seventy-five on March 25th while MISS Diana Ross turned seventy-three yesterday. I know it may not be polite to tell a woman's age but there's no reason for them not to be proud. I could go on and on about what amazing talents they are or how much each has greatly influenced popular music but there is no need. It's simply old, wonderful news.

To celebrate the day of each of their births, I have presented my very favorite songs from each performer. Enjoy:

NUMBER ONE FLASHBACK

"I Hear a Symphony" became The Supremes' sixth number one song, hitting that spot this week back in 1965. After their previous single, "Nothing But Heartaches" failed to reach the top-ten on the pop chart (reaching only number eleven), Motown chief, Berry Gordy decreed that one of the company's biggest and most popular acts (featuring Diana Ross, Mary Wilson and Florence Ballard) would only release number one hits. That put the pressure on the trio's production team, Holland–Dozier–Holland to come up with the right songs for The Supremes to make that happen. They decided to slightly alter the winning formula that had worked so well for the group, making the musical structure of "I Hear a Symphony" a little more complex. This worked as this song went straight to the top, holding this position for two weeks.

Although the next two singles, "My World Is Empty Without You" and "Love Is Like an Itching In My Heart" failed to reach number one (only making it to number five and number nine respectively), the Supremes' next four singles, "You Can't Hurry Love", "You Keep Me Hangin' On", "Love Is Here and Now You're Gone" and "The Happening" each became chart toppers. The Supremes would go on to have a total of twelve number one hits, making them one of the most successful singing groups in pop history.

RANDOM SIGHTS + SOUNDS

Hailee Steinfeld first came on the radar as an actress with her moving performance in the Coen brothers remake of "True Grit" that earned the then thirteen year old an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress in 2010. She introduced her singing voice this summer in the hit sequel to "Pitch Perfect" which lead to Steinfeld signing a record deal with Republic Records. Her debut single, "Love Myself" is now out and it's pop perfection.

"Love Myself" - Hailee Steinfeld (2015) mp3

This year marks the twentieth anniversary of the release of "Jagged Little Pill", Alanis Morissette's emotionally raw, alt-rock album that connected with millions of listeners. She first found fame as a teen dance-pop singer in her native Canada with her self-titled debut album before being dropped by her label after a disastrous second. At a crossroads, Morissette picked up and moved to Toronto to start over. A chance introduction to songwriter/producer, Glen Ballard lead to them working together and shifting her musical direction. Only one label, Madonna's Maverick Records, was interested in releasing the edgy finished product and the rest is history. "Pill" won four Grammy Awards including Album of The Year and has sold thirty-three million copies worldwide to date. These are my favorite tracks off the album:

"You Outta Know" - Alanis Morissette (1995) mp3

"Ironic" - Alanis Morissette (1995) mp3

"Hand In My Pocket" - Alanis Morissette (1995) mp3

After finding great success with their live televised musical productions of "The Sound of Music" and "Peter Pan", NBC is preparing their latest (and one that I'm really looking forward to), "The Wiz". An interesting cast has been assembled with David Alan Grier as the Cowardly Lion, Ne-Yo as the Tin Man, Elijah Kelley (who was in the musical film version of "Hairspray") is the Scarecrow, Mary J. Blige plays Evillene, the Wicked Witch and Queen Latifah is The Wiz. And as for this show's Dorothy? A nationwide, open casting-call lead Shanice Williams, an eighteen-year old theater performer from New Jersey, to make her television debut. Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, who produced the previous live telecasts, return to executive produce and it's set to air on December 3rd. In honor of the upcoming show, listen to Diana Ross and Michael Jackson, from the 1978 movie version, performing the classic, "Ease On Down The Road":

"Ease On Down The Road" - Diana Ross & Michael Jackson (1978) mp3

I was hoping Miss Ross might have made an appearance here, maybe as Glinda, the Good Witch?  I am thrilled that Stephanie Mills, who played Dorothy in the original Broadway show back in 1974, will appear as Aunt Em. Enjoy this music video of Mills performing "Home", the moving, closing number from the musical she re-recorded in 1989:

IT TAKES TWO

One great voice is good but two great voices can be so much better. I don't think there's anything more wonderful than that magical sound when two really terrific artists come together and harmonize. There have been many outstanding musical duos, professional acts and one-time collaborations, throughout pop music history.

Listen and enjoy a few of my favorites:

"I'd Really Love To See You Tonight" - England Dan and John Ford Coley (1976) mp3

"You Don't Have To Be a Star (To Be In My Show)" - Marilyn McCoo & Billy Davis Jr. (1977) mp3

"It Takes Two" - Marvin Gaye & Kim Weston (1966) mp3

"If I Could Build My World Around You" - Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell (1967) mp3

"Stop, Look, Listen (To Your Heart)" - Marvin Gaye & Diana Ross (1973) mp3

"Leather & Lace" - Stevie Nicks & Don Henley (1981) mp3

"Walking With a Ghost" - Tegan and Sara (2004) mp3

"Too Much, Too Little, Too Late" - Deniece Williams & Johnny Mathis (1978) mp3

"(You're My) Soul And Inspiration" - The Righteous Brothers (1966) mp3

"The Sound of Silence" - Simon & Garfunkel (1965) mp3

MY TUNE OF THE DAY

Today's tune comes courtesy of my Ipod after the sultry version of "Reach Out I'll Be There" by Diana Ross popped up on shuffle. I hadn't heard it in a while and decided to share.

