DIANA ROSS
DIANA ROSS
LIVE ON STAGE
THE VOICE OF LOVE
from
SAN FRANCISCO 2013
back to November 12, 1969 GETTING IT TOGETHER ON BROADWAY
Filmed live before a television studio audience
“LEADING LADY MEDLEY”
all the way back to 1960 with THE SUPREMES and forward again into the future
DAZZLING AUDIENCES THROUGHOUT THE WORLD
COMMANDING THE STAGE FOR 54 YEARS
with the voice that transformed popular music
the signature style that set trends and defined taste
the record breaking show stopping stellar musical theatrical peformances
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1gijF5nAGTWpPof-zaRwgJ-rb4qo4yqO8imJMAOvC_V8/pub?start=false&loop=false&delayms=3000
Just click the link above to view. Since I wasn't able to add music at this time, be sure to play some Diana Ross and/or Supremes while viewing!
Sorry to get everyone so excited after all that hype but the above is a link to a still-motion power point slide show without sound. It is a collection of photographs of Diana Ross on stage from the beginning until now. It was a challenge to be able to link it to my blog, Google wanted me to share with Goggle 1 which I am not ever sure who that connects with or FB; much easier to link a video. But the achievement is actually more important than the content. I learned a lot. The trick was uploading it to my Google Drive which I didn't know I had and trying to understand help pages and pushing the right links. I finally figured it out.
Not sure why I did this. Actually a friend taught me how to make screen shots and resize the photos proportionately and make a slide show which I sometimes play with using other subject matter photographs. But working with power point is increasingly frustrating and the more i resarch the more I learn that people are fed up with its antiquated system.
However, I still am unable to turn a series of photos or slides into a moving show with music. Actually same friend tried to teach me and it seemed to work but next time I played it it was a mess. This has been an evolutionary process. It started when I wanted photos form you tube and realized I could make slides from screen shots. First was her appearance on the stage in SF in her sweats after the audience wouldn't let her go. There aren't many pictures of Diana Ross sitting on the floor in her sweats crying and singing. Then when the video appeared of her 1969 TV special I decided to do the same. The other day I found a file I had been saving of photos of her on stage to add to it. So now I did it. However, I was hoping to convert to a movie of slides and add music. It is approaching what a lot of people do on you tube; make a slide show of a performer and play one of their songs over it. Now I have the visual part down I just need to learn what format to put it into and how and how to make the music stay on. After some discussions recently with a musicologist, mixer, and Diana Ross expert I was thinking of calling it
DIANA ROSS - IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT - YOU MADE US LOVE YOU
just for fun and to parry a song that was released on The Supremes rarities collection that i still think is one of the best pop songs ever recorded and would have been a major hit if it had been released. There are 2 versions and unlike most discarded versions that are not that different from the released version, these are different. One has everything going for it - an unusually laid back sardonic Diana Ross singing behind the beat and a gimmick - blaming the boy for making the girl fall in love - a great pounding beat - and the best backing vocals ever recorded.
Oh - the other advantage of this method and what I learned that I find useful is how to use the Google drive - it allows me to copy and paste and size and color font from my creation to the blog. I think this is the first time I had color and controlled the font size - not sure though as there has been some color here.
_______________________
I realized that the notes to my slides may not be viewable. I copied them into a word document and posted them here. Not all the slides have notes. I could have added the document to my Google drive and posted the link here, but I just didn't feel like going through that again.
NOTES FOR SLIDES TO
DIANA ROSS
LIVE ON STAGE
#74 AN EVENING WITH
DIANA ROSS
My first Diana Ross show, 1976,
Lake Tahoe, An Evening With Diana Ross, immediately hooked forever from her
opening number “Here I Am/I Wouldn’t Change A Thing”; from one Aries diva to
another
#91-94 RETURN
TO LOVE - with the FORMER LADIES OF THE
SUPREMES
From the “Return To Love” tour with
The Former Ladies of the Supremes” – that sounds kind of strange, they are no
longer ladies? Sadly, her only show
since 1976 that I was unable to see.
Despite the distorted negative media speculation, it was a well attended
and reviewed show, that in fact filled the oversized arenas perhaps mistakenly
chosen by the financiers. I moved #94 to
this location from below after I cropped it again and recognized the set for
this tour.
Note
to self: check Tom’s book for dates
#98 DIVA,
INTERRUPTED
Looking for the perpetrator whose
cell phone went off while she was singing; she was quite good humored about it
and returned it – after the show!
#100-120, approximately RETURN
TO THE STAGE – PANTAGES THEATRE – LOS ANGELES
Following are some photos from the
opening number of her return to the stage at the Pantages Theatre in Los
Angeles (Hollywood) after her longest break from live performances, after the
Return to Love Tour, some personal losses, and other life challenges we all
face. Stronger than ever with a
redesigned show and new arrangements, she again set records as she took this
show on the road for one of her most creatively and commercially successful
shows achieving raves from critics and fans alike as she again demonstrated the
stage belongs to her! And of course a
new wardrobe to thrill her beloved fans!
This is the costume that soon after appearing on stage she dropped the
top which formed a fluffy wrap around skirt.
During the song she dropped that too and before you knew it, as my friend
Wil who had never seen her live before said, “OMG she’s wearing a postage stamp
– how old did you say she is 64? – and she looks fabulous in it!” I spent much of the show outwitting security
to spend some time in front of the stage – despite our wonderful seats in the
center mezzanine. And EVERYONE was at
this show!
#121 Need to check location, date, and agenda
either accepting an award or more likely perfoming at the Nobel Prize award
ceremony in her late husband’s homeland
#122 (I LOVE YOU)
MORE TODAY THAN YESTERDAY – GREATEST HITS TOUR
Checking
start date, ongoing!
From what most be her longest ever
tour, “More Today than Yesterday” – the greatest hits tour, after seeing the
show at the newly opened Nokia Theatre in downtown Los Angeles I decided to see
the show in Las Vegas a few months later.
I was ready to see it again the next night! You can see my review, and others, on my
blog. As I said, she sang and sang and
sang, she sang everything, songs she rarely if ever performed. With an orchestra, band, vocalists, horns,
and for Las Vegas, dancers on roller skates – she always does something special
in Vegas, I was in the 6th row – FROM THE STAGE! 3rd seat
in from the aisle. She let everyone
dance in front of the stage and did a fair bit of schmoozing with longtime
fans. I then saw the abbreviated version
of this show (after a year or so she edits the show – she’s 69!) this summer at
the Hollywood Bowl, where all 5 children hosted and two performed individually
as the opening acts. And she’s still going
– all through the southwest US this year, then to South America with shows in
Brazil, Argentina, and Chile, and she’s again touring the US. And of course a new wardrobe. She opened in this brilliant chartreuse
feather wrap before dropping it to reveal a low cut fitted spanking black
gown. Every outfit was new! And for the encore of “I Will Survive” she
appeared in the most spectacular multi colored jacket you can see in the photos
below. It changed colors as she moved in the lights, but basically gold,
sparkly and it looked heave and covered in jewels, who knows? After seeing it in Los Angeles and Vegas I
haven’t seen it since! And NO I do not
have it!
#143 CASTRO STREET
SHUTS DOWN!
This is the poster from her first
ever solo engagement in San Francisco the same year I saw her in LA and
Vegas. I did not hear about it before
she sold out. I understand the audience
went wild. The photos at the top are
from her 2nd ever show in SF earlier this summer. I decided not to go. This time the audience erupted into a
frenzy! At the end, they would not let
her leave,, screaming, whistling, shouting, and applauding for over 15 minutes
I understand. The orchestra and band was
long gone, she had no more encores, and she had changed into her sweats. She simply had to return to the stage to
acknowledge the audience reception, she was overcome, first sitting on the
steps of the stage she asked for a chair, and with her vocalists sang “Love Is
All That Matters” accapella! You can see
it on you tube; as well you can see and hear other songs she performed and her frequent comments about the
wonderful audience she complimented them throughout and was genuinely touched.
#158 GLORIA GAYNOR
with DIANA ROSS I WILL SURVIVE
With GLORIA GAYNOR peforming “I
Will Survive” earlier this year in New Jersey!
#159 THE NEVER ENDING TOUR CONTINUES, and a teaser
for my unwritten screenplay, unwittingly inspired by Tracie Ellis Ross, in
conjunction with my long held unrequited desire (no, not that, to spend time
with her wardrobe, silly) with additional writing by and starring the entire Ross
family!
And I covet her latest gown! This year I started noticing more new outfits
she had not worn on the west coast and which I had never seen. Well it is a long tour; a girl’s on stage and
gotta be stylish and give the fans what they want! After all, some follow her! This is my favorite among this year’s
wardrobe.
Reminds me a few years ago her
daughter Tracee gave an interview to a local blog focused on black gay men in
Los Angeles. She stated that her mother
keeps her wardrobe in a storage locker!
Imagine my disappointment that if I was ever at her home, her stage wear
would not be in the closet! And Tracee just
went on and on about how much she leaves to dress up and was the child always
getting into her makeup and clothes, about how she often enjoys visiting her
mother’s wardrobe in the storage locker and trying on her outfits; I imagine
borrowing an item now and then as well. I
wanted to call her up and tell her “Girl are you crazy have you lost your mind
don’t you know there be crazy people everywhere, not to mention some jealous
queens who would love to get into your mother’s wardrobe. People know where you live! One day someone may just follow you to that
storage “locker”. (oh no, I would never
think of doing that.) Around this time,
a friend told me that he has a friend who lives down the street from Tracie and
every time her mother picks her up in the limo it blocks the whole street. Somehow this developed into a screenplay that
remains buried in my brain. Some crazy
fanatic read this interview and decides to follow Tracee to the storage
locker! No, not me! Imagine a musical comedy version of Dog Day
Afternoon intersecting with the Ross family divas. Tracie held hostage with her mother’s
wardrobe. Haven’t figured out what the
demands would be. It would be farce,
comedy, drama and by the end have an inspiring emotional message about human
bonds reaching across race, class and wealth.
Her whole family would be in the movie of course! Maybe the only slightly mentally depressed
(no raving AK47 lunatic here) who found a connection with his loss and memories
awakened by being surrounded with her costumes – another life lesson – would be
coaxed into giving up his hysterical hostage Tracie who has probably driven him
to the edge of insanity within 2 days by Diana Ross herself performing for him
alone at the storage locker. I picture
it as more of a storage trailer than locker!
