| Author | Message | ||
  dvdmike (dvdmike) 5-Doyen Username: dvdmike Post Number: 267 Registered: 4-2004 Posted From: 68.253.181.163 |
ENDLESS LOVE - Diana Ross & Lionel Richie GOLD - 8/21/81 PLATINUM - 10/16/81 UPSIDE DOWN - Diana Ross GOLD - 12/16/81 TRULY - Lionel Richie GOLD - 12/9/82 ALL NIGHT LONG - Lionel Richie GOLD - 12/12/83 SOMEBODY'S WATCHING ME - Rockwell GOLD - 3/29/84 HELLO - Lionel Richie GOLD - 5/30/84 I JUST CALLED TO SAY I LOVE YOU - Stevie Wonder GOLD - 11/8/84 SAY YOU, SAY ME - Lionel Richie GOLD - 1/21/86 DANCING IN THE STREET - Martha & The Vandellas GOLD - 9/12/94 I'M GONNA MAKE YOU LOVE ME - Diana Ross & The Supremes & The Temptations GOLD & PLATINUM - 8/7/97 I WANT YOU BACK - The Jackson 5 GOLD & PLATINUM - 8/7/97 SOMEDAY WE'LL BE TOGETHER - Diana Ross & The Supremes GOLD & PLATINUM - 8/7/97 MY GIRL - The Temptations GOLD & PLATINUM - 9/8/97 REACH OUT, I'LL BE THERE - The Four Tops GOLD - 9/8/97 BABY LOVE - The Supremes GOLD - 9/8/97 STOP! IN THE NAME OF LOVE - The Supremes GOLD - 9/8/97 BEAUTY IS ONLY SKIN DEEP - The Temptations GOLD - 10/12/99 AIN'T TOO PROUD TO BEG - The Temptations GOLD - 10/12/99 MASTERPIECE - The Temptations GOLD - 10/21/99 PAPA WAS A ROLLING STONE - The Temptations GOLD & PLATINUM - 10/12/99 SUPERSTAR (REMEMBER HOW YOU GOT WHERE YOU ARE - The Temptations GOLD - 10/12/99 JUST MY IMAGINATION (RUNNING AWAY WITH ME) - The Temptations GOLD & PLATINUM - 10/12/99 BALL OF CONFUSION (THAT'S WHAT THE WORLD IS TODAY) - The Temptations GOLD & PLATINUM - 10/12/99 PSYCHEDELIC SHACK - The Temptations GOLD - 10/12/99 RUNAWAY CHILD, RUNNING WILD - The Temptations GOLD - 10/12/99 I CAN'T GET NEXT TO YOU - The Temptations GOLD & PLATINUM - 10/12/99 CLOUD NINE - The Temptations GOLD - 10/12/99 I COULD NEVER LOVE ANOTHER (AFTER LOVING YOU) - The Temptations GOLD - 10/12/99 I WISH IT WOULD RAIN - The Temptations GOLD - 10/12/99 YOU'RE MY EVERYTHING - The Temptations GOLD - 10/12/99 GET READY - Rare Earth GOLD - 10/30/00 | ||
Chi Drummer (chidrummer) 4-Laureate Username: chidrummer Post Number: 110 Registered: 5-2004 Posted From: 24.14.40.231 |
Wow, dvdmike. Where'd you find this info and what's the story behind the certification? Why did Barry refuse RIAA overstite in the first place? | ||
Juicefree20 (juicefree20) 6-Zenith Username: juicefree20 Post Number: 1917 Registered: 4-2004 Posted From: 24.46.184.162 |
Hey Chi D, Motown was very leery of anyone getting to the Motown financial books. In order to be certified Gold or Platinum, an auditor would have to dig into the books to get an accurate accounting of sales. That's pretty much why. | ||
Gil (gil) 4-Laureate Username: gil Post Number: 110 Registered: 5-2004 Posted From: 68.223.110.25 |
Juice is 100% correct. | ||
soulseeker (soulseeker) 3-Pundit Username: soulseeker Post Number: 52 Registered: 7-2004 Posted From: 24.53.234.220 |
When did soundscan come into play? RIAA counts for gold platinum certifications but I know soundscan counts actual units sold. Maybe it was much later after Motown's top selling days. | ||
Eli (phillysoulman) 6-Zenith Username: phillysoulman Post Number: 1318 Registered: 4-2004 Posted From: 70.16.134.166 |
I remember a version of Soundscan being used in England in 1983. | ||
Gil (gil) 4-Laureate Username: gil Post Number: 112 Registered: 5-2004 Posted From: 68.223.110.25 |
Billboard began using Soundscan to chart records in summer 1991. | ||
Jimmy Mack (luke) 6-Zenith Username: luke Post Number: 535 Registered: 4-2004 Posted From: 152.163.252.200 |
I find it hard to believe Masterpeice made it to gold!but I trust u! | ||
