Let's Share Some of Our Special Motown Collectables

[kenneth]

Hi Friends,

I posted yesterday a photo of an autographed Mary Wells LP that I found in my collection.

Since we're all on a kind of hiatus, I thought it might be fun if we used a thread to share some of our favorite Motown collectables. Before the holidays, my buddy Gary [[philles/motown_Gary) posted his Spector LP collection which was fun to view.

Perhaps you have something in your collection you'd like to share with SDF. This is a good time if you do.

Thanks!

Kenneth

[WaitingWatchingLookingForAChance]

Once i get home from work i will post a few of mine!

[kenneth]

Here's something else from my collection that might be of interest, the Motown 1971-1972 catalog. I'm showing here the front/back covers, and the Listing by Artists of all the available albums.

I find two things surprising about the catalog, both Supremes related. The first is that neither Diana Ross nor the Supremes have any albums pictured on either the front or back cover aside from the Supremes & 4 Tops "Dynamite" LP. From the catalog, Diane's most recent album was "Everything is Everything" which has a later catalog number than "Surrender," but I think we've discussed here before that "Everything" was released before the other LP.

The other thing I find of interest is that the catalog includes a number and order for the Supremes' "Promises Kept," which of course never got released.

The rest of the catalog are basically order forms for the entire albums in print.

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[WaitingWatchingLookingForAChance]

No worries! I am now getting used to tilting my head to the side!

[WaitingWatchingLookingForAChance]

So I too, at more than one time, went into the the poor house on ebay. There was a seller who would every now and then have a boatload of rare Motown photographs. They were just too good to pass up and I accept full responsibility for irresponsibly running up huge credit card balances to get as many of these as I could. Here is one of those photos. 16986

[WaitingWatchingLookingForAChance]

16988 Amazing that someone had these just laying around somewhere... and it only took me a million Easy Installments to pay for it and a few others!

[kenneth]

@WaitingWatching, what great photos. I recognize Duke in the first photo but who is it with him? It looks a little like Smokey but not quite.

Also, who is the handsome guy in the color photo? I love his shirt. I'd love to find one like that. It has a real vintage look and would be totally cool to wear.

[lockhartgary]

@kenneth, When I hover over the color photo it says "jimmy ruffin- fan photograph."

Guy in B/W photo looks to me like one of the Holland brothers.

[marv2]

There were a lot of rare items at Hitsville when I volunteered there back in the 80s. I remember holding the original album artwork for the Supremes "Reflections" album. You could see the pencil marks from the stencil and even the outtakes from the photos the cut up to use on the album cover. There were shoes long forgotten by artists, gowns, jackets, cigarette cases, you name it.

[marv2]

@WaitingWatching, what great photos. I recognize Duke in the first photo but who is it with him? It looks a little like Smokey but not quite.

Also, who is the handsome guy in the color photo? I love his shirt. I'd love to find one like that. It has a real vintage look and would be totally cool to wear.

It looks like one of the Holland brothers.

[marv2]

When they demolished the Donovan Building, there was a huge amount of photos, paperwork and other Motown memorabilia just lying on the ground amongst the ruins.

[WaitingWatchingLookingForAChance]

@WaitingWatching, what great photos. I recognize Duke in the first photo but who is it with him? It looks a little like Smokey but not quite.

Also, who is the handsome guy in the color photo? I love his shirt. I'd love to find one like that. It has a real vintage look and would be totally cool to wear.
As others have said, I believe it is one of the Hollands with Duke. Unfortunately, it doesn't say on the back of the photo, but my initial thought too was that was one of the Hollands.

Yes, that shirt on Jimmy Ruffin!!!!!! I love those shirts. The 60s had some fantastic fashions. Unfortunately, when most people think of 60's clothing, they always go to the hippie fashions and generic tie-dye tee shirts. Nobody ever looks to this era, the early-to-mid sixties when the clothes were SHARP.

[WaitingWatchingLookingForAChance]

There were a lot of rare items at Hitsville when I volunteered there back in the 80s. I remember holding the original album artwork for the Supremes "Reflections" album. You could see the pencil marks from the stencil and even the outtakes from the photos the cut up to use on the album cover. There were shoes long forgotten by artists, gowns, jackets, cigarette cases, you name it. Wow Marv, you saw quite a lot. I love that you can give some background on this. I love graphic arts and over the years I've seen a snip here and there of how album covers were done. One of the things I was also happy to get were the negatives or whatever you call them of the various Motown logos. I didn't remember until I got saw them that we used the same negative type sheets in high school printing to print a logo or lettering onto whatever material.

Now that is major, seeing the artwork for the "Reflections" album. That had to have been time-consuming, cutting up those photos because that collage is very involved. Funny to remember that it really and very literally was cut-and-paste back then.

[DWSheffer]

I do believe it's Eddie Holland, he was photographed smoking a pipe pretty frequently....
Darin

[daviddesper]

I have a vinyl LP from the UK entitled Martha Reeves and the Vandellas Greatest Hits Volume 2. I had never even seen it until I bought it on ebay a few years ago. It roughly covers the period from 1966 until their Motown career ended in 1972. Lois and Sandra are the Vandellas pictured. Also I have a number of magazines with large Motown feature articles that I might put on ebay myself one of these days.

[kenneth]

As others have said, I believe it is one of the Hollands with Duke. Unfortunately, it doesn't say on the back of the photo, but my initial thought too was that was one of the Hollands.

Yes, that shirt on Jimmy Ruffin!!!!!! I love those shirts. The 60s had some fantastic fashions. Unfortunately, when most people think of 60's clothing, they always go to the hippie fashions and generic tie-dye tee shirts. Nobody ever looks to this era, the early-to-mid sixties when the clothes were SHARP.

You know Jimmy Ruffin crossed my mind but I don’t think I’ve ever seen a photo of him so young. But I guess he was around a while even before he came to Motown. Didn’t he record for golden world or one of those other Detroit labels?

Wow you guys are all experts. I can’t believe what y’all know. Marv I wish I had been there when the memorabilia was lying around. I hope you got some good stuff. Maybe that’s when you started your archive!

[kenneth]

I do believe it's Eddie Holland, he was photographed smoking a pipe pretty frequently....
Darin

You are right, just like on the back of the album The Supremes Sing HDH!

[WaitingWatchingLookingForAChance]

You know Jimmy Ruffin crossed my mind but I don’t think I’ve ever seen a photo of him so young. But I guess he was around a while even before he came to Motown. Didn’t he record for golden world or one of those other Detroit labels? Actually, that photo is from 1967, so that was during the height of his 60's Motown career. He began with Motown. Yes, he does look incredibly young in that photo. You know, my mom used to say that people back then dressed so formally that they looked older than they really were. She saw Mary Wilson on a tv show in the 80's and said she actually looked younger then than she did in the 60's, mainly because of some of those hairstyles. I think Jimmy looks very young here because he isn't in a suit and tie, but more casual wear. I hadn't noticed until you said it, but you're right, he looks incredibly young here.

[luckyluckyme]

Kenneth,

Your Motown catalogue also lists Easy Beats and The Other People who never had Motown releases.

[DWSheffer]

My hopes are this thread will see some good participation from the members in the coming days. I will start adding some items today and continue as long as there is interest in the thread. Personally I am more into collecting Motown memorabilia and records than I am dissecting every aspect of the music itself. I love it for what it is, great music that I enjoy and that's it! :)

At any rate, here is a difficult to find Supremes counter top display for "We Remember Sam Cooke". I think it's a pretty neat item and would like to know if any members know of any other displays similar to this one.
Darin

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[DWSheffer]

This is my favorite autograph of Diana Ross in my collection. Just a perfect vintage signature in a purple-ish ink on an original promo photo, which is a great item in itself!

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[DWSheffer]

This is a pretty rare item, a large cardboard concert poster for Marvin and Tammi. The size is 21" by 27", so pretty good size for a concert placard. I fretted the whole time it was in transit in the postal service, hoping it would arrive in good condition and not bent in half! I was relieved when it arrived OK. It has some wear and corner damage, but it's a miracle it survives at all, being it was meant to be thrown away after the concert.
Darin

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[marv2]

Wow Marv, you saw quite a lot. I love that you can give some background on this. I love graphic arts and over the years I've seen a snip here and there of how album covers were done. One of the things I was also happy to get were the negatives or whatever you call them of the various Motown logos. I didn't remember until I got saw them that we used the same negative type sheets in high school printing to print a logo or lettering onto whatever material.

Now that is major, seeing the artwork for the "Reflections" album. That had to have been time-consuming, cutting up those photos because that collage is very involved. Funny to remember that it really and very literally was cut-and-paste back then.

I was amazed at how much stuff, personal stuff people left behind at Hitsville. I can remember asking Mrs. Esther Gordy-Edwards why Mr. Gordy couldn't help us $$ financially way back then. LOL!

10 years after that, a lot of that stuff ended up in the big Motown Exhibit at the Henry Ford Museum at Greenfield Village.