#174 WITH RUPAUL
#175 WITH PATTI
LABELLE, IN A STUNNING GOWN
#176 WITH BERRY GORDY AND SOMKEY ROBINSON; at the
opening of MOTOWN THE MUSICAL
#177 WITH BERRY
#178 WITH BERRY AND
THE ACTRESS WHO PORTRAYS HER ON BROADWAY
#179 WITH BERRY AND
THE CAST OF MOTOWN THE MUSICAL
Based on
Berry Gordy’s memoir, they finally get to tell their story.
#180 MARY WILSON,
with the above named group,
What is that line about a picture
being worth a thousand words. I’d say
about a million here! With Mary Wilson!
#181 DIANA ROSS,
BERRY GORDY, MARY WILSON
#182 DIANA ROSS AND
MARY WILSON – SOMEDAY WE’LL BE TOGETHER
YES THAT BE THE SUPREMES – THE
ORIGINAL SUPREMES, minus one gone too soon – DIANA ROSS AND MARY WILSON! Mary is currently performing an extended show
over the holidays in Chicago with singers from The Four Tops.
OK I know that those of you reading the notes who did not
view the slides and did not stop to look at Gloria Gaynor, RuPaul, or Patti
LaBelle, just left to view this photo.
#184 FINALLY – her
first Grammy – a special award!
#185
Celebrating with all 5 of her children and her grandson,
held by his mother Rhonda Ross. Tracee,
left is the comedic actress. Chudney,
the youngest daughter, recently opened a combination bookstore bakery for
children in Santa Monica. She recently
had her first child and I understand she is married. She has modeled, spent a number of years as a
teacher for young and special needs children, and has written a children’s
book. That’s the actor next to Diana and
the “scientist/entrepeneur to the right.
She said that her children are her greatest reward!
#193
The review clippings are from her show at the Pantages and I
think the one that followed at Universal Theatre. By Stephen Holden of the New York Times I
believe. I have electronic copies. They are also posted in my blog.
______________________________________________________
Diana Ross "Here I Am" (I Wouldn't Change A Thing...)
Apparently from the Diana Ross Italian Fan Club, a very professional edit of the opening of her 1976-77 shows, An Evening With..., with a credit indicating from her show in Japan that year, but what seems authentic is the video montage incl...udes no clips from after Mahogany, includes live clips of her performing, and if yuo look at the end, you see the stagehands unfurling her dolman sleeves on which the video montage had been viewed/shown, to reveal her as in the opening of the 1977 version. The '76 version had slightly different but no less spectacular tricky visual effects opening. I ihave referenced this opening and this song many times below. Here is a complete version.
http://vimeo.com/63728759
Click the link to see the video; Vimeo seems to be alternative to You Tube; once I join perhaps I may be able to directly link video, you may want to see others by this site.
Black Box feat. Spagna & Diana Ross - Love Hangover @ first sight (GeeJay2001 redo)
GeeJay2001's Facebook page: facebook.com/GeeJay2001.
GeeJay2001's SoundCloud page: soundcloud.com/gerdengeln
GeeJay2001's SoundCloud page: soundcloud.com/gerdengeln
__________________________________________________________________________
TOP OF THE WORLD
__________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
APRIL 7, 2013
Observations while viewing my saved and favorite You Tube videos which I am about to organize into distinct links and establish my own page. Here I note not for the first time 3 Life Lessons from The Wiz.1. Believe In Yourself
As Lena Horne so passionately sings, you have to Believe in Yourself
2. Ease on Down the Road
Don’t You Carry Nothing
That May be a Load
Ease on Down the Road
3. Find HOME - whatever that means whereever it is whether you have been there before or not, it is inside you, sometimes very deep inside. FIND HOME!
Here she is performing "Home" live in concert at the Forum in LA in 1981 and honoring Quincy Jones.
________________________________________________________________
HERE I AM HERE I'LL STAY!
I wouldn’t change a thing
If I had to live my life all overI wouldn’t change a thing
If I had to live my life all over
I’ve lived a life that’s fullMany times I had to pull
My way to the top
Never knowing when
I’m going to stop
I’ve make my mistakes
But Lord what I learned
He led me straight to you
That’s my only concern
I wouldn’t change a thing
If I had to live my life all overI’d do it all again
If I had to live my life all over
It saddens me to think
That somewhere on the wayI’d change my course
And I wouldn’t be here today
So I take my ups and downs
And I’ll carry it with a smileit brought me straight to you
And that makes it all worthwhile
I wouldn’t change a thing
If I had to live my life all over
Here I Am
here I’ll Stay Here I Am
Here I’ll Stay
__________________________________________________________________
A remarkable live vocal performance by Diana Ross in the early days of The Supremes
"Anyone Who Had A Heart"
__________________________________________________________________________
SHE’S COMING
BACK . .
.
TO THE
HOLLYWOOD BOWL
EVERYONE MUST GO
says the real Ms. Diana Ross
DIANA ROSS
AUGUST 3
2013
SATURDAY
It is apparent that some items have appeared and will soon appear based on my reading of the wonderful, accurate and positive and well documented biography of Diana Ross below. It should not seem to be an oxymoron to the uninformed public to describe the book as accurate, positive and well documented. I am going to reference it lightly in an essay I am starting today for My Daily Activities but it will not be the main theme. An essay focused on this book will have to await my second reading of the book. The first reading found me mesmerized on a cold dreary day spent in thrall to every word I was speed reading as I raced from cover to cover for every word on any controversy known or unknown. Assured as I was reading the TRUTH , having found all of the known, I now take my timie to read, no less absorb completely, daily between activities; every word as I also remain attuned to the heretofore unknown to me on this my second slower reading. The video is referenced and I was not familiar with. The Rolling Stone article was current, but I found the LA Reid essay verbatim and unedited in the book. I should add it.
Well looking for that essay to compare versions, I stumbled upon a tidbit the likes of which I would like to collate in a separate essay but it is too - what - glarmorous - to ignore for now. "The 'When You Tell Me That You Love Me' duet (with who I dont know and cant quickly find, can u do a duet with a 4some (WL)?) was released in England on December 12 and debuted on the charts at No. 2. the release had been preceded by widespread airing of the completed video, which was beautifully realized (must be WL). This chart success in England was a record-setter as Diana became the woman who now had the logest time span between her first hit (1964) and her latest, eclipsing the record that had been held by Shirley Bassey."
So there. And now I have discovered that the version of the essay by L. A. Reid below from Rolling Stone is more complete than the version in the book and at least as if not more compelling.
January 13, 2013
object width="1280" height="720"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true"></param><param name="movie" value="http://www.facebook.com/v/318142668303245"></param><embed src="http://www.facebook.com/v/318142668303245" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="1" width="1280" height="720"></embed></object
http://www.facebook.com/v/318142668303245"></param><embed src=" http://www.facebook.com/v/318142668303245
_________________________________________________________________
http://bookstore.authorhouse.com/Products/SKU-000225402/A-Lifetime-To-Get-Here.aspx
)
A Lifetime To Get Here
Diana Ross: The American Dreamgirl
Published:
11/30/2006
Format:
Dust Jacket Hardcover(B/W)
Pages:
404
Size:
6x9
ISBN:
978-1-42597-140-3
Print Type:
B/W
This unauthorized biography of entertainment legend Diana Ross strives to give a balanced account of her life and career while giving her the historical due that seems to have escaped her previously. Captured in vivid detail are her groundbreaking performances leading the Supremes, the renowned concert in Central Park amidst a raging thunderstorm, and the peaks and valleys of the more than 40 years of her ongoing stage, studio, and screen career.
The book steers clear of dry biography, in that it is interspersed with entertaining essays that capture the effect her life and career have had on fans throughout the years.
This book is a must-read for anyone with an appreciation for popular culture over the last half century.
The book steers clear of dry biography, in that it is interspersed with entertaining essays that capture the effect her life and career have had on fans throughout the years.
This book is a must-read for anyone with an appreciation for popular culture over the last half century.
WHEN YOU TELL ME THAT YOU LOVE ME, remake by Westlife with Diana Ross
You HAVE to see this beautiful video, not least because her white down changes to a golden as she ascends to heaven twice, but also for the voices, especially one, of this European vocal "boy" band who more more like men - wow that voice again, he is outstanding, and the visuals are wonderful. Her version of the same song years ago was done as a tribute to her 5 (accomplished, successful, wonderful) children featuring family photos over the years.
_____________________________________________________________________
Diana Ross and the Supremes
by Antonio "LA" Reidas published in the Rolling Stone's list of
100 greatest artists.
For almost 30 years — my entire career, really — all I've been doing is trying to discover another Diana Ross. I obviously still have my work cut out for me. She was gorgeous and skinny — and this was back in the Twiggy days, when skinny was new — and she had that big, beautiful hair. And, of course, she was glamorous: I remember all those furs, diamonds and early bling-bling. Everything about her — her mannerisms, her look, her aura — exuded stardom.
The Supremes were the epitome of the Motown sound. People look at Ross and say she had great songs, she was a good-looking girl, behind her she had Berry Gordy — who, in my book, is the greatest record man who ever lived — she had all these things. Holland, Dozier and Holland were amazing songwriters, just pure melody men. As we all know now, the unsung heroes were the Motown house band, the Funk Brothers. They could take those great songs and give them sound. "Where Did Our Love Go," "Baby Love," "Come See About Me," "Stop! In the Name of Love," "I Hear a Symphony" — at the time, people thought those songs were disposable. And now we realize that they're true masterpieces. They're so alive. Everything about the songs was great, even the intros — every one of them had a distinctive, memorable intro, which was a hook in and of itself. And, of course, there were two other wonderful singers in the Supremes, Mary Wilson and Florence Ballard.
But at the end of the day, Diana Ross' voice would come on the air and give you chill bumps. It had such presence, terrific tone, and was so identifiable. She didn't sing like Aretha Franklin — she wasn't a gospel singer — but she was a stylist, and you always believed her. She was captivating, romantic. When she asked, "Where did our love go?" she sounded like she was begging.
To this day, I believe that her voice could work on contemporary radio. She set the road map for the success of Janet Jackson, Madonna — anybody who could sing but wasn't a real crooner like Aretha or Patti LaBelle or Gladys Knight. I still ask artists in the studio to "sing this like Diana Ross would." So far, no one has.
