For nearly half a century, the name Motown has been an integral component in the vernacular of popular culture. Ask practically anyone, and the mere mention of the fabricated contraction of 'Motor Town' (aka Detroit, Michigan) immediately conjures specific sonic imagery. For some, the word might evoke a particular artist. It often represents a specific musical style that wasn't quite soul (yet remains eternally soulful), and yet not exactly straightforward pop, either. That said, during its halcyon heydays, Motown racked up more chart-topping singles than The Beatles, Elvis, The Rolling Stones, and Elton John combined!
Motown is a record label formed by Detroit entrepreneur Berry Gordy Jr. in 1959. Prior to music becoming his stock-in-trade, Gordy pursued a variety of career choices, including: training as a professional boxer, working on Ford Motor Company's Lincoln/Mercury assembly line, and owning a small record shop whose main clientele was jazz fans. Those occupations were short-lived, and Gordy's initial bout with recurring success came as the composer of Jackie Wilson's first three Top 40 entries: "To Be Loved," "Lonely Teardrops," and "That's Why (I Love You So)."
Armed with a three-peat of consecutive achievements, he petitioned other members of the Gordy family to loan him an $800 supplement to add to his own sizable capital expenditures. Little did those skeptical relatives, or probably even Gordy himself, realize that their investment would grow into a multimillion dollar dynasty that is still producing top-shelf acts in 2005, including Brian McKnight, Erykah Badu, India Arie, and Remy Shand.
A row developed when Gordy and members of Jackie Wilson's camp could not come to terms over pending royalties. The resulting acrimonious split between the two ultimately left Gordy a free agent.
Regardless of how shrewd his business acumen or prodigious his skill as a songwriter, Gordy certainly couldn't have gotten his ambitious project off the ground without significant help. From the outset, Motown was a team effort. William "Smokey" Robinson, Gordy's sister, Anna, and wife, Raynoma, were all by his side at the beginning, although they are rarely credited for their crucial roles during the conception and birth of Gordy's musical nation.
After purchasing the soon-to-be-legendary house at 2648 West Grand Boulevard, Gordy appointed the upper floors for A&R, publicity, and general day-to-day affairs, and transformed the basement/garage into the recording studio. He then proceeded to hand select a staff from the local jazz clubs and R&B bandstands, taking full advantage of the massive pool of talented and eager instrumentalists, vocalists, and audio technicians that Detroit had to offer in the late 1950s. The personnel that turned up in those formative years became the heart and soul of the Motown house band, better known as The Funk Brothers. Their story was the subject of the award-winning documentary, Standing In The Shadows Of Motown (2002), which is nothing short of required viewing for any fan of Motown. No joke, if you haven't seen the biopic and you care enough to have read thus far, might I humbly suggest book-marking where you left off and making whatever arrangements are required to view the film. Your local public library or any reputable video rental outlet should easily be able to assist in locating a copy on DVD.
Among the earliest contributors that Gordy secured were the rock-solid rhythm section of James Jamerson (bass), Benny "Papa Zita" Benjamin (drums), and Richard "Pistol" Allen (drums). These three were ably supported by the core combo of Joe Hunter (keyboards), Earl Van Dyke (keyboards), Robert White (guitar), Eddie Willis (guitar), Joe Messina (guitar), Jack Ashford (percussion/vibes), Eddie "Bongo" Brown (percussion), Thomas "Beans" Bowles (sax/concertmaster), and Paul Riser (trombone/arranger). Although others floated in and out of "The Snakepit" (so called because of the audio cables that cascaded from the ceiling connecting the producers and engineers in the control room to the musicians' performance area) these were the key participants during the genesis of the unmistakable Motown groove. Likewise, they all remained central figures in what would soon be known as "The Sound Of Young America."
It's a little-known fact that Motown was not the name that first graced the inaugural sides produced under Gordy's care. The word "TAMLA" was emblazoned across the top of the debut disc "Come To Me" (co-written by Gordy), which hit Detroit record shelves and regional airwaves in January of 1959. The name was a derivative of "Tammy" and was inspired by the Debbie Reynolds' song. But "Tammy" had already been copyrighted, so he morphed it into the more familiar Tamla Records imprint. It wasn't until September of '59 that The Miracles' "Bad Girl" b/w (backed with) "I Love Your Baby" became the premiere Motown Records release.
