Diana! (Original TV Soundtrack) | ||||
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Soundtrack album by | ||||
Released | March 29, 1971 | |||
Recorded | 1970 | |||
Genre | Soul | |||
Length | 39:50 | |||
Label | Motown | |||
Producer | none given | |||
Diana Ross chronology | ||||
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Diana! is the first solo television special of American singer Diana Ross and aired on ABC on April 18, 1971. The special was choreographed by David Winters of West Side Story fame, who at that time choreographed all of Ross' stage and television shows. [2] [3] [4] The special featured performances by The Jackson 5, and also included Jackson 5 lead singer Michael Jackson's solo debut. Michael Jackson performed Frank Sinatra's "It Was a Very Good Year", which drew laughter as its adult-themed lyrics were changed to fit his age. Other guests included Danny Thomas and Bill Cosby, who would be featured on a similar television special by the Jackson 5 ( Goin' Back to Indiana ) a few months later.
Since this was right at the beginning of her solo career, she took the opportunity to promote the two hits from her debut, the gold audience participant "Reach Out and Touch (Somebody's Hand)" and the number 1 song "Ain't No Mountain High Enough". She also performed a cover of The Carpenters "(They Long to Be) Close to You" and the top-20 gold single "Remember Me" released that previous December 1970 included on her forthcoming album "Surrender" to be released later that summer. (Though she performed "Reach Out and Touch (Somebody's Hand)" on the special, it was not included on the soundtrack).
The television special, and its subsequent soundtrack, was a Nielsen ratings winner, hitting the top 20 (number 17) of shows that week and garnering Emmy nominations for Ross and Bob Mackie and in technical categories.
Chart (1971) | Peak position |
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Canada Top Albums/CDs ( RPM ) [5] | 40 |
UK Albums (OCC) [6] | 43 |
US Billboard 200 [7] | 46 |
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard) [8] | 3 |
Diana Ross is an American singer and actress. She rose to fame as the lead singer of the vocal group the Supremes, who became Motown's most successful act during the 1960s and one of the world's best-selling girl groups of all time. They remain the best-charting female group in history, with a total of twelve number-one hit singles on the US Billboard Hot 100, including "Where Did Our Love Go", "Baby Love", "Come See About Me", and "Love Child".
American girl group The Supremes have released 29 studio albums, four live albums, two soundtrack albums, 32 compilation albums, four box sets, 66 singles and three promotional singles. The Supremes are the most successful American group of all-time, and the 26th greatest artist of all time on the US Billboard charts; with 12 number-one songs on the Billboard Hot 100 and three number-one albums on the Billboard 200. The Supremes were the first artist to accumulate five consecutive number-one singles on the US Hot 100 and the first female group to top the Billboard 200 albums chart with The Supremes A' Go-Go (1966). In 2017, Billboard ranked The Supremes as the number-one girl group of all-time, publishing, 'although there have been many girl group smashes in the decades since the Supremes ruled the Billboard charts, no collective has yet to challenge their, for lack of a better word, supremacy.' In 2019, the Official Charts Company placed 7 Supremes songs—"You Can't Hurry Love" (16), "Baby Love" (23), "Stop! In The Name Of Love" (56), "Where Did Our Love Go?" (59), "You Keep Me Hangin' On" (78), "Come See About Me" (94) and "Stoned Love" (99)—on The Official Top 100 Motown songs of the Millennium chart, which ranks Motown releases by their all-time UK downloads and streams.
TCB is a 1968 television special produced by Motown Productions and George Schlatter–Ed Friendly Productions of Laugh-In fame. The special is a musical revue starring Motown's two most popular groups at the time, Diana Ross & the Supremes and The Temptations. Containing a combination of showtunes, specially prepared numbers, and popular Motown hits, the special was taped before a live studio audience in September 1968 and originally broadcast December 9, 1968 on NBC, sponsored by the Timex watch corporation. The title of the program uses a then-popular acronym, "TCB", which stands for "Taking Care of Business".
G.I.T. on Broadway, also known as Diana Ross and The Supremes and The Temptations on Broadway, is a 1969 television special produced by Motown Productions and George Schlatter-Ed Friendly Productions. The special, a follow-up to 1968's successful TCB program, is a musical revue starring Motown's two most popular groups at the time, Diana Ross and The Supremes with the Temptations. Containing primarily Broadway showtunes, the special was taped in mid-1969 and originally broadcast November 12, 1969 on NBC. Like TCB, the title of the program was derived from an acronym, this one standing for "Gettin' It Together".
Farewell is a 1970 live album by Diana Ross & the Supremes. The album was recorded over the course of the group's final engagement together at the New Frontier Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, including the final night on January 14, 1970. The show marked Diana Ross' penultimate performance with fellow Supremes members Mary Wilson and Cindy Birdsong. At the conclusion of the show, new Supremes lead singer Jean Terrell was brought onstage and introduced to the audience.
Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever is a 1983 television special, produced by Suzanne de Passe for Motown Records, to commemorate Motown's 25th year. The program was taped before a live audience at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium in Pasadena, California on March 25, 1983, and broadcast on NBC on May 16. Among its highlights were Michael Jackson's performance of "Billie Jean", Smokey Robinson's long-awaited reunion with The Miracles, a Temptations / Four Tops "battle of the bands", Marvin Gaye's inspired speech about black music history and his memorable performance of "What's Going On", a Jackson 5 reunion, and an abbreviated reunion of Diana Ross & the Supremes, who performed their final #1 hit, "Someday We'll Be Together" from 1969. The show was co-written by de Passe with Ruth Adkins Robinson who would go on to write shows with de Passe for the next 25 years, including the follow-up label tributes—through "Motown 40", Buz Kohan was the head writer.
