By mhc (172.132.36.180 - 172.132.36.180) on Friday, August 02, 2002 - 06:54 pm:

That first one (from '61 to '70) was brilliant; a desert-island item for sure. Hearing those amazing mono mixes again was such a revelation. It probably sold, right? How about another one with more from the same time period?

By Livonia Ken (136.2.1.101 - 136.2.1.101) on Friday, August 02, 2002 - 07:03 pm:

Heck, I would buy a box with all of the B-sides to the singles on the first box. My understanding was that it was quite an undertaking what with all of the research and the use of tube gear for the mastering and such (Hmmm? Maybe they got more resarch done while they were waiting for their console to warm up ). It was well worth the effort, though, and I would welcome a "More Hitsville USA" box (or two) with open wallet.

Regards,
Ken

By supremeross (155.229.207.74 - 155.229.207.74) on Friday, August 02, 2002 - 07:07 pm:

Hey MHC-

Just curious to know what songs you'd like to include on the box set? I'd personally like a continuation of the Hard to Find and Rare Classics series, by far my favorite.

By mhc (172.148.14.54 - 172.148.14.54) on Friday, August 02, 2002 - 08:37 pm:

Just some random choices of mine would be "What's So Good About Goodbye", "Playboy" (Marvelettes), "The One Who Really Love You" (I haven't heard the original mono version of that in ages), "Love Makes Me Do Foolish Things" (killer), "Papa Was a Rolling Stone", etc. The thing is, the people who put the first one together did a great job: lots of favorites, lots of surprises, so let them do another one as good. It's do-able.

By HW (12.110.192.128 - 12.110.192.128) on Friday, August 02, 2002 - 08:41 pm:

Sounds good to me ;)

MHC - gotta hook you up with the individual artists' "Ultimate Collections" (Marv's, Miracles, Mary Wells, et al) as they feature the orginal mono single mixes.

By Livonia Ken (136.2.1.101 - 136.2.1.101) on Friday, August 02, 2002 - 09:14 pm:

About a year after the first box set, there were also nice 2-disc sets on Martha & the Vandellas (Live Wire! The Singles 1962-1972) and the Marvelettes (Deliver! The Singles 1961-1971). Both contained mono single mixes. These were supplanted about 5 years later by the Ultimate Collection discs, but are also worth seeking out for some of the additional tracks.

BTW, speaking of multi-disc collections. I just picked up my domestic "Cellarful of Motown" Tuesday and it is choice. I'm late to the party compared to our friends in Europe, but thanks to Harry and company for that one.

Regards,

By TD (152.163.189.129 - 152.163.189.129) on Sunday, August 04, 2002 - 02:55 am:

My reccomendation would be to have any Billboard top 40 song included in the box set. Ther must be several 100 of these alone.

TD

By John Lester (213.1.129.192 - 213.1.129.192) on Sunday, August 04, 2002 - 06:06 am:

How many box sets are we all wanting...and do we want an American edition, a UK edition....

Then there are the flip sides...

On second thoughts, wouldn't it be easier to have every 45 put out from the detroit era.

By Bradburger (172.183.22.254 - 172.183.22.254) on Monday, August 05, 2002 - 12:20 pm:

How about "The Ric Tic/Golden World Records Story - The Complete Singles".

Long overdue IMO.

Also an Alternate Motown Mixes collection would be nice on say 2 CD's!

Harry, the lifetime supply of beers are on us!

Cheers

Paul

By Gary Rosen (12.234.95.0 - 12.234.95.0) on Monday, August 05, 2002 - 03:27 pm:

As great as the first box set was, there were a number of songs left out, some of them not at all "obscure":

Where Did Our Love Go
Going to a-Go-Go
Ain't That Peculiar
One More Heartache
I Was Made To Love Her

I was especially surprised by the omission of "Where Did Our Love Go". I'm not a huge Supremes fan, but it was the first #1 hit for Motown's most popular group and is a classic example of the Motown sound.

