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Motown 20/20 — 313

ALBUM: 20/20 (a compilation of Motown hits)

MVC Rating: 4.0/$$

If you have nothing on the Motown label, this is a great record to get a taste of Motor City’s hit factory. These days, I don’t listen to this much. It was a good primer for me and led me to explore artists. But I’m more likely to pull out an album by Marvin Gaye or my Smokey Robinson two-record set then listen to this hits compilation.

Although if I suddenly have a hankering to hear ‘Keep on Truckin’ –– which does happen sometimes — I’ll grab this one because I don’t think I have that great bit of 70s dance music on anything else.

The ABC album by the Jackson 5 was one of my first full length LPs. And the Jackson 5 song ‘I Want You Back ‘ is the world’s best song led by an 11-year-old lead singer.

You cannot not dance to ‘I Want You Back.’

This two record specially priced set (when it came out anyway) hit some key figures but is hardly definitive.

Of the 20 songs on here Diana Ross (with and without the Supremes) has four slots; Jackson 5 and Michael Jackson have four slots; and Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye have three slots each. The Temptations, Eddie Kendricks, the Commodores and Smokey Robinson and his Miracles round out the list of very familiar (and mostly great) songs.

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Marvelettes — 333

ALBUM: Anthology (`1975)

MVT Rating: .4.0/$$$

The Marvelettes were the first all female group at Motown to obtain a No. 1 record.

‘You gotta waitaminute waytaminute Wait Mr. Postmasman.”

They were pioneering but now seemingly lost in history.

I am going to do something, however small, to correct that. First off publishing this blog post.

And in this blog I’m going to name the names of the Marvelettes. Least I can do for such an amazing talent.

Here they are from: Wikipedia: They consisted of schoolmates Gladys Horton, Katherine Anderson (now Schaffner), Georgeanna Tillman (later Gordon), Juanita Cowart (now Cowart Motley), and Georgia Dobbins, who was replaced by Wanda Young (now Rogers) prior to the group signing their first deal. They were the first major successful act of Motown Records after the Miracles and its first significantly successful girl group after the release of the 1961 number-one single, “Please Mr. Postman“, one of the first number-one singles recorded by an all-female vocal group and the first by a Motown recording act .

These early ‘girl-group’ and boy groups were super smooth at Motown.