[marv2]

Wow Marv, you saw quite a lot. I love that you can give some background on this. I love graphic arts and over the years I've seen a snip here and there of how album covers were done. One of the things I was also happy to get were the negatives or whatever you call them of the various Motown logos. I didn't remember until I got saw them that we used the same negative type sheets in high school printing to print a logo or lettering onto whatever material.

Now that is major, seeing the artwork for the "Reflections" album. That had to have been time-consuming, cutting up those photos because that collage is very involved. Funny to remember that it really and very literally was cut-and-paste back then.

Regarding the album cover artwork, keep in mind this was in the days before laser printing etc. Even the old boards they use to layout and paste photos on for yearbooks back in the sixties used the same method that Motown used. By the time I became a yearbook editor, we were using an entirely different and more precise method.

[DWSheffer]

This is a true oddity.....a Supremes album autographed by Marvin Gaye! Since I do not know the real story of how it came by be signed by MG, this is the story I came up with in my head. ;) In 1966 a group of kids were waiting on the lawn of Hitsville, USA awaiting their favorite group, The Supremes, to exit Hitsville after a recording session. Well, The Supremes never seem to materialize but who walks out the front door but Marvin Gaye! Having nothing but the Supremes album and not wanting to pass up the chance to get Marvin's autograph the fan had him sign the Supremes album. My story sounds plausible to me anyways, lol.......
Darin

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[lucky2012]

All of the above are awesome!

[DWSheffer]

Marv, what [[if any) was Mrs. Edwards reply when you asked her why BG wasn't helping the Museum financially in the early days? Just curious if she gave a straight answer or not? I would assume it was due to the financial troubles he and Motown were having in the mid 80's and the money just wasn't there at the time.
Darin

[kenneth]

@DWSheffer, I love the Gaye-Terrell placard. What a great find. The "Symphony" LP is indeed an oddity! I think a lot of artists wouldn't sign someone else's album just out of pride or something.

I went to a signing once for the opera singer Marilyn Horne, and she expressed a lot of displeasure over a poster one fan brought in for her to sign. It was of her in a opera where she sang a man's role [[in the old days they used "castrati" for some male roles - you can figure out what that means!), and she didn't like the way she was made up and costumed on the poster. She signed it anyway, but didn't like it.

I have some other things to post as well, if I can figure out why my stuff always comes in sideways! And by the way, @WaitingWatching, I'm glad you find my efforts so amusing!

[DWSheffer]

Thanks Kenneth...I have plenty more to share. Hopefully the members won't tire of me. I guess they can ignore the thread if I post too much!

I bought this set of cufflinks a couple years ago. Here's the story from the man I bought them from. His dad was on a flight to L.A. for a business trip when he struck up a conversation with the man sitting near him. It turns out it was Berry Gordy Jr. BG asked the man if he had kids, which he said he had a son, and did he like Motown music. The guy politely said yes [[since he himself didn't really know who Berry was) and Mr. Gordy gave him these cufflinks to give to his kid. When the father got home he asked his son if he knew who Berry Gordy was. The man told me he did in fact know Berry's name as he said Motown was so big that Berry's name was frequently mentioned when Motown was mentioned. The dad was obviously just an out of touch square, lol. This story happened, to the best of the man's knowledge [[he was just a boy at the time), around 1967 or '68. He said he had kept the links all these years in a memory box but it was time to move them along. I was glad to acquire them!
Darin

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[kpitt1204]

One of my rare items [[I don’t have any pics, yet.) is a 45 called “Silly” by Valerie Simpson. The record is pressed at the wrong speed. When I play it on 45, she sounds like a chipmunk. On the slower setting, she sounds like a man. I still have it though. Another item I have is an album by the group, Switch from 1980. There is a song on it, “Calling On All Girls,” that I loved. However on the album, girls is spelled “GRILS.” I have purchased other copies, but they don’t have the typo.

[kenneth]

Marvelettes Sheet Music

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[kenneth]

@DW, those cuff links are amazing. That is something you definitely wouldn't find very often. How cool is that.

[kenneth]

This is my favorite autograph of Diana Ross in my collection. Just a perfect vintage signature in a purple-ish ink on an original promo photo, which is a great item in itself!

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What's great about this photo too is that the autograph isn't dedicated to anyone specific, so you can pretend it was written for you, unlike my Mary Wells autograph to "Chuck."

I would think that fact alone would give this more value.

[lockhartgary]

Cool that the cuff links are sitting on what could be interpreted as a vinyl record of sorts.

[WaitingWatchingLookingForAChance]

And by the way, @WaitingWatching, I'm glad you find my efforts so amusing!

OH MAN! I went into a tailspin thinking, what did I say? Was it inadvertently disrespectful? I thought you meant I was taking the thread as a whole as amusing or laughable. Then I saw that comment about tilting my head sideways...

[kenneth]

OH MAN! I went into a tailspin thinking, what did I say? Was it inadvertently disrespectful? I thought you meant I was taking the thread as a whole as amusing or laughable. Then I saw that comment about tilting my head sideways...

Please notice the sheet music came out right but you wouldn't believe the gyrations I went through to get it that way...!

[WaitingWatchingLookingForAChance]

marvelettes sheet music

17001 my girls!!!!!! Yes, Well done!

[DWSheffer]

What's great about this photo too is that the autograph isn't dedicated to anyone specific, so you can pretend it was written for you, unlike my Mary Wells autograph to "Chuck."

I would think that fact alone would give this more value.

You are correct Kenneth. In the autograph collecting world an autograph that does not have a dedication to a specific person is worth more than a personalized piece, for the very reason you point out. It's just not as cool having that vintage LP cover on the wall with "To Linda, Love Ya! Smokey Robinson" [[as I do now, lol). The other side of the coin is there is much more probable authenticity with a piece the more the celebrity writes in a dedication. But I agree that's likely why I love this signed photo of Diana so much as it's just her signature and it's a great example!
More items to post in this thread tomorrow!
Darin

[WaitingWatchingLookingForAChance]

One of my rare items [[I don’t have any pics, yet.) is a 45 called “Silly” by Valerie Simpson. The record is pressed at the wrong speed. When I play it on 45, she sounds like a chipmunk. On the slower setting, she sounds like a man. I still have it though. Another item I have is an album by the group, Switch from 1980. There is a song on it, “Calling On All Girls,” that I loved. However on the album, girls is spelled “GRILS.” I have purchased other copies, but they don’t have the typo. Oh, that is hilarious! A record that you can't play at any speed. That is a true keeper

[WaitingWatchingLookingForAChance]

[QUOTE=DWSheffer;570288]My hopes are this thread will see some good participation from the members in the coming days. I will start adding some items today and continue as long as there is interest in the thread. Personally I am more into collecting Motown memorabilia and records than I am dissecting every aspect of the music itself. I love it for what it is, great music that I enjoy and that's it! :)

At any rate, here is a difficult to find Supremes counter top display for "We Remember Sam Cooke". I think it's a pretty neat item and would like to know if any members know of any other displays similar to this one.
Darin

Darin, you've got some truly magnificent collector's items. I love the album display and those cuff links is definitely like striking gold. I like this idea you've got for this thread.

Here is something I found on ebay. Not sure what this was used for. Maybe the rear jacket of one of those 16 Big Hits collections or something similar? A poster for a Motown Christmas at The Fox Theater program?

Hard to capture in photos, but the pictures are cut-outs pasted to heavy-stock cardboard and outlined with what looks like just a black marker. I tried to show where the pictures are separating from the board. Whatever this is, I especially like the photo used for The Marvelettes. I don't think I ever saw this one elsewhere.

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[kenneth]

Those are fabulous photos! Yes, it sure looks like it could have been the artwork for a Motortown Revue or other program.

I think Wanda was at her most beautiful in the "Sophisticated Soul" photos, except possibly how she looks on the cover of the Miracles' Xmas LP. She's absolutely gorgeous on that one and looks like she loved being a new mother.

[woodward]

Look at thread #40 with the handwritten listing of the Motown artists. Joe Shillair's name is shown on the listing. Joe was a former Motown employee and had quite a story to tell about Motown memorabilia he obtained from the Donovan Building after its closure. If I get an opportunity I will publish a story that he wrote explaining what he discovered there. This was definitely from him; his handwriting is undistinguishable. He was a good friend of mine. Unfortunately Joe is no longer with us. He was a very knowledgeable Motown expert. He used to tell me some very interesting stories.

Is anyone else familiar with Joe?

[DWSheffer]

I have quite a few items that were part of Joe's collection, some of which I will share in this thread as we go along, since most of his collection was right out of the Donovan Building and basically one of a kind items. Like the great item Waitingwatching shared. It is more likely than not this came out of one of Joe's dumpster dives in the late 70's when they were doing some cleaning out of the archives and storage areas of the Donovan. I recognize some of the other items in this thread as selling on Ebay as I think we were all interested in it! :) There were some great items, some I regret not buying now. The biggest miss for me was the original painting artwork for the cover of Marvin Gaye's album TS299, "That's The Way Love Is". Like Waitingwatching I had already spent so much on previous items that I just couldn't swing it to buy the original artwork. I hate it when so many good items come on the market all at once, one is bound to miss out on something good!

