Customer Reviews

Hitsville USA: The Motown Singles Collection 1972-1992

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The first box set dealt with Motown's Golden Era (1959 - 1971) when they were a hit factory in Detroit. This set captures highlights from the next 20 years, after Motown had relocated in Los Angeles and the hits weren't so automatic. Because of the large number of great recordings found here that aren't readily available elsewhere, this set for me - a Motown collector - was far more enjoyable.

Disc one covers 1972 - 1975 and includes The Four Tops' dramatic "A Simple Game" (written and produced by members of the Moody Blues). A huge hit in England, it undeservedly stiffed here, and wasn't available on disc until this set (it is now also available domestically on the Four Tops box set FOUREVER). There's also the irresistible Valerie Simpson solo gem "Silly, Wasn't I" and the nostalgic "Shoe Shoe Shine" by the flamboyant Dynamic Superiors (try finding any of the Superiors' recordings on disc elsewhere!) Another rarity is G.C. Cameron's "It's So Hard To Say Goodbye To Yesterday" - a far superior recording to the Boyz II Men hit remake.

Disc two captures recordings from 1976 - 1979. High Inergy's only real hit, the classy "You Can't Turn Me Off," clearly shows that these gals were underappreciated and underutilized. Sassy Bonnie Pointer - represented here by her only top ten hit "Heaven Must Have Sent You" - and fiery Thelma Houston - with her Grammy winning "Don't Leave Me This Way" - also deserved more success. The disc belongs to Smokey Robinson, though, with his lush hits "Quiet Storm," "Crusin'," and "Being With You."

Disc three tackles 1980 through 1985. Lionel Richie and Rick James' prominence at Motown at the time is apparent with their hefty appearances as artists and producers on this disc. My favorites include a latterday Motown effort by Michael Jackson ("One Day In Your Life" - perhaps the most touching recording he ever made), and the only real solo hit for former Temptations' lead singer Dennis Edwards' (the reggae tinged "Don't Look Any Further"). There's lots of fun dance stuff here too: Dazz Band's "Let It Whip," DeBarge's "Rhythm Of The Night," and Miss Ross' "Upside Down."

Disc Four, spanning 1985 - 1992, shows Motown in transition. Stevie Wonder, The Temptations, and Smokey Robinson (the last of the artists from the Glory days) lead off the disc with some strong efforts, but by track eight the baton has been passed to youngsters like Johnny Gill and Boyz II Men. With a completely different sound and approach (and demographic) on the latter tracks, the set should have probably ended in 1987 with the Smokey hits (also leaving off the noisy Stacy Lattishaw piece of poop "Nail It To The Wall").

Motown is now just a name. Berry Gordy sold the label long ago, which conglomerate Universal Music now oversees. Since they and the other number crunchers who run the music industry today will never allow such joyous music to be created ever again, it is important to appreciate the magic found here.

This is a terrific set of some of the best songs from Motown from 1972 to 1992. Not only are the songs great, but the book (68 pages) that comes with it is very informative. Each artist has at least half a page devoted to them, with photos and an essay, and in most cases its a page or even two. There are even track-by-track annotations of the songs. What is also nice is that it is not just the well known artists that are featured, but also the lesser known ones that had the odd hit or two. It's a fantastic follow-up to the previous Hitsville collection, and highly recommended to anyone who loves the Motown sound.

This box set seeks to recapture the magic of the first motown box set and while it delivers great music, it doesn't quite live up to its predecesor. The first box defined a time. Motown was called "the sound of young america" and that can be heard in the music. Joyful, questioning, urgent, fun, pleading. That was the 60's and that was the first box set. The second set suffers from the fact that Motown was not as big a music force in the 70's. The music does not have the vitality of the earlier decade. That being said, it does contain some marvelous music. The first 2 discs especially. Motown lives on in this box, just not as robustly as it did in the earlier one. I would recommend it, but I don't think it will occupy as much of your time as the first box set. It's note worthy for some of the one hit wonders that were included (like berry Gordy's own son who went under the moniker "rockwell"). Fun but not memorable collection.

I can't believe all of these "Debbie Downers" that are levying two stars on this collection! The nay-sayers appear to be universal in their opinion that this set is not as good as Volume One...which is kinda like saying Derek Jeter is not as good as Babe Ruth! Volume One contains indisputably some of the greatest songs ever recorded by great artists during their peak...how can anybody follow that up?

