The Spinners 2 - The Second Disc

Release Round-Up: Week of April 8

April 8, 2016 by Joe Marchese | 2 Comments

Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up! Ronnie Spector, English Heart (Savoy) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) The one and only Ronnie Spector returns with an all-new studio album saluting her British Invasion friends. Expect Ronnie-ized renditions of the Jagger/Richards-written “I’d Much Rather Be with the Boys” (as “I’d Much Rather Be with the Girls”) as well as “Don’t Let the Sun Catch You Crying,” “Tell Her No,” “Girl Don’t Come” and more! Amazon has an exclusive CD/DVD edition as well as an exclusive autographed vinyl LP! You can access…

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Release Round-Up

Formats:

CD, Digital Download, Vinyl

Genres:

Cast Recordings, Pop, Popular Standards/Vocal, R&B/Soul, Rock

Tags:

Deep Purple, Johnny Mandel, Nicolette Larson, Ronnie Spector, The Spinners, Tiny TIm

Dance Yeah Dance: “Motown Unreleased 1965” Premieres Songs By Stevie Wonder, Spinners, Four Tops, Smokey Robinson

December 11, 2015 by Joe Marchese | 3 Comments

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…

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News

Formats:

Digital Download

Genres:

R&B/Soul

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Brenda Holloway, Martha and the Vandellas, Smokey Robinson, Stevie Wonder, The Four Tops, The Spinners, Various Artists

One Of A Kind (Love Affair): Big Break Reissues, Expands “Spinners”

December 3, 2015 by Joe Marchese | 5 Comments

When The Spinners left Motown Records after nearly a decade, the vocal group had never scored a Top 10 Pop hit. They’d come this close in 1970 with the irresistible, Stevie Wonder-penned “It’s a Shame” (No. 14) – one of many fine tracks recorded for Berry Gordy’s empire that, for one reason or another, never crossed The Spinners over to major stardom. That all changed when Thom Bell – the multi-hyphenate musician, producer, songwriter, arranger and conductor – declared that he wished to produce the group at its new home of Atlantic…

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News, Reviews

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Genres:

R&B/Soul

Tags:

The Spinners, Thom Bell

Ace Is Twistin’ the Night Away with Sam Cooke Tribute, Motown Rarities and More

December 11, 2014 by Joe Marchese | No Comments

When it comes to rare soul, Ace Records never sleeps! The label has recently released a compilation celebrating the career of Sam Cooke not as a singer but as a songwriter, along with collections dedicated to excavating the vaults of two great Detroit labels: Westbound Records, and of course, Motown! Countless albums have anthologized the short but influential oeuvre of Sam Cooke, but Bring It on Home: Black America Sings Sam Cooke takes a different approach, featuring 24 versions of Cooke compositions recorded between 1959 and 1976, performed by some of the…

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News

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Genres:

R&B/Soul

Tags:

Sam Cooke, The Four Tops, The Spinners, The Temptations, Various Artists

Come Get This Thang: The Spinners’ G.C. Cameron’s Motown Solo Debut Arrives On CD

May 16, 2013 by Joe Marchese | No Comments

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…

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News

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Marvin Gaye, Smokey Robinson, The Spinners

The Year in Reissues: The 2012 Gold Bonus Disc Awards

December 28, 2012 by Joe Marchese | No Comments

Wow! Was it just over a year ago when a rather dubious report began circulating (that, shockingly, was picked up by many otherwise-reputable publications) that proclaimed the death of the CD was secretly scheduled by the major labels for 2012? Well, 2012 has come and (almost) gone, and it might have been the most super-sized year in recent memory for reissues, deluxe and otherwise, from labels new and old. Here at the Second Disc, we consider our annual Gold Bonus Disc Awards a companion piece to Mike’s own round-up over at Popdose,…

The Spinners’ Rare Motown Sides Can Be “Truly Yours” On New Compilation, Reviewed Here!

August 23, 2012 by Joe Marchese | 2 Comments

It’s a shame the way The Spinners’ Motown catalogue has been overlooked in the CD era, and quite frankly, for all time. The group exploded in popularity under the aegis of producer/arranger/composer Thom Bell at Atlantic Records in 1972, with their first three singles all hitting No. 1 R&B and Top 20 Pop (two went Top 10 Pop). But The Spinners had been making sweet music since 1954 and recording since at least 1961, and made Motown their home since the folding of Harvey Fuqua’s Tri-Phi Records in 1963. Now, the earliest…

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News, Reviews

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The Spinners

Mighty Love: Detroit Spinners’ Best Compiled On New 2-CD Anthology

January 5, 2012 by Joe Marchese | No Comments

If an award were given for the Best Second Act in Popular Music, it might well go to The Spinners. Signed to Motown in 1963 after early successes at Gwen Gordy’s Tri-Phi label, The Spinners – singers Henry Fambrough, Pervis Jackson, Billy Henderson, C.P. Spencer and Bobbie Smith – had difficulty ascending to premier status at the Motor City label. After some moderate hits like “Truly Yours” in 1966, the group’s biggest brush with the charts came in 1970 when Stevie Wonder gifted them the song “It’s a Shame.” But when The Spinners…

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News

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The Spinners