[DWSheffer]

I guess today we'll start out with this pair of plaques awarded to Lamont Dozier from BMI in 1965 and 1967. It's interesting to note that the '65 plaque for "Nowhere To Run" is for "popularity in the Rhythm and Blues" field, whereas a couple years later the plaque for "Love Is Here" does not mention R&B, just the "great national popularity" of the song.

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[DWSheffer]

As a go along item to the BMI award for "Love Is Here", here is the transparency from Motown's art department that was used to create the cover artwork for "The Supremes Sing HDH" LP. This item was from Joe Shillair's collection. Sorry for the poor photo, it's tough to photograph framed items sometimes.
Darin

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[DWSheffer]

This is Motown's photo proof for the cover of Tammi's "Irresistible" LP. It's still mounted on board and has Joe's typed description at the bottom, similar to Waitings' item.

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[DWSheffer]

Here is the cover artwork proof for Tamla T280 "The Miracles Greatest Hits Vol. 2". To give the membership an idea of what's on the back of the cover proofs, here is a close up of the back stamp for "approvers" to sign off on. Surprisingly this is not signed by any of the approval panel, but obviously it did turn out to be the artwork used for the cover. I obviously recognize Esther Edwards, but the other two people I'm not familiar with. I do not have this one framed yet, but plan to someday, along with a cover of the LP it was created for.
Darin

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[grapevine]

Here's a few Motown momentos...

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...I only use the red one ...for coffee...!

Grape :)

[SatansBlues]

Here's a few Motown momentos...

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...I only use the red one ...for coffee...!

Grape :)
Those are awesome, I'm jealous of those coffee mugs! Where did you find them?

[SatansBlues]

This is a pretty rare item, a large cardboard concert poster for Marvin and Tammi. The size is 21" by 27", so pretty good size for a concert placard. I fretted the whole time it was in transit in the postal service, hoping it would arrive in good condition and not bent in half! I was relieved when it arrived OK. It has some wear and corner damage, but it's a miracle it survives at all, being it was meant to be thrown away after the concert.
Darin

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I didn't think that Marvin and Tammi were still performing in concert in 1968. I thought that the last time they sang in concert together was when she collapsed on stage with him in October '67. Can anyone confirm this?

[kenneth]

Supremes Fan Club ID

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[kenneth]

No worries! I am now getting used to tilting my head to the side!

I finally figured out how to get them to load right. Ahh...just confirms my inherent distrust of technology!

[kenneth]

Mary Wilson Fan Club

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[motown_marc]

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Some of you will have this album that could only be ordered via coupons of Axion washing power. But how many do have this Axion box?

[kenneth]

@Motown_Marc, Very very cool. I had no idea where that album ever came from. I always wondered how it happened that the Sups and Diamond were on the same LP. And to have the foresight to save the box also, that is really something!

[NativeNuYorker]

I thought so also, but that concert is noted in the Akron Beacon Journal newspaper. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/14145714/12-january-1968-marvin-gaye-tammi/

[grapevine]

I only kept 2 copies of Blues & Soul Magazine... the iconic 1971 ...The Motown Story ...issue ...and the lesser-known 1983 issue ...The A To Z Of Motown ...which at the time was probably my first 'Motown Encyclopaedia'...of any kind...!! :)

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Grape :)

[motown_marc]

Thanks Kenneth, but I only got hold of the Axion-package decades later.

Some other cool stuff for me:having Raynoma sign my copy of her book as ‘Mother Motown’. As well as signatures from Martha Reeves, Berry Gordy, Claudette Robinson and Ronnie White.

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[DWSheffer]

Marc, that laundry soap box is a very unique Motown related item, lol. I had no idea that LP was a mail-in item. It took me many years to find a copy in the original shrink, as I strive to find my original press LP's in their original shrink. They are usually in the best condition and well taken care of if the original owner left the wrap on.

We're all aware of The Supremes' Coca Cola advertising campaign. The ads stated for 50 cents to cover s/h you would receive this color photo of the girls. The ads are a dime a dozen, but the promotional photo seems to be pretty tough to find. I was glad to get one finally!

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[DWSheffer]

I didn't think that Marvin and Tammi were still performing in concert in 1968. I thought that the last time they sang in concert together was when she collapsed on stage with him in October '67. Can anyone confirm this?

Interesting....maybe this post will revise the history of the duo's "last performance" as we currently know it. I never second guessed the concert taking place, as I know without a doubt this placard is period and original, but never took into account their last show has always been reported to take place in October.

[DWSheffer]

This is a piece/part of the original "floating heads" art used on the back of Motown MS-681 "Merry Christmas From Motown". This was out of Joe Shillair's collection as well.

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[WaitingWatchingLookingForAChance]

Those are fabulous photos! Yes, it sure looks like it could have been the artwork for a Motortown Revue or other program.

I think Wanda was at her most beautiful in the "Sophisticated Soul" photos, except possibly how she looks on the cover of the Miracles' Xmas LP. She's absolutely gorgeous on that one and looks like she loved being a new mother. Wanda was one of Motown's most beautiful women. Unfortunately, the general public isn't that aware of her or The Marvelettes beyond a couple of the same press photos that are usually used.

[WaitingWatchingLookingForAChance]

Look at thread #40 with the handwritten listing of the Motown artists. Joe Shillair's name is shown on the listing. Joe was a former Motown employee and had quite a story to tell about Motown memorabilia he obtained from the Donovan Building after its closure. If I get an opportunity I will publish a story that he wrote explaining what he discovered there. This was definitely from him; his handwriting is undistinguishable. He was a good friend of mine. Unfortunately Joe is no longer with us. He was a very knowledgeable Motown expert. He used to tell me some very interesting stories.

Is anyone else familiar with Joe?

That is very interesting. I was wondering about who Joe Shillair was and his connection to Motown. I have a few other things like this and they all his name stamped on the back. I figured he had a graphic arts studio and maybe did some work for Motown. I hope you get to share more of your stories here with us. I'd love to hear them.

[WaitingWatchingLookingForAChance]

This is Motown's photo proof for the cover of Tammi's "Irresistible" LP. It's still mounted on board and has Joe's typed description at the bottom, similar to Waitings' item.

17026 These are incredible! Absolutely love this sort of thing! I have the photographs used for the "Jimmy Ruffin Sings Top Ten" album cover [[the one where he is wearing a red suit) and the photograph that was used for the "Stevie Wonder Down To Earth" album cover. I should have them framed like you did with yours. That really looks great. So many amazing Motown items have popped up on ebay over the years. To paraphrase a great musical: if I were a rich man...

[DWSheffer]

I figured I would post a couple "inside" Motown items, paperwork that show some of the behind the scenes or inner workings of the company so they could keep the hit machine rolling.

This is the original typed label copy form for The Supremes' "Reflections" album. [[Timely since we're all still waiting patiently for the extended release!) It's dated 2/27/68. Obviously this would have been copied and sent to the pressing plants to produce the proper labels for the discs.

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[DWSheffer]

Here is a letter from Keys Popular Song Distributors to Jobete. Motown sheet music collectors know most of the earlier pieces of sheet music were printed by Keys. They are generally smaller size sheets [[8.5 by 11 inches) than the standard size sheets [[9X12 inches). At any rate, this letter of August 28, 1963 is interesting in the fact that Keys is informing Jobete that "Mickey's Monkey" and "Love Is Like A Heat Wave" did not have enough calls to warrant sheet music production for either title. They are offering to include the songs in folios if Jobete is in agreement. The letter goes on to say that sales of "Finger Tips" sheet music has been great.

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[DWSheffer]

AND speaking of "Finger Tips"....I do have the original sales agreement between Keys and Jobete for the publication of the sheet music for the song, dated June 13, 1963. The retail price per sheet was set at .60 cents, with Jobete receiving .20 cents per sheet sold and paid for. The licensing agreement is a little more involved in the line of payouts. Also shown is the sales and payment report for the quarter ending September 30, 1963. Jobete was paid $1939.60 for the sales of 9,698 copies of the sheet. Interesting stuff, at least to me anyways!
Darin

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[DWSheffer]

Here is a close up of a letter from the general manager of Jobete asking if someone was using cuts of the Marvelettes and The Contours and how they acquired the rights to do so. Motown was protective of their properties!

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[Boogiedown]

this is terrific stuff !! thanks to you all for making the effort it takes to share ! keep them coming ! cool items!

boogiedown

[WaitingWatchingLookingForAChance]

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Some of you will have this album that could only be ordered via coupons of Axion washing power. But how many do have this Axion box? I had seen this album here and there and figured it was some kind of promotion but couldn't figure it out. And now all these years later we get the rest of the story! Very nice Marc!