After successfully remaking the Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell classic, "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" in 1970 (and became her first number one single as a solo artist), Miss Ross later took on another popular Motown song and completely reworked it. Originally a number one smash for The Four Tops in 1966, the uptempo "Reach Out" is almost unrecognizable now as a sexy ballad. Although this wasn't much of a hit when released as a single but I really love this take of the song. If you have never heard this, I think you're in for a treat:

"Reach Out I'll Be There" - Diana Ross (1971)

FOCUS ON: DIANA ROSS

There is probably no singer who had such a major impact on me than Diana Ross. I think she's the perfect pop vocalist who is also a stunningly beautiful, glamorous goddess. Perhaps that might sound a little overboard but it's honestly how I felt ever since the very first time I heard and saw this dynamic entertainer. She is the true definition of an all-around performer who has found great success with everything she has attempted, whether first becoming a member of one of the biggest all-female singing groups of all-time to becoming one of the most successful female solo artists of all-time to earning an Oscar nomination for her first film role to performing a free concert in Central Park with the proceeds going to build a children's playground in New York City. Although Miss Ross has earned a reputation (fairly or not) for being a bit of a "diva" but that certainly does not diminish her great talent. But the real reason for her success is that you can sense her pure joy in sharing her gifts to the world and you can't help to be moved and transformed by the power of  Diana Ross.

Diana Ross was born on March 26, 1944 in Detroit, Michigan. Her parents, Ernestine and Fred actually named her "Diane" but a typo on her birth certificate has her listed as "Diana" but she went by Diane at home and school. In her early teens, Diana"s first love was fashion design and she studied at Cass Tech which was a four year prep-school. However, she soon became distracted by music as her school friend, Mary Wilson invited her to join a female singing group, The Primettes. Milton Jenkins, the manager of the male vocal group, The Primes wanted to put together a type of "sister act" with Florence Ballard and Betty McGlown filling out the quartet.

After The Primettes won a singing contest, the next step was a recording contract and they wanted to sign with the new local music company, Motown. Diana called her neighbor, William "Smokey" Robinson who was writing songs for the label, to help get the group an audition with Berry Gordy, the head of Motown. Although Gordy liked what he heard, he felt the teens were too young and wanted them to come back after they finished high school. Betty McGlown dropped out of the group and was replaced by Barbara Martin but the girls were determined to impress Gordy as they would hang out at the studios everyday after school. Eventually, The Primettes performed background vocals for several acts before Gordy finally agreed to sign the group in 1961 but he insisted they change their name. They were given a list of suggestions with Florence deciding on "The Supremes" although Diana thought it sounded a bit too masculine.

By 1962, Barbara Martin decided to leave group with The Supremes now remaining a trio.They released eight singles with none of them reaching anywhere near the top forty before The Supremes had a minor breakthrough with "When The Lovelight Starts Shining Through His Eyes" which made it to number twenty-three on the pop chart.

"Where Did Our Love Go" was written by the in-house team of Holland-Dozier-Holland and originally given to The Marvelettes but they passed on it. The Supremes actually didn't like it much better but recorded it anyway as the team had written their previous charting song. It was a good thing they did as it became the group's first number one song in 1964. Their next four singles, "Baby Love", "Come See About Me", "Stop! In The Name of Love" and "Back In My Arms Again" all went to number one and were also written by Holland-Dozier-Holland.

By 1965, The Supremes were a major international female r&b act that brought glamour and polish to pop music. Many other hit songs followed but.previously each member in the group would share lead singing but after their success, Gordy decided that Ross would now be the official lead singer for The Supremes which left the other two less than thrilled, most especially Ballard. She began to drink excessively, gained weight, missed performances and her relationship with Ross deteriorated. Gordy decided to change the name of the group to "Diana Ross & The Supremes" in 1967 which enraged Ballard even further. Soon, Gordy had had enough and fired Florence Ballard later that year and replaced her with Cindy Birdsong, a singer with Patti LaBelle and The Bluebells. Ballard attempted to start a solo career for several years but died in 1976 at the age of thirty-two of heart disease.

Diana Ross & The Supremes continued on but Gordy had plans for Ross to become a solo artist. After the single, "Someday We'll Be Together" became this line-up's twelfth and final number one hit in 1969 and one last concert in Las Vegas, Diana Ross left The Supremes in 1970. Jean Terrell would replace her as lead vocalist of The Supremes.

Ms Ross released her self-titled debut album later in 1970 that featured the now classic "Reach Out And Touch (Somebody's Hand)" and the smash remake of "Ain't No Mountain High Enough"  that went to number one on the pop and r&b charts. More hits followed including "Remember Me", "Touch me In The Morning", "Love Hangover" and "The Boss".