Read more: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/100-greatest-artists-of-all-time-19691231/diana-ross-and-the-supremes-20110420#ixzz2HHL9CY8M
Follow us: @rollingstone on Twitter | RollingStone on Facebook
___________________________________________________________________
stay tuned for the next clip you never know when
________________________________________________________________
Liking FB again as I awoke this December 27, 2012 morning to find several relatively high quality clips from her most recent tour has been posted. Here they are in apparent order according to memory and her outfit. She changes after Ease On Down The Road. So she would have started this section of songs in this ensemble with my all time favorite song (no I have not said that before). I may have the whole concert before long. Later this same day I searched and found more clips from this concert tour. To be consistent I am only loading clips from this particular show (for now) because the clips posted from this individual are of better quality than other posted clips and to give integrety to her outfis, and finally because through the outfits I can determine the song order. However, I noted she has a bigger wardrobe than I had imagined and did not wear the same gown in each location. For example when I saw the show both in Vegas and LA she opened in the black down with the chartreuse featherd wrap.
INTRO/THE BOSS/MORE TODAY THAN YESTERDAY
TOUCH ME IN THE MORNING
IT'S MY HOUSE
LOVE HANGOVER/TAKE ME HIGHER/EASE ON DOWN THE ROAD and off the stage to change
more to come now that i have found this source....
________________________________________________________
CHRISTMAS IN WASHINGTON
WITH
DIANA ROSS
December 21, 2012
Here is the full 5+ minute performance of the Christmas song medley, in HD!
Someday At Christmas/Sleigh Ride/The Most Wonderful Time of the Year medley excerpt
Amazing Grace excerpt
__________________________________________________________________
Exquisite for all the Supremes esp Flo
__________________________________________________________________
for all you fashionistas in the house - I know you're out there - Thierry Mugler, Paris, with her daughter Tracee
___________________________________________________________________
this is now and has been my most favorite and beautiful Diana Ross song ever, that I have always felt and been guided by, right or wrong, the Voice of the Heart, embracing Whitney at the end. You ARE what YOU want to BE!
\
Should come to your sleep
With a picture you
Don't want to see
Go where it leads
From secret to secret
You are what you want to be
Whenever the sun refuses to shine
And you can't chase the storm clouds away
Where ever you are
There s always a star to guide the way
There to guide the way
If you listen long enough
If your dream is strong enough
A door inside will open
And a light will flood the dark
Like a song too long unsung
And a soul forever young
We all will find the answer
In the Voice of the Heart
this has to go into Poetry
___________________________________________________________________
this is what Cindy Birdsong gave up Labelle - Patti Labelle and the Blubelles for - tribute to Fats Waller on Ed Sullivan in pink and yellow.
_______________________________________________________________________
Ain't too proud to scream! Here it is - THE outfit for which I gave a standing ovation - for the outfit alone. It was at Universal, Barbara was seeing her for the first time; she had left to change and appeared descending a staircase in this flowing white chiffon - please correct me if I am wrong - and before the audience recognized her hit Upside Down - I was standing and screaming for that white chiffon. Lucky for her she had security! Different show and location but I would recognize that chiffon anywhere! by the way, for the locals, pork chops and rice almost ready.
____________________________________________________________________
seen this video lots of times so thought i better store here. great visuals and outfits.
Chain Reaction
___________________________________________________________________
In this clip, Ethel Merman joins Diana Ross and the Supremes performing an Irving Berlin medley on Ed Sullivan.
_______________________________________________________________________
Several videos of this song available on you tube in different settings. This one seems to be from a televised awards show around the time of her TV movie with Brandy, "Double Platinum" as the camera focuses often on Brandy, when not on Missy's spectacular to die for lavender gown, she works the gown and the audience, with a full gospel choir to back her up in this spiritual number
________________________________________________________________________
Wonderful video, wonderful song, wonderful mix, wonderful dancers, wonderful Diana
Not Over You Yet
__________________________________________________________________________
It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Year Live with the Vienna Orchestra and Choir
posted December 16, 2012, performance mid-90s perhaps
_____________________________________________________________________
Finally just learned how to actually link the video here from You Tube. I also just learned how to post a video from You Tube while on the YT page to my blog, but only on the main page. I want to be able to post from YT to this particular page, still learning. This was never a fav song but I love this mix and the video is hot HOT HOT!
________________________________________________________________________________
Diana Ross Live in Central Park July 21, 1983
Did I already post this? She finally issued the concert on DVD. Of course I have it. Here's the song where the rain came pouring down and even Diana Ross could not stop. You can see the sky quicly beome dark but she says she did not notice it. This is when she said "It took me a lifetime to get here. I am not going anywhere. It's only rain, I am not going to melt." Fry perhaps. She turned into Mother Ross and stayed out to keep the crowd calm while they left.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=On9ZQWrzArM&feature=share&list=FL8MRbvv3f_9VK1wnqwKk4Kg
_________________________________________________________________________
Great mix, hot dancers, UK TV recent Not Over You Yet
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2EdY8Z_4kdY&feature=share&list=FL8MRbvv3f_9VK1wnqwKk4Kg
__________________________________________________________________________
Here's the climax of the most recent tour, the best clip of this on YT, in the most stunning gown ever created, and she's having a blast!
I Will Survive
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2RvfKoOaBYg&feature=share&list=FL8MRbvv3f_9VK1wnqwKk4Kg
_____________________________________________________________________________
I thought that was crazy... This is even crazier. Judy Garland. Diana Ross. A simulcast chorus from around the world. It's the 54th Academy Awards in 1982. It's Hollywood. Somewhere Over the Rainbow. No foolin!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSyiXtpoefE&feature=share&list=FL8MRbvv3f_9VK1wnqwKk4Kg
____________________________________________________________________________
This is crazy, well not really considering, it's me, but I am going to recreate clips from part of shows that are from the first Diana Ross concert I ever saw, discussed below, in 1976, in Lake Tahoe, with my boyfriend Alvin and his friends:
AN EVENING WITH DIANA ROSS
Here I Am/Here I'll Stay
This clip is taken from the show " AN EVENING WITH DIANA ROSS " ; the show was sold out at every stop it made around the USA. In 1976 a two week stay on Broadway at The Palace broke 63 year old attendance records;the show made over $ 427.000. In 1977, was released a double live album from the 1976 show. Always in 1977, the stage show was turned into an unprecedented 90 minutes one-woman show TV special on " NBC Big Event " that made earn her several EMMY nominations . More, in 1977, Diana Ross won a special TONY Award for the sensational production!
The Music In the Mirror/What I Did For Love
Touch Me In The Morning
Young, Gifted, and Black/Do You Know Where You're Going To?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpS_W2shJsM&feature=share&list=FL8MRbvv3f_9VK1wnqwKk4Kg
too bad the video cuts out before the next song which was Do You Know
__________________________________________________________________
The Impossible Dream-Diana Ross and the Supremes, about 1969
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ErWZjljYXWM&feature=share&list=UUDJDARzojDi-xOy4f3bltfw
__________________________________________________________________
Somewhere - Diana Ross - 1973
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GX3KN0-9I7A&feature=share&list=FL8MRbvv3f_9VK1wnqwKk4Kg
______________________________________________________________________
Best 7 minute video montage and career retrospective narrated by Smokey Robinson at the Kennedy Center Honors
http://www.youtube.com/watch?/v=7Dflt9o8xVA&feature=share&list=FL8MRbvv3f_9VK1wnqwKk4Kg
_________________________________________________________________________
TELL ME AGAIN - this is spectacular
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fp_NYn3-AgM&feature=share&list=FL8MRbvv3f_9VK1wnqwKk4Kg
________________________________________________________________________
Erykah Badu as Diana, so real
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0eMJsjiiZpk&feature=share&list=FL8MRbvv3f_9VK1wnqwKk4Kg
______________________________________________________________________
Is this real or a viral video mashup, it's not Memorex, but it had me fooled - totally and I knew better - from the Not the Supremes Reunion or the Supremes Not Reunion Tour
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDwkIh6cY7k&feature=share&list=FL8MRbvv3f_9VK1wnqwKk4Kg
________________________________________________________________________
Here is where I will post all things Diana including reviews and commentary so as not to clutter the other pages.
I am posting lyrics to 4 love songs in which I was trying to discern an evolution in the lyrics over the decades, sparked by my observation that "Promise Me" represented markedly lowered, but perhaps more realistic or mature, expectations. We all grow....
Below that you will find reviews and articles I have been saving in my documents folder so now I can share and post them here.
_______________________________________________________________________________
I should write a review of last year's show - I saw it twice in LA and Vegas and believe I wrote down the song list somewhere. I remember it clearly. She was strong and her voice clear. She sang more than ever, talked less. She stood there and sang and sang and sang. She sang the full length versions of each song she performed as it was a career retrospective. She sang sangs I don't remember ever hearing her sing live before, such as Ease On Down the Road. She sang a tribute song to Michael Jackson at the end - his song "You Are Not Alone" (R. Kelly) that she has recorded. And ended with an exuberant "I Will Survive" in the most spectacular rainbow bejeweled golden gown in history during an evening of all new and spectacular outfits. She started, fittingly enough, with "The Boss" because she is! She's never done that before. So I guess that's a mini-review. She is always extra special in Vegas, including dancers of course, security is relaxed and fans allowed to approach the stage. I had 6th row seat, closest ever. I think I wrote down a song list after the LA show; if I find it I might add but I know I can find it by checking the fan sties.
Oh yes, one more thing, whether down below or on my photo page, are my favorite headline review titles of all time, that I see as slogans to live up to or live by in my Arian as ins Aries way:
YET AGAIN, ROSS GOES HER OWN WAY (and oh were they sick of me going my own way at work)
REFLECTIONS ON A DIVA WHO WITHERS NOT (no withering here, not since retirement anyway)
__________________________________________________________________________
PROMISE ME YOU'LL TRY (Manny Benito/Peter Zizzo) 2012
I know it's on your heart
That a love like ours
Shall never fall apart
You're so afraid of the rain
So I'll take your hand
And I'll love you
In the best way that I can
And I only expect the same
Don't promise me forever
Don't promise me the sun and sky
Don't pretend to know
You'll never make me cry
Just hold me now
And Promise me you'll try.