Similarly, it would take the better part of the spring and summer of '59 before The Snakepit was fully outfitted into the legendary Studio A. In the interim, Gordy utilized other local facilities like United Sound, PAC-3, and even the lower floor of local deejay Bristol Bryant's house. Barrett Strong's "Money (That's What I Want)" is the first track generally credited to have been created at 2648 West Grand Boulevard. It also became the label's entree into the national scene. Not bad for a company that had only issued a handful of singles so far.
Unbelievably, 2009 will mark Motown's Golden Anniversary. As that is four years away, it might seem a bit premature to begin the celebrations. For some, like yours truly, the party has never stopped when it comes to enjoying the aural alchemy associated with the likes of Smokey Robinson & The Miracles, Martha & The Vandellas, The Marvelettes, Marvin Gaye, The Temptations, The Four Tops, The Supremes, The Spinners, Gladys Knight & The Pips, Stevie Wonder, or The Jackson Five. Mind you, that is the short list of top-shelf talent to have surfaced under the Motown moniker.
The team of archivists behind the Grammy-worthy Complete Motown Singles series obviously feels the same way, as they have accepted the undeniably daunting, yet enviable task of bringing every one of the nearly 800 seven-inch platters into the digital domain. That's around 16,000 tunes, altogether. Each of the twelve projected compendiums is being made available in elaborate limited edition packages. The initial installment is currently available through the Internet-accessible audio boutique Hip-OSelect. Volume One covers the formative years 1959 to the end of 1961, and comprises a total of 155 songs spread over six CDs. (The remaining eleven multi-disc anthologies will be limited to the songs released during only one specific year.) The oversized hardback album not only houses the CDs in a replica of an original Tamla 45 rpm sleeve, it also contains a playable 7" pressing of Barrett Strong's breakthrough "Money (That's What I Want)" b/w "Oh I Apologize" vinyl single. The accompanying 92 pages of text are highlighted with song-by-song annotations, a complete cross-referenced discography of the era, and scores of rarely published photos. The Complete Motown Singles: Vol. 1: 1959 — 1961 begins the process of reaffirming Motown's place in music history. This collection presents an aural snapshot at the point where pop music inextricably intersected with rhythm and blues and rock-and-roll.
CrutchfieldAdvisor was fortunate enough to spend the morning of February 10, 2005 in conversation with Mr. Harry Weinger, Vice President of Artists & Repertoire for Universal Music Enterprises (UMe), which owns and distributes Motown Records. If one individual can be singled out as a primary motivating factor behind the preservation and release of all things related to Motown, it is without question the multi-Grammy Award winning Mr. Weinger. From his Manhattan office, we delved into what it takes to bring such a mammoth undertaking to fruition. Even better, Mr. Weinger revealed some recently unearthed and soon-to-be-released gems from the mines.
Lindsay Planer: Let me begin by thanking you for your time. Tell me about what led you to work not only with developing the Motown back catalog, but with Universal Music.
Harry Weinger: I've been doing things in the entertainment business for about 25 years. I was an engineer at a radio station, I wrote for Cashbox magazine, and worked at Polygram in the 80s. I left there and did some freelance work. When I returned in '92, I had already done the James Brown Star Time box set, which won a Grammy for my liner notes, and "Reissue Of The Year" and those kinds of things. It also was in the New York Times' Top 25 Recordings Of The 20th Century.
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Anyway, I returned to Polygram in the early '90s to work specifically in catalog development. At the time, Motown moved (their headquarters from Los Angeles) to New York and had their own internal, self-contained catalog group. When the company moved, that changed, and Motown became part of the Polygram Catalog Group, which evolved into Universal Catalog Group, or UMe. I guess you could say I volunteered myself to be the guy who would look after the Motown Catalog. When Standing In The Shadows Of Motown was being developed as a film, [author and producer] Allan Slutski and the other film producers were looking to place the soundtrack [on a label]. UMe stepped up and got [it]. Then he and I were able to co-produce the soundtrack and it subsequently won a Grammy.
LP: I consider the expanded two-CD Deluxe Edition of Standing In The Shadows Of Motown and the double DVD of the film akin to Pop Music History 101.
HW: Yeah, I actually contributed to the trivia track (on the DVD) too. I worked with another person who was in another part of the country and did some social and historical things and added more information about the guys that weren't in the film.
LP: Such as the comments when arranger Paul Riser is talking and you mention that, "he's being modest because he is actually a really good trombone player?"
