I didn't know it at the time, but looking at it now, one can see the influence that Betty Davis' 'They Say I'm Different' must have had on Cher's costume. The '70s were all about raw sexuality, and Funk, Soul, and Disco capitalized on it (look no further than the Ohio Players album covers).
Absolutely, Michael, sex sold, and after the sexual revolution it was pushed to the limit on seventies album covers. Thanks for reading and sharing your thoughts, Michael. Wishing you a great weekend!
Fascinating deep dive into a legendary artist about whom, admittedly, I don't really know that much, or not enough, apart from the Believe era (right when I was a pre-teen) and some of her earlier work (her Heart of Stone album comes to mind). What a great opportunity to put that right! Thank you, Pe! I hope you have a fab weekend!
Reading this is a reminder of the extent to which the US buried disco in the eighties, whereas in the UK the dancefloor remained essential to chart success, from synth pop at the beginning of the decade to the Madchester scene at the end.
And it still surprises me every time, especially the extent to which it became almost a burden for pop and rock artists. Everyone dabbled in disco, and when the dam burst, they all tried to bury that part of their past as deeply as possible 😂.
We in Europe never really had that problem, and in Italy, they didn’t even notice that the disco backlash had happened in the US 😂. They just kept going!
Thanks for reading and reacting, Paul, have a good one!
Welcome to virtual disco Fridays! The disco B-movie "Thank God It's Friday" with Donna Summer the Commodores and hapless lothario Jeff Goldblum is nothing compared to THE 12"! I've got it on DVD maybe one night I'll watch it again so sick of the tele and streaming and all things 2025. Loved Cher in her recent appearance in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade last year or the year before I just can't remember but it got me a glimpse of my final NYC 6th Ave and 34th Street on my way to Penn Station daily commuter route, she was tuneful, grooving and looking good! I just love Fridays so keep posting!
No better voucher than perennial superstar of the dance floor Sophie Ellis-Bextor who murders it!
Haha, thanks Steve, and I completely agree about TV and streaming. Seems the situation’s pretty much the same on both sides of the Atlantic. I didn’t even know TGIF ever made it to DVD! Loved the soundtrack, though the film… well, that’s another story 😁 Thanks for the great comment, and have a good one!
I gush just thinking about Cher! I've been a fan since the beginning! You do a great job of covering the highs and lows of her music career. I also thought the follow-up album to Believe would be a huge hit. There are SO many great tracks on it. Not sure why radio rejected it. Going back to Take Me Home, I have to say it may be my favorite Cher song. It's got so much of her within it! I was thrilled when I first heard it and when it made the Top Ten. I listened to it incessantly! I also really liked the playful track Wasn't It Good from the same album. Very different style but a lot of fun! I could go on and on about Cher but I'll hold off for now! Thanks for covering this one!
My pleasure, Dan, I’m really glad you enjoyed the piece. It was a fun one to write, especially since I used to have a rather warped impression of her. I actually left Warner just before she came to Belgium for a concert, it would’ve been my responsibility at the time (during her early 2000s Best Of era). Some of my former colleagues still have nightmares about that promo 😁 She’s definitely not the easiest to work with! But diving deeper into her story let me see more of the person behind the façade. She’s truly one of the great singers with an impressive career. Thanks for reading and reacting, Dan, have a great weekend!
Thanks for the link to my 60s post, Pe. Much appreciated.
I remember "Take Me Home" and what a great dance song it was. Cher also has such a unique voice that you know it's her and want to like the song, which I certainly did in that case. But if the artist and song don't match, or it's a mediocre song, it doesn't matter. I don't give it a second listen, as was the case with those other Cher songs.
You also point up the 'It' factor. All the label heads understandably fell in love with her! Makes a difference in how much attention and promotion you get, wouldn't you say (as a record industry insider)? A lot of the women who made it were not only talented but beautiful. There's no getting around that element in the success mix.
You make a great point, Ellen and I’d even add that the ones who got the furthest were those smart enough to handle that attention wisely, like Madonna and Cher. I really admire that, especially since it often felt like they were playing the system and winning against the label bosses and department heads 😁 Thanks for reading and sharing your thoughts, Ellen. Have a wonderful weekend!
I'd already been a Cher fan for years when this came out — my sister and I used to watch the Sonny & Cher Show religiously as little kids, and then her solo TV show that followed — so I didn't think twice about her "going disco" with this song; I enjoyed it and was happy to see her back in the charts.
But the memory this song (and your fine write-up) really brings back is from the spring of 1979, a few months after the Take Me Home album was released. My sister and I were visiting our dad in New York City, and while waiting for a train noticed a large ad for Take Me Home on the subway wall — and right under the album's title, someone had scrawled "Looking like THAT?!?" in black marker. My sister and I thought that was hysterical; we still laugh about it to this day.
😂😂 Such great memories tied to this song, that’s the power of music. It becomes the perfect soundtrack to our lives, instantly taking us back the moment we hear it or even just read about it. We never had those shows in Europe, and apart from the Sonny & Cher singles, she didn’t really have the same chart presence here as in the US. Take Me Home didn’t chart anywhere in Europe, not even in the UK. Things only changed with the Geffen era in the eighties, and of course, Believe a decade later. Thanks for reading and reacting, Dan! Have a great weekend!
I was seriously trying to find photos of the Jeep being delivered to Cher, but they’ve probably all been destroyed (by Donna Summer, who knows 😂😂😂). It was such a fun story, Max, and so typically Casablanca. I’d love to have a time machine to go back for just one day at the Casablanca offices!
I didn't know it at the time, but looking at it now, one can see the influence that Betty Davis' 'They Say I'm Different' must have had on Cher's costume. The '70s were all about raw sexuality, and Funk, Soul, and Disco capitalized on it (look no further than the Ohio Players album covers).