Though I'm sure of what I feel
I never thought a love
So true felt so unreal
And I'm a little afraid myself
If you love me day by day
With an honest heart
And just a little faith
Baby time will tell the tale
Just hold me now
And Promise me you'll try
_______________________________________________________________________
TELL ME AGAIN (Wintley/Phipps) 1987
You alone know how I feel down deep inside
I promised you I'll never stray from by your side
But now I'm looking back on all those yesterdays
The many times I let you down I'm begging I can hear you say
Tell me again that you love me (hmm turned it around)
And you'll love me till the stars fall from the sky
And the love you have for me will never die. (my warning bells go off)
I can tell when first we start to drift apart
The emptiness just takes hold of my wounded heart
You know I need to feel you by my side
cause when the night is cold and I've been so bold
There's no need to hide
Just tell me again that you love me
And you'll love me till the stars fall from the sky
And the love you have for me will never die.
And if you light the way
I will follow you
into that land of gladness
No more sadness
Tell me again that you love me
And you'll love me till the stars fall from the sky
And the love you have for me will never die.
_____________________________________________________________________
THE BOSS (Ashford/Simpson) 1979
Fancy me
Thought I had my degree
In life and how love
Ought to be run
I had a one step plan to prove it
Guide in my pocket for
Fools, Folly, and fun
Love had to show me one thing
I was so right, so right
Thought I could trun emotion on and off
I was so sure, so sure
But love taught me
Who was the Boss
I'd defy anyone who claimed that I didn't control
Whatever moved in my soul
I could tempt, touch, delight
just because you fell for me
Why should I feel uptight
Love had to show me one thing
I was so right, so right
Thought I could trun emotion on and off
I was so sure, so sure
But love taught me
Who was the Boss
Love's the Boss,
Love's the Boss,
Love's the Boss!
_________________________________________________________________
TOUCH ME IN THE MORNING (Michael Masser/Ron Miller) 1973
Touch me in the morning
Then just walk away
We don't have tomorrow
But we had yesterday
Hey wasn't it me who said that
Nothing goods gonna last forever?
And wasn't it me who said
Let's just be glad for the time together?
It must've been hard to tell me
That you've given all you had to give
I can understand you're feeling that way
Everybody's got their life to live.
Well, I can say goodbye in the cold morning light
But I can't watch love die in the warmth of the night
If I've got to be strong
Don't you know I need to have tonight when you're gone?
Till you go I need to lie here and think about
The last time that you'll touch me in the morning
Then just close the door
Leave me as you found me, empty like before.
Then just walk away
We don't have tomorrow
But we had yesterday
Hey wasn't it me who said that
Nothing goods gonna last forever?
And wasn't it me who said
Let's just be glad for the time together?
It must've been hard to tell me
That you've given all you had to give
I can understand you're feeling that way
Everybody's got their life to live.
Well, I can say goodbye in the cold morning light
But I can't watch love die in the warmth of the night
If I've got to be strong
Don't you know I need to have tonight when you're gone?
Till you go I need to lie here and think about
The last time that you'll touch me in the morning
Then just close the door
Leave me as you found me, empty like before.
Hey wasn't it yesterday
We used to laugh at the wind behind us?
Didn't we run away and hope
That time wouldn't try to find us (didn't we run)
Didn't we take each other
To a place where no one's ever been?
Yeah, I really need you near me tonight
Cause you'll never take me there again.
Let me watch you go
With the sun in my eyes
We've seen how love can grow
Now we'll see how it dies.
If I've got to be strong
Don't you know I need to have tonight when you're gone?
Till you go I need to hold you until the time
Your hands reach out and touch me in the morning.
(Mornings were blue and gold and we could feel one another living)
Then just walk away
(We walked with a dream to hold and we could take what the world was giving)
We don't have tomorrow,
(There's no tomorrow here, there's only love and the time to chase it)
But we had yesterday
(But yesterday's gone my love, there's only now and it's time to face it)
Touch me in the morning.
________________________________________________________________________
November 16, 2010 · 5:32 PM
Diana Ross epitomizes what true Las Vegas entertainment is meant to be
Diana Ross and Frank Marino.
Photo: Frank Marino
For the second consecutive week, I reveled in old time Las Vegas with a simplistic, straightforward concert presentation of magnificent music and sensational songs. Last weekend, it was Rod Stewart in top form. This past weekend, it was the queen, the diva, the superstar Diana Ross that sent the crowds wild.
They danced in their seats. They danced in the aisles. They mobbed her at the front of the stage as she sang while posing for fans’ cameras. Each song brought one more standing ovation. They worshiped and adored her. She was elegant, poised, perfect and in fantastic voice. Another fabulous example of what true Vegas entertainment is meant to be.
Flamingo headliner George Wallace, who has worked with Diana ever since she first hit Vegas back in the mid 1970s, was her guest comedian, and he wound up inviting all 4,100 members of the audience across The Strip to his showroom for more laughs. Two amazing dancers from David Saxe’s Vegas! The Show at Planet Hollywood’s Miracle Mile also entertained.
Photo: Brian Jones/Las Vegas News Bureau
Diana Ross at The Colosseum in Caesars Palace on Nov. 12, 2010.
Diana delivered exactly what she promised for her two nights at The Colosseum in Caesars Palace: greatest hits. She was as hot and as great, if not better, than ever. From start to finish, she commandeered the stage of what had been her on-and-off home for 20-plus years with a nonstop marathon of hits, taking only five short breaks long enough to change into one more fabulous gown than the one before it.
Six stunning outfits in all: gold, black, blue and pink topped with outrageous oversized boas and wraps. While she slithered out of one and into another, the band played, the dancers danced and her singers sang. There wasn’t one lost moment in the 93 minutes.
Diana is in her mid 60s but looks and sounds as young and as chipper as she was back in the early days of Motown and The Supremes, and there was an abundance of old stills and video clips to show her decades at the top of the pop, R&B and dance charts. If my memory is correct, this was her second time back in Vegas since she was the opening night superstar for the Palazzo’s VIP premiere two years ago and then at CES last year performing at the Paris.
Photo: Brian Jones/Las Vegas News Bureau
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
Diana Ross at The Colosseum in Caesars Palace on Nov. 12, 2010.
The most poignant moment was when she sang with a video freeze frame behind her of a photo with Michael Jackson. She turned and sang to it, and then walked up the stage staircase to close the show with one final song: “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough.”
Longtime fan Frank Marino
After many, many years of admiration, Frank Marino finally got the chance to meet his idol, the supreme Miss Diana Ross, after her performance. Frank told Vegas DeLuxe: “I’d been waiting 30 years to meet her. It was a moment I wished would never have ended. I am still in a state of euphoria and can barely remember it all because of the excitement.
“She’s the reason I went into show business. I wanted everything she represented. In fact, I started out impersonating her. That lasted a year, until friends told me not to, and so I switched to Joan Rivers, and that became my trademark. I told her what a big fan I was and said she probably heard that all the time. But she said you can never hear it enough.”
Frank went to Diana’s Friday show as he worked in Laughlin on Saturday and Sunday. On his drive back from the Arizona River for his show at Imperial Palace on Sunday night, he told me: “I came close to meeting her when she opened the Palazzo in 2008, but alas although I was invited backstage by you, Robin, remember she wasn’t doing any meet-and-greets that night. I flew to New York and went to Madison Square Garden to try to meet her, but that didn’t happen, either.
“This time she just picked me out of the audience because of my shirt emblazoned with her name. She genuinely liked that, and I got the backstage invitation. It was the best Diana Ross show I’ve ever seen, and I’ve honestly seen dozens of them. I was so happy to tell her that my own show across The Strip was going really well, too. I invited her to come see it, but there wasn’t time this visit. Hopefully the next time.”
Diana’s son Evan Ross, who stars on 90210, came to Las Vegas for his mom’s two shows. After Friday night’s performance, he hopped over to Tao in The Venetian for dinner with friends before going upstairs to a VIP table for Grey Goose cocktails and Patron tequila shots.
Robin Leach has been a journalist for more than 50 years and has spent the past decade giving readers the inside scoop on Las Vegas, the world’s premier platinum playground.
____________________________________________________________________________
June 9, 2010 – Nokia Theatre, Los Angeles
Diana Ross: More Today Than Yesterday
Diana Ross
|
There's a distinct irony to the fact that Diana Ross has dubbed her new U.S. tour, More Today Than Yesterday, since the show -- which played a sold-out gig at New York City's Radio City Music Hall on Wednesday, May 19 -- is blatantly designed as a "greatest hits" extravaganza celebrating the singer's five decades of chart-topping tunes. But what makes this 90-minute show not just one of the most extraordinarily evenings I've had recently, but so fresh and lively as well, is the use of a kick-ass 15-piece orchestra (plus three backup singers) that brilliantly augment Ross' still pleasing if slightly thin voice.
Truth be told, Ross' success was never dependent solely on her vocal instrument. What still blazes as brightly as ever, if not even brighter, is her unparalleled star quality; as she glides across the stage in a series of figure-flattering ensembles that show off her superb 66-year-old body and delivers dazzling smile after dazzling smile, the joy one feels to be in her presence can't be contained.
For that reason alone, Ross doesn't need to rely on elaborate pyrotechnics or muscular back-up dancers to have the audience feel they're part of a wholly satisfying experience. Indeed, a series of projections, mostly showing Ross in various stages of her career, are the only major visual effect other than the singer herself!
Ross barely engages in patter -- speaking only briefly at the encore to honor her great friend Michael Jackson -- which helps her cram a remarkable assortment of songs into the show's tightly-packed running time. Theater lovers can take pleasure in a truly joyous take on "Ease on Down The Road" (from The Wiz, in which Ross appeared as Dorothy in the film version) and a heartwarming rendition of "What About Love" (from The Color Purple); and there's a brief yet excellent section of blues songs, highlighted by the singer's sublime rendition of the Billie Holliday classic "Don't Explain" (which she originally performed in the film Lady Sings the Blues).
Still, most audiences are on hand to hear the chart-toppers, and Ross delivers the goods: "You Just Keep Me Hanging On," "Stop In the Name of Love," "Love Child," "I'm Coming Out," "Inside Out," "Touch Me in the Morning," "Endless Love," and "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" to name but a few.
She's also smart enough to know that these numbers will turn into sing-alongs and dance-alongs whether she wants them to or not, and generously encourages the audience to participate. And even though, to my surprise, she never asks us to reach out and touch somebody's hand, you're likely to be reaching out and touching someone's something in the frenzy of the moment!