HW: Yeah, I wrote all that stuff. When Joan Osborne is up there singing "(Love Is Like A) Heat Wave," you have across the bottom of the screen when it was first recorded, who recorded it, and stuff like that.
LP: On a related note, another side-project that I know you worked on is the karaoke-style releases that The Singing Machine company have been issuing over the last few years. What makes them so essential for those of us who are not into the whole social karaoke scene is that you provide the original stereo backing track without vocals. So, in essence, anyone with the notion can sing "Second That Emotion" — with the exact same instrumental support that Smokey Robinson used on his hit single, right?
HW: Absolutely. There are a dozen discs in the series so far and more on the way. I am glad you like them. Yeah, the Funk Brothers deserve to be heard in that way.
LP: So once you got the Motown catalog under your belt back in the mid '90s, what was the first project that you personally worked on?
HW: Well, there were two things that I had done prior to the label being relocated in New York City. One is I had worked with Terry Mansfield on the Hitsville USA — The Motown Singles Collection four-disc box set. He had developed it and I was hired as one of the liner notes writers. I helped piece them together and made some other suggestions, but it was really his project. I worked on it with him as an Associate Producer.
In 1994 I produced the Temptations' Emperors Of Soul box set for Motown, who had just made the switch to Polygram. That division had developed the Ultimate Collection series of single discs that were all the mono singles on a full-priced package with 20 - 25 tracks per title. I redeveloped it as a place where there would be as many of the original singles as possible on one disc in their original form.
LP: Was that a sort of template for the other four-disc boxes for Marvin Gaye, The Four Tops, and The Supremes?
HW: The Marvin Gaye box came out the same year as the Temps, but I did not do that one.
LP: Did the advent of the Hip-OSelect Internet-only audio boutique make the Complete Motown Singles project viable?
HW: Yes. Commercially, it seemed too big. However, when Hip-OSelect happened, we all just kind of went, "Duh — there it is."
LP: How many years have gone into this monumental undertaking thus far, now that the first installment has just been issued?
HW: It's a few years in the making and in the conversation. I've not necessarily been working day to day for many years, but it's been an idea for a very long time. I work with Bill Levenson, Universal Music Enterprises Senior Vice President of A&R, and every now and again he'd call me at my office and say, "Why don't we do this? We're doing all these (Motown) compilations, wouldn't it be great if we just had every single in a nice box?"
Every now and again we'd float it as an idea: "Gee, it would be great to have the 50-disc box of just everything during the Detroit era." When Hip-OSelect arrived on the scene, we realized there was an outlet for this project to really happen. So, I would say we worked on it for? well, it kind of happened fast. We worked on the first volume for probably about a year; and then at the time we did that, there was a complete discography done of everything through '72.
LP: One of the things that occurs to me about Motown — the very word, in fact — is that for almost 50 years, Motown has been a part of the pop vernacular. Not just music, either — Motown is ingrained in the entire culture. You cannot say that about any other record label. Depending on who you're talking to, Motown means something different to everyone — without consideration of race or social upbringing. In that way, you are like an archivist who is bringing history alive for new generations of listeners, some of whom are probably not even born yet. What are you learning and what are you trying to present in addition to a collection of good music?
HW: Well, you know, it (Motown) didn't just spring forth with "(Love Is Like A) Heat Wave," "Where Did Our Love Go," and "My Girl." (This early era) is a struggling period, where they're really working off their passion to do something. We (as consumers) didn't know what that something was just yet, except to make some records.
There comes a point in everyone's career where you only think of just getting the job done. You're not really looking long-term, thinking, "How can I create a real business, an industry?" You're just trying to pay the bills. Berry Gordy bought the house at 2648 West Grand Boulevard in Detroit, hired people he knew from the neighborhood, and musicians he knew from the clubs. He was trying to copy the success of Jackie Wilson; trying to copy the New York soul scene like the Drifters and Brill Building; trying to copy surf music, and then still sell blues and gospel in small but steady numbers to the core constituents of Detroit and Chicago and that area. You're hoping for something to happen, but you don't really know what's around the corner. Gordy had the idea to hire a big sales guy and really hone in on the songwriting. He was writing and producing everything in the beginning, and at some point he had to move away from that and begin to look at the long term. So, on Complete Motown Singles: Vol. 1: 1959 — 1961, we hear the period when everyone is still kind of hangin' out and just trying to make something stick.
