Appreciation: "You Are, You Are" by Linda Clifford

[FrontPage22]

I have to say Miss Clifford is one of my fave disco ladies, and this cut stands above even the mighty "Runaway Love" & "Shoot Your Best Shot" as my fave Clifford tune. Perhaps the one song I would best sum why I love disco...warm, heartful, uplifiting, spiritual and genuine. This is the sort of dance music that all the Blaze's & MAW wish they could make! :lol: Now show love ladies & gents!!!! *hee hee hee*

[Videoskooter]

I always liked Linda Clifford and I find her a little underrated. Even "Bridge over troubled water" is a smasher. Don't give me the Simon & Garfunkel version coz' I can't stand those two wheepers.

[Mixmachine]

I love "Runaway love" but my first introduction to Linda Clifford was "From now on" off her first lp "Linda", pure Disco written by Bunny Sigler and a vocal prelude to " Runaway".....the 12" was difficult to get back then and is longer (7:01)than the Lp version (5:10) I used to play this over and over.....

http://www.discomusic.com/records-more/6584_0_2_0_C/

[eddie]

I really dug "Never gonna stop". Linda Clifford is very underrated as is the Claudine soundtrack that Curtis Mayfield produced. Mass retailer have tones of that soundtrack on DVD but the CD is long out of print.

[SandraDee]

I too am a huge fan of Ms.Clifford but I don't agree about 'You Are You Are' being her best track, sorry. :( Just my opinion but I think 'If My Friends Could See Me Now' & 'Runaway Love' are her best tracks but everything she did was good in its way. I've been recently getting into her early 80s stuff too like the 'Ill Keep On Loving You' LP from '82 on Capitol & the 'Sneakin Out' LP from '84 on the red Label (she never stuck to a label for long did she?! :-? )
She's one of those acts who appeals across the board; soul fans love her, disco bunnies love her & even modern-day 'house-heads' like Joey Negro dig her & have even brought her back from obscurity to sing on new tracks. :P

[QUINNY]

Originally Posted by FrontPage22

I have to say Miss Clifford is one of my fave disco ladies, and this cut stands above even the mighty "Runaway Love" & "Shoot Your Best Shot" as my fave Clifford tune. Perhaps the one song I would best sum why I love disco...warm, heartful, uplifiting, spiritual and genuine. This is the sort of dance music that all the Blaze's & MAW wish they could make! :lol: Now show love ladies & gents!!!! *hee hee hee*

Sorry, but to me it sounds like a bog standard, run of the mill, workmanlike, sausage factory disco cut. Pleasant enough, but nothing outstanding to set it apart from the crowd. A fate that befell soo many disco records. Certainly NOT her best.

As for Bridge Over Troubled Water....what were they thinking when they made THAT!!!???

I think her trouble was that she was an artist in search of better songs/material. She never quite gave a totally convincing performance. Maybe that was down to the songs/producers or maybe it was simply down to her.

I'd bet that Blaze and MAW have had more fans than her, so they must do something right, even if YOU don't like it.

[FrontPage22]

Now I never said I don't like Blaze or MAW.

[discokicks]

Listening to today's female pop singers has to make one appreciate the soulfulness and richness of the women from the 70's and 80's. When I listen to a Linda Clifford song, I can tell there is a person who's singing because she wants to sing. Maybe it's naive, but I don't hear someone bent on selling and hoping to make millions (Ashlee Simpson or Pink anyone?!)

My favourite track of hers is the ballad 'Let Me Be Your Woman'. I listened to it last night for the first time in a long time and just was overwhelmed with the voice. Man, she must have loved singing that song! On the uptempo side of things, I think 'Redlight' is such a storming groove...right up to that last second.

For Linda Clifford fans, if you haven't seen or heard it, Linda did a cover of Sharon Ridley's 'Changin' about four years ago that ranks up there as a pure musical gem. I just listened to the Tom Moulton mix that is ten minutes of disco heaven.

[remicks]

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...ummmm...... :roll: ....