______________________________________________________________________
Diana Ross proves she still Boss
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
12:51 p.m. Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Diana Ross oozes with ultimate divadom. How else could you describe her almost hour-late entrance -- rising up from the stage floor in a lime green fur and sexy, black sequined dress to the 1979 disco tune "The Boss?"
On Friday night in Atlanta, the legendary Ross proved she is indeed still the boss, going through more than 25 songs and six wardrobe changes to a full (and very satisfied) house at Chastain Park.
Some concerts can be described by sets, with Ross, the night is marked by the wardrobe changes:
Wardrobe No. 1's lime green fur and black sequin dress took fans from "The Boss" to 2006's with "More Today than Yesterday," through classic Motown hits with the Supremes, including "Reflections," "My World Is Empty Without You," "Stop in the Name of Love" "Can't Hurry Love and "Love Child."
After a brief exit during the tango infused "Love Child," Ross brought on wardrobe No. 2 -- a glitzy red number -- to the tune of 1980s "I'm Coming Out," followed by "Upside Down," "Touch Me in the Morning," "It's My House," "Sweetest Hangover" and "Ease on Down the Road."
Many a performer could take lessons from Ross, who has mastered charming the crowd by blowing kisses, constantly waving and making eye contact with her big, trademark smile. The 66-year-old singer, producer, actress and "new grandmother" not only looked fabulous, her voice was soft, but strong.
Lady Diana then settled the crowd down, gliding on stage in wardrobe change No. 3, a midnight blue sequined gown. For certain, the gown set the tone for the Billie Holiday tunes "Lady Sings the Blues" and "Don't Explain."
Wardrobe change No. 4 -- a hot pink Southern belle frock brought out Ross' playful side with "Why Do Fools Fall in Love," "Endless Love," Theme from Mahagony" and the night's best number, the crowd rousing "Ain't No Mountain High Enough."
Wardrobe change No. 5 had a song all to itself: a gold and brightly glittery wonder of a dress that seemed more than appropriate for the golden Gloria Gaynor cover "I Will Survive."
By the time she walked out in the bronzy wardrobe change that was No. 6, even Ross herself had to admit that "you all will wear a girl out." But in one of the sweetest moments of the night, she dedicated the show to longtime friend, the late Michael Jackson, singing the lovely "Missing You" along with Jackson's own "You Are Not Alone." At last, the night ended with "I Love You."
And while Ross had no opening act, actress/comedian Monique certainly filled the gap with her walk down the aisles a few minutes before Ross took to the stage. As the star, who tapes her talk show here in Atlanta, made her way to her seat, the crowd cheered, cameras snapped and at least one brave couple managed to get their young baby into the star's arms for a quick hug and picture.
____________________________________________________________________________
The air was electric as fans greeted each other enthusiastically. The chatter and alacrity had made an early declaration that this was going to be a special evening. It was a homecoming. But, not necessarily of the traditional sort. (Most of Diana’s core family unit had either transitioned on or simply moved away.) The homecoming was a reflection of from where the star was born, to a celebration of just how magnificently she has since traveled since. Billed as the “More Today Than Yesterday” Tour, the title also subliminally alluded to the obvious, “I Love You” (as in she) more today than yesterday. It was something this audience readily accepted and welcomed.
As the lights go down on the stage, silhouettes of the orchestra begin to appear. And then a gigantic screen drops down, and slowly, deliberately, the words, word by word materialize, “Are * You * Ready”! Nothing more is needed to drive the electricity to a frenzied state as an elegant overture of some of her most memorable songs begins to serenade the audience. And then, she boldly went where she had never quite dared to before and opens up with her anthemic smash, “The Boss”. It was a daring and thrilling choice that was a precursor of things to come that evening. “The Boss” has always been a wonderful, celebratory song in Diana’s joyous repertoire. Yet, “The Boss” is not the easiest song to sing. It is meant to be sung with vibrancy and has a demanding climatic vocal center. The lady more than met the challenge. Fans knew it as one of the pinnacles of her career. The less discerning simply were swept away by its infectious energy. There, rising above the stage like a goddess to the heavens, the diva makes yet another unforgettable entrance. The art direction and staging is instantly striking as the lighting shines a warm, light cobalt blue hue while Diana appears in a gorgeous black gown, with a citrus green-colored wrap enveloping her now curvaceous body.
The next song keeps the show moving effortlessly as the Motown-riffs of “More Today Than Yesterday” underscores the name of the show and the meaning she wants conveyed to her audience. Both “The Boss” and “More Today Than Yesterday” are sung with an easy, gleeful assuredness that keeps the audience on its feet.
Without missing a beat, she glides effortlessly into one Supremes-era classic after the other. What is most fulfilling is that, replaced from the compact medley of yore, she sings each song in its full, original creation. A mindful version of “Reflections” is given a careful reading that is winsome and only slightly melancholic; like a love of a long time ago, that has long since healed, but never will be forgotten. “You Can’t Hurry Love” picks the pace back up and draws you back into the Motown sound. And when she leads the audience into the career-defining, iconic arms-extended, “Stop! In the Name of Love”, she unites the entire audience in a moment of frivolity. There are smiles on the faces of many fans, casual ones included, in the audience.
Hats off to the imagination put into this altruistic beginning of the evening.
There is a notable gasp from the fans as Diana delves deep into her body of work for the Luther Vandross-produced, “It’s Hard for Me To Say” from her 1987 Red Hot Rhythm and Blues album. The screen cleverly displayed pictures of The Supremes and some key Diana moments while she sang #1 hit after #1 hit. For this surprise selection, the screen featured photos of other great Motown artists like Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder and Levi Stubbs (of The Four Tops) to name a few.
For the fans of Diana’s more uptempo material, the band played “I’m Coming Out” with such precision that it was possibly the best version of the song heard to date. The saxophone solo was so on point that if the saxophonist had not stood near center stage you could have sworn this was a recording. She banged out 4 club classics, all #1 dance smashes, one after the other. As she returned to the stage wearing yet another gorgeous Bob Mackie creation, she saluted her multi-platinum, “Chic”-produced Diana album with the rhythmic, “Upside Down”. “Love Hangover”, the disco era smash, segued into the more recent “Take Me Higher”. The audience was on its feet the entire time. It was definitely time to dance. She called a couple of fans on stage to trip the lights fantastic. It was particularly impressive how easily “Love Hangover” floated into “Take Me Higher”.
After this exciting, uplifting moment in the show, she changed the mood and colors as you heard “Billie Holiday, Billie Holiday” over the speakers, introducing her jazz set. You could have heard a pin drop during her beautiful rendition of “Don’t Explain”. The saxophonist again took center stage for “The Look of Love” from her I Love You album. (It’s a song she also recorded when she was with The Supremes that appeared on 2004’s Lost and Found album .) She wore, what was possibly my favorite gown of the evening, a blue, shimmering garment that draped elegantly on her shapely figure.
She sang 25 songs in nearly 2 hours, and still did not perform 9 of her #1 hits. That is quite a catalog. The coupling of “Do You Know Where You’re Going To (Theme from ‘Mahogany’)” with the regal, anthemic “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” signaled the start of the evening’s final half hour. This evening “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” sounded majestic and befitting of a woman that has been at the top of her game for 5 decades. Most of all, she seemed to be enjoying every moment of it.
As the screen effectively projected images from important moments in her career, in one of the few times that she addressed the audience, she proclaimed that this tour was dedicated to Michael Jackson. She then proceeded to sing her #1 ballad, “Missing You”, then artfully segued into Michael’s “You Are Not Alone”. The screen projected the famous shot of Michael tenderly embracing Diana. It was a picture that told a million stories. It was an emotional moment that brought several to tears. She ended the moment with the title track from her 2006 I Love You album.
The audience roared for an encore. The lady of course obliged. She returned in a blinding, sparkled gold gown and ripped into “I Will Survive”. She kept the song tight and just long enough. Many fans have expressed hope that this song would be deleted from her repertoire. Not a chance. But as the disco ball turned on the screen, you couldn’t help but get caught up in the moment. Though she recorded it for her Take Me Higher album in 1995, and it was cleverly featured in Kevin Kline’s movie ‘In & Out’ from 1997, it will always be identified with Gloria Gaynor. But for a moment, the well-worn chorus endured once again.
Detroit is not the homecoming it once was. Berry Gordy, Smokey Robinson and Suzanne dePasse have long since taken up residence in Los Angeles, taking with them, the heart and soul of Motown. In years past, Miss Chapman, the arbiter of the definitive Artist Development classes during Motown’s heyday, would be in attendance at Diana’s Detroit concerts. This evening, only her sister Rita (reportedly now a resident of Atlanta) and a few extended family members were in the audience. But, looking at the shell- shocked downtown area of Detroit, the recent devastation left by the Kirkpatrick mayoral reign and the continuous downsizing of the automobile industry, Diana’s return to The Fox Theatre was touching. Her home base has been Greenwich, CT for the last 30 years, as well as, having resided in Europe with her now-belated spouse, Arne Naess. When you think of Diana Ross today, you think of a global superstar just as easy residing in her Manhattan condo or London flat. But, she returned to Detroit for one more glorious evening. Detroit welcomed home the skinny girl from the Brewster projects once again. For nearly 2 hours, Diana and Detroit declared that they love each other more today than yesterday.
K. Bonin has worked in the music industry for the last three decades. He describes himself as "a child of Motown and the classic rock era." Having spent the balance of his career at Arista Records, his experience and passion gives him a unique perspective on music and the music industry. Kirk can be contacted via email at bokiluis@gmail.com
_____________________________________________________________________________________
As the lights go down on the stage, silhouettes of the orchestra begin to appear. And then a gigantic screen drops down, and slowly, deliberately, the words, word by word materialize, “Are * You * Ready”! Nothing more is needed to drive the electricity to a frenzied state as an elegant overture of some of her most memorable songs begins to serenade the audience. And then, she boldly went where she had never quite dared to before and opens up with her anthemic smash, “The Boss”. It was a daring and thrilling choice that was a precursor of things to come that evening. “The Boss” has always been a wonderful, celebratory song in Diana’s joyous repertoire. Yet, “The Boss” is not the easiest song to sing. It is meant to be sung with vibrancy and has a demanding climatic vocal center. The lady more than met the challenge. Fans knew it as one of the pinnacles of her career. The less discerning simply were swept away by its infectious energy. There, rising above the stage like a goddess to the heavens, the diva makes yet another unforgettable entrance. The art direction and staging is instantly striking as the lighting shines a warm, light cobalt blue hue while Diana appears in a gorgeous black gown, with a citrus green-colored wrap enveloping her now curvaceous body.