LP: I think it's interesting that right out of the chute, with the first track, Marv Johnston's "Come To Me," he had a chart hit. That's not too shabby.
HW: Yeah, they had three or four major hits in that period. As we mention in the booklet, it is also when "Shop Around" happens that Barney Ales, the sales guy, comes in and "Please Mr. Postman" is a crossover #1 and a million seller.
LP: You can tell that Gordy is trying to recreate the sound that was such a success for Jackie Wilson on the Marv Johnson track "Come To Me." If you play that and a Jackie Wilson track side by side, only the diehards would be able to tell the difference. We're here 50 years later still talking about it, so where do you think Motown was different from labels such as Stax from Memphis or Chess out of Chicago?
HW: I think that the people at Motown really went for appealing to everyone. Chess, I think they really had a specific audience in mind. Stax was going to be R&B. I mean, that's the music they loved and if it crossed over, great. However, Motown wanted to cross over. That's what everyone wanted to do. They all wanted it. The songs were more universal in tone and in production. People fall in love with those songs, so they fall in love with Motown.
LP: Because Gordy ran his team and company like the Detroit factories — 24/7 production line with everyone doing their part — would you say that during Motown's Detroit era, more stuff remained unreleased than was initially issued?
HW: That would be hard to quantify. There may have been. However, what is physically on the tapes is only one master. You know, there's maybe one or two other versions. In other words, if it took 20 takes to do "Shop Around," maybe there are two tapes instead of just one, because they would reuse the tape until they got it right. There's lots of stuff in the vault because they recorded all day, every day. But I couldn't quantify that in any way. There are lots of unreleased tracks, but whether there's more or less, I don't know. Stevie Wonder did 30 albums — what is that, 400 songs? Do you think there are 400 unreleased tracks in our vault? I don't know.
LP: Having worked so closely with the archives, would you say that this project is the largest endeavor you've ever undertaken?
HW: All at once, yeah. I mean, absolutely. You know, we're talking about a total of probably 1,300 to 1,400 songs over the next four years.
HW: It's a few years in the making and in the conversation. I've not necessarily been working day to day for many years, but it's been an idea for a very long time. I work with Bill Levenson, Universal Music Enterprises Senior Vice President of A&R, and every now and again he'd call me at my office and say, "Why don't we do this? We're doing all these (Motown) compilations, wouldn't it be great if we just had every single in a nice box?"
Every now and again we'd float it as an idea: "Gee, it would be great to have the 50-disc box of just everything during the Detroit era." When Hip-OSelect arrived on the scene, we realized there was an outlet for this project to really happen. So, I would say we worked on it for? well, it kind of happened fast. We worked on the first volume for probably about a year; and then at the time we did that, there was a complete discography done of everything through '72.
LP: One of the things that occurs to me about Motown — the very word, in fact — is that for almost 50 years, Motown has been a part of the pop vernacular. Not just music, either — Motown is ingrained in the entire culture. You cannot say that about any other record label. Depending on who you're talking to, Motown means something different to everyone — without consideration of race or social upbringing. In that way, you are like an archivist who is bringing history alive for new generations of listeners, some of whom are probably not even born yet. What are you learning and what are you trying to present in addition to a collection of good music?
HW: Well, you know, it (Motown) didn't just spring forth with "(Love Is Like A) Heat Wave," "Where Did Our Love Go," and "My Girl." (This early era) is a struggling period, where they're really working off their passion to do something. We (as consumers) didn't know what that something was just yet, except to make some records.
There comes a point in everyone's career where you only think of just getting the job done. You're not really looking long-term, thinking, "How can I create a real business, an industry?" You're just trying to pay the bills. Berry Gordy bought the house at 2648 West Grand Boulevard in Detroit, hired people he knew from the neighborhood, and musicians he knew from the clubs. He was trying to copy the success of Jackie Wilson; trying to copy the New York soul scene like the Drifters and Brill Building; trying to copy surf music, and then still sell blues and gospel in small but steady numbers to the core constituents of Detroit and Chicago and that area. You're hoping for something to happen, but you don't really know what's around the corner. Gordy had the idea to hire a big sales guy and really hone in on the songwriting. He was writing and producing everything in the beginning, and at some point he had to move away from that and begin to look at the long term. So, on Complete Motown Singles: Vol. 1: 1959 — 1961, we hear the period when everyone is still kind of hangin' out and just trying to make something stick.
