“Missing You” (1984) by Diana Ross

Wooo, woo, woo

I'm missing you

What lazy songwriting

It was just awful

It’s interesting since she I guess really didn’t have that close of a relationship with him. Apparently she hated his constant weed smoking during the album they recorded together. It seemed more like a marketing opportunity to make it about Marvin. The Commodores’ Night Shift about Marvin and Jackie seemed more legit. I love Missing You, though.

Missing You was Ross' last top 10 hit on the pop charts!

You can not care for someone but still be saddened by their death, especially when they’re murdered

R3- yes, I recently read Call Her Miss Ross, the unauthorized biography of Diana and it was made clear she didn’t adore Marvin or collaborating with him. Reaffirms how much fantasy is sold to us plebes as the maudlin music video makes it seem like they had a soul connection.

So because she didn’t care to be around him means she couldn’t be heartbroken by his tragic murder?

Exactly, R7. Exaggeration is key to some posters here.

“Per Taraborrelli, Gaye spoke about giving Ross a hard time years later. He said, “During this album, she was on pins and needles. She was pregnant and her marriage seemed shaky. I could have been a little more understanding. But I’m afraid I went the other way.”

When he appeared on Soul Train in the late ‘70s, a fan asked Gaye about Diana & Marvin and whether he’d ever do another album with Ross.

He called her a beautiful human being and said he enjoyed working with her. “I’d love to make another album with Diane,” he said. Sadly, Gaye passed away before he ever got the chance.

Their duets album is actually pretty terrific. I love their voices together.

In his book, he talked about how he envied and resented Diana's relationship with Berry, which is why he acted up when they recorded the album. But he didn't hate her nor have a long feud with her. More bullshit Motown folklore.

Marvin went to a few of Diana's concerts in the years afterwards where she would always introduce him to the audience. She even brought him out on stage in Brussels where they sang "Why do Fools Fall in love" together. She was actually supposed to sing at his funeral but was too broken up to go.

Marvin was a mess in the years before he died so it’s not all Diane. I’m sure. I love Marvin’s music and am a huge fan, but he was a very complex and troubled individual, something that was only exacerbated by financial woes and heavy drug use.

Op, you may call me "Diana'

[quote]She was actually supposed to sing at his funeral but was too broken up to go.

I should've been so lucky.

Love the song because Lionel Richie's production on it gave it that ol' Motown "stardust" that much of Ross's 1980s RCA Records catalog traded in for a thinner, tinnier and weirdly more bipolar sound much of the time. It was really the last single she released that had what I thought was the typically identifiable and hit-making "Diana Ross" sound.

It's a shame that Richie never produced a full album for Ross. But according to Ross, she and Richie had different working styles. She would arrive early, he arrived late. But he knew how to produce her and what worked for her voice.

This wasn’t a very 80s song. You all want her to sound like she did in the 60s. This was the 80s. Upside Down was appropriate

A great song. Her vocals sound beautiful

My twin!

Yuk! 💩

I love Diana Ross, and like that song. But John Waite's song by that same title (released the same year), is the one I listen to more often. The cover he did with Alison Krauss was even better than the original, and I'm still obsessed with her matching coat & dress look from the video. I used to wait for this video to play on CMT.

[quote] Love the song because Lionel Richie's production on it gave it that ol' Motown "stardust" that much of Ross's 1980s RCA Records catalog traded in for a thinner, tinnier and weirdly more bipolar sound much of the time. It was really the last single she released that had what I thought was the typically identifiable and hit-making "Diana Ross" sound.

Miss Ross was carefully managed at Motown. She is a fantastic showman but never developed much musicianship. All of her best songs were guided by super-talented songwriters and producers, like Richie, Michael Masser, Hal Davis, Ashford and Simpson, etc. Left to her own devices at RCA almost all of her output was lackluster.

R21 interesting. Thanks for the inside information.

Sounds like saccharin feces

I always loved it even at age 12 when it came out. Something about her voice on the words road turns is so lovely.

She was really in her vocal prime during this period. I believe this was around the time she did Motown Returns to Apollo, and she appeared at the end singing "I Wanna Know What Love Is." She surprisingly carried the song and graciously gave Patti LaBelle her moment, squashing their decades-long beef.

I always find it amazing that Diana Ross was such a tiny, tiny person, but her determination, lust for life, toughness, willingness to succeed was as big as an ox. Her voice seems airy and small, she's a lyrical soprano, but in reality she developed it into a powerful voice that sounded the same live as on the album. She's always been one of my favorite singers, because of the uniqueness of her sound, but also because she was such a great interpreter and live performer.

Unfortunately her personality and fame often overshadowed her craft as a singer and her talent.

I tried to get through Miss Ross's new album, where she's working with hip producers producers. The voice is gone. I couldn't make it through the whole album.

Her voice has lost some luster but I think Ross still sounds good. She's in her 70s.

[quote] She was really in her vocal prime during this period. I believe this was around the time she did Motown Returns to Apollo, and she appeared at the end singing "I Wanna Know What Love Is." She surprisingly carried the song and graciously gave Patti LaBelle her moment, squashing their decades-long beef.

She really was in her vocal prime in the 80s. She had the most beautiful tone and her vocal sound was very pretty. It is too bad that her recordings during this period were so subpar.

Unfortunately she was so controlled by Gordy and Motown that when she went to RCA she did what she wanted and didn’t accept a lot of input, feedback or advice from others. She made some unfortunate career choices as a result.

Her RCA albums are so patchy. The first two albums haven’t aged well; they sound tinny and cheap.

She needed producers like Ashford and Simpson, Michael Masser, Richie, and Peter Asher who knew how to bring out the best in her voice.

I have to admit I love her crappier artistic moments for the camp value. They are so bad they are good.

This is Diana Ross as her fakest, which takes some doing.

She hated Marvin Gaye when he was alive and used his death to make a buck by selling this record.

She never hated him.

I think they equally unliked each other. The video made it seemed like they cherished each other—that was a bridge too far. They probably didn’t have much of any relationship the last ten years before he died. The song just exploited his untimely death.

Like it was said upthread, it’s possible to not enjoy being around someone and still be heartbroken by their death.

Diana and Marvin were probably like siblings that weren’t too close. I still remember being stunned by hearing he had been killed. He was an incredible talent, despite all of all his personal demons.

Diana adored Marvin. Marvin was envious of the attention Gordy lavished on her. She was genuinely distraught when he was murdered.

Wasn’t he awful to her? It’s not that she didn’t like him, it’s that he intentionally made her miserable

Don't tell me about how they didn't dislike each other.

They had to record the vocals for their "duets" all separately.

I fuckin love the song Workin’ Overtime and Mirror Mirror.

Beautiful

[quote]R33 She hated Marvin Gaye when he was alive and used his death to make a buck by selling this record.

One bone of contention was her liked to smoke pot in the recording booth.

Maybe if she’d had a few tokes the stick would have loosened from her ass.

This is my favorite Diana Ross song

I love this song 🎶

The real, true, only Missing You of 1984. Sorry r20, that was just silly. Those two can just hold their hands out and touch each other. John Waite's solo version is the one that makes me think of my missed one.

I was stationed in Japan when this song came out. A few months later, my father died from a massive heart attack. I don’t like this song and I wasn’t sure if he even liked my father. And I know that I don’t like Diana.

R47: Yawn!

Did anyone like her Barry Gibb produced eaten alive album. He got hits from Streisand, Warwick and rogers but this one fell flat.

R48 has really bad breath.

Nah. Never liked it, R46.