Most underrated / underappreciated Motown Disco 12-inches?

As a twenty-six year old Motown nut, whose spent my past ten-and-a-half years previous collecting Motown through CDs [[proudest centerpiece, I would say, would be my Complete Motown number ones ten-disc set with the box modelled like the Hitsville USA), as of last Christmas, FINALLY GOT A RECORD PLAYER, WOO!

Now, no music, no matter how obscure, is out of my reach, as long as I could find it off of second hand stores, flea markets, or online stores hahaha!

So - Motown-maniacs out there, name off some great listens, from 1972 to 1987, those songs and artists whose sounds just as great, danceable, and most importantly, funky, as the real hitmakers of the time - Eddie Kendricks, Stevie Wonder, Diana Ross, Jackson Five, Commodores, Rick James - just the tragic facts that negligence and underpromotion never got them the recognition, airplay they should get?

12 inch:
Down To Love Town- the Originals
I Just Keep Thinking About You Baby - Tata Vega
I Can't Go On Living Without You Baby - Thelma Houston
I Need Your Lovin'- Teena Marie

I'll put up at list of things that start from 1976 .... when US Motown got the 12" habit ....
Bloodstone -- Just Wanna Get The Feel Of It
Tata Vega -- I Just Keep Thinking About You Baby
Platinum Hook - standing on the verge[[of getting it on) <<< disco-y
Willie Hutch -- Brothers Gonna Work It Out 12 " ... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dgQMc6cUPNw
The Temptations -- Do you really love your Baby
Originals -- Down To Love Town
Jerry Butler -- Chalk It Up
Finished Touch -- The Down Sound

Some newer items .......
D J Rogers Jr - Lonely Girl ..... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMua_a1sa3E
Be Be -- Brand New Dance

Bonnie Pointer - Heaven Must Have Sent You
Diana Ross & The Supremes Medley
Bonnie Pointer [[12" B side) - I Wanna Make It In Yoour World
Rick James - You and I
Jermaine Jackson - Let's Get Serious

Perhaps there is a market for a collection of 12" records that haven't made it onto a cd yet, perhaps an i-Tune release.
It could be called 12 Inches of Motown.

Bunny DeBarge--Save.....[[?)

Mandre's - "Freakin's Fine" 1979
Mary Wilson's - "Red Hot" 1979

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Originally Posted by RossHolloway

Perhaps there is a market for a collection of 12" records that haven't made it onto a cd yet, perhaps an i-Tune release.
It could be called 12 Inches of Motown.

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There is a 2 CD set "Motown Disco" that is mainly made up of 12" single releases.

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Originally Posted by luke

Bunny DeBarge--Save.....[[?)

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"Save The Best For Me", also titled "Save The Best For Me [[Best Of Your Lovin')".

The 12" deep blue series from 1976 to 1979 beginning with*M-00001D1 [[The Original's "Down to love town"/Jermaine Jackson's "Let's be young tonight")*and ending with*M-00035D1 [[Diana Ross' "No One Gets The Prize-The Boss"/"The Supremes Medley Of Hits")*was a quite cohesive one, almost flawless.

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Originally Posted by masterblaster

There is a 2 CD set "Motown Disco" that is mainly made up of 12" single releases.

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It is a great set. Including the stuff you'd expect such as "Love Hangover" and "High Energy," it includes some truly unusual pieces, like a version of Funkadelic's "Standing on the Verge of Gettin' it On" which I had never even heard of.

On vinyl, I always liked the selection and mixes on the Disc-o-Tech series, especially the later volumes. There were also the Magic Disco Machine LPs [[I think they were a separate series) with perhaps one volume devoted just to William Goldstein. Some of it was nice, some kind of bland. But the Disc-o-Techs had some great mixes of songs and they were segued together without in between fades.

Pops We Love You

The three "A Special Motown Disco Album" with all the hits segued together.

http://vinylsoundsgreat.com/3050-620...m-volume-2.jpg

Cover's A little risque, but hey, nothing compared to what Ohio Players covers suggests hahaha!

