Universal’s overseas arm developed the Collected series as a line of compilations that would appeal to both casual and hardcore fans, combining an artist’s biggest hits with harder-to-find material. (For instance, a 2017 volume on Huey Lewis and The News offered rare edits and 12″ mixes, guest appearances and even a single track from the group’s pre-News existence as American Express.) Now distributed through the Music on CD label, Collected is still going strong – as evidenced by a forthcoming volume offering a comprehensive summary of the king of punk funk himself, Rick James. Rick’s Collected volume…
Let the Guitar Play: Santana’s New ‘Sentient’ Revisits Collabs with Smokey Robinson, Miles Davis, Michael Jackson and More
More than 25 years after a collaboration-heavy album rocketed Carlos Santana back into the spotlight, the guitar legend will release another – albeit one assembled from an assortment of solo tracks and guest spots spanning his last five decades of work. Sentient, hitting stores on March 28, brings together joint tracks with Michael Jackson, Miles Davis, Smokey Robinson and Darryl “DMC” McDaniels of Run-DMC, along with select deep cuts that make for a retrospective distinct from well known renditions of “Black Magic Woman” and “Oye Como Va” or latter-day triumphs like “Smooth,”…
UPDATE: Smokey Robinson and The Miracles Albums Coming from SoulMusic and The Second Disc
UPDATED 4/2: Smokey Robinson and The Miracles became Motown Records’ first superstars when the group’s 1960 single “Shop Around” ascended to No. 1 on both the Billboard R&B and Cash Box Pop charts and No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100. Motown’s first million-selling song, “Shop Around” set the stage for a remarkable string of hits for William “Smokey” Robinson, his wife Claudette, her cousin Bobby, and friends Ronnie White, Pete Moore, and guitarist/honorary Miracle Marv Tarplin. Their recording reign continued through the decade with such timeless classics as “The Tracks of…
Get Ready: SoulMusic, The Second Disc Reissue Four Late-Period Smokey Robinson and The Miracles Albums
Smokey Robinson and The Miracles became Motown Records’ first superstars when the group’s 1960 single “Shop Around” ascended to No. 1 on both the Billboard R&B and Cash Box Pop charts and No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100. Motown’s first million-selling song, “Shop Around” set the stage for a remarkable string of hits for William “Smokey” Robinson, his wife Claudette, her cousin Bobby, and friends Ronnie White, Pete Moore, and guitarist/honorary Miracle Marv Tarplin. Their recording reign continued through the decade with such timeless classics as “The Tracks of My Tears,”…
Release Round-Up: Week of April 28
Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up, featuring a selection of the new titles in stores today! Stephen Stills, Live at Berkeley 1971 (Omnivore/Iconic) CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 2LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 2LP Box: Stephen Stills Webstore Omnivore and Iconic Artists are serving up a previously unreleased 14-song live album drawn from Stephen Stills’ concerts at the Berkeley Community Theater in Berkeley, CA, on August 20 and 21, 1971. Culling songs from his solo catalogue as well as that of Buffalo Springfield and CSN(Y), Stills opened with an acoustic set and closed with an…
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Review: Aretha Franklin, “Aretha”
R-E-S-P-E-C-T. Otis Redding may have written the song, but Aretha Franklin owned it. The singer was only in her mid-20s when she left Columbia Records after five years and seven albums but she wasted no time in making music history when she signed with Atlantic Records in December 1966. By the middle of 1967, she’d had long-sought-after hits with “I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You)” and “Respect” and was proclaimed The Queen of Soul by a Chicago disk jockey. Some reports indicate the “crowning” as having happened in…
Release Round-Up: Week of July 16
Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up! Tina Turner, Foreign Affair [Various Formats] (Parlophone/Rhino) 4CD/1DVD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 2LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Official Store (white variant) Rhino and Parlophone revisit Tina Turner’s 1989 album featuring “The Best” in a variety of formats including a 4CD/DVD Super Deluxe Edition and 2CD and 2LP Deluxe Editions. The Super Deluxe Edition of Foreign Affair features the remastered original album on CD 1. Disc 2 has a selection of period remixes and B-sides plus a previously unreleased demo of “The Best.” The third and fourth CDs premiere…
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UPDATE: Jump to It! Rhino Confirms New Release Date for Career-Spanning “Aretha” Box Set
It was late in 2015 when audiences across the country watched Aretha Franklin take the stage at The Kennedy Center Honors to salute honoree Carole King. The undisputed Queen of Soul tore into King, Gerry Goffin, and Jerry Wexler’s “(You Make Me Feel Like A) Natural Woman” with blazing intensity and thrilling authenticity. She had not just sung these lyrics but lived them. Nearing the song’s finale, she simply but defiantly dropped her fur coat to the floor, creating an instant viral moment that elicited tears and cheers in equal measure. That…