[WaitingWatchingLookingForAChance]

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You know Darin you have the most fascinating things. Memos, letters, these label copy sheets- all of these taken together really form yet another facet of how Motown worked. I never would have considered all the paper work that is involved with printing a label for an album's tracklist or even a 45 for that matter. I don't know how the general public would react to the intricate day-to-day details of a record company, but I'm sure die-hard Motown fans would be intrigued.

Interesting too on this label copy sheet, they have Motown/Gordy/Tamla and...Workshop Jazz listed, but not V.I.P. I'm guessing this was a form that was drafted early in Motown's operation.

[DWSheffer]

This is an interesting archive from Joe Glaser, owner of Associated Booking Corporation from July 27, 1966. This is another instance of being on the receiving end of Motown, this time from VP Esther Gordy Edwards. It sounds as if Motown wasn't happy with ABC overall, and Esther wasn't happy Joe wasn't representing Motown's artists himself, per an agreement a year prior. The letter informed Joe that he was no longer exclusively representing Martha and The Vandellas or The Temptations. The letters Joe wrote to his guys give some interesting insight into the situation. I hope the files are big enough the membership can read them. My favorite line in the letter to Bobby: "She also wanted a minimum of $5000 a day for The Temptations, which I can assure you they're not worth".

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[ralpht]

Extremely interesting thread . Thank you all.

[detmotownguy]

@Motown_Marc, Very very cool. I had no idea where that album ever came from. I always wondered how it happened that the Sups and Diamond were on the same LP. And to have the foresight to save the box also, that is really something!

I also have that album but have no idea how I obtained it.

[DWSheffer]

Well let's see what I can dig out today.....being home [[not by choice!) for the first time in my 26 years of employment will sure be interesting. At least it's given me time to share some of my collection with the membership. I love this stuff, it really makes me feel like I'm part of the Motown story in my own way. I do plan on leaving my rarer and one of a kind items to the Motown Museum, where they will be archived and back home where it came from.

These bowls made for Motown's 10th anniversary are pretty hard to find. I'm lucky to be in relatively close proximity to Detroit and have contact with a couple record and memorabilia dealers that get some pretty rare items. Sometimes I'm lucky enough to acquire some of them, some are well out of my budget like the set of Supremes' dresses I was able to hold and the tote full of designer shoes with D, M, C written in the shoes for easy identification of who they belonged to. I actually have two of these presentation bowls, and both came right out of Detroit. I was told they were made for Motown VIP's and to present to important industry people. I'm sure they were not cheap to produce at the time, as they are made in Sweden. I love the artwork of Hitsville, which shows how important the symbol of the building was even then.

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[DWSheffer]

And speaking of Hitsville, I couldn't pass up this little model of the house which was made in 1981. It's approximately a 4.5" cube. I don't know if it was made for some event in particular, as the decal on the back is missing most of the bottom line. I can make out however that it would have said "The Artists and Music That Started It All! then something that ends with "Greetings 1981". Possibly an item made to give out at Christmas time, but I'm not sure. Regardless it's a neat little item!
Darin

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[DWSheffer]

This is a neat Kim Weston item, a folder sent out by ITMI promoting her. I'm sure at one time it contained a biography on ITMI letterhead, but that is no longer present unfortunately. What is present though is a great photo of Kim, as well as 13 pages of advertisements and stories from period newspapers. I've only seen one other of these folders and it was for Martha and The Vandellas, but I'm sure they existed for all of the major artists at the time. It's surprising to me just how difficult some of this stuff is to find!

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[WaitingWatchingLookingForAChance]

This is an interesting archive from Joe Glaser, owner of Associated Booking Corporation from July 27, 1966.The letters Joe wrote to his guys give some interesting insight into the situation. ...My favorite line in the letter to Bobby: "She also wanted a minimum of $5000 a day for The Temptations, which I can assure you they're not worth".


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I wonder how Joe felt about the Temptations' worth a year or two after this?

[WaitingWatchingLookingForAChance]

This is a neat Kim Weston item, a folder sent out by ITMI promoting her. I'm sure at one time it contained a biography on ITMI letterhead, but that is no longer present unfortunately. What is present though is a great photo of Kim, as well as 13 pages of advertisements and stories from period newspapers. I've only seen one other of these folders and it was for Martha and The Vandellas, but I'm sure they existed for all of the major artists at the time. It's surprising to me just how difficult some of this stuff is to find!

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17103


Now THIS is really something! For all the feeling that Motown didn't seem to value Kim, it's interesting to see this. I've never seen anything like this before. Even the photos are quite rare.

Kim was quite young when she was with Motown, but it's easy to forget that given the glitzy dresses and carefully coiffed hairstyles she sported in many photographs; the photo of her in the newspaper clipping makes her look like a teenager getting ready to go to the malt shop! [[amazing how a change of attire can make women appear older or younger than their years.) Kim was a very pretty gal.

You truly have some most incredible items, Darin. You make my collection seem like small potatoes! Seriously though, you've amassed a mosaic of Motown items that really tells much more of The Motown Story- in some ways, better than any book I've read so far.

[WaitingWatchingLookingForAChance]

Well, here is another ebay find that I was over the moon to find and obtain. The original photograph that became the cover for the Jimmy Ruffin Sings Top Ten album [[the non-monochrome version) The photo is glued to heavy stock cardboard. I've got to frame this one of these days.

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[kenneth]

And speaking of Hitsville, I couldn't pass up this little model of the house which was made in 1981. It's approximately a 4.5" cube. I don't know if it was made for some event in particular, as the decal on the back is missing most of the bottom line. I can make out however that it would have said "The Artists and Music That Started It All! then something that ends with "Greetings 1981". Possibly an item made to give out at Christmas time, but I'm not sure. Regardless it's a neat little item!
Darin

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What a neat item! I remember that tag line "The Artists and Music That Started it All," was used [[as I recall) as the basis for a series of Greatest Hits albums. But I don't remember if this series and the accompanying advertising campaign followed on the success of "The Big Chill" soundtracks or the success of the "Motown 25" special. I think it was the latter, but I'm sure someone else will verify.

What a fun thread this is turning out to be. Amazing, unusual items.

[motown_marc]

17106

On April 18, 1971 Diana! Aired on ABC Television. But at what time, 9 or 10 PM?

[WaitingWatchingLookingForAChance]

17106

On April 18, 1971 Diana! Aired on ABC Television. But at what time, 9 or 10 PM?
That's odd. The only difference is that one says ABC Television and the other says The ABC-TV Network. Makes me wonder if there is a difference between the two- maybe ABC-Owned & Operated vs. Affiliates. Or it's just a plain old typo!

[sophisticated_soul]

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[sophisticated_soul]

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17110


. .

[sophisticated_soul]

17112
. .

[phil]

Spanish 45's : 17115

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[DWSheffer]

Thanks for posting sophisticated_soul, those are some items I've not seen before, neat to see a foreign fan club card. Since you posted those I do have a couple other Supremes fan club cards not shown yet, as well as buttons. I was told by a a longtime memorabilia dealer the DMC pin is more difficult to find than the DMF version. The small photo is signed on the back by the girls, with Flo leading with "Supremes Florence".

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[DWSheffer]

Here is the only other fan club item I have, a more complete mailer for Smokey Robinson and The Miracles. The bio sheet is kind of fun to read 50+ years later....I wonder if Smokey still likes chicken with tomatoes, lol?!

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[sophisticated_soul]

Thanks for posting sophisticated_soul, those are some items I've not seen before, neat to see a foreign fan club card. Since you posted those I do have a couple other Supremes fan club cards not shown yet, as well as buttons. I was told by a a longtime memorabilia dealer the DMC pin is more difficult to find than the DMF version. The small photo is signed on the back by the girls, with Flo leading with "Supremes Florence".

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You're very welcome, and thank you for posting these great items. All three of the girls autographs, just awesome. The only red fan club button I have ever seen is the one with DMC. The one you posted with DMF I have not seen before. Special thanks for that.:)

[DWSheffer]

These are the only other Motown buttons I have, for the J5 and Rare Earth Records.....

17124

These Motown matchbooks are pretty neat....these are the only two designs I've seen in my years of collecting. Does anyone know of any earlier ones and possibly have a photo to share if you do? I'm sure with as popular as smoking was at the time they probably had some earlier ones in the Hitsville lobby!

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[sophisticated_soul]

Wow, I never knew there were MoTown matchbooks. Seriously awesome.:cool:

[jobeterob]

The most oddball thing I have is a copy of a portion of Diana’s address book from the 1970’s that some employee must have made; a fan gave a copy to me. It has Phone numbers for Berry, Florence, Esther, Cher, Lucille Ball, Bill Cosby, Pierre Cardin etc.