"Ain't No Mountain High Enough" is a song written by Nickolas Ashford & Valerie Simpson in 1966 for the Tamla label, a division of Motown. The composition was first successful as a 1967 hit single recorded by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell, and became a hit again in 1970 when recorded by former Supremes frontwoman Diana Ross. The song became Ross's first solo number-one hit on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.
"Reach Out and Touch " is the debut solo single of singer Diana Ross, released in April 1970 as the first single from her solo self-titled debut 1970 album by Motown Records.
Goin' Back to Indiana is a live/soundtrack album by the Jackson 5 for Motown Records, taken from their September 16, 1971 ABC TV special of the same name. It is the Jackson 5's sixth album overall, and was released on September 29, 1971.
Diana Ross is the debut studio album by American singer Diana Ross, released on June 19, 1970 by Motown Records. The ultimate test to see if the former Supremes frontwoman could make it as a solo act, the album was overseen by the songwriting-producing team of Nickolas Ashford & Valerie Simpson, who had Ross re-record several of the songs the duo had recorded on other Motown acts. Johnny Bristol, producer of her final single with The Supremes, contributed on The Velvelettes cover "These Things Will Keep Me Loving You."
Diana Ross is the seventh studio album by American singer Diana Ross, released on February 10, 1976 by Motown Records. It is her second self-titled record after Diana Ross (1970). It reached #5 in the USA and sold over 700,000 copies.
Diana Ross & the Supremes Join the Temptations is, as the title implies, a collaborative album combining Motown's two best selling groups, Diana Ross & the Supremes and the Temptations. Issued by Motown in late 1968 to coincide with the broadcast of the Supremes/Temptations TCB television special, the album was a success, reaching #2 on the Billboard 200. Diana Ross & the Supremes Join the Temptations spent four weeks at number one on the UK Albums Chart.
Let The Sunshine In is the sixteenth studio album by Diana Ross & the Supremes recorded and released by Motown in 1969. It contains the hit single "I'm Livin' in Shame", "The Composer," a Smokey Robinson composition that peaked at number 27, and "No Matter What Sign You Are," - a single produced by Motown chief Berry Gordy that failed to crack to Top 30. Motown had titled the album “No Matter What Sign You Are” originally; going as far as creating the front cover art with the title in it, but when the single didn’t chart as expected the album was retitled “Let The Sunshine In.” Though the album was released when the group consisted of Diana Ross, Mary Wilson and Cindy Birdsong, original founding member Florence Ballard appears on two songs.
Love Child is the fifteenth studio album released by Diana Ross & the Supremes for the Motown label in 1968. The LP was the group's first studio LP not to include any songs written or produced by any member of the Holland–Dozier–Holland production team, who had previously overseen most of the Supremes' releases.
An Evening with Diana Ross is a 1977 live double album released by American singer Diana Ross on the Motown label. It was recorded live at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles on December 1976 during the international tour of Ross' one-woman show, for which she was awarded a special Tony Award after the show's run at Broadway's Palace Theater, followed by an Emmy-nominated TV special of the same name. The album reached #29 in the USA . The album showcased her live performances for the second time as a solo performer, following 1974's Live At Caesars Palace. It was the last live album Ross released until 1989's Greatest Hits Live.
Live at London's Talk of the Town is a 1968 live album released by Diana Ross & the Supremes on the Motown label, recorded at the Talk of the Town nightclub. This performance marked the first time that new member Cindy Birdsong had performed overseas with original Supremes Diana Ross and Mary Wilson, a year after original founding member Florence Ballard was ousted. The group performed a variation of standards, show tunes, and their own classics with British rock stars Mick Jagger and Paul McCartney reportedly in attendance. The songs recorded are from the group's 1968 European tour. That European tour also garnered a famous Swedish television special that was used as a catalyst to promote this album.
All The Great Hits is a compilation album by American singer Diana Ross, released in October 1981 by Motown Records. It was the second Motown compilation set to capitalize on the success of 1980's diana produced by Chic. Her duet "Endless Love" with Lionel Richie was from the film of the same name, Endless Love and, just like 1980's "It's My Turn", had already been released as a single and on a soundtrack album.
One Woman: The Ultimate Collection is a compilation album released by American R&B singer Diana Ross by EMI on October 18, 1993. The single-disc collection was the alternative to Ross' 1993 four-CD box set, Forever Diana: Musical Memoirs, which was a 30th anniversary commemorative of her hit-making years over three decades including work with The Supremes. This collection was similar featuring both Supremes hits and solo hits.
Live at Caesars Palace is a live album by the American singer Diana Ross, released in 1974. It was recorded during a 1973 performance at Las Vegas' Caesars Palace. It was the first of two live albums Ross recorded for Motown. It reached No. 64 in the USA.
The Pacific Rim Tour was a concert tour of arenas and stadiums by American Pop/R&B singer Whitney Houston. The tour included 10 concert dates in Japan, Taiwan, Thailand, Australia and United States in 1997. The tour was in support of her 1996 multi-platinum album, The Preacher's Wife.