LP: I think it's interesting that right out of the chute, with the first track, Marv Johnston's "Come To Me," he had a chart hit. That's not too shabby.
HW: Yeah, they had three or four major hits in that period. As we mention in the booklet, it is also when "Shop Around" happens that Barney Ales, the sales guy, comes in and "Please Mr. Postman" is a crossover #1 and a million seller.
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LP: You can tell that Gordy is trying to recreate the sound that was such a success for Jackie Wilson on the Marv Johnson track "Come To Me." If you play that and a Jackie Wilson track side by side, only the diehards would be able to tell the difference. We're here 50 years later still talking about it, so where do you think Motown was different from labels such as Stax from Memphis or Chess out of Chicago?
HW: I think that the people at Motown really went for appealing to everyone. Chess, I think they really had a specific audience in mind. Stax was going to be R&B. I mean, that's the music they loved and if it crossed over, great. However, Motown wanted to cross over. That's what everyone wanted to do. They all wanted it. The songs were more universal in tone and in production. People fall in love with those songs, so they fall in love with Motown.
LP: Because Gordy ran his team and company like the Detroit factories — 24/7 production line with everyone doing their part — would you say that during Motown's Detroit era, more stuff remained unreleased than was initially issued?
HW: That would be hard to quantify. There may have been. However, what is physically on the tapes is only one master. You know, there's maybe one or two other versions. In other words, if it took 20 takes to do "Shop Around," maybe there are two tapes instead of just one, because they would reuse the tape until they got it right. There's lots of stuff in the vault because they recorded all day, every day. But I couldn't quantify that in any way. There are lots of unreleased tracks, but whether there's more or less, I don't know. Stevie Wonder did 30 albums — what is that, 400 songs? Do you think there are 400 unreleased tracks in our vault? I don't know.
LP: Having worked so closely with the archives, would you say that this project is the largest endeavor you've ever undertaken?
HW: All at once, yeah. I mean, absolutely. You know, we're talking about a total of probably 1,300 to 1,400 songs over the next four years.
LP: One of the technological advancements that you have built into the release of those 1,300 to 1,400 songs is that they are going to be available exclusively for download via i-Tunes. I have seen and sampled tracks from this first set and the sound is virtually indistinguishable from the actual CDs. Will every volume be available for download like this one is?
HW: Yep, that's the plan.
LP: You're revolutionary in that aspect. I can't think of any new box sets that have that going for them. To me, it's a step in the right direction, because all my friends are i-Pod users. We're users on the go.
HW: Well, you're gonna miss out on the packaging.
LP: True, and I wanted to get to that, especially the fact that you guys put an honest-to-God 45 rpm 7" single in there! How cool is that?! Whose idea was that?
HW: I don't remember whether it was a designer or it was someone else. [Each of] the album-like packages will be the same, so that folks who have purchased them all can house them in a special sort of container.
LP: As you were in the trenches, so to speak, getting the raw material together, what did you find to be the most challenging aspect — especially for the inaugural set?
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HW: There isn't tape for every song. I'd say 15% of them have no tape left. Motown, in the early days especially, was not saving their masters, because, who knew it was gonna last? I think the challenge was not being able to really compare different versions, because so many of those songs are rare. We know what "Money (That's What I Want)" sounds like and we know what "Please, Mr. Postman" sounds like, or we know what "Shop Around" sounds like, but there's two different versions of "You Can Depend On Me." There's this (relatively unknown) guy called Herman Griffin, there are these (lesser-known) artists such as Nick and the Jaguars, too. You have to dig deep to find their 45's. I think the challenge is making sure what you've got is the definitive statement. We have since discovered that there are probably a couple of little things that are a little bit off, but not by much.
LP: This is obviously a huge labor of love. Were there any hoops or rings of fire that you had to jump through that maybe the average consumer wouldn't know about?
HW: I think just the volume of information. I reached out to Bill Dahl, who has written a bunch of notes. He really had his fingers on so many people who are not well known — some of the obscure artists and producers. And he was able to get them to talk about it. You know, I think we all think of Motown as a blanket thing. There was the '60s, they moved to LA, and there was the '70s. They had some hits in the '80s, and there was a struggle and they moved to New York, tried to make it back — but you know, we love the classics. To take a helicopter view of everything and hone in on one moment, one series of moments in one specific year, that's tough to do.
LP: Unlike some who have gotten into the remastering and reissuing game, you have been very upfront about using vinyl masters, and I appreciate that.