That said, Volume Two still has much to recommend it. I grew up in the 1980s with a lot of these songs and hadn't heard many of them in eons! Let's be honest, we are bombarded with Volume One's songs ad nauseum and you can turn on any oldies station and get your fill of those songs. Volume Two does not have this problem -- I can't remember the last time I heard "Who's Johnny" by El DeBarge on the radio, as well as many of Smokey Robinson's later hits such as "Just to See Her" and "One Heartbeat." This collection fills many gaps in my collection, and at the risk of sounding cheesy, brings back some memories for me. Give this set a listen for yourself!

The tunes on these disks are varied in style and sound quite different from one another. The older selection from 59-71 has a real sound from yesteryear.
They are both great selections of singles from their day.

i love being able to listen to all my favorite oldies and wind down to the new classics. Shanice and Boys II Men add a special touch at the end. This is a collection that should be cherished and passed down.

The Box was advertised as very good.
Indeed the box and the cd's were very good.
I'm glad with it.
Very fast shipping to Europe.

I have loved the Motown sound ever since I was a little kid. So many of those songs have added pleasure to my life. A few years ago I bought the first box set and voraciously consumed it. Every song there was a classic. I only wished it included a lot more music.

I recently saw that there was a second installment to Hitsville USA. I bought it immediately, and I was encouraged by the generally good reviews here on Amazon. But, wow, I regretfully must report to you that this set does not have the Motown Sound that I know and love. Perhaps a quarter of these songs are very good, but the other three-quarters I do not like at all. They are campy, disco-like atrocities which in my mind are the antithesis of the earthy, passionate, natural sound of real Motown. I do like soul music outside of Motown, but these songs do not come close to even good, authentic soul music. Most of these are bad disco songs which have the second-generation Motown label affixed for prestige. Please don't get this expecting the classic Motown sound, because you won't find it here. Even the small percentage of good songs here don't sound like Motown; I'm not sure exactly how you would categorize them.

The remaining 75% of the music on these discs is of that category of "Music that I Affirmatively Try to Avoid." If Motown was one of the pinnacles of modern music, many of these songs are the valleys. Real Motown was silk; this is a plastic tarp. Again, I emphasize the synthetic, synthesizer-intensive foundation, with the pre-pubescent, screechy, annoying vocals. Motown is all about a thumping, plodding deep bass, with a great guitar groove, and supernaturally beatiful lyrics and voices. Even most of Smokey's stuff here doesn't do much for me, and I love Smokey. The amazing documentary film "In the Shadow of Motown" might have discussed this period in Motown's history, if it did, I'm sure it is characterized as the (steep, almost vertical) decline. The folks who were the subject matter of that film were REAL MUSICIANS, the best musicians the world has ever known; they weren't a bunch of beeping, buzzing computers and polyester-wearing prancing disco-dancers.

I will never listen to these discs straight-through again. I'll just skip over to the few good tracks. The preponderance of these songs were downright painful, they represent the worst of the 70's and 80's. I wish they had merely augmented the collection of real Motown, rather than used the songs which rode on the coat-tails of the real (and legendary) Motown.

I listened to each disc twice and there were some singles that were mega hits but a lot of the stuff was unfamiliar to me. Motown blew it when they left the Motor City for the smoggy skies of the City of Angels. When the Funk Brothers sound was replaced by the Wrecking Crew so went the unique groove and indelibly stamped signature of the music. The salvation of Motown, post-Detroit, was the OUTSTANDING bass work by Carol Kaye. Did you all know that Carol Kaye was responsible for the incredible bass lines on the Beach Boys "Good Vibrations" and Nancy Sinatra's "These Boots Were Made For Walking" studio recordings? Anyway, in my opinion, the FIRST boxed set was the REAL DEAL!

After the first flawless Motown box set finished up with 1971, it was inevitable that there was going to be a drop in quality on the second volume. When Stevie Wonder's contribution to disc two is the masterful "Sir Duke" and just one disc later we're hit with the wretched-without-bounds "I Just Called to Say I Love You," it's virtually impossible to wonder where it all went wrong. Closing out the set with the hilariously mawkish "End of the Road" by Boyz II Men is the sadly appropriate death knell for a once proud label that lost its way. It's hard to connect most of this music to the label that once released 'Innervisions' or 'What's Going On' or 'Cloud Nine'.