Back in March, we filled you in about Universal Japan’s plans for Motown’s 60th anniversary campaign, which included a series of reissues and a 3-CD, 60-song collection. We recently reviewed the U.S.’ reissue of the definitive Motown: The Complete No. 1s box set. Now, the U.K. is getting into the act with a different 3-CD, 60-song anthology of its own. Motown: Greatest Hits arrives on August 16. Like the Japanese set, it boasts 60 classics from the label on three CDs, but the selection is largely different and, naturally, tailored to the…
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…
Categories:
Genres:
Motown Did It First: Japan’s Motown 60 Campaign Reissues Supremes, Temptations, Four Tops, Gladys, Martha, Brenda, and More
Motown Did It First! That’s the campaign slogan for Universal Japan’s ongoing program celebrating the venerable label’s 60th anniversary. And indeed, the influence of Motown – still the most successful African-American-founded record label of all time – can’t be underestimated when considering the current music scene. A number of physical releases have already been released in Japan to mark the anniversary, most of which are available as affordable imports and include titles not commonly available on the CD format. This first wave of titles is anchored by the compilation Motown 60, featuring…
Release Round-Up: Week of June 16
Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up! David Bowie, Cracked Actor: Live in Los Angeles 1974 (Parlophone/Rhino) (Amazon U.S./ Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) Cracked Actor: Live in Los Angeles 1974 is the first authorized release of Bowie’s Philly Dogs Tour show at Los Angeles’ Universal Amphitheatre, from September 1974. First released earlier this year on vinyl only, some of this performance was featured in Alan Yentob’s BBC documentary also known as Cracked Actor. The original tapes for this show were finally brought together last November, and they have been newly mixed by Tony Visconti. Note that…
Categories:
Formats:
Genres:
Reissued Commodores LP is Stacked, and That’s a Fact
Four decades ago, Southern funk band the Commodores established their place in the pop-soul pantheon with their self-titled fifth album. Now, Universal Music Enterprises is revisiting the album in a brand new way, as an expanded vinyl set. Commodores continued the Tuskegee, Alabama-bred group’s ascendancy, balancing hip dance tracks with sweet balladry. The alpha and omega of these styles featured co-lead singer/drummer Walter Orange, trumpeter William King and bassist Ronald LaPread leading the group on the funky “Brick House,” while Lionel Richie’s tender, almost country-style “Easy” (with a delicate piano hook from…
Morales Preps the (Dance) Sound of Young America on “Club Motown”
Calling all ’80s Motown fans! Universal’s U.K. arm has issued a double disc set of 20 classic club mixes from the label, curated by noted remixer John Morales. Motown of course crafted the sound of young America throughout the ’60s and created some deeply affecting funk and soul in the ’70s, but the ’80s was still a prolific time, thanks to popular R&B/dance acts including Rick James and DeBarge as well as established acts like The Temptations and Commodores frontman Lionel Richie. Morales and partner Sergio Munzibal, the “M+M” mixing team, turned…
Where Were You When We Needed You: Latest Volume of “The Complete Motown Singles” Arrives in June
Let’s dispense with the “Get Ready” puns: after a four-year wait, Hip-O Select’s Complete Motown Singles series inches closer toward the finish line with Volume 12A: 1972. This five-disc set includes every single side released by Motown during the first half of 1972, a time of transition for the company. Berry Gordy had already moved his Detroit-based media empire westward to Los Angeles, leaving some of his flagship groups in a transitional period. The Jackson 5 still had their hits, but not with the blinding intensity of their earliest years (though Michael still enjoyed hits…
Review: “Our Lives Are Shaped By What We Love: Motown’s Mowest Story 1971-1973”
The sound is familiar but different. The harmony is spellbinding if a bit woozy. You’ve only given me a flower/I wish I had the whole bouquet… The track, led by acoustic guitar and gently funky percussion, is spare and raw. If I should ask you for an hour/Is there a chance that you would stay/And maybe spend the day? The falsetto is recognizable but eerily haunting. The song is “You’re A Song (That I Can’t Sing)” performed by Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons for the album Chameleon, the group’s first effort…
MoWest Legacy Celebrated on New Compilation
Indie label Light in the Attic Records has prepped an interesting catalogue compilation for release: an overview of one of Motown’s oft-overlooked divisions: MoWest Records. By the 1970s, Berry Gordy had a grander vision for Motown than ever before – one that extended from music into the film industry. To do that, of course, he needed a base of operations in Los Angeles, and the label’s L.A. offices went from becoming a branch to the central nervous system of the company in 1972. (It’s this year that usually caps Motown compilations; should…
