Motown Fan Club question

This is really an odd question and will take some real old-timers to even remember or have an answer, but I thought I would take a stab at it. In the very late 60s or early 70s, the inner sleeves for many Motown albums were very colorful affairs and one of the things they promoted was an opportunity to join the "fan club" for one of your favorite Motown artists.

I am sure it was quite inexpensive or maybe even free and I distinctly remember that you were supposed to designate one artist that you wanted to join as opposed to the entire label. You were supposed to receive a photo of your favorite, a membership card I am sure, and two or three other items.

Being a teenager at the time who was just getting into Motown, this sounded like the best thing I had ever heard of, so of course I sent in the entry blank, choosing The Marvelettes as I recall as my preferred artist. But I never received anything back.

Does anyone else remember this and if so, did anyone ever actually receive their membership goodies?

From the early seventies the Motown-import albums were available as cut-outs at very low prices in the Netherlands. I remeber having sent a letter to join a fan club, but months later the letter came back as undeliverable.

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Originally Posted by motown_marc

From the early seventies the Motown-import albums were available as cut-outs at very low prices in the Netherlands. I remeber having sent a letter to join a fan club, but months later the letter came back as undeliverable.

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I'm pretty sure I joined and got a picture of Mary Wilson - my favorite Supreme.

I remember something like that and yes I received a few items back from Motown.

since I still have most of my Lps, I'll look again but I'm sure it was NOT free...it was $2.50 if my memory is accurate [[the cost or close to the cost of an LP back then), so I never joined.It went to a PO Box not 2648 W Grand.

In 1969, some Motown albums carried an inner sleeve that had no albums, but was called MOTOWN FAN BAG. For $3.00 each you could join the fan club of your favorite artist and receive:

A Motown Fan Bag designed by a famous Hollywood artist
A mobile kit with portraits of 7 Motown artists on one side, and POP ART designs on the other
A book cover with photos of Motown artists
A photo folder
A membership card
A welcome letter
A newsletter

The acts to choose from were:
David Ruffin
Bobby Taylor
Four Tops
The Marvelettes
Martha Reeves and the Vandellas
Marvin Gaye
Diana Ross and the Supremes
The Temptations
Smokey Robinson and the Miracles
Gladys Knight and the Pips
Stevie Wonder
Edwin Starr

On 1970 inner sleeves, the price went down to $2.00 each. The artists were the same except they dropped Edwin Starr, and added the Jackson 5. And Diana Ross and the Supremes were now separate acts.For joining you would get:

An 11x17 pster
8x10 action photos
A membership card
A welcome letter
A sheet of 20 photo stamps
A Motown memo pad

Other items like book covers and bumper stickers could be ordered separately.

Unfortuantely, I was too young to order these things. But I'd love to see them. Besides membership buttons, I've never seen these items.

Yep that is pretty much what I remembered. Thanks for such a detailed post.

I am so LOL and EMBARASSED to tell you all.....

It was the mid-80's before I found out that the Supremes continued without Diana Ross. Remember, this was pre-internet, and there weren't a lot of Motown books out there [[at least books that i could get access to). It was several years later that I first learned that Mary Wilson / The Supremes even had a fan club though Mary's "Dreamgirl" book. I believe it was a PO Box address for Carl's group. Anyway.....

I was at the local thrift store and found a copy of "New Ways". An LP by the Supremes? I spent HOURS trying to figure out which Supreme was Diana, LOL. From my other LP's, I could determine who Mary was, Cindy I wasn't so sure about. So for a while, I actually thought Jean was Diana. Oops.

Okay, back to the topic: the "New Ways" LP had the paper insert of which you all are speaking. Send in $2.00 or $3.00 and become a member of the "Motown Fan Club". Thankfully [[I suppose) I didn't send in any $$$, but I did cut out the order form portion and sent it along with a nice letter, asking, well, since this LP came out in 1970 and it's now 1982 or 1983, was the fan club still in business? I SO WANTED that mobile with the 7 Motown artists on one side and "pop art" on the other. Honey, we had NOTHING like this in Minnesota.

Of course, I waited and waited and waited and never got a reply. I suppose the PO Box address was long closed, or whomever opened my letter thought, who is this fool? LOL. I still get a chuckle whenever I play that "New Ways" LP' there's the paper sleeve with a square shape cut right smack at the bottom. To be young again.....

Reminds me of another story [[it's a rainy day here; hope you all don't mind.....): it was shortly thereafter this that I was downtown Saint Paul [[at a REAL RECORD STORE) and came across a "cut out" of the Jimmy Webb LP. What the hell is this weed on the front, LOL. And honey, if you thought I had a hard time figuring out who Diana was on the "New Ways" LP, imagine me trying to figure out where Cindy went on the back of that record, LOL. Where were the matching gowns? What is this knit hat business? And look at those wigs! LOL.

Of course, kids now a days have access to just about everything. What a task it was to try and learn as much as I could about Diana leaving the Supremes and the Supremes continuing on. Who were all these members? HOW MANY MORE LP's were out there? Now you can just go to Hip-O Select and just order the Jean Terrell Years or the Final Sessions, but 30 years ago, it was a TASK!

And since I'm on a roll.....it was at GREAT AMERICAN MUSIC [[remember those?) in Southdale Mall that I found the "High Energy" LP. I won't even go into how hard it was figuring out which Supreme was who, LOL. Of course now I know it's the magnificent Scherrie Payne and my beloved Susaye Greene on the back pictures. How SUPREME they all looked! Truth be told, at the time, I don't know that I even knew this was a Supremes record; I think I thought it was by a group called "HIGH ENERGY". But there were three gorgeous women on the back, and that was good enough for me! I BEGGED my sister to take me home RIGHT AWAY so I could play this "new" LP. It seemed like an HOUR DRIVE home [[which in reality is more like 20 minutes.....if Southdale Mall is even there anymore......) What I heard was pure bliss! Mary and Scherrie and Susaye [[and now, years later, Cindy) hootin' and hollerin' and serving joyful noise to the ears.

Ahhhh....the good old days. LOL.

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Originally Posted by marybrewster

I am so LOL and EMBARASSED to tell you all.....

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That's actually a great story. Better than mine. I became a Motown fan in the early 90s. At that point the only recording I had was my mother's copy of "Greatest Hits" so I knew the girls were Diana, Mary and Florence. One of the first CDs I picked up was the "Supremes 70s: Greatest Hits and Rare Classics" [[with the dark blue cover). I spent hours trying to figure out who was who from the front to the back photo. At first I thought Cindy was Flo. Mary was Mary and Jean clearly wasn't Diana. I only eventually got it... that the group line up changed. Then on the inside at the bottom I noticed the designation for the different lead vocalists as Jean Terrell, Mary Wilson and Scherrie Payne. So I assumed that Jean and Cindy was either Jean or Scherrie on the front. But that left the back, which left me completely confused. It was clearly a different face. Remember, even though this was the early 90s, information was still more difficult than not to get, especially if you didn't know enough to go to the bookstore and look for autobiographies written by the singers, which I didn't know to do. Even then, you had to have a title for them to look it up [[I think it was still pre-computer records at my bookstore). I don't remember when or how I learned a) that Flo was replaced by Cindy, b) that Diana left in 1970, c) or that by the end Mary was the only founding Supreme, but that was a bit of a shock. I had the most naive view that group line ups didn't change!