THE SUPREMES BOX SET FROM THIRD MAN RECORDS

THE SUPREMES
Supreme Rarities: Motown Lost and Found (4X Box Set)

As the hometown girls who conquered the world, Diana Ross and the Supremes are inarguably the most successful, highest selling girl group of all time. From their inauspicious start as the long-forgotten Primettes, to their ascension past the moniker of “no-hit Supremes” through the ranks of Motown’s rank-and-file to globe-trotting superstars, this group is as pure and quintessential Detroit Motor City as you can get.

Originally released on 2xCD in in 2008, the Supremes “Supreme Rarities” from the Motown Lost & Found Series collects from the depths of the label archives to showcase the rarities, the outtakes and the incomparable live recordings from this inimitable group of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees. Listen to the story unfold from the innocent teenaged doo-wop of “You Can Depend On Me” from 1960 all the way through the slick, socially-conscious refinement of “I’m Livin’ in Shame” from 1969. Aside a handful of forgotten vinyl releases decades ago, the majority of this material has not been released on vinyl. Until now.

Third Man, in a unique partnership with Universal Music, has taken this double-CD and turned it into a glorious 4xLP collection housed in an impeccably-designed slipcase, all watercolor pastel vibrant photos highlight how absolutely impeccable this group is.

Of particular interest is that “Supreme Rarities” are the first Motown records EVER pressed in the city of Detroit. Diana Ross attended high school at Cass Tech, a mere mile away from Third Man Pressing where these this title was lovingly pressed, which is also just a mile away from the Brewster-Douglass Housing Projects where Ross and fellow Supremes Mary Wilson and Florence Ballard all grew up.

The 48 tracks included here include the earliest Primettes tracks, invigorating covers of The Rolling Stones “Satisfaction” and the Beatles “I Saw Her Standing There”, along with renditions of hits for OTHER Motown artists like “Mickey’s Monkey” and “Uptight (Everything’s Alright)” in addition to alternate vocal takes of stone cold certified smashes like “You Can’t Hurry Love” and “Someday We’ll Be Together.” And if you want the hits medley, “Come See About Me”, “Baby Love” and “Stop! In the Name of Love” will wonderfully whet your appetite. BUY IT HERE

THE SUPREMES A GO GO: NEW DELUXE CD SET REISSUE!!

Los Angeles, CA – March 28, 2017 – By the time Motown released The Supremes A’ Go-Go, the group’s ninth studio album, on August 25, 1966, the group had already scaled the charts with hits like “Where Did Our Love Go?,” “Baby Love,” “Come See About Me,” “Stop! In the Name of Love,” “Back in My Arms Again” and “I Hear a Symphony.”

BUY CD SET HERE

The Supremes A’ Go-Go solidified Diana Ross, Mary Wilson and Florence Ballard’s hold on the American and global marketplace, the first of their albums to go to #1 on the Billboard 200, marking the first LP by an all-female group to do so, spawning two Top 10 hits in the #1 “You Can’t Hurry Love” and the #9 “Love Is Like an Itching in My Heart.”

The album also featured the trio tackling an array of hit cover material, mostly from their Motown stablemates the Four Tops, the Temptations, Martha & the Vandellas, Barrett Strong and the Isley Brothers, but also contemporary hitmakers Nancy Sinatra (Lee Hazlewood’s “These Boots are Made for Walkin’”) and the McCoys (Bert Berns and Wes Farrell’s Brill Building chestnut “Hang on Sloopy”).

UMe will now reissue the classic album in a deluxe, expanded two-CD edition, featuring the original 12 tracks, featuring both the stereo album, along with rare mono album mixes, alternative vocal versions and mixes, as well as a duet of “Shake Me Wake Me (When It’s Over)” with the Four Tops. There are also rarely heard album outtakes, such as covers of fellow ‘60s stalwarts Bob Dylan’s “Blowin’ in the Wind” and the Rolling Stones’ “(I Can’t Get No) Satsifaction.”

The Supremes A’ Go-Go remained on the Billboard chart for 60 weeks, going on to sell 3.5 million around the world, including one million in the U.S., knocking off The Beatles’ Revolver from the top spot for the honors. It also went to #15 in the U.K. album charts, with “You Can’t Hurry Love” peaking at #3 on the U.K. singles chart.

The production represented the peak of the fabled Motown team, headed by producers Brian Holland and Lamont Dozier, the Funk Brothers and even the Detroit Symphony Orchestra on hand.

This expanded edition will also contain two 24-page booklets. The first chronicles the album’s production and success, as well as a timeline, and both rare and never-before-seen photos. The second booklet is a recreation of the Supremes 1966 tour book.