The next song keeps the show moving effortlessly as the Motown-riffs of “More Today Than Yesterday” underscores the name of the show and the meaning she wants conveyed to her audience. Both “The Boss” and “More Today Than Yesterday” are sung with an easy, gleeful assuredness that keeps the audience on its feet.
Without missing a beat, she glides effortlessly into one Supremes-era classic after the other. What is most fulfilling is that, replaced from the compact medley of yore, she sings each song in its full, original creation. A mindful version of “Reflections” is given a careful reading that is winsome and only slightly melancholic; like a love of a long time ago, that has long since healed, but never will be forgotten. “You Can’t Hurry Love” picks the pace back up and draws you back into the Motown sound. And when she leads the audience into the career-defining, iconic arms-extended, “Stop! In the Name of Love”, she unites the entire audience in a moment of frivolity. There are smiles on the faces of many fans, casual ones included, in the audience.
Hats off to the imagination put into this altruistic beginning of the evening.
There is a notable gasp from the fans as Diana delves deep into her body of work for the Luther Vandross-produced, “It’s Hard for Me To Say” from her 1987 Red Hot Rhythm and Blues album. The screen cleverly displayed pictures of The Supremes and some key Diana moments while she sang #1 hit after #1 hit. For this surprise selection, the screen featured photos of other great Motown artists like Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder and Levi Stubbs (of The Four Tops) to name a few.
For the fans of Diana’s more uptempo material, the band played “I’m Coming Out” with such precision that it was possibly the best version of the song heard to date. The saxophone solo was so on point that if the saxophonist had not stood near center stage you could have sworn this was a recording. She banged out 4 club classics, all #1 dance smashes, one after the other. As she returned to the stage wearing yet another gorgeous Bob Mackie creation, she saluted her multi-platinum, “Chic”-produced Diana album with the rhythmic, “Upside Down”. “Love Hangover”, the disco era smash, segued into the more recent “Take Me Higher”. The audience was on its feet the entire time. It was definitely time to dance. She called a couple of fans on stage to trip the lights fantastic. It was particularly impressive how easily “Love Hangover” floated into “Take Me Higher”.
After this exciting, uplifting moment in the show, she changed the mood and colors as you heard “Billie Holiday, Billie Holiday” over the speakers, introducing her jazz set. You could have heard a pin drop during her beautiful rendition of “Don’t Explain”. The saxophonist again took center stage for “The Look of Love” from her I Love You album. (It’s a song she also recorded when she was with The Supremes that appeared on 2004’s Lost and Found album .) She wore, what was possibly my favorite gown of the evening, a blue, shimmering garment that draped elegantly on her shapely figure.
She sang 25 songs in nearly 2 hours, and still did not perform 9 of her #1 hits. That is quite a catalog. The coupling of “Do You Know Where You’re Going To (Theme from ‘Mahogany’)” with the regal, anthemic “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” signaled the start of the evening’s final half hour. This evening “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” sounded majestic and befitting of a woman that has been at the top of her game for 5 decades. Most of all, she seemed to be enjoying every moment of it.
As the screen effectively projected images from important moments in her career, in one of the few times that she addressed the audience, she proclaimed that this tour was dedicated to Michael Jackson. She then proceeded to sing her #1 ballad, “Missing You”, then artfully segued into Michael’s “You Are Not Alone”. The screen projected the famous shot of Michael tenderly embracing Diana. It was a picture that told a million stories. It was an emotional moment that brought several to tears. She ended the moment with the title track from her 2006 I Love You album.
The audience roared for an encore. The lady of course obliged. She returned in a blinding, sparkled gold gown and ripped into “I Will Survive”. She kept the song tight and just long enough. Many fans have expressed hope that this song would be deleted from her repertoire. Not a chance. But as the disco ball turned on the screen, you couldn’t help but get caught up in the moment. Though she recorded it for her Take Me Higher album in 1995, and it was cleverly featured in Kevin Kline’s movie ‘In & Out’ from 1997, it will always be identified with Gloria Gaynor. But for a moment, the well-worn chorus endured once again.
Detroit is not the homecoming it once was. Berry Gordy, Smokey Robinson and Suzanne dePasse have long since taken up residence in Los Angeles, taking with them, the heart and soul of Motown. In years past, Miss Chapman, the arbiter of the definitive Artist Development classes during Motown’s heyday, would be in attendance at Diana’s Detroit concerts. This evening, only her sister Rita (reportedly now a resident of Atlanta) and a few extended family members were in the audience. But, looking at the shell- shocked downtown area of Detroit, the recent devastation left by the Kirkpatrick mayoral reign and the continuous downsizing of the automobile industry, Diana’s return to The Fox Theatre was touching. Her home base has been Greenwich, CT for the last 30 years, as well as, having resided in Europe with her now-belated spouse, Arne Naess. When you think of Diana Ross today, you think of a global superstar just as easy residing in her Manhattan condo or London flat. But, she returned to Detroit for one more glorious evening. Detroit welcomed home the skinny girl from the Brewster projects once again. For nearly 2 hours, Diana and Detroit declared that they love each other more today than yesterday.
K. Bonin has worked in the music industry for the last three decades. He describes himself as "a child of Motown and the classic rock era." Having spent the balance of his career at Arista Records, his experience and passion gives him a unique perspective on music and the music industry. Kirk can be contacted via email at bokiluis@gmail.com
May 20, 2010
A Tour Through Motown, Disco and More
By JON PARELES
Diana Ross was all smiles, glitter and efficiency at Radio City Music Hall on Wednesday night, a part of a nationwide tour straightforwardly devoted to her hits. “Tonight is truly, truly about memories,” she announced.
Segments of her career, from the 1960s into the 1990s, were each marked with a shiny dress (and some feathered capes), a video montage and a selection of hits. She’d scamper off stage, letting the band take over, and return in a few minutes newly outfitted — silver, red, blue, gold — and fluffing her luxuriant hair. At 66, Miss Ross is a trouper, with a voice so engraved in American pop memory that all she has to do is approximate her old performances to set fans joyfully singing along.
For the concert, she was more jukebox than diva. Ms. Ross barely spoke between songs until, near the end, she proudly introduced the members of her band: a big one, with, she beamed, “live horns and live strings and live musicians — yay!”
Her voice is still strong and enthusiastic, if not always accurate, and it’s just a little rougher than it was when she emerged as Motown’s doe-eyed sweetheart. In the ’60s her hits with the Supremes seesawed between anticipation (“You Can’t Hurry Love”) and heartbreak (“Stop! In the Name of Love,” “You Keep Me Hangin’ On”), but her voice stayed bright, perpetually hopeful. For the ’70s and her solo career, she set aside teenage love songs, playing Billie Holiday in “Lady Sings the Blues” and moving into ballads like “Theme From ‘Mahogany’ ” and “Touch Me in the Morning.” As the ’80s began, she rode the end of disco into the charts with dance tunes like “I’m Coming Out.”
At the concert, it was a strategic error to place all her Motown songs in one batch near the beginning of the concert, while her voice was warming up; they are still her best material. (By comparison, a disco tune like “Upside Down” runs out of melody and lyrics far too soon.) And it was odd to make a Gloria Gaynor hit, “I Will Survive,” the pre-encore peak, even if Ms. Ross did record a 1995 remake of it. The inevitable Michael Jackson tribute ended the concert; under giant photographs of Jackson, and then one of Ms. Ross and Jackson together, she sang her 1984 hit “Missing You” (originally a memorial to Marvin Gaye) and Jackson’s “You Are Not Alone.” She said, “All my thoughts are in the words of the songs.”
The concert’s best moments came in lyrics tinged with anguish: “Love Child,” from the Supremes era, and a poised, aching version of “Don’t Explain,” a song from Holiday’s repertory. Ms. Ross’s own ballad hits were less secure, sometimes straining where they used to glide and entice. But they were still close enough to what they had been to stir memories.
____________________________________________________________________________
Diva Diana Supremely divine
Last Updated: 11:22 AM, May 20, 2010
Posted: 9:00 AM, May 20, 2010
Whether you’re talking about her looks or her voice, there’s only one way to describe 66-year-old Diana Ross — timeless.
Last night at Ross’ Radio City Music Hall
The well-dressed, mostly middle-age audience agreed, and did remember during Ross’ greatest set, reacting as they were hearing the soundtrack of their youth played live.
The 90-minute set touched all the bases of Ross’ incredibly successful career — from her tenure as the center of the Supremes to her solo career.
While the set wasn’t a straight chronology of hits, early in the show Ross offered a quartet of winning Supremes classics. She started with “Reflections” and worked through “You Can’t Hurry Love,” “Come See About Me,” and “Stop! In the Name of Love.”
There was never a question of the power these old tunes still pack: just about everyone in the audience was singing along and doing the traffic cop hand-jive that’s become an integral part of “Stop! In The Name of Love.”
From her solo songbook, Ross was equally impressive, working the Music Hall with disco-era hits that made the mirror ball spin at clubs in the early ’80s, including the anthem “I’m Coming Out” followed by the syncopated “Upside Down.” That jumpy funk unglued young and old from their seats.
The romantic ballads — “Touch Me in The Morning” played early and “Endless Love” played late — seemed to be the numbers that made the couples “ooh,” “aah” and lean toward each other.
And what’s a Diana Ross concert without the quick, spectacular costume changes.
The first frock flip took just 2 1/2 minutes. Subsequent wardrobe adjustments were as fast or faster, as she plowed through a parade of flamboyant Bob Mackie-like sequined, spangled, flouncy gowns in primary colors.
Ross, who’s been strangely silent on the loss of her pal Michael Jackson last June, indulged her own memories at this show, dedicating “Missing You” to the King of Pop and performing his “You Are Not Alone.”
On stage, everything seems easy for Ross, even doing the challenging Billie Holiday song “Don’t Explain.”