I’ll post a page of it when I have more than just my phone,

[marv2]

This is a neat Kim Weston item, a folder sent out by ITMI promoting her. I'm sure at one time it contained a biography on ITMI letterhead, but that is no longer present unfortunately. What is present though is a great photo of Kim, as well as 13 pages of advertisements and stories from period newspapers. I've only seen one other of these folders and it was for Martha and The Vandellas, but I'm sure they existed for all of the major artists at the time. It's surprising to me just how difficult some of this stuff is to find!

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Those are some really great pictures of Kim. Thanks DW

[marv2]

17112
. .

Why did they have her name down as "Diane"? Didn't they know that was so disrespectful? hehehehehehehehe!

[motown_marc]

17133
Interesting to see that the Dutch Supremes fanclub was in Delfgauw, close to where I live. Did they issue a magazine at the time?

[DWSheffer]

You truly have some most incredible items, Darin. You make my collection seem like small potatoes! Seriously though, you've amassed a mosaic of Motown items that really tells much more of The Motown Story- in some ways, better than any book I've read so far.


Thank you, I'm very happy to share my collection with the forum Waiting! I've always personally felt in the world of music memorabilia that Motown and the soul genre in general is not given proper attention by collectors. If it isn't Rock n Roll or something of The Beatles or the like then they don't value it as highly. Motown is just never given it's proper dues for it's place in history!

Thanks for the other comments as well, again, glad to share. :)

[motown_marc]

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I had to look for it but I knew I had my DR fanclub card somewhere. Also found some of my DR concert tickets.

[grapevine]

I suppose my most 'Special Motown Collectables' ...are the 75 disc ...1849 track ...14 Volume complete set of ...The Complete Motown Singles...that were released by Hip-O / Motown Select between 2004 and 2013...!!!

17139

Grape :)

[kenneth]

Coverage of Florence Ballard's funeral from the Detroit Free Press.

I always thought I was keenly observant because I noticed that Mary has on the same cloche hat she wears on the back of the "High Energy" album.

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[kenneth]

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. .

I love that the button refers to Ross as "Diane." She often introduced herself that way, and I believe she does so on the Copa album. I never heard anyone in Detroit refer to her as "Diana," and I think contrary to popular belief, "Diane" is actually the name she was given at birth.

I think Detroiters thought of her as a home town girl and calling her "Diane" gave us a feeling that she was one of "our own," which indeed she was. At least in the earlier days before all the controversies about Florence and Diane vs. Mary, I think most hometowners were rightfully proud of her as they were of all three girls.

Joseph, what a fun collection you have. How did you ever learn about the Dutch Fan Club? [[Although I think their nomenclature is faulty...calling it the "Dutch Supremes Fan Club" instead of the "Supremes Dutch Fan Club" makes it sound like there was a group of three girls in pigtails and wooden shoes, perhaps made up like the Marvelettes in that well known photo of them dressed that way!)

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[sophisticated_soul]

17133
Interesting to see that the Dutch Supremes fanclub was in Delfgauw, close to where I live. Did they issue a magazine at the time?

Yes they did, I had quite a few issues, but they became lost over time.:[[

[sophisticated_soul]

I love that the button refers to Ross as "Diane." She often introduced herself that way, and I believe she does so on the Copa album. I never heard anyone in Detroit refer to her as "Diana," and I think contrary to popular belief, "Diane" is actually the name she was given at birth.

I think Detroiters thought of her as a home town girl and calling her "Diane" gave us a feeling that she was one of "our own," which indeed she was. At least in the earlier days before all the controversies about Florence and Diane vs. Mary, I think most hometowners were rightfully proud of her as they were of all three girls.

Joseph, what a fun collection you have. How did you ever learn about the Dutch Fan Club? [[Although I think their nomenclature is faulty...calling it the "Dutch Supremes Fan Club" instead of the "Supremes Dutch Fan Club" makes it sound like there was a group of three girls in pigtails and wooden shoes, perhaps made up like the Marvelettes in that well known photo of them dressed that way!)

17142

Hey Kenneth, I joined The Supremes fan club early on, maybe early 1965 and this was the button I received. As I recall a newsletter from the fan club offered the opportunity for fans of the girls to become pen pals with fans in other countries through the club. I became pen pals with a guy named Paul in Holland and from there it lead to me being a member of the Dutch Supremes fan club.

The Supremes fan club had lot of cool things that I have lost over time. I remember they sent an Air Mail letter to fan club members announcing they would be on "Hulabaloo" to sing "Back In My Arms Again".

Great idea for a thread, Kenneth.:)

[sophisticated_soul]

. .
17143

[kenneth]

Hey Kenneth, I joined The Supremes fan club early on, maybe early 1965 and this was the button I received. As I recall a newsletter from the fan club offered the opportunity for fans of the girls to become pen pals with fans in other countries through the club. I became pen pals with a guy named Paul in Holland and from there it lead to me being a member of the Dutch Supremes fan club.

The Supremes fan club had lot of cool things that I have lost over time. I remember they sent an Air Mail letter to fan club members announcing they would be on "Hulabaloo" to sing "Back In My Arms Again".

Great idea for a thread, Kenneth.:)

Actually I said something wrong in the above post. I should’ve said that Diana was the name given to her at birth, not Diane. I believe people always assume it was Diane.

Thanks for the feedback and the contributions. It is fun to see all these things I never knew I was missing!

[DWSheffer]

Well for today's installment I will start out with a couple Marvin items. This is the cover photo proof for "The Moods of Marvin Gaye". I wish I could remember what all is written on the back of this one. I know is says "Title in yellow" as well as other information on what should appear on the cover. Both of these items were originally from Joe's collection as well.

17146

This is the cover photo proof for the shelved "Marvin Gaye at The Copa" LP. On the back is written "Marvin Gaye at the Copa" and "proposal for never released L.P." in a different hand, presumably Joe's. I've pictured it with the eventual CD release with, according to the liner notes, "Cover image based on original cover mock-up".

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[DWSheffer]

This order form is a little older than the one Kenneth started out this thread with as it dates from 1969. I like the cover with the small photos of the artists. This is printed on yellow paper with red and black print so it photographs a bit oddly.

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[DWSheffer]

I picked up this piece as you generally never see this letter that was included with the Xit "End" promo 45 on Rare Earth, a project the Terrana's produced. What was interesting to me is to know the picture sleeves were printed gratis by Ivy Hill Lithography and that around 7500 copies of the disc were pressed.

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[jobeterob]

17158.

Radio City Music Hall

Can’t seem to turn it

[sophisticated_soul]

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[WaitingWatchingLookingForAChance]

I suppose my most 'Special Motown Collectables' ...are the 75 disc ...1849 track ...14 Volume complete set of ...The Complete Motown Singles...that were released by Hip-O / Motown Select between 2004 and 2013...!!!

17139

Grape :)


Hey! I'm applauding you here! I KNEW I had better snap these up as soon as they were released. One of the few times I gave absolutely no consideration to choosing between paying my light bill and buying Motown! I ain't no fool. I knew this was probably going to be once in a lifetime. I also give you props for sticking with the collection all the way. I stopped at 1969, and even then, that was just for the sake of completion of my favorite era of Motown.

[WaitingWatchingLookingForAChance]

17160
. .
I love picture sleeves. I've collected a few too and maybe will share some here. This one is interesting because they used another photo of Mary vs. the one used on the "More Hits" album. Instead of both Florence and Mary appearing to be looking toward Diana, as on the album cover, here, all us guys can pretend Mary is looking at US!

[WaitingWatchingLookingForAChance]

This order form is a little older than the one Kenneth started out this thread with as it dates from 1969. I like the cover with the small photos of the artists. This is printed on yellow paper with red and black print so it photographs a bit oddly.


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What a fun and great piece of memorabilia! I do agree with you, it does seem that if it ain't The Beatles [[or as Catherine O'Hara would say it, The BEET-tulls") or Rock, there doesn't seem to be as much enthusiasm for this sort of thing. But hey, the masses are so easily led, whereas we here know where it's really at!

And is it just me or does the art work for the Smokey Robinson & The Miracles Four In Blue album look a bit different here?

[WaitingWatchingLookingForAChance]

17161
It is. It's a little hard to detect, but the typography is different and I believe the photo of the group is outlined. Looks a bit more eye-popping than what was released. I think I like this one better.

[WaitingWatchingLookingForAChance]

. .
17143 Sophisticated Soul, this is really fantastic. In its own way, it says more about The Supremes than a ton of books. That the group, a trio of Black women from Detroit were being viewed by the mainstream as the "Andrew Sisters of the Sixties" says a lot about how much The Supremes were being embraced by so many, teenagers as well as adults. I also like how the writer mentions "Where Did Our Love Go" being played for The Gemini crew!

[jobeterob]

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Address Book

[sophisticated_soul]

I love picture sleeves. I've collected a few too and maybe will share some here. This one is interesting because they used another photo of Mary vs. the one used on the "More Hits" album. Instead of both Florence and Mary appearing to be looking toward Diana, as on the album cover, here, all us guys can pretend Mary is looking at US!

