Search - Various Artists :: Motown 50 Fanthology

Typical Motown Collection

Motown Dave | Chicago IL | 09/01/2009

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Motown repacks the hits and leaves off quite a few artist of importance. First there is no track by the true First Lady and Queen of Motown Mary Wells. They also left off Kim Weston a dynamic singer with one heck of a voice. The Elgins are missing along with The Spinners and a whole lot more. Yes the selection were picked by fans but your song voting choice was extremely limited as was your artist selection. Yes I do love Motown music but this collection is one I will not be adding to my collection. Why don't they start cleaning out the vaults at Motown? Many many artists have several tracks if not albums worth of songs that have not seen the light of day. I know for a fact Mary Wells has at the very least 7 tracks that have never been released. And I'm sure The Marvelettes and Martha & The Vandellas and I would have to guess any artist that was signed to Motown have tons of them that have never been released. Maybe someday this will happen."

Celebrate 50 years of "The Motown Sound" with this 2 disc se

Paul Tognetti | Cranston, RI USA | 08/31/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"A half century ago, a young Detroit entrepreneur named Berry Gordy Jr. decided that he was going to start his own record company. His idea was a simple one really. He was going to make records with black artists that appealed to the largest segment of the record buying public which in those days was suburban white teenagers. His formula worked to perfection. So much so that 50 years later "The Motown Sound" is still a significant force in American popular music. In celebration of its 50th anniversary Motown presents "Motown 50 Fanthology", an incredible 2 disc collection featuring 45 Motown favorites selected by a nationwide poll of Motown fans. A better Motown compilation you will not find anywhere.



In the 1960's Motown billed itself as "The Sound of Young America". It most certainly was. You could not listen to a Top 40 station in those days for more than 10 or 15 minutes without hearing a Motown hit. It was a great time to be a teen! Experience for yourself the energy and sheer excitement of classic Motown hits by artists like The Four Tops ( "I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)"), The Supremes ("Stop! In The Name of Love"), The Temptations ("My Girl"), Martha & The Vandellas ("Dancing In The Street") and Steve Wonder ("My Cherie Amour"). All in all, " Motown 50 Fanthology" presents about a dozen and a half of the prime Motown singles from the 1960's. Fantastic stuff!



In the early 1970's Motown left Detroit and headed west to Los Angeles. Artists like The Temptations, Gladys Knight and the Pips, Marvin Gaye, Smokey Robinson and the Miracles and Stevie Wonder continued to churn out the hits. Check out the track listing to discover which tunes are included here. At the same time there was a new generation of artists at Motown led by The Jackson 5. Fronted by a very young Michael Jackson, The Jackson 5 burst onto the scene in early 1970 and immediately ran off a string of 4 #1 hits including their debut single "I Want You Back", "I'll Be There" and "ABC" all of which are included in this anthology. A bit later in the decade another talented new group that called themselves The Commodores signed with Motown. You can sample their huge hits "Brick House" and "Easy" right here. Perhaps the hardest rocking Motown artist of all-time was "punk funk" singer/songwriter/guitarist Rick James who scored with "Super Freak" in 1981. You can give this one a listen as well. Now just when it seemed that the Motown magic had begun to fade away forever the label scored a major coup by signing a fabulous new quartet from Philadelphia that called itself Boyz II Men. Their debut album "Cooleyhighharmony" was released in 1993. This disc was an instant smash that spawned a half dozen hit singles. "Motown 50 Fanthology" features a pair of these huge hits including the group's debut single "It's Hard To Say Goodbye To Yesterday" and "I'll Make Love To You" from 1994. You gotta love 'em!



I think that it is safe to say that no collection of American popular music could be considered complete without at least some music from Motown. Much of this music sounds just as fresh and exciting today as it did when it was first released back in the 1960s and '70s. Listening to these classics will help you to understand why "The Motown Sound" continues to resonate with people of all ages. In my opinion, "Motown 50 Fanthology" would be a great choice for both long time fans as well as for younger listeners looking to sample some of this terrific music. Not a bad track in the collection! Very highly recommended!"