This song barely fits into the the time frame of the Saturday Soundtrack Series, and in its most famous version it is, in fact, to recent to be included. But Neil Diamond released the song as a solo on his 1977 album "I'm Glad You're Here With Me Tonight", so the song was officially released before "Saturday Night Fever" hit the screens. The solo version of the song was okay enough to get Barbara Streisand's attention and she recorded it in the same key (C Major, aka the "hit-maker" key) for her "Songbird" album. It took a DJ at WAKY in Kentucky to bring the two recordings together and broadcast them as one. It was an instant hit. Diamond and Streisand got wind of it, said, "Hey! Let's do this thing!" and in December 1978, their real duet of this song became a #1 hit single. I don't think it was ever included in an album by either singer. This video clip is from the 1980 Grammy Awards.
7 hours ago
2 comments:
Must admit, this is a song I sing in the car sometimes when I'm alone.
You brought back memories of a "volunteer" job I had in high school at a local college radio station where we would literally play both solo versions at the same time and raise and lower the volume on alternating verses to create a "duet."
I remember thinking that radio's made-up version was better than the studio's "let's do this thing" version! But that probably had more to do with the fact that radio came up with it first!
Thanks for the flashback!
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