Wild Mountain Honey: Ace’s “76 in the Shade” Features Steve Miller Band, Jefferson Starship, Smokey Robinson, Gilbert O’Sullivan, More
Producer-compiler Bob Stanley’s last couple of compilations for Ace have placed him squarely within the 1970s. Earlier this year, Saint Etienne Present Songs for the Fountain Coffee Room (compiled by Stanley, Sarah Cracknell, and Pete Wiggs) conjured “the soundtrack for a bar in mid-’70s Los Angeles,” or a St. Etienne-style spin on “yacht rock” with Stephen Bishop, Ned Doheny, Boz Scaggs, and Seals and Crofts among those featured. Stanley has followed Fountain Coffee Room up with a trip to a more specific time and place. Over 20 songs both familiar and unknown, 76…
Jump to It! Rhino Collects Aretha Franklin’s Hits, Rarities, Never-Before-Released Tracks on New Box Set
It was late in 2015 when audiences across the country watched Aretha Franklin take the stage at The Kennedy Center Honors to salute honoree Carole King. The undisputed Queen of Soul tore into King, Gerry Goffin, and Jerry Wexler’s “(You Make Me Feel Like A) Natural Woman” with blazing intensity and thrilling authenticity. She had not just sung these lyrics but lived them. Nearing the song’s finale, she simply but defiantly dropped her fur coat to the floor, creating an instant viral moment that elicited tears and cheers in equal measure. That…
Review: Various Artists, “Motown: The Complete No. 1s”
Smokey Robinson’s mama famously told the young singer-songwriter that he’d better shop around, but happily, those looking for the definitive chronicle of Smokey and Diana and Mary and Flo and Martha and Marvin and Stevie and co. need shop around no more. To mark the label’s 60th anniversary, Motown: The Complete No. 1s is back in print in a slightly-expanded edition, and this 11-CD box set is, simply, one-stop shopping. Impressively housed within a sturdy replica of 2648 West Grand Boulevard in Detroit, Michigan, this collection features all of the company’s chart-toppers…
Return To West Grand Boulevard: ‘Motown: The Complete No. 1s’ Box Gets Expanded Reissue
For its 60th anniversary year, Universal Music Enterprises has begun reminding fans that “Motown Did It First“; now, the label that launched The Sound Of Young America is revisiting a box set that was released in celebration of its 50th anniversary a decade ago. Motown: The Complete No. 1s is being reissued and expanded on June 28. Motown: The Complete No. 1s featured more than 200 international chart-toppers, plus a handful of bonus masters that went to No. 1 through cover versions or samples. And the packaging was a delight: the discs…
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Release Round-Up: Week of July 13
Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up! Today might be Friday the 13th, but when it comes to catalogue music, it’s a lucky day! Bobby Darin, Go Ahead & Back Up: The Lost Motown Masters (Second Disc/Real Gone) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) Naturally, we’re most excited about this release – our landmark 25th title on Second Disc Records, and certainly the most rarities-packed! Go Ahead & Back Up: The Lost Motown Masters premieres a never-before-heard Bobby Darin album in the raw, stripped-down style of his stage shows of the period; a…
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OUT TOMORROW! Bobby Darin’s “Go Ahead and Back Up: The Lost Motown Masters” Arrives From Second Disc and Real Gone!
Are you ready to hear Bobby Darin like you’ve never heard him before? The musical superstar joined Motown Records in 1970, inaugurating the final phase in a remarkable career that saw him transform from a rock-and-roll teen idol to a sophisticated swinger to a socially conscious folkie. Yet before his tragic death at the age of 37 in 1973, Darin only released one album and a handful of singles for Berry Gordy’s legendary label. A few posthumous recordings followed in 1974 and a live album in 1987, but the story stayed the…
BREAKING! Second Disc Records, Real Gone Music Unearth Never-Before-Heard Bobby Darin on “Go Ahead and Back Up: The Lost Motown Masters”
Bobby Darin joined Motown Records in 1970, inaugurating the final phase in a remarkable career that saw him transform from a rock-and-roll teen idol to a sophisticated swinger to a socially conscious folkie. Yet before his tragic death at the age of 37 in 1973, Darin only released one album and a handful of singles for Berry Gordy’s legendary label. A few posthumous recordings followed in 1974 and a live album in 1987, but the story stayed the same: that despite the best efforts of all, Darin’s music for Motown never lived…
Release Round-Up: Week of November 10
Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up! Elton John, Diamonds [Various Formats] (UMe) 2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 3CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 2LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 1CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Elton John looks back on his extraordinary career with a new retrospective collection, available in 1-CD, 2-CD, 3-CD, and 2-LP formats. Get all of the details right here! R.E.M., Automatic for the People: 25th Anniversary Deluxe Edition [Various Formats] (Craft Recordings) 2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon Canada / Amazon U.K. 3CD/1 Blu-ray: Amazon U.S. / Amazon Canada / Amazon U.K. LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon Canada / Amazon U.K….
