According to Hip-o Select's Twitter page:

Baby baby, wait for our next Diana Ross expanded edition – “touch” it soon!

At first I thought it was her Richard Perry-produced album "Baby It's Me", but the "touch" leads me to think it's "Touch Me In The Morning". Anyone have any inside information?

So far, so chronological, Patrick. Since Hip-O last addressed 1974, 1970 & 1971, it would make sense to follow-up with 1973's Touch Me In The Morning (no pop LP's for La Ross in 1972 - she was too busy being a "movie star"). I know I speak for a lot of people who are salivating (foaming!) at the thought of an expanded version of "Baby It's Me", easily her most gorgeous effort, but I also like overhauling her entire solo catalog in this chronological manner, which befits the diva that she is. There are certainly many more unreleased cuts to choose from in the 1973 period than there is from 1977, which only number three outtakes. Either way, you'll get no complaints from me; I know Hip-O received more requests for Diana's solo catalog than any other UMe artist, and they sure are working her output at a good clip.

http://www.hip-oselect.com/scr.public.p ... 41B29D74F2

Diana Ross
Touch Me In The Morning Expanded Edition

Disc 1
1. Touch Me In The Morning
2. All Of My Life
3. We Need You
4. Leave A Little Room
5. I Won’t Last A Day Without You
6. Little Girl Blue
7. My Baby (My Baby My Own)
8. Imagine
9. Medley: Brown Baby/Save The Children
10. Touch Me In The Morning (Alternate Version #1)
11. All Of My Life (Alternate Mix)
12. We Need You (Alternate Mix)
13. Leave A Little Room (Alternate Mix)
14. Touch Me In The Morning (Alternate Version #2)

Disc 2
1. Part Of You
2. A Wonderful Guest
3. Young Mothers (Alternate Version)
4. The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face
5. Got To Be There
6. To The Baby
7. Brown Baby (Alternate Version)
8. My Baby (My Baby, My Own) (Alternate Version)
9. Turn Around (Alternate Version)
10. Imagine/Save The Children (Original Edit/Alternate Version)
11. Kewpie Doll
12. When We Grow Up (From Free To Be... You And Me)

Price: $29.98
Pre-Sale Item!
SITE PRE-SALE DATE: 12/4/09
SITE SHIP DATE: 12/18/09
CD Edition limited to 7000 non-numbered limited edition copies

In 1973, Diana Ross was coming off an Oscar® nomination for her searing portrayal of Billie Holiday in the feature film Lady Sings The Blues, a No. 1 album for its soundtrack, and questions about what she might do next.

Next was Touch Me In The Morning, a critical and commercial success that featured the No. 1 title track, a blazing return to “pop” form. The songs on Touch Me were reflective of the time: ballads about love lost and found, and classy covers of songs by the Carpenters, Marvin Gaye and John Lennon. The album was a smash, hitting No. 5 Pop and No. 1 on the Soul LP charts.

As with so many classic albums, there was more to the story: Touch Me includes songs from other simultaneously recorded projects, as you’ll discover on this new, lovingly produced 2-CD Expanded Edition.

When sessions for Touch Me began, Diana Ross had been working on two other albums at the same time: one, Blue, was to be a continuation of the jazz-inflected recordings she inhabited for the Lady Sings projects; the other was To The Baby, a collection of songs honoring her newborn daughter Rhonda.

Touch Me In The Morning: Expanded Edition includes a newly remastered version of the original album plus previously unreleased mixes, and a pair of alternate versions of “Touch Me In The Morning” demonstrating Ross’s versatility in the studio.

Disc 2 of the Expanded Edition contains the entire To The Baby album, which includes previously unreleased covers of Michael Jackson’s “Got To Be There” and Roberta Flack’s “First Time Ever I Saw Your Face,” as well as the original title tune, written by Diana’s brother Arthur “T-Boy” Ross. Also newly discovered is the original medley, “Imagine/Save The Children,” two songs that were split for Touch Me, plus alternate original mixes of songs intended for To The Baby that ended up on Touch Me In The Morning, and an alternate mix of “Young Mothers,” which previously had been issued in 1983 on Ross’ Anthology.

That’s not all. We’ve added, as an extra special bonus, two songs recorded during the same timeline: “Kewpie Doll,” written and co-produced by Smokey Robinson, and “When We Grow Up,” from Marlo Thomas’ 1972 album Free To Be… You And Me.

(In another classic Motown coincidence, this reissue arrives just months after Rhonda, the “baby” for whom the album was originally written, had her first child.)

Touch Me In The Morning: Expanded Edition includes a booklet with rare photos and memorabilia, the story behind both albums, and quotes from Ross’s manager Shelley Berger, producer Deke Richards, and from Miss Ross herself.

And, they conveniently forgot that "Last Time I Saw Him" was issued before "Touch Me In The Morning", and also had a top10 single.

I thought "Touch Me In The Morning" was a lousy album.

I'm pretty sure that "Touch Me In The Morning" was a single before "Last Time I Saw Him", but maybe I am wrong. I think it has some great moments.

The "Touch Me In The Morning" single was issued on May 3, 1973; the album followed on June 22, 1973. Both the "Last Time I Saw Him" single and album was issued later that year (December 6, 1973).

"Touch" wasn't so much a lousy LP, but a more MOR'ish affair. While we were bumpin' to the Philadelphia International sound, etc., Diana was still dipping into the Rodgers & Hart catalog. Seems she couldn't leave blues-sounding material behind (working simultaneously on the "Blue" project didn't help). After all the accolades she received for "Lady Sings The Blues," she was adamant with Berry that she wanted to do something with more depth and NOT to return to lightweight pop fare.

I bought the 45 single back then. Always liked the song.

I thought the "Touch..." album had Diana stretching out on some interesting numbers, like "Imagine", "Brown Baby" and "Save The Children". Also, I think "Touch Me In The Morning" is one of Diana's great singles!

Any Diana Ross unreleased material is more than welcome for her legions of fans, which I number myself. Hopefully Hip-O Select will re-release Baby Its Me in early 2010. An expanded edition of Marvin Gaye's Trouble Man would be a dream realized as well!

"Touch Me In The Morning" gets my cockles in an uproar!