LOS ANGELES (UME Records/ Universal
Music Enterprises) - Hip-O Select.com, a division of Universal
Music Enterprises, will release the first volume of "The Complete Motown Singles" on January 14, 2005, and on the iTunes
Music Store on January 18, 2005. This first volume, covering the years 1959 through 1961, showcases the early history of the classic label on a 6-CD, 154-track set.
It will feature the A-side and B-side of every single released by Motown and its subsidiaries during its first three years of existence. This collection will not be available at traditional retail; it will be sold exclusively online at www.hip-oselect.com and available for download from the iTunes
Music Store.
The release is the first phase of a plan that extends through Motown's 50th Anniversary in 2009, with Hip-O Select issuing further volumes covering all of Motown's single releases during its tenure as a Detroit-based operation. The label moved to Los Angeles in 1972.
"Motown is the jewel in the crown when it comes to soul and pop music," says Pat Lawrence, Senior Vice-President, UMe. "They defined a sound in a way that no label before or since ever has. The classic Motown roster reads like a music Who's Who. Smokey Robinson. Diana Ross. Stevie Wonder. Marvin Gaye. The Supremes. The Temptations. The Funk Brothers. The depth of their artistry is unparalleled."
The initial volume includes Motown's first major hits, like "Money (That's What I Want)" (Barrett Strong), "Shop Around" (The Miracles) and "Please Mr. Postman" (The Marvelettes), plus the raw Motown debuts of The Supremes, The Temptations, Marvin Gaye, Mary Wells, et al. The packaging for the set resembles a scaled-down 78-rpm-era "album," with cardboard sleeves to hold each of the discs, and more than 100 pages of rare photos and notes.
Each box will feature an actual reproduction 45 rpm single from its respective era. In the booklet is a personal written introduction by Motown founder Berry Gordy, who co-wrote and produced nearly every track on Volume 1; a personal chronicle from Mable John, Gordy's first signed female artist; and a historical overview by author Craig Werner. Also included are detailed track-by-track annotations by the Grammy-nominated author Bill Dahl, with assistance by associate producer and noted Motown discographer Keith Hughes. UMe A&R VP Harry Weinger has overseen the project.
"It's an awesome undertaking," says Weinger, "for an awesome and worthy body of work. This is a window to the beginnings of a musical institution, where you can hear the one-offs and experiments next to the big hits, and where you just might hear the revolution to come."