Also Flo's photo is flipped from the version that appears on "More Hits".

[sophisticated_soul]

Sophisticated Soul, this is really fantastic. In its own way, it says more about The Supremes than a ton of books. That the group, a trio of Black women from Detroit were being viewed by the mainstream as the "Andrew Sisters of the Sixties" says a lot about how much The Supremes were being embraced by so many, teenagers as well as adults. I also like how the writer mentions "Where Did Our Love Go" being played for The Gemini crew!

As I was rereading the article I thought the same thing. It really says a lot. I remember how happy I was that this article mentioned WDOLG being played for the astronauts, because in the general news it was only the Beatles songs that were mentioned.

[sophisticated_soul]

17164
. .

[motown_marc]

17165

The Supremes on other carriers than vinyl: still sealed Ampex tape and on eight-track. Here in Europe eight-track never caught on as a format.

[motown_marc]

17164
. .

Interesting Sophisticated Soul. Did you know that the sleeve of this Dutch 7" also has a version with blue lettering?
17166

[sophisticated_soul]

Interesting Sophisticated Soul. Did you know that the sleeve of this Dutch 7" also has a version with blue lettering?
17166

No I have not seen the blue lettering version before. I think I like it more, better contrast. You've got some great stuff, I love the "Rodgers & Hart" reel-to-reel! Very cool.

[motown_marc]

Thanks Sophisticated. I like these EP's a lot: the original US and the Mexican version, with different tracks.

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[motown_marc]

2 special versions: 'You're a special part of mi' and 'One waman'

17168

[motown_marc]

17171
In the book The Motown Album [[1990) there is a picture from Mary Wilson in Studio A, addressing Smokey, Berry, Diana and a lot of other people. On the table in front of her is the 1965 UK Tour Program of The Tamla Motown Show, so I assume this is around that time. And Mary is wearing a T-shirt of the Dutch pirate station Radio Veronica. At the time these pirate stations, broadcasting from the North Sea just out of the territorial waters of the Netherlands and the UK , were very important for Motown, since regular stations like the BBC did not play their music. I also found a picture of Mary wearing the same T-shirt while dancing with Florence and Diana in what looks like a living room. Always wondered who’s living room this was. Anyone?

[DWSheffer]

[QUOTE=WaitingWatchingLookingForAChance;
It is. It's a little hard to detect, but the typography is different and I believe the photo of the group is outlined. Looks a bit more eye-popping than what was released. I think I like this one better.[/QUOTE]

You're very right Waiting, I hadn't noticed that! Yes, a cool modern font is used and the outlining around the group photo really adds a lot! I think I like the unreleased one better too. Here's a close up of it.
Darin

17172

[grapevine]

Hey! I'm applauding you here! I KNEW I had better snap these up as soon as they were released. One of the few times I gave absolutely no consideration to choosing between paying my light bill and buying Motown! I ain't no fool. I knew this was probably going to be once in a lifetime. I also give you props for sticking with the collection all the way. I stopped at 1969, and even then, that was just for the sake of completion of my favorite era of Motown.


...well Waiting ...my favourite era went a little further ...had I not completed the series ...look at what I would have missed...!!

...part 1

The Bells The Originals
I'll Wait For You The Originals
Blackmail Bobby Taylor
My Cherie Amour Joe Harnell
Never Had A Dream Come True Stevie Wonder
Somebody Knows Somebody Cares Stevie Wonder
Whatcha' Gonna Do Terry Johnson
Time Edwin Starr
Running Back And Forth Edwin Starr
Gotta Hold On To This Feeling Jr Walker & The All-Stars
Clinging To The Thought That She's Coming Back Jr Walker & The All-Stars
I Should Be Proud Martha Reeves & The Vandellas
Love Guess Who Martha Reeves & The Vandellas
Message From A Blackman The Spinners
Life Beats The Supremes
Up The Ladder To The Roof The Supremes
Bill When Are You Coming Back The Supremes
Expressin' My Love Stu Gardner
I Don't Dream No More Stu Gardner
Get Ready Rare Earth
ABC The Jackson 5
The Young Folks The Jackson 5
You Need Love Like I Do Don't You Gladys Knight & The Pips
You're My Everything Gladys Knight & The Pips
I Remember When Dedicated To Beverly Ivy Jo
Sorry Is A Sorry Word Ivy Jo
The Onion Song Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell
California Soul Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell
It's All In The Game Four Tops
Love Is The Answer Four Tops
Reach Out And Touch Somebody's Hand Diana Ross
These Things Will Keep Me Loving You Diana Ross
Dark Side Of The World Diana Ross
Indiana Wants Me R Dean Taylor
Love's Your Name R Dean Taylor
Come On People The Rustix
Free Again Non C'est Rien The Rustix
On The Brighter Side Of A Blue World The Fantastic Four
I'm Gonna Carry On The Fantastic Four
Who's Gonna Take The Blame Smokey Robinson & The Miracles
Loving You Arthur Adams
Who’s Gonna Take The Blame Smokey Robinson & The Miracles
I Gotta Thing For You Smokey Robinson & The Miracles
Two Feet From Happiness Chuck Jackson
My Baby's Love Arthur Adams
Let Somebody Love Me Chuck Jackson
Ball Of Confusion That's What The World Is Today The Temptations
It's Summer The Temptations
The Love You Save The Jackson 5
I Found That Girl The Jackson 5
The End Of Our Road Marvin Gaye
Me And My Lonely Room Marvin Gaye
Just Another Morning Michael Denton
Arma' Geden Michael Denton
Signed Sealed Delivered I'm Yours Stevie Wonder
I'm More Than Happy I'm Satisfied Stevie Wonder
War Edwin Starr
He Who Picks A Rose Edwin Starr
It's A Shame The Spinners
Together We Can Make Such Sweet Music The Spinners
Do You See My Love For You Growing Jr Walker & The All-Stars
Groove And Move Jr Walker & The All-Stars
The Day Will Come Between Sunday And Monday Kiki Dee
My Whole World Ended The Moment You Left Me Kiki Dee
Everybody's Got The Right To Love The Supremes
But I Love You More The Supremes
We Can Make It Baby The Originals
I Like Your Style The Originals
An Important Message From Barney Ales Play Immediately Barney Ales
I Know I'm Losing You Rare Earth
When Joanie Smiles Rare Earth
Stay A Little Longer Yvonne Fair
We Should Never Be Lonely My Love Yvonne Fair
How You Gona Keep It After You Get it Blinky
Ain't No Mountain High Enough Diana Ross
Can't It Wait Until Tomorrow Diana Ross
Young Gifted And Black Bob & Marcia
Peace Of Mind Bob & Marcia
Stone Soul Booster Buzzie
Still Water Love The Four Tops
Still Water Peace The Four Tops
Sandy Buzzie
This Time Last Summer Blinky
I'll Be There The Jackson 5
One More Chance The Jackson 5
Ungena Za Ulimwengu Unite The World The Temptations
Hum Along And Dance The Temptations
As Long As I've Got You Danny Hernandez & The Ones
One Little Teardrop Danny Hernandez & The Ones
Stand By Me The Ruffin Brothers
Your Love Was Worth Waiting For The Ruffin Brothers
The Tears Of A Clown Smokey Robinson & The Miracles
Promise Me Smokey Robinson & The Miracles
The Love I Saw In You Was Just A Mirage Smokey Robinson & The Miracles
Heaven Help Us All Stevie Wonder
I Gotta Have A Song Stevie Wonder
You Keep Me Hangin' On Hugh Masekela
Make Me A Potion Hugh Masekela
It's A Lonesome Road Hearts Of Stone
Yesterday's Love Is Over Hearts Of Stone
I Gotta Let You Go Martha Reeves & The Vandellas
You're The Loser Now Martha Reeves & The Vandellas
Stoned Love The Supremes
Shine On Me The Supremes
If I Were Your Woman Gladys Knight & The Pips
The Tracks Of My Tears Gladys Knight & The Pips
Marionette The Marvelettes
After All The Marvelettes
River Deep Mountain High The Supremes & The Four Tops
Together We Can Make Such Sweet Music The Supremes & The Four Tops
Coming Apart Allan Nicholls
Let The Music Play Allan Nicholls
Coming Apart Allan Nicholls
Stop The War Now Edwin Starr

Grape :)

[grapevine]

