Old School Cool is an occasional feature that, for those of a certain age, retraces the journeys of a musical lifetime in a way that keeps the memories flooding back. This time it is the title track from the Diana Ross 1989 album ‘Workin Overtime’ that was produced by Diana’s long-term collaborator Nile Rodgers and which was cram packed with catchy hip-hop and dance tracks. Perhaps if it has been recorded by anyone else other that the then 45-year-old Diana Ross it would have been a much greater commercial success yet the album and the singles lifted from it was nevertheless an underground cult success. The title cut powered its way to the top five in both e the R & B and club charts while the twelve inch Shep Petibone remix of ‘Paradise’ was a big club hit of its time.
I am indebted to Ian Phillips for coming up with the idea for this feature on ‘Workin Overtime’. Ian writes some great music related Twitter posts and is well worth a follow.