Said All Music’s Bruce Eder about the album, referring to its winning formula of having The Supremes cover Motown’s greatest hits: “In fact, back in the days when vinyl was the only game in town, used copies of this record sold faster and better than any of their other common '60s LPs, and for good reason.”

Track listings

 Disc: 1 - Original Album (both stereo and mono mixes)

  1. Love Is Like An Itching In My Heart (Mono LP)
  2. This Old Heart Of Mine (Is Weak For You) (Mono LP)
  3. You Can't Hurry Love (Mono LP)
  4. Shake Me, Wake Me (When It s Over) (Mono LP)
  5. Baby I Need Your Loving (Mono LP)
  6. These Boots Are Made For Walking (Mono LP)
  7. I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch) (Mono LP)
  8. Get Ready (Mono LP)
  9. Put Yourself In My Place (Mono LP)
  10. Money (That's What I Want) (Mono LP)
  11. Come And Get These Memories (Mono LP)
  12. Hang On Sloopy (Mono LP)
  13. Love Is Like An Itching In My Heart (Stereo LP)
  14. This Old Heart Of Mine (Is Weak For You) (Stereo LP)
  15. You Can't Hurry Love (STEREO LP)
  16. Shake Me, Wake Me (When It's Over) (Stereo LP)
  17. Baby I Need Your Loving (Stereo LP)
  18. These Boots Are Made For Walking (Stereo LP)
  19. I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch) (Stereo LP)
  20. Get Ready (Stereo LP)
  21. Put Yourself In My Place (Stereo LP)
  22. Money (That's What I Want) (Stereo LP)
  23. Come And Get These Memories (Stereo LP)
  24. Hang On Sloopy (Stereo LP)
  25. Mickey's Monkey (Bonus Track)
  26. It's Not Unusual (Bonus Track)
  27. (I Can t Get No) Satisfaction (alternate vocal) (Bonus Track)
  28. Uptight (Everything's Alright) (alternate vocal) (Bonus Track)
  29. In My Lonely Room (alternate mix) (Bonus Track)

Disc: 2 - Bonus Tracks
  1. He s All I Got (alternate vocal)
  2. (Love Is Like A) Heat Wave (version 1)
  3. It's The Same Old Song (version 1)
  4. Mother Dear version 3 (alternate mix)
  5. Misery Makes It's Home In My Heart (alternate mix)
  6. Can I Get A Witness (alternate vocal)
  7. Don't Let True Love Die (alternate vocal)
  8. Just A Little Misunderstanding (alternate mix)
  9. Come On And See Me alternate mix
  10. This Old Heart Of Mine (Is Weak For You) (alternate vocal)
  11. Money (That's What I Want) (alternate vocal)
  12. Put Yourself In My Place (alternate vocal)
  13. These Boots Are Made For Walking (alternate vocal)
  14. Hang On Sloopy (alternate mix)
  15. Get Ready (alternate mix)
  16. Slow Down (alternate mix)
  17. What Becomes Of The Brokenhearted (alternate mix)
  18. What The World Needs Now Is Love (alternate mix)
  19. Blowin' In The Wind (alternate mix)
  20. With A Child's Heart (alternate vocal)
  21. Let The Music Play (alternate mix)
  22. Shake Me, Wake Me (When It's Over) (Supremes & Four Tops Duet)
  23. Love Is Like An Itching In My Heart (early versions the scratch it mix)
  24. Love Is Like An Itching In My Heart (The SupreMix)

MOTOWN 25:YESTERDAY-TODAY-FOREVER MARCH 25 1983

Highest moment was Michael Jackson's solo perfomance

The landmark television special Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever was filmed before a rapturous live audience on March 25, 1983, the Motown 25 special is perhaps best remembered for Michael Jackson’s performance of “Billie Jean,” which brought the house down and introduced much of the world to the “moonwalk.”

There were other great performances that night, too, but there were also moments that revealed cracks in the joyous-reunion image that Motown chief Berry Gordy sought to portray.

Motown 25: Yesterday Today Forever

The most glaring breakdown in decorum came during what could have been the evening’s greatest triumph: the reunion of Diana Ross and the Supremes. When Ross, Mary Wilson and Cindy Birdsong performed together that night for the first time in 13 years, they took to the stage with something closer to 20 years’ worth of unresolved resentment among them.



Early in their performance of “Someday We’ll Be Together,” as Diana slowly moved upstage, Mary and Cindy had the audacity to keep stride alongside her. Diana turned around and angrily pushed Mary back—a move that was carefully edited out of the later broadcast but which prompted Smokey Robinson and others to take the stage and form an impromptu chorus/demilitarized zone between the warring Supremes.

