In the late 1980's Diana returns back to Motown.

Tracklisting:
1) Workin' Overtime
2) Say We Can
3) Take The Bitter With The Sweet
4) Bottom Line
5) This House
6) Paradise
7) Keep On (Dancin')
8) What Can One Person Do
9) Goin' Through The Motions
10) We Stand Together

Diana commented at the time 'Workin' Overtime': "It's a new day for both Motown and myself. For me, it's an opportunity to put back into the music industry some of the knowledge that i've gained. I especially want to use my experience to guide younger talents as they start their careers. My return also reflects my belief in Motown as a label capable of tapping the energy and style of today's youth".

The Results, Sadly the album was a commercial disaster. With all its hype, it disappointed a lot of fans and although it climbed to No.23 on the U.K album charts it just went by unnoticed.

"Workin' Overtime" is one of those albums that is truly in the middle ground: not good enough to be considered "great" and not bad enough to be a "bomb."

On several tracks, the singer sounds strained as if she has to "scream" in order to overcome the trademark bass lines of the Chic sound, so common in Rodgers/Edwards productions.

The album is in no way as dynamic as 1980's "Diana," the album that yielded mega-hits "I'm Coming Out" and "Upside Down."

It's a keeper for those diehard fans, like myself, that, at one time, couldn't resist buying anything with Miss Ross's name on it.

In the 1980's, Diana Ross' diva-like status increased rapidly. By the close of the 80's, Diana Ross became something more of a novelty celebrity because of her solid past at Motown Records as she began having trouble selling records in the latter half of the 80's.

After a shaky stint at RCA Records between 1981-87, Ross returned to her roots in 1988 - Motown Records. In a deal with Berry Gordy who was now retiring from the company, she became part owner in stock and was to maintain an active role in all of her recording work which was partly a reason she had left Motown Records in the first instance.

Predictably, the Motown publicity machine churned out stories of a grand come-back for the Soul Diva. For her highly anticipated return-to-Motown album, Ross worked with Nile Rodgers, one half of the 70's disco group Chic who had worked with Ross back in 1980 on the classic diana album which still remains her biggest selling solo album to date.

Hip Hop had become a renowned new musical trend in black music by the late 80's. After the surprisingly disappointing sales of her excellent 1987 studio set, Red Hot Rhythm And Blues, it must have perharps seemed a logical step for Diana to take. To her credit this was Diana Ross being adventurous.

The results were an album comprising of ten tracks that were all produced by Nile Rodgers and was released as Workin' Overtime.

The results were rather differing. Jamming, streetwise grooves with short beats and pounding funk were coated with razor sharp and sassy performances from Ross who really managed to quite effectively update and modernise her over-all style and sound. However the albums shortcomings came in the fact that there was a distinct over-crowding of too may sound-alike numbers.

The first batch of titles on the album: Workin' Overtime, Say We Can, Take The Bitter With The Sweet and Bottom Line are instantly contagious numbers with driving beats and dominating Hip-Hop musical arrangements.

The title track, Workin' Overtime was the premiere single. It instantly met a negative reaction from critics with some claiming that she was merley mimicking the likes of Janet Jackson in a too highly concious bid to be perceived as youthful and trendy. Workin' Overtime didn't even crack the U.S Top 100, though did enjoy some success in the U.K where it briefly entered the Top 40 charts, peaking at No.32.

Say We Can and Take The Bitter With The Sweet continue in vastly the same formula as Workin' Overtime though both work well with an undeniably catchy hook to both of them.

The bouncy Bottom Line imposes a threat of the album becoming too formulaic at this point though the track is still another infectious number though the mood steers direction with the delightful soft-Funk sounds of This House which contains nice musical arrangements but is flawed in some way with its slightly syrupy lyrics.

Paradise is more Pop/R&B flavoured than Hip Hop but with its distinctley commercial feel it was inevitable that Motown would choose to issue this track as a single though this too quickly slid into the dumper.

Keep On Dancin' and What Can One Person Do were two other contemporary Hip-Hop numbers that sound dated now whilst there is slight more ignition and spark in Goin' Through The Motions.

The album then bows out with possibly the best track on the album, We Stand Together, an easy-going R&B/Pop number that was slightly similar to This House though boasted a a strong and assertive vocal performance from Ross who enhances her introcate, delicate soprano to vast effect.

On the whole, Workin' Overtime was certainly a noble and ambitious experiment and though there are areas where it works it does admitedly sound dated now. This album was deleted from Motowns catlogue in the early 1990's following disastorous sales in the U.S where it failed to crack the Top 100. However once again the publics reaction in the U.K was more favourable where despite the lack of any major chart hit (only Workin' Overtime cracked the Top 40), the project briefly entered the Album Top 30 Charts, stalling at No.23.


Ian Phillips

Well, after the break up with RCA, she returned to MOTOWN now without Gordy!. Workin' Overtime was an album that tried to update Diana to the New Jack Swing and the new rhythms of the late 80's kind of Ross Paula Abdul. Produced by Nile Rodgers, this long time awaited reunion of Diana with the creator of her best album yet, failed short to be a reminiscence of that glorious album. Full of filler cuts without any true outstanding singles this album is not that bad, it just a feel good album that sadly fades fast out of your memory. Diana will stand out more fairly in Take Me Higher or Everyday is a New Day.

Diana had hit rock bottom musically in the late 80s. Her 1987 album Red Hot Rhythym and Blues was a flop, and this album, an attempt to stay trendy and youthful, did even worse.

In my opinion, it's Diana's worst album. Diana tries her best but producer Nile Rodgers surrounds her voice with hip-hop/R&B beats that sounded dated even in 1989. By this time, Rodgers had peaked as a producer. The magic that he brought to Chic projects and to albums by singers such as David Bowie and Madonna was no longer there.

The title track is not bad, and the single "Paradise" is actually much better in its remix version. But there's not much else to recommend.

Thankfully, Diana's albums in the 90s showed a re-energized Diana, particularly "Take Me Higher" and "Every Day is a New Day". Those are excellent albums and I recommend those over this dreary collection.