Song #385: "Upside Down"--Diana Ross (1980)

From her days with the Supremes to her subsequent solo efforts, Diana Ross has had a phenomenal career, and, judging from a recent picture I saw online, she's looking great at 72 years old. I just want to be breathing at 72. :)

You could certainly call this one of the waning hits of the disco era, as the genre saw its death knell in 1980, especially since it was produced by two members of Chic. But when I hear this song I really don't think of disco. I think of it more as one of the songs that ushered in the 1980's musically, along with "Call Me" from Blondie, "Funkytown" from Lipps, Inc and Gary Numan's classic, "Cars". We were watching an era of variety unfolding (even with the "Urban Cowboy" craze of the time. Rachel has taken a ride on a mechanic bull, I have not....)

This song is all about the funky guitar riffs, especially near the end, and reached number one on the Hot 100 while I was nervously wandering the halls of Liberty Junior High School in just my second week of eighth grade. #Awkward

Ross will return later on in our Top 500, again as a solo artist.