Juicefree20 (juicefree20) 6-Zenith Username: juicefree20 Post Number: 1918 Registered: 4-2004 Posted From: 24.46.184.162 |
Hey Jimmy, Back in its day, Masterpiece was HUGE!!! It was like the street brothers anthem. Norman put that one together so cinematically, in could have been used for the Soundtracks of Shaft or Superfly. That song captured the feelings of the inner cities in the 70s. In fact, that songs lyrics are still relevant today. I'm shocked that rappers haven't made more use of its bassline. It's very intense! | ||
dvdmike (dvdmike) 5-Doyen Username: dvdmike Post Number: 271 Registered: 4-2004 Posted From: 68.253.196.80 |
I got the info from RIAA's website. In order to have a record certified as Gold or Platinum, the RIAA has to send a CPA to do an audit. You have to request it yourself and then there is a hefty fee you have to pay. So it can be a bit expensive. So if you're secretive like Berry Gordy and quite a few others were, it won't happen for you. There's a funny little story concerning Motown, gold records and lack of thought process. Back in the day, Motown had their own little ceremonies in which they awarded their own version of gold records. They would just take a regular vinyl record and spray paint it gold. In one such outing, Marvin Gaye was awarded a gold record. He took it home and put it on his turntable. It was a Supremes record. | ||
Jimmy Mack (luke) 6-Zenith Username: luke Post Number: 536 Registered: 4-2004 Posted From: 149.174.164.84 |
I hear u but Masterpeice didnt do that well POP-#7 so I wondered--it seemed dwarfed to me by Papa. I almost never heard it on the radio. | ||
soulseeker (soulseeker) 3-Pundit Username: soulseeker Post Number: 53 Registered: 7-2004 Posted From: 24.53.234.220 |
LOL! Are those all the gold and platinum certifications for Motown? Thanks for the soundscan info. It definitely wouldn't be applicable to early Motown. (Message edited by Soulseeker on August 15, 2004) (Message edited by Soulseeker on August 15, 2004) | ||
soulseeker (soulseeker) 3-Pundit Username: soulseeker Post Number: 54 Registered: 7-2004 Posted From: 24.53.234.220 |
Pop #7 isn't doing well? LOL! | ||
zebop (zebop) 4-Laureate Username: zebop Post Number: 107 Registered: 4-2004 Posted From: 205.188.116.139 |
#7 pop for "Masterpiece" is great, especially when it also did well on the R&B charts too. Something tells me there's even more--bet those financial books are on fire LOL. | ||
soulseeker (soulseeker) 3-Pundit Username: soulseeker Post Number: 55 Registered: 7-2004 Posted From: 24.53.234.220 |
Yeah I agree about Masterpiece. I wonder how many artists and songwriters haven't gotten paid royalties based upon these delayed audits. There are a lot of songs that should be certified gold or platinum that are not there. Thelma Houston's Don't leave me this way must have sold truckloads as did Eddie Kendricks keep on truckin. And where's I heard it through the grapevine? | ||
Kevin Goins - KevGo (kevgo) 4-Laureate Username: kevgo Post Number: 163 Registered: 4-2004 Posted From: 64.33.151.184 |
Folks: Juice is right on the money regarding Motown not having their books audited by the RIAA. Gordy didn't allow the organization anywhere near those books until 1976, which is why "Love Hangover" was the first single to receive RIAA gold and platinum certification. The Temptations' certifications were the result of UMG's Harry Weinger who oversaw the submission of the old account records to the RIAA (he did the same for Martha's "Dancing In The Streets" and the Supremes' singles). Kevin Goins - KevGo | ||
