Diana Ross—“So Close”

Entered Top 40:  March 19, 1983
2  weeks 
Peaked at: 40

As one of Motown’s flagship acts, Diana Ross and the Supremes were instrumental in refining R&B sounds throughout the 1960s. One of the subgenres Motown eventually obsoleted was doo-wop, so I’m not super interested in her version of it here.

Ross had had some recent doo-wop success, covering Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers’ “Why Do Fools Fall in Love” in 1981, on her first album since leaving RCA (and her first self-produced LP). Ross’s version went to #7, and the song’s new popularity kicked off legal battles between three women claiming to be Lymon’s ex-wives and heirs to his estate.

Ross also produced 1982’s Silk Electric herself, with the exception of its lead single, produced and written by her pal Michael Jackson. “Muscles” was an R&B answer to Olivia Newton-John’s “Physical“, and has a gloriously cheezeball video in which she’s flying around like Superman and cavorting with a bunch of jacked dudes. “Muscles” reached #10 and while it was at this plateau, “The Girl Is Mine,” Jackson’s duet with Paul McCartney and first single from Thriller, entered the Top 40, rose, and passed Ross.

There’s no Jackson association helping “So Close” though. Its ’80s synth and sax sound chintzy, and her sighs don’t sell anything. At least she’s got some heavyweights singing backup: Cissy Houston and Paulette McWilliams are in there; Luther Vandross is in too, and arranged vocals. We won’t see Diana Ross again here. We will see Michael Jackson, surprisingly, thanks to some vault-digging.