HW: Yeah, I would want to know and I don't even mind.
LP: How did you find such clean copies of the 45s? Can you walk me through the process from stylus to mastering?
HW: Well, we worked with a number of different collectors. Keith Hughes in England had a professional ex-BBC turntable at home, and he had mint copies. He would burn them on to CD off of his professional BBC turntable. Then they'd come to New York and go through a series of high-end cleaning.
LP: So vinyl was probably the most challenging aspect of this set?
HW: First is [finding out] what is there [in the vault]. I think that's really first, because it was before the [studio] bookings and [recording] studio were formalized [and] before there really was proper paperwork. At some point [in the early '60s], when Motown got busy, Motown got very organized — to the point where some of their internal paperwork has in the corner little letters, MRC, and then a number. They had specific stationary that they would order.
They punched a clock at the studio, A&R had a half hour for lunch, and they couldn't play cards. Eventually, there were [internal] memos going around. This is before all that stuff. And so sometimes we'd find a master that didn't have a vocal on it — this is the only version of whatever song, and you'd play it and there wouldn't be hand claps, or there wouldn't be background. Or it would be the exact version of the song you want, but there's no background or vocals. So that was a big challenge. And then to go to vinyl, it's not the optimum — but it's the optimum for what we had in hand.
LP: It beats a lot of the reissue labels who don't even cop to using vinyl as their sources. Plus, your noise reduction is much better than a lot of the stuff I have heard. At what point will that not be a problem?
HW: Volume Two, the next one.
LP: Each year, starting after '62, will be one set — you will take that through what year?
HW: 1972.
LP: At that point they had moved from Detroit to Los Angeles?
HW: Right. They were still doing work there [Detroit] from '64-on, but they moved the home office.
LP: Why not go through the '80s? Why did you stop at the end of Detroit?
HW: Well, we wanted to encapsulate an era and this is the era. This is the definitive statement of what Motown released. At the time, they were the hottest thing going — before and during.
LP: Besides yourself and Mr. Hughes, who are the other unsung heroes/heroines that were on the team that you want to mention?
HW: Well, Ellen Fitton at Universal Mastering Studios-East, certainly. Ellen is the mastering engineer whose main job was just wrestling with the tape.
LP: Are the vaults in good shape? Is there any oxide degradation that you're going to have to consider?
HW: Well, you know, there's always issues that you come up against. It's always just time and molecules.
LP: Obviously the 12 boxes are building up to the 50th anniversary in 2009. What else do you guys have in the pipeline that you might want to tune us into?
HW: Watch this space and let's hope we're all still here.
LP: I also want to ask you about some of the other Motown-related items that have been made available in limited editions from Hip-OSelect. I notice you use the venue to release expanded editions of classic albums, and to offer titles domestically for the first time. Are these your pet projects?
HW: Well, we all contribute. I'm the closest to the tapes. I have the most experience in that area, so it comes to me, but we all contribute.
LP: Tell me about the series of live albums that were previously only available in Japan. In the case of The Jackson Five In Japan!, you offer the only live collection that has ever been available of the original quintet. The Supremes In Japan! is equally notable, as it captures a performance by the short-lived incarnation of Jean Terrell (sister of boxer Ernie Terrell), with Lynda Laurence, and Mary Wilson (who is the only original Supreme). This line-up lasted less than 18 months. So, I guess my question is: Do you look specifically for rare occurrences to mandate what gets released?
HW: Well, part of Hip-OSelect's mandate is to put out packages that are just albums and don't have bonus tracks or anything special, other than that they have not been available. So really what exists is simply just that record, that iconic record. We were thinking of what could we do in the world of Motown. I said, "Well, look, these (Live In Japan! titles) haven't even been out in America, let alone on CD. So, let's start there."
LP: What are some of the upcoming things you have planned for imminent release? For instance, the Motown Sings Motown Treasures set featuring well-know artists singing songs that are not necessarily identified with them — such as The Spinners singing "Shop Around," or The Jackson Five doing "You've Really Got A Hold On Me." Are you doing more of those?
HW: In the next few months there's gonna be a Martha and the Vandellas, as well as a Four Tops edition of the Lost and Found series of unreleased studio and live recordings. We are also preparing Marvin Gaye Live at the Copa, which never came out. As far as Motown Sings Motown Treasures, I hope so. Not this year, but I hope so. Like I said, "Watch This Space for more details."