★NEW BOOK★ RHYTHM RIDE: A ROAD TRIP THROUGH THE MOTOWN SOUND!

I am getting this book very soon and cannot wait to review it! Right up my alley.. Thanks so much Andrea and Brittany!

“When a group of high school girls had first showed up at Hitsville in 1960 hoping to be discovered, one of them made Berry Gordy stop. And look. And consider. It was her singular beauty that caught his attention. She and her friends had formed a singing group called the Primettes. There were four of them— Florence ‘Flo’ Ballard, Barbara Martin, Mary Wilson, and the gawkiest one of them all, a tenth grader named Diane Ross.”

“When I look back on those days, it makes me proud to be the Groove. ‘Cause you see, the Groove is most alive when souls ache. I was there when mothers cried at the loss of their sons. Through my rhythm, I kept their broken hearts beating. I kept faith’s flame on the front burner when despair tried to take over.”

From critically-acclaimed author Andrea Davis Pinkney comes the story of the music that changed the world.

RHYTHM RIDE

A Road Trip through Motown Sound

by Andrea Davis Pinkney

Rhythm Ride is the story of the music that defined a generation and a movement that changed the world. Andrea Davis Pinkney has faithfully captured the celebration, controversy, and ultimate success that encapsulated this pivotal era in our country’s musical history.

With untold behind-the-scene stories and awe-inspiring photos that have never been published before, RHYTHM RIDE is a treat for the eyes, the ears, and the soul.

Andrea Davis Pinkney is a New York Times bestselling author of more than 20 books for children, many of them illustrated by her husband Brian Pinkney. She lives with her family in Brooklyn, New York.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY FLORENCE BALLARD

Born in Detroit on June 30, 1943, singer Florence Ballard, became famous in the 1960s as a member of The Supremes, a group which she started with childhood friends Mary Wilson and Diana Ross. She sang on 16 different Top 40 hits but left the group in 1967 after a dispute with Motown Records. She died on February 22, 1976 in Detroit, Michigan at only 32 years old. Read more on RK

HAPPY 70TH BIRTHDAY TO DIANA ROSS!

In a remarkable career spanning over 40 years, Diana Ross has proven herself the consummate music artist as well as one of the most iconic female singers of all time. 

★✨HAPPY BIRTHDAY!✨★ ♥K   

Diana Ross Greatest 23 Hits Medley

RETRO: HISTORIC MOTOWN PHOTOS

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DIANA ROSS!

Diana Ross first rose to fame as a founding member and lead singer of the biggest hit-making Motown group The Supremes during the 1960s. After leaving the group in 1970, Ross began a solo career that has included successful ventures into film and Broadway.

She received a Best Actress Academy Award nomination for her role as Billie Holiday in Lady Sings the Blues (1972), for which she won a Golden Globe award; making her the first African-American woman to achieve such a feat. She has won seven American Music Awards and won a Tony Award for her one-woman show, An Evening with Diana Ross, in 1977.

In 1976, Billboard magazine named her the "Female Entertainer of the Century." In 1993, the Guinness Book of World Records declared Diana Ross the most successful female music artist in history due to her success in the United States and the United Kingdom for having more hits than any female artist in the charts with a career total of 70 hit singles.

Diana Ross has sold more than 100 million records worldwide. In 1988, Ross was inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as member of the Supremes alongside Florence Ballard and Mary Wilson.

Ross is one of the few recording artists to have two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame—one as a solo artist and the other as a member of The Supremes. In December 2007, she received the Kennedy Center Honors. In 2012, Diana was finally honored by NARAS with a Lifetime Achievement Grammy Award in her 50th year in the music business.

MOTOWN GIRL GROUPS: THE GRIT, THE GLAMOUR, THE GLORY

 The Marvelettes

 Well the Rock Hall of Fame missed the boat again...Our fabulous Marvelettes didn't make it...but our beloved Motown Girl Groups will be honored January 31, 2013...Susan Whithall tells the story..

Motown Historical Museum to feature girl groups exhibit

By Susan Whitall

 The Marvelettes

From The Detroit News:

Motown's girl groups — the Supremes, The Vandellas, the Marvelettes, the Velvelettes and the Andantes — will be the focus of a new exhibit opening Jan. 31 at the Motown Historical Museum.

The exhibit "Girl Groups: The Grit, the Glamour, the Glory" will include girl group costumes and photos, many items from the singers themselves.

