So it's 1980 and Diana Ross seems to be doing just fine. She can sell out Vegas shows without any trouble at all but the record sales aren't doing as well. Sure the compilations do well in the charts but her flirtation with disco ("The Boss") didn't lead to world domination. What to do, what to do?
Here's a plan. Hire in the hottest dance floor producers on the planet then - its Chic time once more! They've just spun the glitter balls of the world with "Spacer" from that French diva Sheila (and her B Devotion, of course). La Ross and Les Chic therefore hit the studio.
The resulting album - and I don't recall thinking this at the time of release - is something of a mishmash. Sure, there are dance floor killers like "Upside Down" and "I'm Coming Out" but there are also these trademark saccharin ballads that seem a bit out of place. Come to think of it, I don't even remember the ballads at all. Anyway, back to the killer stuff. The late Tony Thompson was behind the drum kit for these sessions and he really should have been registered as a weapon. If you've tracked down the 12" single version of "I'm Coming Out", then you'll know what I mean. Crank the volume up and you'll be buying new speakers. I have vague memories of furiously trying to locate a test pressing of that song that was apparently cut so hot that only a Shure V15 cartridge could stay in the groove. How little I knew about mastering and compression in those days.
Certainly, this album reinvigorated her record sales as the hit singles kept on coming from (or out of) it. As befitting her status, the record came packaged in a gatefold sleeve that showed that La Ross was - to use the current vernacular - well fit. "Diana" is a fine album but somehow it seems less stellar than it did when I originally heard it. On refelection, maybe Sheila & B Devotion's "King of the World" album was better. Heresy? Perhaps it is.