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Dance Yeah Dance: “Motown Unreleased 1965” Premieres Songs By Stevie Wonder, Spinners, Four Tops, Smokey Robinson
1965 was a key year for The Sound of Young America. In a tumultuous twelve-month period which saw the Selma to Montgomery marches, the United States’ escalation of military forces in South Vietnam, and the assassination of Malcolm X, the music of Motown was a cultural touchstone that spread unifying messages of love and togetherness. Berry Gordy’s label scored five Pop chart-toppers in 1965: The Supremes’ “Stop! In the Name of Love,” “Back in My Arms Again” and “I Hear a Symphony,” The Temptations’ “My Girl,” and The Four Tops’ “I Can’t…
What’s Going On: “Motown 25” Comes To DVD In New Box Set, Highlights DVDs
On the evening of March 25, 1983, the Pasadena Civic Auditorium was alive with the sound of music – the Sound of Young America, to be more specific. Motown Records was celebrating its 25th anniversary, and producer Suzanne de Passe wasn’t pulling any stops. “Once in a lifetime” was as overused in 1983 as it is today, but the galaxy of stars assembled by de Passe couldn’t be described any other way: Diana Ross and the Supremes, Marvin Gaye, Lionel Richie and the Commodores, Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, Stevie Wonder, Mary…
Release Round-Up: Week of August 19
The Posies, Failure (Omnivore) CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. Omnivore expands the 1988 debut album from power-pop heroes The Posies. The new Failure restores the album’s original 12-track running order (preserved on cassette but cut down by one song on vinyl) and adds eight bonus tracks. Many of these are sourced from a long out-of-print 2000 box set and a 2004 reissue of the album proper, but one, a demo of “At Least for Now,” is being heard for the first time on this disc. The…
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Shaken, Not Stirred: Ace Mines “The Secret Agent Songbook” With “Come Spy with Us”
For many, the sound of John Barry epitomizes the sound of the spy thriller. It’s no surprise – with 12 James Bond films under his belt, the late, great British composer imbued his melodies with the right amount of adventure, humor, tension, sophistication, and well, sex. It’s fitting that Barry opens Ace Records’ superlatively entertaining new anthology Come Spy with Me: The Secret Agent Songbook, collecting 25 samples of swinging music from spies and secret agents (and even a handful of detectives!) released between 1962 and 1968, the heyday of the genre….
Neither One of Us (Wants to Be the First to Say Goodbye): Final “The Complete Motown Singles” Volume Bows
They did it. Nearly nine years after the first volume in Hip-O Select’s The Complete Motown Singles box set series was released, the 14th and final entry in the series, Volume 12B: 1972, will be released on December 10, just in time for the holidays. The year 1972 marks, for many, the end of the “classic Motown” period. Label founder Berry Gordy moved label operations from Detroit to Los Angeles, and many of his most treasured acts were in periods of transition. Diana Ross was long a solo artist away from The Supremes, while…
Come Get This Thang: The Spinners’ G.C. Cameron’s Motown Solo Debut Arrives On CD
It’s a shame, isn’t it? When Motown mainstays The Spinners departed the venerable Detroit label for the greener pastures of Atlantic Records, lead singer G.C. Cameron didn’t make the switch. Cameron, the unmistakable main voice of The Spinners’ Stevie Wonder-penned No. 14 hit “It’s a Shame,” remained with Motown. Cameron suggested his cousin and close friend Philippe Wynne replace him, and soon watched Wynne and co. score the group’s first ever Top 10 pop singles. In fact, Atlantic debut Spinners charted five hits and two Top 10s – including the million-selling “I’ll…
Losers Weepers! Ace Unveils Rare and Unreleased Songs on “Finders Keepers: Motown Girls 1961-67”
Thanks to the dedication of labels like Ace Records, it would be impossible to “forget the Motor City.” Along with the U.S.’ flagship Hip-O/UMG Select imprint, Ace has led the charge in issuing vintage 1960s-era Motown material, much of it unreleased. The recent release of Finders Keepers: Motown Girls 1961-1967 compiles 24 tracks from girls both famous (The Supremes, Martha and the Vandellas, Mary Wells) and all-too-unknown (LaBrenda Ben, Thelma Brown, Anita Knorl) for a potent overview of songs that slipped through the cracks at Hitsville, USA. Sweetening the pot is the…
Get Ready! Songs of “Motown: The Musical” Are Collected In Original Hit Versions
When Motown: The Musical opens at Broadway’s Lunt-Fontanne Theatre on April 14, it will mark yet another career landmark for Berry Gordy, the songwriter-producer-entrepreneur who turned Detroit, Michigan into Hitsville, USA some fifty-five years ago. The musical, written by Gordy and directed by Charles Randolph-Wright, depicts the rise to prominence of the Sound of Young America, with Brandon Victor Dixon (The Color Purple, The Scottsboro Boys) starring as Gordy. He’s joined by a cast of roughly 40 including Valisia Lekae as Diana Ross, Charl Brown as Smokey Robinson, Bryan Terrell Clark as…
The Need for Back-Up: Rock Hall Finally Inducts Classic Backing Bands
One of the many, many criticisms of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is their occasional neglect of certain bands in favor of other artists. From the first year of induction in 1987, when Smokey Robinson was inducted instead of all of The Miracles, it’s been a legitimate concern. Today, the Hall attempted to alleviate some of that concern by announcing five such bands would be inducted alongside the five previously-announced members of this year’s class. The additional bands are: The Blue Caps: Tommy Facenda, Cliff Gallup, Dickie Harrell, Bobby Jones, Johnny…
