The classic Motown vaults are, once again, open. This Friday, the U.K.'s Caroline label will release the long-anticipated fifth volume of A Cellarful of Motown, the rarities series which last saw a volume in 2010. But this 2-CD, 43-song collection promises to have been worth the wait as it features previously unreleased and new-to-CD tracks from such household name artists as Marvin Gaye, The Temptations, Martha Reeves and The Vandellas, Gladys Knight and The Pips, and The (Detroit) Spinners
The Motown news just keeps on coming! In April, vinyl subscription outlet Vinyl Me, Please featured Blue Note Records for the first volume in their immersive, multimedia series Vinyl Me, Please Anthology. Now, the label has announced their next installment: Vinyl Me, Please Anthology: The Women of Motown. VMP promises "an immersive journey into the storied label told through the music of the women who made it legendary." Subscriptions for the Anthology program will open on September 19 with
In a winter tradition that's as reliable as any, UMe has released the latest in the annual copyright extension series, entitled Motown Unreleased: 1968. The two-part compilation will arrive to digital download and streaming services today, December 14. Between the two volumes, there's a whopping 88 tantalizing, previously unreleased gems from the Motown vault! Motown heavy-hitters, soul superstars, and fan favorites abound on these two collections. There's a wealth of Stevie Wonder rarities,
When it comes to chronicling the various regional iterations of rock and soul, Ace Records has few equals. The U.K. label's Kent imprint has two recent, rarities-packed collections touching on two American locales and their contributions to popular music. Dave Hamilton's Detroit Soul Volume Two brings together 24 tracks spanning the 1960s-1980s from Hamilton's small but prolific Motor City studios. Hamilton had been a presence on the Detroit musical landscape since the late 1940s, and
Rarely is the sequel ever the equal - but Ace Records has handily disproved that with Love and Affection: More Motown Girls, a recent trawl through the vaults of Hitsville, USA. And not only is this follow-up to 2013's Finders Keepers - Motown Girls the equal of its predecessor, it might be its better. Whereas that volume featured both previously unreleased music and rarities, every one of the 25 tracks on Love and Affection is never-before-heard (save for five songs culled from last year's