Is it 1970 already ?
Jim Z | 08/19/2008
(5 out of 5 stars)
"If you have been reading the reviews , you know what the series is about. The (nearly) "Complete Motown Singles" from the Detroit era 1959-1972. A very few songs had to be left off due to licensing in the series. But what you do have with the fresh , new decade starting year of 1970 is 144 songs on 6 discs clocking in at 7 hours , 33 minutes , and 3 seconds. Marvin , Smokey , The Marvelettes , The Temptations , The Jackson Five , Diana Ross without the Supremes , the Supremes without Diana Ross , Rare Earth ...and "War ! What is it good for ? Absolutely nuthin' (say it again y'all).....I am going to be so depressed when this unbelievable series comes to a close next year. Total series to date : 1,398 songs on 55 discs at over 64 hours....BUY THEM ALL NOW !!!!!!!"
A new decade, and Motown's still churning out the hits!!
whatever_gong82 | 02/28/2009
(5 out of 5 stars)
"What I find fascinating about this particular year is that everything good/bad/indifferent in the 1960s finally got to be expressed by Motown in 1968 and 1969. However, one thing wasn't: The Vietnam War. It looks like that the main reason the War wasn't touched on was that Berry Gordy wanted to not alienate his atypical Motown buyer, which was a wise business move.
However, as it became clear that Mainstream America detested that War, Gordy allowed anti-war music to be releaed by his various labels. One song that people don't know of is one that Martha and The Vandellas did called "I Should Be Proud" also became the first explicitly anti-war song Motown Records ever did (and was pulled from radio stations as a result, probably because it mentioned the then current Vietnam conflict by name). Later on though, the Edwin Starr "War" and Stevie Wonder's "Heaven Help Us All" were released to wide acclaim, and since radio stations didn't pull them, they ended up being classic songs that are still listened to today.
Other popular songs, such as "You Need Love Like I Do (Don't You?)", "The Tears Of A Clown", "It's A Shame", and so on, show that 1970 started off for Motown the same way 1969 did: with that R&B company from Detroit making hit after hit.
As we all know, the end of the Detroit run was about 2 years into the future, and I hope that Universal will release all the singles that Berry Gordy & Company were cranking out back then. They'll be worth it!!"
Another superb volume!!
William G. Ratcliffe | Lawrenceville, New Jersey United States | 07/12/2009
(5 out of 5 stars)
"If you own the previous volumes in this series, you should not hesitate in buying this further set."
Track Listings (25) - Disc #1