The Boss (Diana Ross song)
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"The Boss" is a 1979 song written and produced by
Ashford & Simpson Ashford & Simpson were an American husband-and-wife songwriting-production team and recording duo of Nickolas Ashford (May 4, 1941 – August 22, 2011) and Valerie Simpson (born August 26, 1946). Ashford was born in Fairfield, South Carolina, ...
and recorded by American singer
Diana Ross Diana Ross (born March 26, 1944) is an American singer and actress. She rose to fame as the lead singer of the vocal group the Supremes, who became Motown's most successful act during the 1960s and one of the world's best-selling girl groups o ...
, who released it as a single on the
Motown Motown Records is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. It was founded by Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on June 7, 1958, and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau of ''moto ...
label. It was the first release from the album of the same title (1979). The song was released on May 22, 1979, a day before the album release.


Commercial performance

The single peaked at number 19 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart, reached #12 on the
Hot Soul Singles The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by ''Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 p ...
chart, and went to number 1 on the ''
Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...
''
Hot Dance Club Play Dance Club Songs is a chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine in the United States. It is a national look over of club disc jockeys to determine the most popular songs being played in nightclubs across the country. It was launched as t ...
chart. The song debuted at number 64 in the
UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
on July 21, 1979, reaching its highest peak on August 4, 1979. The song spent 7 weeks in the top 75 before leaving the chart on September 1, 1979.


Formats

The track was remixed by
David Morales David Morales (; born August 21, 1962) is an American disc jockey (DJ) and record producer. In addition to his production and DJ work, Morales is also a remixer. David Morales has remixed and produced over 500 releases for artists including Ma ...
in 1993 and included on Ross' album '' Diana Extended: The Remixes''. The track was also remixed by
Almighty Records Almighty Records is an English electronic dance music record label established in 1989. Almighty Records specialises in pop song remixes, dance-pop, and hi-NRG. The label's record producers, Almighty Associates, have remixed such performers as ...
in 2009 and was included on their album "Almighty – We Love Diana Ross". In 2019, a remix by
Eric Kupper Eric Kupper is an American keyboardist, arranger, songwriter, remix artist, DJ, and record producer of French descent. Biography Eric Kupper began playing in bands in his formative years, and got his real start in the mid-1980s working as a keybo ...
, entitled "The Boss 2019" went to number one on the Billboard, US Dance Club Songs chart.


Personnel

*Lead vocals by Diana Ross *Background vocals by Nickolas Ashford, Valerie Simpson, Maxine and Julia Waters *Produced and written by
Ashford & Simpson Ashford & Simpson were an American husband-and-wife songwriting-production team and recording duo of Nickolas Ashford (May 4, 1941 – August 22, 2011) and Valerie Simpson (born August 26, 1946). Ashford was born in Fairfield, South Carolina, ...


Charts


Weekly charts


Year-end charts


The Braxtons version

American R&B group
the Braxtons The Braxtons are an American musical quintet consisting of singer Toni Braxton and her younger sisters, Traci Braxton, Towanda Braxton, Trina Braxton, and Tamar Braxton. Despite being commercially unsuccessful, the group's first single, " Goo ...
released a cover of "The Boss" in 1997. The song was written by
Ashford & Simpson Ashford & Simpson were an American husband-and-wife songwriting-production team and recording duo of Nickolas Ashford (May 4, 1941 – August 22, 2011) and Valerie Simpson (born August 26, 1946). Ashford was born in Fairfield, South Carolina, ...
and produced by Kenny "Dope" Gonzalez, "Little" Louie Vega. It was released on March 17, 1997 as the third single from their first studio album, ''
So Many Ways ''So Many Ways'' is the debut album by American R&B vocal group The Braxtons. Released on August 6, 1996, the album produced four singles; " So Many Ways", " Only Love", " The Boss" – which peaked at number-one in the ''Billboard'' Dance Cha ...
'' (1996).


Critical reception

In his review of the ''
So Many Ways ''So Many Ways'' is the debut album by American R&B vocal group The Braxtons. Released on August 6, 1996, the album produced four singles; " So Many Ways", " Only Love", " The Boss" – which peaked at number-one in the ''Billboard'' Dance Cha ...
'' album, Peter Miro from ''
Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', was an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...
'' wrote, "Can't say "The Boss" by
Diana Ross Diana Ross (born March 26, 1944) is an American singer and actress. She rose to fame as the lead singer of the vocal group the Supremes, who became Motown's most successful act during the 1960s and one of the world's best-selling girl groups o ...
belongs on the collection, unless it's there to appeal to a
techno Techno is a genre of electronic dance music (EDM) which is generally produced for use in a continuous DJ set, with tempo often varying between 120 and 150 beats per minute (bpm). The central rhythm is typically in common time (4/4) and often ch ...
-oriented dance crowd. Its straight-up hip-hop intro would have made a nice tune if it was fleshed out, but the rest of it sounds incongruous on this otherwise tranquil, luxuriant disc." Jeremy Newall from ''
Music Week ''Music Week'' is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future. History Founded in 1959 as '' Record Retailer'', it relaunched on 18 March 1972 as ''Music W ...
s ''RM'' Dance Update praised the track, rating it five out of five. He added, "Live bass, real strings and
disco Disco is a genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the 1970s from the United States' urban nightlife scene. Its sound is typified by four-on-the-floor beats, syncopated basslines, string sections, brass and horns, electric pia ...
drums capture the lush feeling of the original in breathtaking style."


