Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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19 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Tarnished Gold , 25 Nov 2007
I really wanted to be able to award a full five stars to this set, but there are
just too many things wrong with it to warrant top marks.
Chiefly is the almost complete lack of any Stevie Wonder; disc one opens
with his 1970 hit, "Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours". But after that he
drops off the radar. How can this be? The 70's was without doubt
Wonder's finest hour; it's the era in which he discovered the synthesiser,
got funky and (following Marvin Gaye's example with "What's Going
On") began to make music that challenged and questioned the status quo.
So what's happened? Has there been some major falling out between
Wonder and Motown? If anyone knows please fill me in!!
So with no Stevie, what do we get. Well like it's 60's predecessor, this set
concentrates on Motown's UK chart achievements. There are gems from
the Jackson 5, the Temptations, Smokey Robinson & The Miracles, the
Supremes, Commodores, Syreeta (Stevie Wonder's ex - how ironic!),
Diana Ross (plus a number of duets), Marvin Gaye, and a handful of
glorious one off's such as Edwin Starr's "War", R. Dean Taylor's
"There's A Ghost In My House" and "The Night" by Frankie Valli & The
Four Seasons which was actually issued by a Motown subsidiary.
But there are major discrepancies which have to be questioned.
Why for instance is Michael Jackson's "One Day In Your Life" included.
Although recorded in 1975 it was not released until 1981, and therefore
arguably should not be on this set. Incidentally the compilers can't even
get the title correct; it is credited here as "One Day In My Life"! Even
more bizarre is the inclusion of "Tracks Of My Tears" by the Miracles.
This was a hit in 1969 and is correctly included on the Motown Gold
Sixties collection. So why is it here? This is just shoddy workmanship and
sheer laziness on the part of the compilers.
Willie Hutch. Who the f*** is Willie Hutch I hear you cry. A question I
asked myself. The late Mr. Hutch was a writer, producer and performer at
Motown who knocked out a great deal of material none of which made a
UK impact until the 1980's. Is his contribution, which dates from 1990 just included, alongside "Tracks" and a couple of other oddities to
fill in the gaps left by the non inclusion of Stevie Wonder? Oh look, we're
back where we began. Finally Motown Gold The 1970's looses another
star for it's rubbish packaging. It's predecessor came in a nifty three part
gatefold sleeve complete with booklet packed with sleeve notes, albeit
hilariously bad. This time around we get a cheap thin card box housing the
three CD's in horrible plastic cases usually reserved for CD singles and no
notes at all!!
Having said all this, this collection still remains the easiest and cheapest
way of rounding up the majority of Motown's 1970's UK chart hits. It's
just that it could and should have been so much better.
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8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good but not great, 20 Jan 2008
This album has something of a schizophrenic feel to it, reflecting Motown in the 70's. Obviously the label had huge success in the 60's, with its rigourous quality control of all aspects of the product from artists' deportment to actual releases. Unfortunately, as the decade changed, Motown found itself on the back foot as a number of developments threatened their success.
Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye had tired of the lack of creative control and renegotiated their contracts, Black music had moved away from the formulaic approach pioneered by Berry Gordy, while the move from Detroit to the West Coast had caused its own issues, notably the loss of some members of the Funk Brothers house band.
This compilation, showcasing the hits of the 70's, tells at least part of that story, containing as it does, the remnants of the 60's output, which had become belated hits and examples of the more forward looking product the label produced. Incidentally the album does not proceed chronologically.
Of the "left-overs" of the 60's, there are excellent tracks from The Velvelettes, R Dean Taylor and the Elgins, all of which were released to feed the UK's Northern Soul boom (as was the Frankie Valli track), while the Smokey Robinson, Jimmy Ruffin and Jnr Walker cuts here were all 60's originals which were hits on re-release. The 70's face of Motown is represented by the newly solo Diana Ross, together with her (alleged) discovery The Jackson 5, and the Commodores, as well as the familiar Temptations, 4 Tops and Supremes.
Significantly, Stevie Wonders output post renegotiation of his contract is nowhere to be found, despite his huge success. It has always been my assumption that the ownership of the rights to the music prevented this. Similarly, Marvin Gaye is not particularly well represented here (where is "Let's Get It On" for example) and this results in this somewhat lopsided and incomplete compilation.
Whilst Motown enjoyed commercial success with all these tracks, the Motown sound had changed and was no longer clearly recognisable - and it now encompassed everything from the supper club sound of Diana Ross and the teeny pop of Michael Jackson to the Funk hits of Eddie Kendricks, the early Commodores and the Whitfield led Temptations. It was the latter style which would become less and less relevant, as Motown sought commercial success in the middle of the road.
If you don't have these tracks, then this may be worth your money, but don't expect the full picture.
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11 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
absolutely brilliant, 23 Nov 2007
I bought this cd after seeing it advertised on Tv, and being the sentimental soul I am and prone to reminise my childhood, I thought this would be ideal.
As soon as I put on the first track I was fourteen again, when I probably had most of these on 45's. The production was also excellent. I also thought the choice of tracks was spot on.
I would recommend this to any serious Tamla fans. A definite for any collection.
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