Customer Reviews

Motown #1's

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The review and rating of this item by DJ Girl seems unfair to me. She gave it one star simply because it's a collection of old standards with nothing new, all of which she has on her collection, and due to the 'fact' that some of the tunes aren't true Motown. Some people don't have such an assortment in their personal collections. For them this is an excellent choice. Their are no remakes; they are all orignal. The claim that the songs are not 'true Motown' is deceptive. A few of them may not be to her liking but they are all, each and every one of them, songs that appeared on the Motown label and therefore fall into the defintion of Motown. Anyone who doesn't have a Motown collection presently and would like one, at a very good price, would really like this compilation.

Larry Wood

This is an extremely solid collection spanning several decades with legendary hits on the Motown label. Strong.
Highly recommend. No remakes here, all original and all great. Definitely worth the money.

If you don't have a lot of the classic Motown hits in your collection already, this is a pretty good place to start. It's a solid collection until you start getting to the last few songs.

There is just definitely so much you can arguably say about classic Soul & R&B. While most people today would rather hear performers that seem to be more like pop than soul, especially for those who's rather enjoy Beyonce', Ashanti and Usher. While they seem like they are definitely overdone, the clasic vibes of Motown have still maintained an audience after all these years. While this isn't as bad as the music of today, it still has a distinction that draws in different auidences. Now, that distinction is collaged into one remarkable collection of hits that stretches for so many generations.

Motown 1's, is a well-received compilation that stretches and reflects on the classic eras of Motown throughout nearly five decades. Most of the record does a great job with the distinctive sound of 70's Motown. The collection includes a vast amount of classic tracks that still deliver the feeling of great vibes. The album contains classics like Tears Of A Clown by Smokey Robinson & The Miracles, What's Going On by Marvin Gaye, Where Did Our Love Go by the original legendary girl group The Supremes, and Uptight by Steveie Wonder. The compilation also includes Michael McDonald's 2003 rendidtion of the classic Ain't No Mountian High Enough as a bonus. Although the collection does distinctively deliver, there are just so many great #1 classics that weren't displayed like Easy by The Commodores, Super Freak by Rick James, Part-Time Lover by Stevie Wonder, and ABC by the Jackson 5 to name a few.

Despite the fact that there just should've been more added to Motown 1's, it still delivers graciously well as a sampler for anybody who yet hasn't discovered the longeveity of Motown and its impact on music today. This is a delightful collection that still stands out today, as it did back in the 70's, 60's, and all the way through today.

Album Cover: B+

Songs: B 1/2+

Price: A-

Remastering: A-

Overall: B+

Unlike the similar albums that were put out for the Beatles and Elvis Presley "Motown 1's" opens itself up to debate by virtue of the two-dozen songs from the Motown catalog selected to be included on this single disc. During the 1960s Berry Gordy's Detroit label became the biggest independent label in the music industry, unleashing a string of smooth, sophisticated blend of R&B and memorable pop melodies in what some called "velvet elegance" that put black popular music in the American mainstream forever.

However, the Motown label produced a lot more than two dozen #1 hits so there is not a person who picks up this album that is not going to think they could not come up with a better mix. When you picked up this album did you think there would be only one track each for Stevie Wonder ("Uptight (Everything's Alright")), and the Temptations ("Ain't Too Proud to Beg")? If I had made a guess I would have said Diana Ross and the Supreme would be at the top of the list, but Ross gets the "Endless Love" duet with Lionel Richie and "Where Did Our Love Go?" and "Stop! In the Name of Love" representing the period when the Supremes were second in terms of #1 hits to only the Beatles on the pop charts.

The artist who comes out on top is this collection, who does his "Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing" duet with Tammi Terrell and then gets the classic "I Heard It Through the Grapevine," "What's Going On," and "Let's Get It On." But then quibbling about what is on this CD is really a wasted effort because you really should have almost all of these tracks in your music library. If you started ignoring Motown by the time they were putting out records by DeBarge and Boyz II Men, you are not alone. Still the overall result is a decent sampler of Motown tracks, but even if you went out and took the "worst" of Motown's #1 hits you are still going to have a solid collection.

After an all two brief introduction this album takes us from "Please, Mr. Postman" by the Marvelettes" to Michael McDonald's cover of "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" (the original would have made Ross Queen of the album to Gaye's King). I will leave you to ponder the significance of McDonald getting that final honor on yur own. For me the nice bit on this album was having Mary Wells sing "My Guy" right before Smokey Robinson does "My Girl." All of these songs reflect the polished pop craftsmanship that defined Motown, especially in the early 1960s (it is hard to say that is the case by the time you get to the Jackson 5). If you really want to make a better mix of Motown's #1 hits, then go right ahead.

This was smartly done for a Motown compilation album! Past albums stopped to the Jackson 5 in 1970. But I'm like, Where's the '70s hits, the '80s hits, the '90s hits, the 2003-2004 hits? Motown went further ahead than the '60s! This time, they got it right and included the '70s, '80s and '90s hits as well as Michael McDonald's 2003 remake of Ain't No Mountain High Enough! Everybody's on here--Temptations, Four Tops, Supremes, my man Marvin Gaye, Thelma Houston, Jackson 5, Debarge, Commodores, Boyz II Men, Diana Ross/Lionel Richie and others! You can hear the musical and transitional changes in the Motown sound from then to now on this collection. From Detroit to LA and now New York, Motown has stood the test of time. I hope that the artists now on that label continue that tradition the way these artists on this album did. A fabulous 26-track, 79-minute album!!!!!!!!

There is no arguing that Motwn released some great singles, indeed some of he finest pop music of the sixties. Any point of contention would be with the choices here and for the most part these are all good ones. The remastering is welcomed though there are a few rough spots and the packaging is satisfactory (could stand to be more information of the artists and the history of this classic era) All in all a good entry level collection-now at a great priice

The other day I was shopping at the mall when I noticed that there was yet another Motown compilation out. To me, it seems like there are a lot of compilations like this. Then I got to looking at it. All of the songs on the CD were hits, and plus they were re-mastered!!! I ended up buying the CD. I listened to it one time through without ever changing the track midway. the whole cd was amazing.
I then got to thinking why they keep releasing all of these compilations as opposed to whole cds. I then realized that this music is generally liked by everyone. They release a compilation for every generation. This way every generation gets to re-discover this music on their own.. and the music will never die!

This is a good collection of old favorites. How appropriate the song for these times too! "war...what is it good for?...absolutely noting."

Lets keep this short and sweet,

1.) Very song is a hit.

2.) The CD is complied properly... that is, it doesn't jump a very slow song to an upbeat.

3.) And its an awesome CD to just pop in with a bunch of friends and chill. Its in my Top 25 cd queue... for what thats worth.