In 1972, Ross starred in her first film role as jazz vocalist, Billie Holiday in "Lady Sings The Blues". The film was a box-office smash and her performance won her a Golden Globe Award and she was nominated for an Academy Award. She followed this up with "Mahogany" in 1975. The film about a fashion designer who becomes a successful model was another hit and featured the theme song, "Do You Know Where You're Going To" which went to number one on the pop chart and was nominated for an Oscar. Her next part was as Dorothy in the musical, "The Wiz", an African-American version of "The Wizard of Oz" in 1978. Ross was woefully miscast and the film became a costly failure with this putting an unfortunate end to her movie career.

Tension between Ross and Gordy had grown considerably, most especially during the filming of "Mahogany", so after her 1980 album, "Diana" (which was produced by Chic's, Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards and became her biggest solo recording success) and "Endless Love" (her world-wide number one hit duet with Lionel Ritchie for the film of the same name), Ross left Motown to go to RCA Records for a twenty million dollar record deal in 1981.

While at the label, Ross had several successful recordings such as her cover of "Why Do Fools Fall In Love", "Swept Away", "Eaten Alive" and "Missing You" but it did not come close to matching her glory days at Motown. In 1988, Ross decided not to renew her contract with RCA and after making amends with Berry Gordy, re-signed with Motown Records although he had recently sold the company. She recorded four albums on the label but sales were disappointing and she left the label in 1999.

In 2006, Ross had two albums released on EMI; the first was the jazz album, "Blue" which was recorded around 1971-72 and was supposed to follow-up her successful "Lady Sings The Blues" soundtrack record but Gordy decided to shelve the project. The next was "I Love You", her first studio album in seven years and her last to date. It features a collection of love song covers including Queen's "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" and Marvin Gaye's "I Want You" (co-written by Ross's late brother, Arthur).

Diana Ross was inducted in to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame with The Supremes in 1988, was the recipient of a Kennedy Center Honor in 2007, won a long overdue Lifetime Achievement Grammy Award (her only Grammy ever!) earlier this year and has sold well over one hundred million records during her career.

Ms Ross has been married twice. She wed Robert Silberstein, a music executive in 1971 and they had three children, Rhonda, Tracey and Chudney although it was publicly revealed recently that Rhonda was actually the daughter of Berry Gordy. Silberstein and Ross divorced in 1977. She met Arne Naess, Jr., a Norwegian businessman on a trip to the Bahamas in 1985. They married the following year and had two sons, Ross and Evan. The couple separated in 2000 and Naess died in a skiing accident in 2004.


These are just a few of my favorite Diana Ross tunes:

"Ain't No Mountain High Enough" - Diana Ross (1970)

"The Boss" - Diana Ross (1979)

"I'm Coming Out" - Diana Ross (1980)

"Swept Away" - Diana Ross (1984)

"Missing You" - Diana Ross (1984)

Here is some early footage of The Supremes performing live "Back In My Arms Again":


This is Miss Ross performing her hit, "Love Hangover" live on The Midnight Special back in '76:



This is a great music video for the 1985 song, "Chain Reaction" (written by The Bee Gees) that revived the classic "Supremes" sound. She looks amazingly just like she does in The Supremes video above and it even seems like Miss Ross is wearing the same wig:

MUSIC AND THE MOVIES: PART ONE

I heard the theme song from "Flashdance...What A Feeling" on the radio a little while ago and it made me wonder:

"When was the last time a song from a film became a hit and made it on the pop charts?"

I was struggling to come up with something and I think it might have been Eminem and his rap song, "Lose Yourself" from his film, "8 Mile" (which actually won the Oscar for Best Original Song) but that was eight years ago.

The right piece of music could be an important part of a film that helped create the perfect mood or feeling as well as being just a great song you want to listen to. There is an obvious hunger for this type of music considering the success of the television shows like, "High School Musical" and "Glee" and their multiple soundtracks.

Unfortunately, there is no longer much thought put into creating a distinguishable song for a movie anymore and the songs that are used today tend to be something you would never want to listen to again. It's too bad but maybe this will make a comeback.

For this post, I'm going to focus on movie songs from the 1960's and 1970's. I think this was the golden age of songs created specifically for a film and a time when people actually loved the music enough to buy the movie's soundtrack. These songs were played regularly on the radio and became pop hits.

Let's go back and enjoy a few of the tunes that became just as memorable as the films they were used in:

Alfie - Dionne Warwick (1966)

Theme From "Valley Of The Dolls" -  Dionne Warwick (1967)

Mrs. Robinson - Simon & Garfunkel (1967)

Theme From "Mahogany" (Do You Know Where You're Going To?) - Diana Ross (1975)

Night Fever - Bee Gees (1977)

"You're The One That I Want" - John Travolta & Olivia Newton-John (1978)

And here is a selection of the theme songs from the James Bond, agent 007 films:

Diamonds Are Forever - Shirley Bassey (1971)

Live And Let Die - Paul McCartney & Wings (1973)

Nobody Does It Better - Carly Simon (1977)