MARKS BEST MOVIE SONGS EVER (1955-99) COUNTDOWN ... NO. 35 THEME FROM MAHOGANY (DO YOU KNOW WHERE YOURE GOING TO?)–DIANA ROSS (#1, 1975, Mahogany) From the movie directed by her Motown Records boss, Berry Gordy (who took over the project after firing the original director during the filming), Diana Ross stars as Tracy Chambers, a young lady from a poor Chicago neighborhood trying to work her way up to fulfilling her dreams as a big-name fashion designer. But the pitfalls are large, especially being stuck in that Chicago slum, working her way up a job she doesnt like, but knowing it may lead to something important in the fashion world. One day, she takes in a fashion shoot at the store she works in as a secretary. Sean (played by Anthony Perkins) is a photographer with worldly experience who is dismayed by the white models he is shooting, but sees something in Tracy and wants to make her a model. All the while, Tracys soon-to-be boyfriend Brian (played by Billy Dee Williams) is trying to make change in Chicago for the poorer people and runs for political office, but none of this is important without Tracy by his side. She soon realizes she needs to get out of Chicago and see the world, so with Seans insistence, she flies to Rome with him to be a model, but each time she wants to do something beyond her work as a model and in fashion design, Sean rebuffs her and eventually becomes possessive. Before long, Tracy has to get out of the bad situation. She witnesses Seans death after he gets enraged over a new benefactor taking Tracys fashion design work seriously (by now, Sean has given Tracy the new model name Mahogany). But while this benefactor has given Mahogany a chance to make a name for herself as a designer, she treats her workers cruelly and coldly and eventually has her work pulled from under her. She goes back to Chicago, realizing she needed to be by Brians side and support him. The movie didnt get a whole lot of rave reviews, but this gorgeous theme song sure did – it was the only thing named to an Academy Award nominee, though it didnt win (that was won by Keith Carradines Im Easy, which was back at No. 89). Theme From Mahogany was co-written by producer Michael Masser and Gerry Goffin, who scored his first No. 1 song as a songwriter without his ex-wife and successful partner, Carole King, when it hit the top for one week in January 1976. This is the third of four songs in this countdown for Miss Ross – the fourth of those songs is not too far away now. Thoughts, memories? Enjoy!
Posted on: Wed, 26 Nov 2014 03:00:49 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015