1 March 1986
I’ve always found a weird tension between the video for ‘Chain Reaction’ and the song itself. The storyline of the video has Diana Ross on a TV show as her ’60s Motown persona—solo, pointedly—but, much to the chagrin of the control-room directors, insistently breaking out of that monochrome past into a vibrant, colourful present. However, the song itself is unabashedly a deep dive right back into that ’60s Motown milieu; you couldn’t call any aspect of ‘Chain Reaction’ modern or forward-looking.
This isn’t necessarily a criticism, I must add. Plenty of much lesser lights cashed in with ’60s throwbacks during the ’80s, so you can’t begrudge Diana Ross revisiting the pop sound she herself helped to shape. Besides, I love The Supremes and her disco-era collaborations with Chic, so any uptempo Diana Ross pop track has credit in the bank with me. She still sounds fine here – playful in the verses, exultant in the chorus.
Why I don’t like ‘Chain Reaction’ is everything to do with the accursed Gibb brothers: their unappealing single-entendre lyrics, their lumpen two-step production, and especially their horrible trademark falsetto backing vocals. With a better producer and proper backing singers, this song could have been salvaged as a little ’80s gem. Instead, it’s a plasticky pound-shop Motown imitation with the undeserved good fortune to be sung by Motown’s biggest star.
