Customer Reviews

Essential Collection

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

After years of waiting to find R Dean Taylor on CD, IT'S AVAILABLE....I have loads of memories of this guy and his music. Yeah, I'm old...but being able to order up this CD and enjoy song after song (Taos New Mexico; Gotta See Jane; Back Street, and of course, good ole Indiana) makes me feel 30 years younger!! My goal is to wear it totally out. Thank you Amazon!

Since years I've been checking various music sites for a CD by Taylor and so far I had been successless - today I started to panic because my self burnt CD with some of his hits is ruined (do NOT NOT NOT use these Neato etc labels for music CD - they're a sure killer on the long term).Anyhow I disagree with the reviews posted before - Taylors hits i.m.o. belong to the creme of the 60's singles in a grey zone between Neil Diamond and Psychedelia -songs that remain in your ear with an actionthriller-like atmosphere and excitement that you will not forget, even if you hear them for the first time today. Very notable the arrangements inclusing integrated streetsounds. Unfortunately the forgotten hit "Window shopping"(at least a medium hit in germany in the mid 70's) was forgotten on this compilation too.

Except for the appearance of "Indiana Wants Me" on several compilation albums, Motown has not issued any of R. Dean Taylor's music done for the Rare Earth subsidiary back in the early 70's. This CD is the first collection of any kind done for Taylor and comes from Universal's Spectrum label in the U.K. Although Taylor had a few minor hits besides his signature "Indiana..." and was deserving of some sort of collection on CD, maybe Motown knew something here.

This collecton is a mish-mash of tracks - a few second-rate sound-alikes of "Indiana...", a few classically Motownesque songs, a few attempts at covers of others' hits that would have been better left in the studio and a few compositions that just don't gel. Taylor was an accomplished songwriter with several big hits - "Love Child", "All I Need", et al - done for other Motown superstars but beyond the quasi-novelty "Indiana...", Taylor did not really succeed as a performer. His voice has no real distinction nor appeal and stylistically he did not dovetail with any of the other material he attempted. As a singer, he's something of a Burt Bacharach, perhaps. From a collector's standpoint, within the 19 tracks included, this CD does gather up all his top-100 charted sides although it is a bit challenging to listen to this number of unsuccessful other cuts.

The sound quality is mostly OK with most tracks in stereo excepting 10,12,14-16,18,19. However, track 16, originally in an album, must have come from a poor source as it sounds fairly bad here. The six-page flopover liner notes booklet has track details and a single-page musical history of Taylor. This fills a void in the Motown reissue realm but unless you're a collector or a devoted fan of his stuff, little to recommend here.

I absolutely love R Dean Taylor's Motown stuff and some of his original stuff he after leaving Motown. Unfortunately the version of "There's A Ghost In My House" is not the version he recorded while at Motown. I can only assume he re-recorded it after leaving. Fortunately I have the original version on a Motown compilation so it doesn't bother me that much. Its a pity they didn't include Window Shopping (#36 in the UK Top 40 in 1974) one of his few hits.

Hopefully Motown or whoever owns those early recording will see fit to release them some day.

I had been searching for years for an album by the elusive R. Dean Taylor, the most successful white artist to emerge from the Motown label, since those old vinyl singles are showing signs of wear and tear. In the mid-60's Taylor first achieved success with the songs Love Child and Living In Shame which became top ten hits for the Supremes and infused their work with a much needed realism. According to the sleeve notes, these 19 tracks all come from the albums Indiana Wants Me and Sounds Superb, although there were two more: I Think Therefore I Am (1970) and LA Sunset (1975). It does, however, contain all his greatest hits. Taylor had a knack for dramatic, catchy pop like Indiana Wants Me, Gotta See Jane (a UK hit in 1968 and 1975), Candy Apple Red and the atmospheric Ghost In My House that has been covered by The Fall and The Yachts amongst others, and is considered a "Northern Soul Classic" in Britain. This music recalls a more innocent age and I am reminded of other favorite artists from the same era who faded into obscurity, like Lee Michaels and Michael Nesmith. Although the sound quality isn't always satisfying,...I love this album. Besides the aforementioned hits, his other self-penned songs are either very "motowny" like Back Street, Don't Fool Around and Love's Your Name, or further melodramatic explorations of teen angst like Taos New Mexico and Shadow. For reasons of nostalgia, the inclusion of period covers like Fire & Rain and Help Me Make It Through The Night pleases me, while his covers of Lennon & McCartney's Two Of Us and Norman Whitfield's Gonna Give Her All The Love are pleasant enough. Taylor may not have been a great performer, but I appreciate this album for its classic songs and for the memories of the golden age of pop that it evokes.

Because this fantastic compilation is a UK import you in the USA are having to pay an extortionate price for the CD! Rather than pay almost $20 from amazon.com, buy it via amazon.co.uk for less than $8 - even with postage added on to the states from the UK it'll still be sooooo much cheaper!

this is a good CD. it has R Dean Taylors biggest hits on it. they seem to be the original recordings, as in the hit versions. this CD was hard to get for awhile, so I am glad I found it, and at a reasonable price.

R Dean Taylor had a lot of air play in the early '70s. Deservedly so. This collection of tunes show what a fine song writer and performer he is.

This the White 'Black Guy' on Motown; incredible talent and a Motown Ghostwriter...
Love his songs; a pity that there's only 'Indiana Wants Me' version on it!

R.Dean Taylor's CD is excellent, and deserving 5 STARS, in my opinion. All the selections are great, with my favorite song being, "Indiana Wants Me". I like songs that tell a story in the lyrics, and this artist does just that.