Disco Aretha

[SandraDee]

The queen of soul, like everyone else in '79, did a 'disco' LP called 'La Diva', produced by the late Van McCoy. Although I'm very familiar with her 80s Arista 'comeback' stuff, I've never heard anything from this LP (her final one for Atlantic) & as you'd expect, Aretha's fans & other supposed 'music lovers' hate it. Could anyone here please tell me whether this LP was actually quality disco or just disco dross as most non-disco lovers seem to think? Was it funky disco or Euro-type disco? Should I seek it out or give it a wide berth? What do u disco lovers think?

[neonlights]

Speaking for myself, I quite enjoy the "La Diva" LP. Bad rap notwithstanding, for me it's nowhere near as bad as some of the stuff she did for Arista in the late '80s/early '90s.. I'll admit it's probably not the best disco out there, but the big disco tracks "The Feeling," "Ladies Only" and "Only Star" are enjoyable.. "Ladies Only" is nice, starts off slow then quickly builds up, but my favourite out of the three would have to be "The Feeling," really great full production on that one.. Neither are blow-you-away club stompers, but not nearly as bad as some would suggest; in other words not funky nor euro, but done in a middle-of-the-road/disco-lite style, if you will.

That said, my favourites on the album are probably the funkier grooves like "It's Gonna Get A Bit Better" and "Reasons Why," produced by Skip Scarborough.. "Honey I Need Your Love" is a good one too, not disco, but a great song in classic Aretha style..

[SandraDee]

Thanks neon; that's very helpful. I very much like Skip Scarborough's work on Patti Labelle's '79 LP so i think I would like this too. I think I know what you mean by 'disco-lite'; Dionne Warwick & Patti Austin did lightweight disco tracks in '79 - not club tracks but still 'discoey' with a quality production as you'd expect. Has 'La Diva' ever been issued on CD?

[neonlights]

Glad I could help

Unfortunately, I don't think "La Diva" or her last few Atlantic albums have been released on CD yet.. I remember when Billboard interviewed her a few years back, she said that when she left the label, Atlantic gave her the rights to the last few albums she did for them (I'm guessing all the albums post-"Sparkle"). That might partly explain why none of them have been on CD yet..

[PierreConstantin]

Even if it's not her worse, it's not a very good album. Almost all songs are very fast but they don't go anywhere and Franklin is not very comfortable with it. Van McCoy production is uninspired -he did a much better job with Zulema Cusseaux on the album Z-Licious (including the fantastic «Change»). Besides, the picture on the sleeve is awful and tacky. The best song is a slow one, «You Brought Me Back to Life». Nothing in common with the excellent albums released by those singers comfortable with disco like Linda Clifford, Marlena Shaw, Cissy Houston or Phyllis Hyman. The only interesting disco-soul song Aretha Franklin did is «Touch me up» in 1977.

[remicks]

Originally Posted by Pierre Declercq

The only interesting disco-soul song Aretha Franklin did is «Touch me up» in 1977.

I'll have to look for that song Pierre .

Can I add one other ?
The song JUMP from the movie soundtrack Sparkle ...1976 . It created quite a buzz when it came out ... although with no extended remix, its dent on the scene was minor. I don't think it even made Marky''s charts ....
Too bad .. the potential was there ....

As for this album ...this is one that I've yet to come upon .... but look forward to . Thanks for reminding me Miss Dee !!


*****

[SandraDee]

Originally Posted by Pierre Declercq

The only interesting disco-soul song Aretha Franklin did is «Touch me up» in 1977.

Interesting title! Do you think anyone did?

[SandraDee]

Originally Posted by remicks

Thanks for reminding me Miss Dee !!


*****

No probelm.

[Boogie Child]

Her remake of "What a Fool Believes" from the early 80's (?) was disco-ish.

[PierreConstantin]

Originally Posted by Boogie Child

Her remake of "What a Fool Believes" from the early 80's (?) was disco-ish.

«What a fool believes» is from her «Aretha» lp from 1980. There is a 12" version (6:06 vs 5:13 on the lp). And yes, it's an uptempo song.
«Touch me up» is from «Sweet passion», a good album produced by Lamont Dozier. The song is the B-side of the 45 «When I think about you». There is an excellent extended version of the song recorded live at the Casino de Paris (available on videotape).
Her 1978 opus, «Almighty fire» is her weakest from that period even if the producer is Curtis Mayfield -I should say "because" Mayfield; his own 1978 album, «Do it all night» is a true disaster.
Anyway, Aretha Franklin and dance music are not a very good match: the Thompson/Barbiero's remixes from her 1985 and 1986 lp's («Who's zoomin' who» and «Aretha») are from my point of view perfect nightmares. Sometimes, we can find a good dance song in her discography: 1981's «Hold on I'm comin'», 1982's «Love me right» (5:48 in its 12" version), 1991's «Everyday people» (remixed by Pettibone) or 1993's «A deeper love» capture her gospel quality and traduce it well on a dance song. In her recent work some dance songs are not so bad: «A rose is still a rose» (1998, remixes by Johnny Vicious and Love to Infinity) and «The only thing missin'» (2003, the Furilla mix) but definitevely she's not a «disco diva»!

[tony98]

I'm not really a fan of Aretha's Arista releases , but two of her better dance tracks on the label are "Jump To It" recently sampled on Tom Novy's ""Your Body" & "Integrity" the "b" side of "Jumpin Jack Flash".