But even for a diva’s diva, singing goodbye to Jackson
DIANA ROSS A CONCERT REVIEW BY LEE ARBOREEN & ROBB BRAWN
DIANA ROSS
A CONCERT REVIEW BY LEE ARBOREEN & ROBB BRAWN
We're going off topic from Grey Gardens for once, and will actually be adding a new section to the WWW.MYGREYGARDENS web site shortly.
Last Friday night, May 21st, we saw the one and only Diana Ross in concert at Caesars in
The reviews so far, including those of her sold performance at Radio City Music Hall on May 19th, have been glowing, but one really has to experience this show first hand !. She was UNREAL !! What we had not seen in any reviews were any real comments on the dramatic opening of the show. A huge video screen was placed high above the 18 piece band. The show starts off with REALLY loud pre recorded music, which the band gradually blends into. Lights are flashing, and there is a rapid fire video slide show of pictures of Diana throughout the years as well as album covers. Then, one by one, three words appear... ARE... YOU.... READY !... A radiant Diana emerges from beneath the floor, dressed in a form fitting black and silver Mackey original, covered by an electric lime green boa, something only Diana Ross could pull off without looking like she'd just stepped out of Sesame Street ! She opened the show with the her 1979 hit, "The Boss", which peaked on the Billboard Hot 100 chart at #19 and landed the #1 spot on Billboard's Hot Dance Club Play chart. The tune was long absent from her show until recent years. She followed with More Today Than Yesterday, originally recored by Spiral Staircase in 1969, and the only upbeat tune on Diana's most recent album "I Love You".
She started her trip down memory lane with Reflections. The vieeo screen above flashed picture after picture as well as clips of the Supremes.
During the first few bars of You Can't Hurry Love, a group of late arrivers attempting to seat themselves in one of the front rows, remained standing right in the middle of the row, blocking everyone's view behind them. This was so disruptive that Miss Ross herself became distracted enough by this rather inconsiderate behavior that she put her hands up and started in .... "hey... hey...hey".. then turned to the band "stop.. stop.... stop ... stop ! " Stop the music ! ". The band went silent and as for the rest of the venue... you could hear a pin drop...Miss Ross preceded to repremand the group " C'mon.. look... You shouldn't do this ! Even in theaters in New York
What made this show so super hot was the addition of live horns and strings. In recent years Miss Ross has traveled with an extremely small band with very few live instruments. The musicians in this show weren't down in a pit, or placed at a distance far behind Miss Ross. Many times, the horn section and she were side by side. The musicians played an integral part in the excitement level of the show. The band, in her own words was "hot!". Arrangements of all the songs were totally souped up.. Diana consistently interacted with the band. She seemed to have genuine affection and appreciation for her band, but moreover, a deep affection for her fans.
Her vocals were clear and strong. We'd have to give her an 8 out of 10 on her vocals. Granted, she had 3 super backup singers but pitch and strength were spot on almost all of the time, and we've heard her in concert when her voice just wasn't cooperating with her. Perhaps the smoothest and most beautiful vocal performance was on "Missing You"... Close to perfect.
Song wise, in addition to the usual Supreme standards, full versions, not a medley, there were her disco era hits , Upside Down, Mirror Mirror, I'm Coming Out, and Love Hangover, and the ballads, Endless Love and Touch Me in The Morning. She threw in VERY short versions of Take Me Higher and Ease On Down The Road the latter being from her film The Wiz. A tour first, was the performance of the song, "It's Hard For Me To Say", from her 1987 Album "Red Hot Rhythm And Blues". The tune was produced by Luther Vandross. During the song, the huge screen flashed pictures of her former Motown family including Marvin Gaye, Tammy Terrill, The Four Tops, The Temptations, and Stevie Wonder, just to name a few. She did a few songs from her film "Lady SIngs The Blues", including "Don't Explain, which she ALWAYS nails. The only other full song she did from the I Love You Album, was a cover of the Burt Bacharach hit, The Look Of Love. The song opened with a single sax player, positioned high atop the stage with images of neon signs behind him displaying the words "cool", and "jazz". The sax did a very cool solo, and Diana came out singing on the main level of the stage. She and the sax player joined up center stage to work off of each other completing an extremely cool version of this tune.
Her closing number was Gloria Gaynor's I Will Survive. Not that Miss Ross doesn't make it exciting, but she's been closing her shows with this song for quite some time now and we would much rather have seen her finish with the number she did at a huge concert last fall in Amsterdam, Brand New Day, again from the Wiz.
Her "encore", if you can call it that, as it was obviously well planned out, was a tribute to Michael Jackson. She dedicated the song and the tour to him. She also mentioned that we had just also recently lost Lena Horne. It was a beautifully moving tribute with pictures of her and Michael on the screen above. She sang her hit, Missing You (originally dedicated to Marvin Gaye), followed by Michael's hit, You Are Not Alone. She walked back up a set of stairs to her original entry spot above the band, sang a few lines of the title track "I Love you", and the stage lights dimmed to dark.
Love her to death, and we really do, but it is doubtful that Lady Gaga will be able to sell out a venue such as Radio City Music Hall in the year 2055, which would be the same time frame between The Supreme's first hit Where Did Our Love Go in 1964 and now...who knows.. we hope she will.
We'd like to wish Miss Ross continued success with her tour and thank her for the many hours of music and memories she's given us over the years, and thankfully is still giving us today...
Diana Ross
(Hollywood Bowl; 17,371 seats; $149 top) Presented by the Los Angeles Philharmonic Assn.
this was a fabulous show, but then they all are!
Band: Diana Ross, Kevin Chokan, George Svetich, Gerry Brown, Cecil Thomas, Richard Garcia, Frederick White, Valarie Pinkston plus three horn players. Also appearing, Los Angeles Philharmonic, conducted by Steven Reineke. Opened and reviewed July 25, 2008; closed July 26.
Deep into Diana Ross' set at the Hollywood Bowl, when she started singing songs associated with Billie Holiday, the evening took a sharp turn from playful nostalgia to missed opportunity. The Los Angeles Philharmonic had done its thing, playing some Richard Rodgers and Duke Ellington, and Ross had done hers by singing her hits from the Supremes and her solo days, and it only half mattered that the two programs did not gel. Having Ross backed by the orchestra could have tied this program together smartly.
When the synthesizer kicked in on "My Man," there was an instant in which one longed for the real deal -- a bona fide string section -- and by the time she was closing with "Ain't No Mountain High Enough," well, a swelling orchestra could have made the performance monumental. Instead, it was a slightly shortened standard-issue show: 20 hits in 75 minutes, four costume changes and lots of big, big smiles.
Over the years, Bowl programs have thrived on VSOP collaborations, particular concerts that feast on the Great American Songbook. Ross, whose chipper voice has retained its personality over more than four decades, consistently pays tribute to "Lady Sings the Blues" in her concerts, and Friday contained the subtle delight "Don't Explain." It was a far better selection, and received a much more nuanced perf, than three inconsequential covers, "More Today Than Yesterday," "Why Do Fools Fall in Love" and "I Will Survive."
Ross' best singing occurs when a melody forces her to vocally maneuver with control, as on "Love Hangover," "Theme From Mahogany" and the Holiday tunes; comparatively speaking, "Baby Love" and "Where Did Our Love Go" sound like nursery rhymes.
-Variety
April 9, 2007
Music Review | Diana Ross
Reflections on a Diva Who Withers Not
Diana Ross didn’t wield a scepter or a magic wand during her concert on Friday evening, but she might as well have. During a show at the Theater at Madison Square Garden that lasted barely an hour and a half Ms. Ross disappeared every 20 minutes or so, only to re-emerge swathed in new shades of ruffles and feathers, and swan around the stage in a glittering, form-fitting gown.
The word queen came to mind: beauty queen, disco queen, fashion queen, queen of Motown, fairy queen, queen of the mermaids (in the skin-tight salmon outfit chosen for her grand entrance to the strains of “I’m Coming Out”). Flashing her Miss America smile and brushing back the forest of jet-black hair that has been her tonsorial trademark since the 1970s, Ms. Ross graciously bestowed her royal blessings on her besotted subjects, one of whom kept shouting at the stage, “You look 35!” And she did.
Talk about illusion. On March 26 Ms. Ross turned 63. Not since Marlene Dietrich has a pop diva staked so much on maintaining a fixed image of time-resistant, hard-shell glamour. That image is carried off much more effectively on the stage than on television. As a guest coach on “American Idol” recently Ms. Ross looked and acted closer to her actual age and sang not half as well as Melinda Doolittle, the contest’s front-runner.
Onstage, however, she reigned. Her perfectly groomed beauty was as reassuring as the parade of Supremes hits that she performed with an efficient band and two backup singers. As long as we can sing along with “Where Did Our Love Go?,” “Baby Love” and “Stop! In the Name of Love,” and shake our collective flabby booty, we are all forever youthful in the Sound of Young America.
It has been a long time since Ms. Ross sold records in significant quantities, and her recent album, “I Love You” (Manhattan/EMI), from which she sang two numbers on Friday, hasn’t burned up the charts. Produced by Peter Asher and Steve Tyrell, this studious attempt at a personalized oldies museum on the order of Rod Stewart’s “Still the Same: Great Rock Classics of Our Time” is as sterile as its prototype, polite but lifeless.
Those two numbers were the 1969 Spiral Starecase hit, “More Today Than Yesterday,” arranged with a toughened disco beat, and a treacly new ballad, “I Love You (That’s All That Really Matters),” written by Fred White, which Ms. Ross poured over the audience like watered down corn syrup.
Her voice, never powerful to begin with, has diminished in strength and flexibility. In particular her version of “Don’t Explain” during a brief Billie Holiday segment faltered on several sour notes. As she did in “Lady Sings the Blues” all those years ago, Ms. Ross translated Holiday’s animal woundedness into a weepy, soap-opera pseudo-sincerity.
It would be foolish, however, to underestimate the influence of Ms. Ross’s singing, which established a style of sassy, streetwise girl talk as a permanent strain of pop. You could even argue that she was pop’s original Mean Girl, who enabled Madonna, Britney and the rest.
Ms. Ross’s most revealing performance on Friday was her version of “It’s My House,” from the 1979 album “The Boss.” While singing this curt expression of self-empowerment, she coyly shimmied and did some discreet bumps and grinds.
The song may be about real estate, but Ms. Ross transformed it into an expression of physical self-possession, a celebration of the body beautiful. I imagine that she will be singing it into her 80s and that — with the help of makeup, costumes and lighting — she will still look approximately the same as she did on Friday: as the man said, 35.
