Can you believe that as of today, we have now done 50 of these Pop Essays blogs? Excuse us one moment whilst we bask in the triumph of such an achievement. Thank you, you’re all too kind etc. Anyway, down to business – as we find out what happens when one of the biggest selling female artists of all time undergoes a dance diva transformation…
- Artist: Diana Ross
- Song: Not Over You Yet
- Released: 25/10/1999
- Writers / Producers: ‘Zavy Kid’ Malik Pendleton / Kenneth Kelly / Brian Rawling / Mark Taylor / Metrophonic
- Highest UK Chart Position: #9
- Chart Run: 9 – 20 – 34 – 49 – 64 – 75 – 76 – 81 – 86 – 58 – 91
One side effect of the massive success of Cher’s “Believe” in 1998 was the way that, in the year that followed, it saw a number of other legendary divas – or their A&R teams – decide to set off in hot pursuit of the dancefloor, in hopes that it might inspire a similarly successful reincarnation.
One thing that was common to all of them was the involvement of Brian Rawling and Mark Taylor, the Metrophonic production team who had turned “Believe” into the hit version it became, although their involvement in subsequent records was more hands on than in others; they were credited with writing and producing “All God’s Children“, which former The Go-Go’s lead singer Belinda Carlisle released as the lead single from her greatest hits collection (it peaked at #66 in November 1999).
So too, was their invested involvement in “When The Heartache Is Over“, which returned Tina Turner to a top 10 berth for the first time in four years in October 1999 (and what would turn out to be the last such top 10 hit in her lifetime). Others however, didn’t have their handiwork employed until much later into the process – which was true for this single in particular by a legendary Motown diva.
The 90s had been an interesting decade for Diana Ross. Over ten years had passed since she had made the decision, at the end of the 80s, to return to Berry Gordy and the label that had made her such a star, first with The Supremes, and then as a solo artist in the 60s and 70s. However, whilst none of the four studio albums she released with them between 1989 and 1999, including her twenty-second studio album, Every Day Is A New Day, had been commercial successes in the States, here in Britain it was a different story.
The 90s was bookended by a renewed bout of commercial success in 1991 and 1992, with the huge top 10 hits “When You Tell Me That You Love Me” and “One Shining Moment”, in contrast to which, bar a otherwise unnecessary cover of Gloria Gaynor’s disco classic “I Will Survive” in 1996, a period where she was barely troubling the top 30. What Ms. Ross was in need of was a hit, although none on her then current album seemed likely to lift her back to the peak imperial years of her solo career.
Enter Metrophonic, who were duly called upon to remix “Not Over You Yet”, chosen as the lead single in the UK from the Every Day Is A New Day album. What was once a fairly unremarkable cut of sophisticated soul balladry was transformed into a club ready thumper that just happened to have a legendary soul diva at it’s centre.
The pizzicato guitar riff and the gradually building drums of the intro crash into a moody, dance driven European sounding backing, which marks this out as being Metrophonic’s work, whilst just about avoiding being a straight wholesale lift of their work they’d done on “Believe”, with Diana’s vocals chopped up and distorted into a part robotic sounding repeated refrain of “Not over, not over / Not over, not over / Not over, not over / Not over you, you”.
And indeed, the new remix breathes a sense of wistfulness but fearless determination into the lyrics, which reflect on and mourn on the loss of a recent relationship: “You were the first who ever brought me out / Showed me what life and love was all about / Gave me things that I never need / You’re in my thoughts, my every dream / I found joy in your touch, I miss your kisses / The way you made me blush / Life is cruel now that you’re gone / I love you so, I love you so I can’t let go, yeah”.
And the chorus itself is transformed into a pleasing but powerful earworm: “Not over you yet / Not trying to forget / The way that you loved me”. Indeed, it also finds time to dip out and build back up into the track after the second chorus, when Diana announces with some authority “I need a little more bass”. Quite simply, this was one transformation into a queen of the clubs that was all set to go down a storm.
At least, that’s how it was initially planned, with Diana flying over to the UK ahead of its release with a busy promotional schedule mapped out ahead of her, with visits to all the major music, Saturday morning, light entertainment and daytime chat shows on her roster (of particular interest is this clip of her on Live & Kicking, watching on whilst then current British R&B girl group Honeyz did an acapella of “Baby Love”), as well as recording her very own An Audience With Diana Ross special for ITV, scheduled to be aired just before the album was released, which included a duet with Boy George from Culture Club on her hit “Upside Down”.
But then into all of this acutely orchestrated campaign came a spanner in the works, in the form of the now infamous incident at Heathrow Airport in September 1999, where she ended up being arrested by police and questioned as a result of a disagreement over being handled by a security officer at customs. What was left of the remainder of her promotional tour was ultimately curtailed.
There’s a saying, cliche as it is, that all press is good press, but this was one such occasion where that sentiment didn’t ring true and, even though the incident could hardly take all the blame, it was a contributing factor where the music and how it performed was concerned. “Not Over You Yet” was still a top 10 hit – it debuted and peaked at #9 in October – but it was a long way from being the massive hit one suspects her record company and team were hoping it would be, ultimately managing to stay in the top 40 for juat three of the eleven weeks it was on the UK chart.
The pre-recorded An Audience With… special still went out as planned, with the Every Day Is A New Day album following in November. But by debuting and peaking at #71, it marked the lowest charting and selling album of her career, with no further singles from it being released. Her only other venture into the UK top 10 came six years later, duetting with Westlife on a new version of “When You Tell Me That You Love Me”, which peaked at #2 in December 2005.
Ultimately, “Not Over You Yet” was, whilst fabulous in its reimagined form under Metrophonic, perhaps the proof needed that the reason why “Believe” was such a unique, lightning in a bottle moment for Cher and all concerned was because of the surprise it caught everyone with, and how it grew in such continued and sustained popularity. Put simply, it wasn’t the kind of record that, in its production or success wise, could just be simply duplicated infinitely onto any and every other artist, no matter how big the name.
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