Journalist, Political Reporter, Cultural Critic, Editor/Proofreader
Alex V. Henderson
Philadelphia, PA
vixenatr
August 2014
Diana Ross
Eaten Alive [Deluxe Expanded Edition)
When RCA Records first released Eaten Alive in the United States in September 1985, there was every reason to believe that the album would be huge. The title track was co-produced and co-written by the King of Pop, Michael Jackson—whose Thriller, released three years earlier, had become the best-selling album of all time and eventually sold an astonishing 50 million copies worldwide—and the Bee Gees’ Barry Gibb co-wrote every song on the album, sometimes enlisting his brothers Maurice, Robin and Andy Gibb (while Maurice and Robin were members of the Bee Gees, Andy recorded as a solo artist and is remembered for late 1970s hits like “Shadow Dancing” and “I Want to Be Your Everything”). When a Diana Ross album boasts Barry Gibb as its main producer and songwriter and employs the King of Pop on its title track, how could it not be huge? And Eaten Alive was a moderate hit, although surprisingly, its overall performance was much stronger in Europe and parts of the Pacific than it was in the U.S.: while Eaten Alive stalled at #27 R&B and #45 pop on Billboard’s U.S. albums charts, it climbed to #11 pop in the UK and Australia and reached the top 10 on the pop album charts in Sweden and the Netherlands.
Fueling Eaten Alive’s international success was the single, “Chain Reaction,” which recalls Ross’ 1960s work with the Supremes and soared to #1 on the pop singles charts in the UK, Australia and the Republic of Ireland and was a #3 pop hit in New Zealand. However, “Chain Reaction” was more of a club hit than a radio hit in the U.S., where it climbed to #7 on Billboard’s dance singles chart but stalled at #66 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #85 on Billboard’s R&B singles chart.
The album’s other major single was the title track, which has a strong pop-rock edge and blends elements of Ross, Michael Jackson and the Bee Gees in a totally infectious way. The “Eaten Alive” single fared much better than “Chain Reaction” in the U.S., where it was a #3 dance/#10 R&B hit. When all was said and done, this album sold under 300,000 copies in the U.S.—which RCA considered a commercial disappointment in light of all the gold and platinum sales Ross had enjoyed in the U.S. in the past. Regardless, Eaten Alive is a fine album, and the Bee Gees’ influence yields solid results whether Ross is embracing uptempo dance grooves like “Crime of Passion” and “Oh, Teacher” or delivering sleek ballads that include “(I Love) Being in Love with You,” “I’m Watching You,” “Don’t Give Up on Each Other” and the single “Experience” (which enjoyed its greatest success in the Republic of Ireland—where it was a #14 pop hit—and was a minor hit in the UK, Australia, the Netherlands and Poland). Most of the ballads on Eaten Alive are aimed at R&B/pop and adult contemporary tastes, although the torchy “More and More” has a strong jazz influence and hints at the ballad styles of Billie Holiday and Sarah Vaughan (which makes sense in light of the fact that Ross portrayed Holiday in the 1972 film Lady Sings the Blues).
Originally released as a 10-song vinyl LP back in 1985, Eaten Alive is now a deluxe two-CD set thanks to FunkyTownGrooves (which, in 2014, is reissuing all six of the albums that Ross recorded for RCA during the 1980s—not only Eaten Alive, but also, 1981’s Why Do Fools Fall in Love, 1982’s Silk Electric, 1983’s Ross, 1984’s Swept Away and 1987’s Red Hot Rhythm & Blues). Disc One contains the original 1985 LP in its entirety, while Disc Two is devoted exclusively to bonus material and offers four mixes of the title track (including an instrumental version and an extended dance version), two mixes of “Chain Reaction” and three versions of “Experience” (one of them instrumental).
Another important contributor to Eaten Alive was Elliot Scheiner, who helped mix the album. Interviewed on August 8, 2014, the veteran engineer/producer fondly remembered the various times he met Ross—including their first encounter in the late 1960s, when she was still with the Supremes and he was an assistant to producer/engineer Phil Ramone at his Manhattan studio A&R Recording.
“I had met Diana Ross years before I worked on the Eaten Alive album,” the Connecticut-based Scheiner recalls. “I worked at A&R Recording in New York City in the late 1960s, and Phil Ramone—who was my mentor—had done a Supremes record. So I got to meet Diana around 1968. It was right before she left the Supremes. And I met her again when she came in to listen to Eaten Alive. By the time the album got to me for mixing, it had already been produced and recorded—and I thought Diana sang great on that album. I really enjoyed working with her.”
Asked to speculate on why Eaten Alive enjoyed greater commercial success in Europe than in the U.S., Scheiner responded: “It’s hard to say. Europe is so different from here in terms of the music that they like. I can’t imagine why it didn’t sell more here, but I thought Diana’s effort on the Eaten Alive album was really great. Diana Ross’ voice was brilliant. She was one of the best female singers ever. Back when she started with the Supremes, there was no Pro Tools—and you didn’t have the ability to tune vocals digitally. You had to sing it. You had to be able to sing. And Diana Ross was pretty much perfect.”
Sadly, many of the important contributors to Eaten Alive left us much too soon. Andy Gibb died in 1988 when he was only 30, Maurice Gibb died from intestinal problems in 2003 at 53, Robin Gibb died of colon cancer in 2012 at 62, and the King of Pop died in 2009 at the age of 50. But Barry Gibb, now 67, continues to perform as a solo artist—and Ross, who celebrated her 70th birthday on March 26, 2014, maintains a huge and enthusiastic fan base.
Eaten Alive may not have been Ross’ biggest selling album, but it’s an album she can be proud to have in her catalogue.
—Alex Henderson, August 2014
Alex Henderson’s work has appeared in Billboard, Spin, Salon.com, Creem, The L.A. Weekly, AlterNet, JazzTimes, Jazziz, Cash Box, HITS, CD Review, Skin Two, Black Beat, The Pasadena Weekly, Black Radio Exclusive (BRE), Music Connection, The New York City Jazz Record, Jazz Inside Magazine and many other well-known publications. Henderson (alexvhenderson.com) also contributed several thousand CD reviews to the popular Allmusic.com website and The All Music Guide’s series of music reference books.
Copyright 2022 Alex V. Henderson. All rights reserved.
Alex V. Henderson
Philadelphia, PA
vixenatr