Commercial performance

On February 1, 1997 the
Masters At Work Masters at Work is the American garage house production and remix team of "Little" Louie Vega and Kenny "Dope" Gonzalez. The duo has produced music together under the names MAW, KenLou, Sole Fusion, Hardrive, and Nuyorican Soul. They have been r ...
version topped the ''Billboard'' Hot Dance Club Play chart for one week a #1 in the United States. The song stayed in the chart for 14 weeks. On March 29, 1997, the song debuted at number 31 on the
UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
. The song spent a total of three weeks on the chart at numbers 50 and 69 respectively before leaving the Top 75 on April 12, 1997, becoming their second top 40 in the UK.


Music video

A
music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...
was produced to promote the single, featuring The Braxtons Trina, Towanda and Tamar with a length of the video at 4 minutes and 27 seconds. The video starts with Towanda kissing goodbye her lover as he rushes off to work. Then the video brings you to a living room where Towanda, Trina, and Tamar are singing and dancing. The video also shows them talking on the phone to each other and also singing by a tree. The plot of the video revolves around Towanda acquiring photos of her husband with another woman, and after he leaves for work, the sisters have a garage sale clearing out the entire house. The video ends with Towanda's husband coming home to an empty house with the pictures left in an envelope on the floor.


Credits

*Producer, Mixed By – Kenny "Dope" Gonzalez, "Little" Louie Vega* *Executive producer – Bryant Reid


Track listings and formats

* US 12" vinyl single #"The Boss" (Kenlou Mix) – 9:03 #"Only Love" (Radio Mix) – 4:13 #"The Boss" (Masters At Work Dub) – 7:15 #"The Boss" (MAW Album Mix) – 9:41 #"The Boss" (MAW Groove) – 7:33 * US, UK 12" vinyl promo #"The Boss" (Kenlou Mix)- 9:03 #"The Boss" (Kenlou Radio Mix) – 4:13 #"The Boss" (Masters At Work Dub) – 7:15 #"The Boss" (Reprise) – 6:12 #"The Boss" (MAW Album Mix) – 9:41 #"The Boss" (Hip Hop Vocal) – 1:33 #"The Boss" (MAW Groove) – 7:33 * US, CD, 12" vinyl maxi-single promo #"The Boss" (Radio Edit Of Album) – 3:32 #"The Boss" (Spyda Mix With Rap Radio Edit) – 4:21 #"The Boss" (Spyda Mix Without Rap Radio Edit) – 4:23 #"The Boss" (H.O.P. Quiet Storm Mix Radio Edit) – 4:20 * UK 12" vinyl single #"The Boss" (Masters At Work Album Mix) – 9:40 #"The Boss" (Reprise) – 6:12 #"The Boss" (Kenlou Mix) – 9:03 #"The Boss" (Masters At Work Dub) – 7:15 * Europe, Australia CD maxi-single #"The Boss" (Kenlou Radio Mix) – 4:13 #"The Boss" (Kenlou Mix)- 9:03 #"The Boss" (Masters At Work Album Mix) – 9:40 #"The Boss" (Masters At Work Dub) – 7:15 #"The Boss" (Reprise) – 6:12 * Germany CD single #"The Boss" (Kenlou Radio Mix) – 4:13 #"The Boss" (Kenlou Mix)- 9:03 #"The Boss" (Masters At Work Album Mix) – 9:40


Charts


Release history


Other cover versions

On February 12, 2008,
American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...
dance-pop Dance-pop is a popular music subgenre that originated in the late 1970s to early 1980s. It is generally uptempo music intended for nightclubs with the intention of being danceable but also suitable for contemporary hit radio. Developing from a ...
singer
Kristine W Kristine Elizabeth Weitz, widely known by her stage name Kristine W, is an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and entrepreneur. She is most widely known as a Electronic dance music, dance music artist. Born and raised in Pasco, W ...
released a cover of this song as the first single off her album ''The Power of Music''. Kristine's version also hit number one on the ''Billboard'' Hot Dance Club Play chartCurrent Billboard Hot Dance Club Play
/ref> in March 2008, becoming her eleventh US dance chart-topper and the third version of the song to top this survey. The song was
covered Cover or covers may refer to: Packaging * Another name for a lid * Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package * Album cover, the front of the packaging * Book cover or magazine cover ** Book design ** Back cover copy, part of co ...
by Ashford and Simpson during a televised live concert special in 1982, and by
Whitney Houston Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American singer and actress. Nicknamed "The Voice", she is one of the bestselling music artists of all time, with sales of over 200 million records worldwide. Houston in ...
during her live shows in 1997/98.
Korean pop K-pop (), short for Korean popular music, is a form of popular music originating in South Korea as part of South Korean culture. It includes styles and genres from around the world, such as pop, hip hop, R&B, experimental, rock, jazz, gos ...
singer J covered the song on her 2001 special English album ''Chocolate''.
Louise Louise or Luise may refer to: * Louise (given name) Arts Songs * "Louise" (Bonnie Tyler song), 2005 * "Louise" (The Human League song), 1984 * "Louise" (Jett Rebel song), 2013 * "Louise" (Maurice Chevalier song), 1929 *"Louise", by Clan of ...
performed the song on her Heavy Love Tour.


See also

*
List of number-one dance singles of 1979 (U.S.) These are the ''Billboard magazine'' Hot Dance Club Play number one hits of 1979. See also * 1979 in music *List of number-one dance hits (United States) *List of artists who reached number one on the U.S. Dance chart References * *Some week ...


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boss, The 1979 songs 1979 singles 1996 songs 1997 singles 2008 singles Diana Ross songs Kristine W songs Songs written by Valerie Simpson Songs written by Nickolas Ashford Song recordings produced by Ashford & Simpson