- Gary Rosen

By John Lester (213.122.202.216 - 213.122.202.216) on Tuesday, August 06, 2002 - 05:26 am:

The trouble is Gary.....if you add any of those titles, then tracks that did make it would have had to have been left off (even that is debateable!!) I suspect that you will agree that it is much harder to decide what should be droppped as opposed to what should have been included.

I think there could be a UK edition with mabe different tracks and maybe even a worldwide edition.

By Livonia Ken (136.1.1.154 - 136.1.1.154) on Tuesday, August 06, 2002 - 02:19 pm:

The track list for the Hitsville USA Box Set was very well chosen. They struck a balance between archetypal hits ("Dancing in the Street"), songs whose influence went beyond their actual US chart performance ("Devil with a Blue Dress On"), and just plain great songs that should have been bigger hits ("My Smile is Just a Frown [Turned Upside Down]"). They arranged it roughly chronologically, but they managed to also make it flow well.

If they had just gone by chart performance, it would not have worked as well and would have been perhaps too dominated by a few artists. The Supremes & Temptations are justly well represented, but the compilers left room for the rest of the story, too.

Using the single mixes was a great touch, too. For instance, despite all of the many compilations with the song on it from the early Motown CDs, I believe this was the first digital appearance of the single mix of "What's Going On" which is substantially different from the stereo album mix and has that silly false fade-out at the end.

Short of taking the Stax approach and doing a mega set of everything, this was about as good an overview of the "Motown Sound" as one could hope for.

BTW, speaking of leaving off hits. The second Hitsville USA set actually left off the "Endless Love" duet between Diana Ross & Lionel Ritchie which has to be one of the 2 or 3 most successful singles in the history of the company, and yet also still was a good overview of the years it covered. If that set had just gone by hits, the 72-82 section of it would have been about 40-50% Stevie Wonder tracks -- an I'm only exaggerating a little.

Regards,
Ken

By r (165.235.75.119 - 165.235.75.119) on Tuesday, August 06, 2002 - 06:35 pm:

How about a video box set? I'm trying to find live performances caught on film or video from those days...please someone, compile something like that...the Marvelettes performing "Don't Mess With Bill" on my video of the Hullaballoo show is a classic! Where can I find this kind of stuff? (After all, there are a lot of audio box sets out there)...

By Livonia Ken (136.1.1.154 - 136.1.1.154) on Tuesday, August 06, 2002 - 06:43 pm:

How about a DVD release of Motown 25 Yesterday, Today, and Forever? We could commemorate the 20th anniversary of the 25th anniversary special.

Regards,
Ken

By John Lester (213.1.128.146 - 213.1.128.146) on Tuesday, August 06, 2002 - 09:31 pm:

It's funny you should say that..I was thinking only last weekend, only another 6 odd years and it will be 50 years......I think that, by definition, that will make it antique.

Sort of an eerie feeling dont you think!!

By thecount (65.56.186.65 - 65.56.186.65) on Tuesday, August 06, 2002 - 10:23 pm:

Hey R,I have 63 kool videos of what your looking for which I got from THEVIDEOBEAT.COM.Everything kool.If you ever seen the movie "COBRA",I did the MERC'S for that movie when I had my shop in VEGAS.I had to produce 4our Mercs alike because 3hree of them get destroyed in making the movie.It is also available at the video beat.Tell them The "Count" told you so.Please check them out,so many ultra rare R&R movies.If it were filmed,they have it.Steve "The Count"

By r (165.235.75.119 - 165.235.75.119) on Wednesday, August 07, 2002 - 02:46 pm:

Thanks "Count", now we're getting somewhere...I have exhausted the "Ed Sullivan", "Shindig" sources...I'll check out the site, and I'll tell them you sent me!

By r (165.235.75.119 - 165.235.75.119) on Wednesday, August 07, 2002 - 05:23 pm:

"Count"...you came through! I was amazed that I finally found a source for such titles as : "Apollo Presents The Motortown Revue", and "Ready, Steady, Go! - The Sounds of Motown 1965"...I am awaiting delivery...any more suggestions from you I will treat as "gospel"...THANKS! (Now if only I can find video of the Dramatics)...