A little while ago on Facebook, the Diana Ross page linked to YouTube for her video for "Eaten Alive," a song co-written and co-produced (and with some backing vocals) by Michael Jackson and Barry Gibb. It's the title track from her 1985 album. According to Wikipedia it was #10 on the Billboard R&B chart but only #77 on the Hot 100 in 1985. I'm sure those numbers are correct since I used to subscribe to Billboard back in the day and really hit those charts hard, and I remember the song being a pop flop.
With the discussion over whether Christina Aguilera and Lady Gaga copied from Madonna in their recent videos -- and at this point, isn't everyone just copying each other? -- it's interesting to watch this bit of 1980s work, back when the short-form music video was still a relatively new format. And it's fascinating to see someone like Diana Ross in this type of video. It used to be all about the music, and then MTV came along and songs seemed to take a backseat to visuals, and we then saw veterans like Miss Ross (I love calling her that for some reason) in sometimes over-the-top productions. Wikipedia credits this video's airplay on BET for getting the song into the R&B top ten, but the song is such an odd piece of work, as is the video.
Compare and contrast with the song and video for Ross's follow-up, "Chain Reaction," which harkens back to her classic Motown days (but still has a couple of eccentric moments when the full-color shots arrive). Both videos are after the jump.
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Robb Brawn & Lee Arboreen review Diana Ross Concert in Atlantic City on their blog at www.mygreygardens.com
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