Hmmmm...Motown Party Pac looks a lil' promising also...High Inergy's "Shoulda Gone Dancing", Tata Vega's "I Just Keep Thinking About You Baby" / "Get It Up For Love"

Oooh, or High Inergy "Shoulda Gone Dancin'" paired up with Apollo's "Astro Disco"...never understood, why Motown pulled the plug on them, after that one song, that group had one of Berry's sons, Kerry, for cripe's sakes!

Many of the Motown 12 inch releases that went unnoticed went so for good reason.

Being too heavy-handed message-wise stunted this one's playability at the time , but once past that , one of Eddie's Philly best.

http://i.ebayimg.com/t/21ST-CREATION...7E%7E60_12.JPG

the Tailgate side, so so

A) Eddie Kendricks - if a pulsating number can get the people to boogie down, while doing so in the name of Jesus - that'd be awesome - which I'm sure "He's A Friend" and "Goin' Up In Smoke" more than did just that back in the day as well.

B) Maybe I'm just the kind of gullible Motown fanatic, that loves, or at least tries just about anything with the Motown / Tamla / Gordy / Soul / V.I.P. / Mowest / Rare Earth / and much later the Biv 10 label on it, but hey, exploration's part of the fun!

For instance, Golden-Glory-Days Motown, I am quite thankful that there was the Complete Motown Singles Program, on itunes. Personally, I feel Barbara McNair and the Lewis Sisters just as elegant, Frances Nero, Little Lisa, Lollipops, and the Elgins just as fun, and Monitors, Fantastic Four, and Chuck Jackson's Motown years, a lot more soulful. Shame that the Andantes only had one recorded song under their own name, while the early Rick James' "Mynah Birds" never had theirs released in the first place.

Further exploration into their catalog, for instance, by the eighties, Bobby Nunn, should have had his jams out there, on at least the Switch / Dazz Band levels. Carrie McDowell and Desiree Coleman, beyond me how they were left come-and-go after their sole, apparently largely unbothered to pick up records, despite the publicity of appearing in the 1987 Motown Christmas TV special, just like High Inergy appeared in Motown 25, and General Kane, his "Girl Pulled the Dog" has got to be the funkiest number ever under the Motown imprint.

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Originally Posted by Ngroove

Cover's A little risque, but hey, nothing compared to what Ohio Players covers suggests hahaha!

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The full series [[1976-1977-1978):

Here's the first one ;-)

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_8iVTxaMHZg...Coversmall.jpg

The second:

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6Qgyrf7Vyq...+Disco+two.jpg
*
And the third:

http://ring.cdandlp.com/all06/photo_.../108076131.jpg

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Originally Posted by masterblaster

There is a 2 CD set "Motown Disco" that is mainly made up of 12" single releases.

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Ditto on masterblaster; Motown Disco is fabulous. My favorites off Motown Disco are 21st Creation's Tailgate, Marvin Gaye's Got to Give it Up and Thelma Houston's Saturday Night, Sunday Morning. Also, the 12" mix of Diana Ross's No One Gets the Prize / The Boss and the Temptations' Power is stellar.

How about "Skip to My Lou" by FINIS HENDERSON ..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZG3M_hFJZg

I know it came out as a 12" in the U.K. but I'm not 100% sure whether it did in the U.S.

Roger

Saturday Night, Sunday Morning .... Thelma Houston
Shoulda Gone Dancin ...... High Inergy
Let's Go Back to day One ........ Magic Disco Machine
You Don't Know How Hard it is ......The Devastating Affair
Funky Music ............Yvonne Fair
Living Loving Giving.......diana ross

I thought poster wanted to know about the more obscure Motown acts, not the big names....:)

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Originally Posted by jack020

I thought poster wanted to know about the more obscure Motown acts, not the big names....

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Yeah..."Love Hangovers", "Keep On Truckins" and "Got To Give It Ups" can be found anywhere and everywhere...

Hmmm..."Skip To My Lou"...there's always import sellers [[otherwise, I would not have the UK Best of Syreeta or Chris Clark: the Motown Collection), so, that may still be a sooner-or-later.

If you can include UK only 12" releases ........
then you just can not top this track ............
shown here on a UK Motown 7" BUT also available here on a Motown promo 12" & issue 12" ....
............ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NA9X4Z8k9LY