Songoftheday 8/31/12 - I don't care if he's young or old, I just want someone I can hold on to...

Diana Ross - "Muscles"
from the album Silk Electric (1982)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #10 (six weeks)
Weeks in the top-40: 10

Today's Song of the Day is by legendary R&B/pop singer/actress/diva Diana Ross. After leaving the Supremes in 1970, Ross promptly released her self-titled first solo album. The first single, "Reach Out and Touch (Somebody's Hand)", became her first top-40 pop hit, top-10 R&B hit, and first top-40 hit in the UK. The followup however, "Ain't No Mountain High Enough", became her signature song and first #1 pop and R&B hit in the U.S., and top-10 in Britain. The followup album, Everything Is Everything, scored her a #1 hit in the UK with "I'm Still Waiting" the following year.

Diana placed five more charttopping singles through to 1981's duet with Lionel Richie, "Endless Love", which ruled Billboard for nine weeks. After that, she left Motown, her label since the start, and signed up with RCA Records. For her second album on the imprint, and her 12th studio effort, Silk Electric, Diana's protege Michael Jackson wrote and produced a song for her extolling the virtues of the male form, "Muscles".

Diana Ross - Muscles by papafonk

The slinky and sensual number, surprising for a Jackson composition, put Ross back into the top 10 for six weeks, and made the R&B top-5. The song also made the top-20 in England, and Silk Electric became her seventh studio album to make the LP Top 40 in America. That album was iconic for featuring a portrait of Ross done by Andy Warhol both on the cover as well as the vinyl itself.

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In 2000, rapper Lil' Kim sampled the song on a track called "Diamonds" with singer Kelly Price that didn't make her Notorious K.I.M. album in 2000...

German rapper Moses Pelham also cribbed the record for his NSFW "Back" in 2004...

...and most recently in 2006, Young Jeezy used the song for the title track from his album The Inspiration...

Up tomorrow: Diana's duet partner strikes out solo himself...