Absolutely, Michael, sex sold, and after the sexual revolution it was pushed to the limit on seventies album covers. Thanks for reading and sharing your thoughts, Michael. Wishing you a great weekend!
Fascinating deep dive into a legendary artist about whom, admittedly, I don't really know that much, or not enough, apart from the Believe era (right when I was a pre-teen) and some of her earlier work (her Heart of Stone album comes to mind). What a great opportunity to put that right! Thank you, Pe! I hope you have a fab weekend!
Thanks for the kind words, Andy, really glad you enjoyed it! Wishing you a great weekend too!
Reading this is a reminder of the extent to which the US buried disco in the eighties, whereas in the UK the dancefloor remained essential to chart success, from synth pop at the beginning of the decade to the Madchester scene at the end.
And it still surprises me every time, especially the extent to which it became almost a burden for pop and rock artists. Everyone dabbled in disco, and when the dam burst, they all tried to bury that part of their past as deeply as possible 😂.
We in Europe never really had that problem, and in Italy, they didn’t even notice that the disco backlash had happened in the US 😂. They just kept going!
Thanks for reading and reacting, Paul, have a good one!
Welcome to virtual disco Fridays! The disco B-movie "Thank God It's Friday" with Donna Summer the Commodores and hapless lothario Jeff Goldblum is nothing compared to THE 12"! I've got it on DVD maybe one night I'll watch it again so sick of the tele and streaming and all things 2025. Loved Cher in her recent appearance in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade last year or the year before I just can't remember but it got me a glimpse of my final NYC 6th Ave and 34th Street on my way to Penn Station daily commuter route, she was tuneful, grooving and looking good! I just love Fridays so keep posting!
No better voucher than perennial superstar of the dance floor Sophie Ellis-Bextor who murders it!
Haha, thanks Steve, and I completely agree about TV and streaming. Seems the situation’s pretty much the same on both sides of the Atlantic. I didn’t even know TGIF ever made it to DVD! Loved the soundtrack, though the film… well, that’s another story 😁 Thanks for the great comment, and have a good one!
I gush just thinking about Cher! I've been a fan since the beginning! You do a great job of covering the highs and lows of her music career. I also thought the follow-up album to Believe would be a huge hit. There are SO many great tracks on it. Not sure why radio rejected it. Going back to Take Me Home, I have to say it may be my favorite Cher song. It's got so much of her within it! I was thrilled when I first heard it and when it made the Top Ten. I listened to it incessantly! I also really liked the playful track Wasn't It Good from the same album. Very different style but a lot of fun! I could go on and on about Cher but I'll hold off for now! Thanks for covering this one!
My pleasure, Dan, I’m really glad you enjoyed the piece. It was a fun one to write, especially since I used to have a rather warped impression of her. I actually left Warner just before she came to Belgium for a concert, it would’ve been my responsibility at the time (during her early 2000s Best Of era). Some of my former colleagues still have nightmares about that promo 😁 She’s definitely not the easiest to work with! But diving deeper into her story let me see more of the person behind the façade. She’s truly one of the great singers with an impressive career. Thanks for reading and reacting, Dan, have a great weekend!
Thanks for the link to my 60s post, Pe. Much appreciated.
I remember "Take Me Home" and what a great dance song it was. Cher also has such a unique voice that you know it's her and want to like the song, which I certainly did in that case. But if the artist and song don't match, or it's a mediocre song, it doesn't matter. I don't give it a second listen, as was the case with those other Cher songs.
You also point up the 'It' factor. All the label heads understandably fell in love with her! Makes a difference in how much attention and promotion you get, wouldn't you say (as a record industry insider)? A lot of the women who made it were not only talented but beautiful. There's no getting around that element in the success mix.
You make a great point, Ellen and I’d even add that the ones who got the furthest were those smart enough to handle that attention wisely, like Madonna and Cher. I really admire that, especially since it often felt like they were playing the system and winning against the label bosses and department heads 😁 Thanks for reading and sharing your thoughts, Ellen. Have a wonderful weekend!
You too, Pe!
I'd already been a Cher fan for years when this came out — my sister and I used to watch the Sonny & Cher Show religiously as little kids, and then her solo TV show that followed — so I didn't think twice about her "going disco" with this song; I enjoyed it and was happy to see her back in the charts.
But the memory this song (and your fine write-up) really brings back is from the spring of 1979, a few months after the Take Me Home album was released. My sister and I were visiting our dad in New York City, and while waiting for a train noticed a large ad for Take Me Home on the subway wall — and right under the album's title, someone had scrawled "Looking like THAT?!?" in black marker. My sister and I thought that was hysterical; we still laugh about it to this day.
😂😂 Such great memories tied to this song, that’s the power of music. It becomes the perfect soundtrack to our lives, instantly taking us back the moment we hear it or even just read about it. We never had those shows in Europe, and apart from the Sonny & Cher singles, she didn’t really have the same chart presence here as in the US. Take Me Home didn’t chart anywhere in Europe, not even in the UK. Things only changed with the Geffen era in the eighties, and of course, Believe a decade later. Thanks for reading and reacting, Dan! Have a great weekend!
Thank you, Pe! You do the same!
It should come as no surprise to you that i cannot WAIT to read this — so much so that I’m commenting before i even have!
😁😁😁😁😁
So obviously i would up loving it! The Jeep anecdote 😂
I was seriously trying to find photos of the Jeep being delivered to Cher, but they’ve probably all been destroyed (by Donna Summer, who knows 😂😂😂). It was such a fun story, Max, and so typically Casablanca. I’d love to have a time machine to go back for just one day at the Casablanca offices!
Loved this Pe. Thank you.
Thanks Tamara. Glad you like it! Have a great weekend!