dvdmike (dvdmike) 5-Doyen Username: dvdmike Post Number: 272 Registered: 4-2004 Posted From: 68.253.213.197 |
Kev, "Love Hangover" was not certified Gold by the RIAA. You can check their database. It isn't there. | ||
Chi Drummer (chidrummer) 4-Laureate Username: chidrummer Post Number: 111 Registered: 5-2004 Posted From: 67.173.156.238 |
Motown wasn't the only company who took any record in inventory, painted it gold and presented it to an Artist. EMI was guilty of it too. The Beatles tried the playing one their gold disk and found out it was a Beach Boys record. I don't think the record companies themselves ever thought that bands would pay that much attention. Who'd a thought? | ||
StingBeeLee (stingbeelee) 2-Debutant Username: stingbeelee Post Number: 20 Registered: 4-2004 Posted From: 68.43.129.8 |
Is the RIAA stating that these are the only gold and platinum records from Motown's golden era? Or are these the only records that Motown let them review? | ||
soulseeker (soulseeker) 3-Pundit Username: soulseeker Post Number: 57 Registered: 7-2004 Posted From: 24.53.234.220 |
Well if you go to the database as dvdmike suggests, you can pull up all of the motown certified records. From what I saw if there were any more listed I didn't see them. I saw Boyz II men listed about a zillion times as was Lionel Ritchie/Commodores/Stevie Wonder. In my post above I mentioned to singles that should have been at least platinum if not multiplatinum. None of Marvin Gayes Motown Singles are listed. | ||
Juicefree20 (juicefree20) 6-Zenith Username: juicefree20 Post Number: 1924 Registered: 4-2004 Posted From: 24.46.184.162 |
Hi Lee, I would imagine that the RIAA would have a great deal of catching up to do. When you condider ALL of the Motown hits that had MAJOR POP & R&B success, can you imagine the auditing that would have to occur, in order to set this right???Additionally, there's this thought: KevGo, DVD Mike, correct me if I'm wrong, but I remember reading that a record can be certified Gold or Platinum YEARS after it's original release. Is that true?? I once read a book, where the author stated & I'll paraphrase, that when James Brown first released Please, Please, Please, it probably could've been certified cardboard, due to it's sales. However, as the years passed & it sold more copies, it sold enough to be Certified Gold. If that was a true statement, then shouldn't there be a whole lot more records recognized by the RIAA, to have acheivent Gold or Platinum status?? Or, was the writers assessment incorrect? | ||
Kevin Goins - KevGo (kevgo) 4-Laureate Username: kevgo Post Number: 166 Registered: 4-2004 Posted From: 64.33.151.80 |
Juice: That is indeed true. There are several recordings that were released five, ten, even forty years ago that have recently been certified gold and/or platinum by the RIAA. Stop by any news stand or Barnes & Noble and check out Billboard Magazine - they publish on a weekly basis singles and albums that were RIAA-certified that week. It is up to the record label to submit to the RIAA the sales information pertaining their releases. For example, the reason why the Temptations' classic 1960s/1970s albums were certified gold and platinum back in 1997-98 was because Harry Weinger had PolyGram (now Universal Music Group) hand over the sales info from Motown's accounting books. As for James Brown's "Please Please Please" one would have to research the accounting books from King Records (good luck finding those items!) to find out how this single sold. Kevin Goins - KevGo |