...part 2

God Bless Whoever Sent You The Originals
Just To Keep You Satisfied The Originals
Desperate Young Man The Originals
Born To Wander Rare Earth
Here Comes The Night Rare Earth
Holly Holy Jr Walker & The All-Stars
Carry Your Own Load Jr Walker & The All-Stars
Santa Claus Is Coming To Town The Jackson 5
Christmas Won't Be The Same This Year The Jackson 5
Way Back Home The Jazz Crusaders
Jackson! The Jazz Crusaders
Remember Me Diana Ross
How About You Diana Ross
We'll Have It Made The Spinners
My Whole World Ended The Moment You Left Me The Spinners
Just Seven Numbers Can Straighten Out My Life The Four Tops
I Wish I Were Your Mirror The Four Tops
Maria You Were The Only One Jimmy Ruffin
Living In A World I Created For Myself Jimmy Ruffin
Can't Wait To See You Arthur Adams
It's Private Tonight Arthur Adams
Mama's Pearl The Jackson 5
Darling Dear The Jackson 5
Let's All Save The Children Joe Hinton
You Are Blue Joe Hinton
Sweet Water Brass Monkey
You Keep Me Hangin' On Brass Monkey
Pet Names Chuck Jackson
Is There Anything Love Can't Do Chuck Jackson
Just My Imagination Running Away With Me The Temptations
You Make Your Own Heaven And Hell Right Here On Earth The Temptations
Ain't It A Sad Thing R Dean Taylor
Back Street R Dean Taylor
What's Going On Marvin Gaye
God Is Love Marvin Gaye
Save My Love For A Rainy Day The Undisputed Truth
Since I've Lost You The Undisputed Truth
Don't Pay Me No Mind Ken Christie & The Sunday People
Listen To Your Soul Ken Christie & The Sunday People
Each Day Is A Lifetime David Ruffin
Don't Stop Lovin' Me David Ruffin
Love Makes The World Go 'round Kiki Dee
Jimmy Kiki Dee
We Can Work It Out Stevie Wonder
Never Dreamed You'd Leave In Summer Stevie Wonder
I Don't Blame You At All Smokey Robinson & The Miracles
That Girl Smokey Robinson & The Miracles
This Used To Be The Home Of Johnnie Mae Eddie Kendricks
It's So Hard For Me To Say Goodbye Eddie Kendricks
This Used To Be The Home Of Johnnie Mae Eddie Kendricks
In My Own Lifetime Sammy Davis Jr
I'll Begin Again Sammy Davis Jr
Never Can Say Goodbye The Jackson 5
She's Good The Jackson 5
Gotta See Jane R Dean Taylor
Strung Out Gordon Staples & The Motown Strings
Sounds Of The Zodiac Gordon Staples & The Motown Strings
Funky Music Sho' Nuff Turns Me On Edwin Starr
Cloud Nine Edwin Starr
When My Love Hand Comes Down The Ruffin Brothers
Steppin' On A Dream The Ruffin Brothers
I Won't Weep No More Letta
You Touched Me Letta
Reach Out I'll Be There Diana Ross
They Long To Be Close To You Diana Ross
I've Given You The Best Years Of My Life PJ
It Takes A Man To Teach A Woman How To Love PJ
What You See Is What You Get Stoney & Meatloaf
Lady Be Mine Stoney & Meatloaf
Nathan Jones The Supremes
Happy Is A Bumpy Road The Supremes
Melodie Bobby Darin
Someday We'll Be Together Bobby Darin
Never Can Say Goodbye Impact Of Brass
So Far So Good Impact Of Brass
Heartaches King Floyd
Together We Can Do Anything King Floyd
Feelin' Alright Diana Ross & The Jackson 5
Love Story Diana Ross & Bill Cosby
I Don't Want To Do Wrong Gladys Knight & The Pips
Is There A Place In This Heart For Me Gladys Knight & The Pips
You Gotta Have Love In Your Heart The Supremes & The Four Tops
I'm Glad About It The Supremes & The Four Tops
You Gotta Have Love In Your Heart The Supremes & The Four Tops
Smiling Faces Sometimes The Undisputed Truth
You Got The Love I Need The Undisputed Truth
I'd Still Love You Ivy Jo
I Can Feel The Pain Ivy Jo
In These Changing Times The Four Tops
Right Before My Eyes The Four Tops
Pass The Plate The Crusaders
Greasy Spoon The Crusaders
Dyambo De-Yambo Weary Day Is Over Hugh Masekela & The Union Of South Africa
Shebeen Hugh Masekela & The Union Of South Africa
Uncle Tom Arthur Adams
Mornin' Train Arthur Adams
What Is Love The Stylists
Where Did The Children Go The Stylists
Crazy About The La La La Smokey Robinson & The Miracles
Oh Baby Baby I Love You Smokey Robinson & The Miracles
Mercy Mercy Me The Ecology Marvin Gaye
Sad Tomorrows Marvin Gaye
If I Could Give You The World Hearts Of Stone
You Gotta Sacrifice We Gotta Sacrifice Hearts Of Stone
The Reverend John B Daniels Ken Christie & The Sunday People
Jesus Is The Key Ken Christie & The Sunday People
Candy Apple Red R Dean Taylor
Woman Alive R Dean Taylor
I Just Want To Celebrate Rare Earth
The Seed Rare Earth
Maybe Tomorrow The Jackson 5
I Will Find A Way The Jackson 5
What The World Needs Now Is Love/Abraham Martin And John Tom Clay
The Victors Tom Clay

Grape :)

[grapevine]

...part 3

It's Summer The Temptations
I'm The Exception To The Rule The Temptations
That's The Way A Woman Is The Messengers
In The Jungle The Messengers
Take Me Girl I'm Ready Jr Walker & The All-Stars
Right On Brothers And Sisters Jr Walker & The All-Stars
Keep Me The Originals
A Man Without Love The Originals
Lo And Behold The Ruffin Brothers
The Things We Have To Do The Ruffin Brothers
You Can Come Right Back To Me David Ruffin
Dinah David Ruffin
It Takes All Kinds Of People Stoney & Meatloaf
The Way You Do The Things You Do Stoney & Meatloaf
If You Really Love Me Stevie Wonder
Think Of Me As Your Soldier Stevie Wonder
Can I Eddie Kendricks
I Did It All For You Eddie Kendricks
My Piece Of Heaven The Rustix
Down Down The Rustix
Surrender Diana Ross
I'm A Winner Diana Ross
Can't It Wait Until Tomorrow Valerie Simpson
Back To Nowhere Valerie Simpson
Happiness Lodi
I Hope I See It In My Lifetime Lodi
MacArthur Park The Four Tops
Funky Rubber Band Popcorn Wylie
I'm An Easy Rider My Friends
Concrete And Clay My Friends
Who You Gonna Run To Chuck Jackson
Forgive My Jealousy Chuck Jackson
Act Like A Shotgun GC Cameron
Girl I Really Love You GC Cameron
Walk Down The Path Of Freedom The Sunday Funnies
It's Just A Dream The Sunday Funnies
Heaven Must Have Sent You The Elgins
Inner City Blues Make Me Wanna Holler Marvin Gaye
Wholy Holy Marvin Gaye
Touch The Supremes
It's So Hard For Me To Say Goodbye The Supremes
Bless You Martha Reeves & The Vandellas
Hope I Don't Get My Heart Broke Martha Reeves & The Vandellas
Bless You Martha Reeves & The Vandellas
Colour Combination Jack Hammer
Swim Jack Hammer
Got To Be There Michael Jackson
Maria You Were The Only One Michael Jackson
I'm Still Waiting Diana Ross
A Simple Thing Like Cry Diana Ross
Zip A Dee Doo Dah Suzee Ikeda
Bah Bah Bah Suzee Ikeda
Whatever Happened To Love Tom Clay
Baby I Need Your Loving Tom Clay
When Sundown Comes Smokey Robinson & The Miracles
Flower Girl Smokey Robinson & The Miracles
Superstar Remember How You Got Where You Are The Temptations
Gonna Keep On Tryin' Till I Win Your Love The Temptations
Satisfaction Smokey Robinson & The Miracles
We've Only Just Begun/I'll Be There Tony & Carolyn
I Can Get Away From You But I Can't Get Over You Tony & Carolyn
Hey Lordy Bobby Taylor
Just A Little Bit Closer Bobby Taylor
I Want To Go Back There Again Thelma Houston
Pick Of The Week Thelma Houston
Hey Big Brother Rare Earth
Under God's Light Rare Earth
Way Back Home Jr Walker & The All-Stars
We All End Up In Boxes The Rustix
I Can't Believe You're Really Leaving Virgil Henry
You Ain't Sayin' Nothin' New Virgil Henry
You Make Your Own Heaven And Hell Right Here On Earth The Undisputed Truth
Ball Of Confusion That's What The World Is Today The Undisputed Truth
Make Me The Woman That You Go Home To Gladys Knight & The Pips
It's All Over But The Shoutin' Gladys Knight & The Pips
Sugar Daddy The Jackson 5
I'm So Happy The Jackson 5
Simple Song Of Freedom Bobby Darin
I'll Be Your Baby Tonight Bobby Darin
The Greatest Man Who Ever Lived Dave Prince
A Child Is Waiting Dave Prince
What Christmas Means To Me Stevie Wonder
Bedtime For Toys Stevie Wonder
Floy Joy The Supremes
This Is The Story The Supremes
In And Out Of My Life Martha Reeves & The Vandellas
Your Love Makes It All Worthwhile Martha Reeves & The Vandellas
TLC Tender Loving Care PJ
A Simple Game The Four Tops
LA My Town The Four Tops
Our Favourite Melody Jimmy Ruffin
You Gave Me Love Jimmy Ruffin
A Breath-taking Guy The Marvelettes
You're The One For Me Bobby The Marvelettes
I'm Someone Who Cares The Originals
Once I Have You I Will Never Let Go The Originals
Out In The Night Blue Scepter
Gypsy Eyes Blue Scepter
What It Is The Undisputed Truth
California Soul The Undisputed Truth
Feel Like Givin' Up Posse
Take Somebody Like You Posse
Take A Look Around The Temptations
Smooth Sailing From Now On The Temptations
I Want To Be Humble The Devastating Affair
My Place The Devastating Affair
Rockin' Robin Michael Jackson
Love Is Here And Now You're Gone Michael Jackson
Can You Give Me Love With A Guarantee Gladys Knight & The Pips
If You Gonna Leave Just Leave Gladys Knight & The Pips
Love Isn't Here Like It Used To Be Frankie Valli
Poor Fool Frankie Valli
Walk In The Night Jr Walker & The All Stars
I Don't Want To Do Wrong Jr Walker & The All Stars