......Maybe I'll give her another chance and hear something more than I did back then ....but for now I'll file myself under the "leave it " column. "IMFCSMN" is a classic ...no doubt ... loved it then and played it to death , as well as "RUNAWAY LOVE " ....but my interest in those two has waned . Is "IF MY FRIENDS ..... " just looped to be a nine -ten minute song ? because it seems to be the same segments playing over and over .... trying to figure out why I can't sit still through it ... & maybe that's why .... :-? I know I also find those shrill "do do do " backgrounds vocals most unpleasant ... ( I'm picky !! :roll: )

After that I found her rather bland ... desperately putting out tons of so-so product ..... :( Finally "RED LIGHT " had some inventive sparkle ....
.. I'll have to listen to her again but right now I'm too excited about it ...........

*****

I have to add this ... since your topic is more specifically about "YOU ARE YOU ARE " I have to admit this is one I'm fuzzy about recalling .... Seems I either liked it alot .... or really hated it !! :lol: I'll look forward to digging it out .... thanks for the reminder about it... 8)

[neonlights]

Great Curtis Mayfield song.. I'm not sure who recorded it first Linda or Curtis. In any case, melodically and lyrically simple, but very effective. I thought Linda's vocal was a definite improvement on Curtis' version, she puts it on another level.. IMO, Linda's done lots of great material, I don't think I have an album of hers that I don't like (yet). She's definitely one of the more underrated disco ladies out there. For me, she's easily in the same league as Donna Summer and the like..

[Videoskooter]

Originally Posted by QUINNY

As for Bridge Over Troubled Water....what were they thinking when they made THAT!!!???

They were thinking: let's take this song from the boring hippies, let's spice up the stuff from Simon & Garfunkel, two guys that must have been/are the most boring schoolboys ever and turn it into a great Disco-extravaganza. It's not her best record but I don't understand why some many people hate her cover. It's powerful, it's uplifting and for once a cover beats the original.

I once picked up a beautiful german girl in a club. We went to her home and she lit some candles and put on S&G. I fell asleep after 5 minutes. This wouldn't have happened if she had played the Linda Clifford version. She was so mad at me she threw me out at 4 in the morning. This is a true story! And remember: this can happen to you!

BTW, my wife deeply hates S&G too, so that risk is gone :D

[discokicks]

Originally Posted by Videoskooter

I once picked up a beautiful german girl in a club. We went to her home and she lit some candles and put on S&G. I fell asleep after 5 minutes. This wouldn't have happened if she had played the Linda Clifford version. She was so mad at me she threw me out at 4 in the morning. This is a true story! And remember: this can happen to you!

LOL !

(note to self...get rid of the Simon and Garfunkel Greatest Hits album)

I've never put Linda up there with Donna Summer or Patti Labelle (until now) but going thru my collection of albums that I have of hers, I think she's pretty grand! Another ballad that she did was "All The Man I Need"...long before Whitney did it and I still like Clifford's version better.

I used to close some of my sets in the 80's with 'Don't Give It Up'. I loved her opening line "All right girls, here we go again, we're going to have to figure out what we're going to do with all these men".

[thommy2458]

...Love Linda C. and all the
cuts mentioned(except "bridge"-sorry!)and
especially "I just wanna wanna"
-which has not been mentioned
P.S-what about the 12" mix of
"don't come cryin' to me" this
was smokin'out here in So Cali
Thom

[FrontPage22]

There is a lot of love for "If My Friends Could..." on this site! Wow. This is not a fave of mine, a little campy. I mean, it's fun don't get me wrong, but not my cuppa for a night out. I'd take "Shoot Your Best Shot" any day.

Back to the original thread, "You Are, You Are" really shines for me. Her voice stands out and the production isn't overblown. Really feel good IMHO. Anyway, nice to see the Linda love...

[remicks]

******


Well since the board is a little edgy today I thought I might as well go off to somewhere else within here ........... and make it worse there as well !!! :P
Check this out :
http://www.photofeatures.com/lindacl...es/ppage1.html

If this was Linda Clifford in 1979 ( ????) ..... and after seeing the France Joli of today ...... compared to what she looked like in '79

well .... I dread the results :roll: ..... but....

Oh, MARCIO !!! ......

*****