It was the Marvelettes who scored the fledgling record company's first No. 1 hit in 1961 with "Please, Mr. Postman," pushing Motown into the national spotlight and bringing much-needed cash into its coffers. The teenaged group was on the cusp of the girl group movement that dominated pop music in the early '60s. READ MORE

Like the Funk Brothers the Andantes were kind of under the radar fame wise.. They were a group of women vocalists who can be heard on virtually thousands of Motown Hits...Though somewhat obscure to the public, the Andantes had a mighty influence on Motown music....

The Andantes were Motown's famous backing girls. From the beginning of the sixties, right up to the early seventies, across about thirteen years, they managed to sing backing vocals on a staggering estimated twenty thousand songs. There were five members throughout the years, Jackie Hicks, Marlene Barrow, Louvain Demps, Pat Lewis, and Ann Bogan. Their one single on the V.I.P. label, "Like A Nightmare", is one of the rarest and most sought after Motown singles of all time.

The Velvelettes got their break chart wise in the spring of 1964 thanks to young producer Norman Whitfield, who produced "Needle In A Haystack" as a single for the group, on Motown's VIP Records imprint. "Needle In A Haystack" peaked at number 45 on the Billboard Hot 100 in mid 1964.

The group recorded its follow-up, "He Was Really Sayin' Somethin'", with Whitfield again producing, and spent time on various Motown-sponsored tours as a support act. In September 1964, after recording "Dancing In The Street" earlier in June, Betty Kelly officially left the group to join Martha and the Vandellas, and the quintet became a quartet.

The Vandellas

Martha and the Vandellas (known from 1967 to 1972 as Martha Reeves and the Vandellas) were among the most successful groups of the Motown roster during the period 1963-1967. In contrast to other Motown groups such as The Supremes and The Marvelettes, Martha and the Vandellas were known for a harder, R&B sound, typified by "(Love Is Like a) Heat Wave", "Nowhere to Run", "Jimmy Mack" and, their signature song, "Dancing in the Street".

The Motown Historical Museum 

 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. 

Tuesdays through Saturdays. 

Admission is $10 for adults, $8 for seniors and children.

ROCK HALL OF FAME 2013 NOMINEES LIST

THE ROCK N ROLL HALL OF FAME ANNOUNCEMENT

Randy Newman, Public Enemy, Rush, Chic, Heart, Donna Summer and Kraftwerk are among 15 diverse nominees up for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Also on the 2013 preliminary ballot are Deep Purple, the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, Albert King, The Marvelettes, The Meters, N.W.A. and Procol Harum.

Inductees will be determined by the hall's voting body of roughly 600 artists, historians and music industry professionals. An artist or band becomes eligible for a nomination 25 years after releasing a debut single or album. This year's nominees released their first recordings no later than 1987.

RETROKIMMER PICKS FOR INDUCTION

Though none of my favorites are on this list such as  THE MC5/GRAND FUNK RAILROAD/MITCH RYDER AND THE DETROIT WHEELS ETC...we will pick from their nominees...

I really like Kraftwerks, Public Enemy, Randy Newman and Donna Summer but "Rock" me thinks not...

Top of my list is.........

Procol Harum. Groundbreaking and influential...The quintet's soaring slow dance tune 'A Whiter Shade of Pale' remains a staple on classic rock radio 45 years after its release. In 1972, the band again made a mark with the orchestral 'Conquistador.'

  
Deep Purple. The British quintet, which helped define the heavy metal genre with its organ-driven thick sound and early covers of 'Hush' and 'Kentucky Woman,' hijacked the charts with 'Smoke on the Water' and 'Woman From Tokyo.' AND MY FAVORITE....

Heart. The Seattle band led by sisters Nancy, left, and Ann Wilson crafted a savvy blend of rock crunch and creamy balladry.

Albert King. Disciples of Cream and Jimi Hendrix soon discovered the source of their mournful blues licks in the trove of King's Stax recordings, which imprinted Eric Clapton, Joe Walsh, Stevie Ray Vaughn and Johnny Winter.

The Marvelettes. Gladys Horton, Katherine Anderson, Georgeanna Tillman and Wanda Young never reached the heights of The Supremes, but they enjoyed a supreme moment in Motown history with No. 1 hit 'Please Mr. Postman' in 1961

The Meters. The iconic New Orleans funk ensemble and house band for Allen Toussaint's Sansu label recorded 'Cissy Strut,' 'Look-Ka Py Py' and many tunes with Dr. John.

Randy Newman. The pop satirist, best known for 'Short People' and 'I Love L.A.,' has been writing and singing witty, sentimental and politically pointed tunes for four decades.

Donna Summer. Bringing equal measures of church and sex to the dance floor, the Queen of Disco racked up hits 'Hot Stuff,' 'Bad Girls,' 'MacArthur Park' and 'She Works Hard for the Money.'