Various
Artists
Universal/Motown Records
UK Release Date: 16th November 2009.
Catalogue # 5323337
Here we ago again folks with the latest addition to the Motown50
catalogue of releases to celebrate half a century of the greatest soul
and pop label of all time, and this new two CD and digital download
delight highlight's some of the divas at Hitsville who graced the
charts during the labels glory years as well as a general contribution
in making the Motown corporation number one worldwide. OK so yet again
the tracks can be found elsewhere on other compilations but they have
been carefully chosen to represent some of the best of the glory years
as well as a sprinkling of the hits of the 1970's where the label
continued to enjoy hit songs albeit not on the same scale as the
previous decade which for many will always remain the the most potent
period of music to come out of West Grand Boulevard.
Some of the obvious classics are here including the first song on the
UK Tamla Motown label in 1965 with 'Stop In The Name Of Love' by The
Supremes a well tried and tested piece of HDH magic and the girls also
have their excellent 'Back In My Arms Again' and 1964 hit 'Where Did
Our Love Go' included for good measure. In fact the girls also get
their other two 1966 smash singles 'You Keep Me Hanging On' and 'You
Can't Hurry Love' making them the most represented divas on this set.
What does make this new release bursting with class is the inclusion of
some of the lesser known ladies of Motown who whilst being familiar
with die-hard Motown stalwarts may not be so well known to the new
breed of up and upcoming discoverees of Motown by which I'm talking of
the late Tammi Terrell, Carolyn Crawford, Chris Clark (check out my
interview with Chris elsewhere on this site) and Barbara Randolph whose
version of the Four Tops' 1967 song 'I Got A Feeling' is music to my
ears each time I hear this classic song.
Some of the finest unreleased recordings from Kim Weston and Brenda
Holloway were issued of late on two independent CD's from these most
underrated ladies of Motown who both were lucky to have the majority of
their output written and produced by some of the finest arrangers and
writers at Motown and you can find Brenda's 'When I'm Gone' and Kim's
delightful 'Take Me In Your Arms' AND 'Helpless' slotted in for good
measure. Fans of the Funk Brother's will take note of Chris Clark's
1967 Motown 45 'From Head To Toe' which has Eddie 'Bongo' Brown all
over it and a perfect example of Motown using white singers to
complement their artist roster to great effect. Chris enjoys a couple
of her other tunes from her highly collectable 'Soul Sounds' LP from
1967 with 'I Want To Go Back There Again' and her rendition of 'Got To
Get Into My Life'
A Motown diva compilation wouldn't be complete without songs from
Martha & the Vandellas, Mary Wells, The Marvelettes, and The
Velevelettes who during the early years at Hitsville all three acts
made a significant contribution in shaping the sound of Detroit through
their superb waxings of the likes of 'Heatwave' and 'Come And Get These
Memories (1963) 'Needle In A Haystack' 'He Was Really Saying Something'
from 1964, and the fabulous Marvelettes singing 'Don't Make Hurting Me
A Habit' and 'Your My Remedy' to experience the ultimate in Motown
music. Oh, yes Gladys Knight isn't forgotten either from her original
rendition of Marvin Gaye's 'Grapevine' to her storming uptempo northern
soul classic 'Just Walk In My Shoes' from 1966.
A double CD crammed full of goodies and for those of you who enjoy the
1970's side of Motown can also enjoy music from The Supremes, Thelma
Houston, Diana Ross. From pure sixties nostalgia, northern soul or a
simple throwback to to the days when music really was music 'Divas Of
Motown' is an absolute cracker from start to finish.
Rating 10/10