________________________________________________________________________
April 2007 - Universal Amphitheatre, Los Angeles
From The Times
May 8, 2007
Diana Ross
David Sinclair at NEC, Birmingham
There are few performers capable of taking a stage with quite such a flourish as Diana Ross. On the opening night of the European leg of her I Love You tour, she arrived at the top of a flight of steps in a long, tight, pink evening dress, swathed in an ocean of ruched chiffon, a pair of pink chandeliers dangling from her ears, hands raised above her head.
“I’m coming out,” she sang. “I’m spreading love.” And spread it she most certainly did, with a show that was thick with hits and costume changes, but comparatively restrained in the cheese department.
Like so many stars of the Sixties who are now in their sixties, Ross is enjoying a renaissance in her commercial fortunes. Her remake of her 1991 hit When You Tell Me You Love Me was a No 2 hit a couple of years ago and her current album, I Love You, took her back into the American Top 40 for the first time in two decades. But she knows what her audience wants to hear and, with her entrance secured, she embarked on a barrage of old favourites, beginning with Chain Reaction.
Tackling the legacy of the Supremes head on, she whipped through My World is Empty Without You, Where Did Our Love Go, Baby Love and Stop! In the Name of Love without pausing for breath. “Here comes another one,” she yelled as the band struck up You Can’t Hurry Love.
Her five-man band of soberly suited henchmen, including the most genteel percussionist I can remember seeing on a pop concert stage, played with politely funky precision. But the performance was marred by the shameless use of backing tapes to supply the horn and string parts, giving the show a reconstituted feel.
This was bad enough when it was used for a bit of delicate instrumental shading, but some of the songs, such as Love Child and Ease on Down the Road, featured extravagant and prominent horn parts. And the ghost saxophone solo in Where Did Our Love Go was really quite spooky.
The low-budget policy towards the hiring of musicians did not extend to the matter of Miss Ross’s wardrobe, and as the show progressed she changed into a succession of evermore sheer and chic ensembles in lemon, white and black, which drew appreciative whistles.
The highlight of the show, musically, was a clutch of Billie Holiday songs – Fine and Mellow and Don’t Explain – which she sang with warmth and finesse, while sitting on top of the grand piano. But the effect was rather spoiled when she followed this with a song from the new album, More Today Than Yesterday, the lyric of which she casually read from a sheet of paper held in her hand.
Still, as the bouquets of flowers delivered to the foot of the stage by wellwishers piled up, and she powered into the finale of I Will Survive with the houselights on, the love-ometer reading had been pushed well into the red.
Nottingham Arena, May 8; Wembley Arena, London, May 9; Point Theatre, Dublin, May 11; Metro Radio Arena, Newcastle, May 16; SECC, Glasgow, May 17
November 8, 2004 ? - Pantages Theatre, Los Angeles
_______________________________________________________________________________
ME AND DIANA ROSS
Here is the opening to the first Diana Ross concert I saw in 1976 at Caesar's Lake Tahoe referenced below.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTcLOhVZxbo&feature=share&list=FL8MRbvv3f_9VK1wnqwKk4Kg
I posted this to GeeJay Deluxe's site to express appreciation for his mix of the new song "Promise Me" which I had never heard before and has only been released to date in Japan. I just had to say thank you from the bottom of my heart for your part in bringing to my attention perhsps one of Diana's most beautiful songs which I have just heard for the first time. And this version is gorgeous. I know I will be listening to this song for the rest of my life. Thank you seems inadequate. My first true lover took me to see "An Evening With..." in Lake Tahoe in 1976 and I have seen every show since, returning the next year solo (he dumped me, but if not for him who knows whether or when I would encounter the Diana phenomenon and experience.) in the middle of the worst storm that closed the roads (vowing if she could get there so could I, with a little help from Mom for the plane tx and nasueating descent straight down to the narrow runway by the lake- so desparate I told mom the truth and it worked as I felt that was more important than if I had suddenly lost everything). I still remember every detail - all of nature covered by snow, as brilliantly white as could be, the white tuxs and bandstand and Diana elegantly ascending into the stars to heaven dripping in white fox tails singing Endless Love. So many memories. Twice to see her Love tour last year in Los Angeles and Vegas, missing the SF show. No one can have it all. Her shows the last few years have been so wonderful and magical, the Pantages, Universal, the HOLLYWOOD BOWL - wonderful setting, Nokia and Vegas again. I guess I will finally learn what mashups are, having avoided the research for my preference of original music. I could be the last person in the world who is finally downloading music, starting to store the favorite items of my vast CD and vinyl collection of jazz, soul, latin, brazilian, rock music, cabaret, to my computer and realizing as I have been told my play lists are no longer limited to an hour. So putting together another 4 hour playlist of Diana, searching for an album cover to paste led me to discover records of her Caesar's Palace and Central Park shows, a reference in a discography to this song from a Japanese recording I had never heard, a quick stop at Dick's astounding Diana tribute site - I show to my friends when they think I am "Dianamad". One more link and here I am thanking you for this discovery. After 35 years enforcing civil rights laws in health and social services I am about to retire at 60 to pursue my own interests in this next life phase, that belongs to me to pursue a variety of creative interests. 18 years in LA, 31 in Oz, aka San Francisco, and now in my own piece of the earth in a small house with a lot of land (never find that in SF, on a hill in an old "village" called Highland Park that i found 4 years ago filled with roses front and back, over q5 fruit trees, and my own special Beau, American bulldog/boxer, 12, still playful, silly, stubborn not mindful at all but sweet, so is OK, and in love with all dogs, loves to eat, and Haley, 5, German Shepard, brilliant, devoted, fun loving, adventurous energetic, and who could care less about dogs if there is a squirrel to chase. Hiking every morning in nature keeps them happy. Please forgive or edit the length as I felt compelled to share my experience. When inspired I love to write and may pursue writing as one of my endeavors. After all it is not every day we find and hear a new song from Diana Ross, the greatest performer, songstress, interpreter, "showman" concert artist, and finally at a loss for words, living vessel through which LOVE is channeled as she continues to spread love throughout the world her entire life. Diana and the children looked so deservedly wonderful and happy at the Grammy Lifetime Achievement awards. All the best to you. Although I have yet to twitter, I will follow this site now while I contemplate my own "virtual space" in the future.
http://raketler.angelfire.com/
Here is what brought me here today and my comments to the creator of the "mashup" whatever that is, still a little old school myself when it comes to music, and the posting of that wonderful song i just heard for the first time. Thank you for bringing me to that song. And here is my history with Diana Ross. I just had to say thank you from the bottom of my heart for your part in bringing to my attention perhaps one of Diana's most beautiful songs which I have just heard for the first time. And this version is gorgeous. I know I will be listening to this song for the rest of my life. Thank you seems inadequate. My first true lover took me to see "An Evening With..." in Lake Tahoe in 1976 and I have seen every show since, returning the next year solo (he dumped me, but if not for him who knows whether or when I would encounter the Diana phenomenon and experience.) in the middle of the worst storm that closed the roads (vowing if she could get there so could I, with a little help from Mom for the plane tx and nasueating descent straight down to the narrow runway by the lake- so desperate I told mom the truth and it worked as I felt that was more important than if I had suddenly lost everything). I still remember every detail - all of nature covered by snow, as brilliantly white as could be, the white tuxs and bandstand and Diana elegantly ascending into the stars to heaven dripping in white fox tails singing Endless Love. So many memories. Twice to see her Love tour last year in Los Angeles and Vegas, missing the SF show. No one can have it all. Her shows the last few years have been so wonderful and magical, the Pantages, Universal, the HOLLYWOOD BOWL - wonderful setting, Nokia and Vegas again. I guess I will finally learn what mashups are, having avoided the research for my preference of original music. I could be the last person in the world who is finally downloading music, starting to store the favorite items of my vast CD and vinyl collection of jazz, soul, latin, brazilian, rock music, cabaret, to my computer and realizing as I have been told my play lists are no longer limited to an hour. So putting together another 4 hour playlist of Diana, searching for an album cover to paste led me to discover records of her Caesar's Palace and Central Park shows, a reference in a discography to this song from a Japanese recording I had never heard, a quick stop at Dick's astounding Diana tribute site - I show to my friends when they think I am "Dianamad". One more link and here I am thanking you for this discovery. After 35 years enforcing civil rights laws in health and social services I am about to retire at 60 to pursue my own interests in this next life phase, that belongs to me to pursue a variety of creative interests. 18 years in LA, 31 in Oz, aka San Francisco, and now in my own piece of the earth in a small house with a lot of land (never find that in SF, on a hill in an old "village" called Highland Park that i found 4 years ago filled with roses front and back, over q5 fruit trees, and my own special Beau, American bulldog/boxer, 12, still playful, silly, stubborn not mindful at all but sweet, so is OK, and in love with all dogs, loves to eat, and Haley, 5, German Shepard, brilliant, devoted, fun loving, adventurous energetic, and who could care less about dogs if there is a squirrel to chase. Hiking every morning in nature keeps them happy. Please forgive or edit the length as I felt compelled to share my experience. When inspired I love to write and may pursue writing as one of my endeavors. After all it is not every day we find and hear a new song from Diana Ross, the greatest performer, songstress, interpreter, "showman" concert artist, and finally at a loss for words, living vessel through which LOVE is channeled as she continues to spread love throughout the world her entire life. Diana and the children looked so deservedly wonderful and happy at the Grammy Lifetime Achievement awards. All the best to you. Although I have yet to twitter, I will follow this site now while I contemplate my own "virtual space" in the future.
By the way, I now live 20 minutes from my 88 year old healthy mother who is Italian and an Aries, March 21, as am I, April 7 - we are both bossy and self-righteous and try not to disagree because we each know we are right. Intersting to see her struggle through the years between her natural tendency to take control, and she is always right, and her sense of a woman's place as she was raised, so her leadership limited to the chuch activities.
And now a postscript and another big thank you for learning through this visit that the Diana Ross album Diana Ross 1976 for which I have the strongest emotional and romantic connection has been re released in an expanded edition. I have all the other expanded ones. 1976 I fell in LOVE, took some magic mushrooms or something psychedilic in Golden Gate Park at an event that was a precursor to the huge gay pride
No comments:
Post a Comment