Grape :)

[grapevine]

...part 4

Take Me Clear From Here Edwin Starr
Ball Of Confusion That's What The World Is Today Edwin Starr
I'm Gonna Get You GC Cameron
Help Me Make It Through The Night Gladys Knight & The Pips
Mr Fix-It Man The Sisters Love
You've Got To Make The Choice The Sisters Love
Taos New Mexico R Dean Taylor
Shadow R Dean Taylor
The Zoo The Human Zoo The Commodores
I'm Looking For Love The Commodores
What'd I Say Rare Earth
Nice To Be With You Rare Earth
Let Me Run Into Your Lonely Heart Eddie Kendricks
Eddie's Love Eddie Kendricks
Me And Bobby McGee Thelma Houston
No One's Gonna Be A Fool Forever Thelma Houston
What It Is What It Is GC Cameron
You Are That Special One GC Cameron
Little Bitty Pretty One The Jackson 5
If I Have To Move A Mountain The Jackson 5
Automatically Sunshine The Supremes
Precious Little Things The Supremes
It's The Same Old Love The Courtship
Last Row First Balcony The Courtship
Nihaa Shil Hozho I Am Happy About You Xit
End Xit
I Can't Quit Your Love The Four Tops
Happy Is A Bumpy Road The Four Tops
I Can Make It Alone Vincent DiMarco
Come Clean Vincent DiMarco
Superwoman Where Were You Where I Needed You Stevie Wonder
I Love Every Little Thing About You Stevie Wonder
It's Too Much For Man To Take Too Long Eric & The Vikings
Time Don't Wait Eric & The Vikings
Long Way From Home Howl The Good
Why Do You Cry Howl The Good
You're The Man Marvin Gaye
I Wanna Be Where You Are Michael Jackson
We've Got A Good Thing Going Michael Jackson
We've Come Too Far To End It Now Smokey Robinson & The Miracles
Papa Was A Rollin' Stone The Undisputed Truth
Friendship Train The Undisputed Truth
Get Me Some Help Chris Holland & T-Bone
If Time Could Stand Still Chris Holland & T-Bone
Tear It On Down Martha Reeves & The Vandellas
I Want You Back Martha Reeves & The Vandellas
Label Me Love Different Shades Of Brown
Life's A Ball While It Lasts Different Shades Of Brown
Mother Nature The Temptations
Funky Music Sho Nuff Turns Me On The Temptations
Sail Away Bobby Darin
Hard Headed Woman Bobby Darin
I Can't Give Back The Love I Feel For You Suzee Ikeda
Mind Body And Soul Suzee Ikeda
A Little More Trust David Ruffin
A Day In The Life Of A Working Man David Ruffin
Money That's What I Want Blinky
For Your Precious Love Blinky
Groove Thang Jr Walker & The All Stars
Me And My Family Jr Walker & The All Stars
Lookin' Through The Windows The Jackson 5
Love Song The Jackson 5
Somebody Up There The Blackberries
But I Love You More The Blackberries
To Know You Is To Love You Syreeta
Happiness Syreeta
Somebody Oughta Turn Your Head Around Crystal Mansion
Earth People Crystal Mansion
Your Wonderful Sweet Sweet Love The Supremes
The Wisdom Of Time The Supremes
Green Grow The Lilacs The Festivals
So In Love The Festivals
What Is Black Billy Proctor
I Can Take It All Billy Proctor
Ben Michael Jackson
You Can Cry On My Shoulder Michael Jackson
That's How Love Goes Jermaine Jackson
I Lost My Love In The Big City Jermaine Jackson
Duck You Sucker Jerry Ross Symposium
It Happened On A Sunday Morning Jerry Ross Symposium
It's The Way Nature Planned It The Four Tops
I'll Never Change The Four Tops
Our Lives Are Shaped By What We Love Odyssey
Broken Road Odyssey
The Night Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons
Sun Country Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons
Daddy Could Swear I Declare Gladys Knight & The Pips
Can't Give It Up No More Gladys Knight & The Pips
Keep On Running Stevie Wonder
Evil Stevie Wonder
The Morning After Michelle Aller
Spend Some Time Together Michelle Aller
Just Not Gonna Make It Michelle Aller
Walk On Don't Look Back Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons
Who Is The Leader Of The People Edwin Starr
Don't Tell Me I'm Crazy Edwin Starr
Gospel Truth Bob Babbitt
Running Like A Rabbit Bob Babbitt
If You Let Me Eddie Kendricks
Just Memories Eddie Kendricks
I Guess I'll Miss The Man The Supremes
Over And Over The Supremes
The Good Things Where Was I When Love Came By The Naturals
Me And My Brother The Naturals
I Love Every Little Thing About You Syreeta
Black Maybe Syreeta
Papa Was A Rollin' Stone The Temptations
Corner Of The Sky The Jackson 5
To Know The Jackson 5
Good Time Sally Rare Earth
Love Shines Down Rare Earth
Genius I Valerie Simpson
Silly Wasn't I Valerie Simpson
I Believe I'm Gonna Take This Ride Valerie Simpson

Grape :)

[grapevine]

...part 5 of 5

What If Thelma Houston
There Is A God Thelma Houston
Mama I Gotta Brand New Thing Don't Say No The Undisputed Truth
Girl You're Alright The Undisputed Truth
With A Little Help From My Fiends The Undisputed Truth
She Said That Lesley Gore
The Road I Walk Lesley Gore
Spanish Harlem The Crusaders
Papa Hooper's Barrelhouse Groove The Crusaders
Superstition Stevie Wonder
You've Got It Bad Girl Stevie Wonder
You've Got My Mind Sisters Love
Try It You'll Like It Sisters Love
Songwriter The Repairs
Fiddler The Repairs
Average People Bobby Darin
Something In Her Love Bobby Darin
Since I Met You There's No Magic Celebration
The Circle Again Celebration
Come Get This Thang GC Cameron & Willie Hutch
My Woman GC Cameron & Willie Hutch
Daddy's Home Jermaine Jackson
Take Me In Your Arms Rock Me A Little While Jermaine Jackson
I Can't Stand To See You Cry Smokey Robinson & The Miracles
With Your Love Came Smokey Robinson & The Miracles
Happy Love Theme From Lady Sings The Blues Bobby Darin
Trouble Man Marvin Gaye
Don't Mess With Mr T Marvin Gaye
Robot Man Jay & The Techniques
I'll Be Here Jay & The Techniques
Long Life And Success To The Farmer Martin & Finley
Half Crazed Martin & Finley
Take It Out On Me Jerry Ross Symposium
It's The Same Old Love Jerry Ross Symposium
Love Ain't Love Till You Give It To Somebody The Courtship
Oops It Just Slipped Out The Courtship
We're Gonna Have A Good Time Rare Earth
Would You Like To Come Along Rare Earth
Ballad Of The Unloved Wolfe
Tale Of Two Cities Wolfe
It's Not The Last Time Puzzle
On With The Show Puzzle
Good Morning Heartache Diana Ross
God Bless The Child Diana Ross
I Want To Come Home For Christmas Marvin Gaye
Christmas In The City Marvin Gaye
Neither One Of Us Wants To Be The First To Say Goodbye Gladys Knight & The Pips

Grape :)

[DWSheffer]

Speaking of Ampex reel to reels, here is a promotional poster from 1969 for Ampex tapes featuring The Supremes. Ampex produced both reel to reel and cassette tapes. There is also a very cool Aretha Franklin poster from the same series. I like the dot pop-art style of the poster. Sorry for the poor photo, it was really hard to get a pic of in the frame!

17173

[DWSheffer]

I've always thought this Billboard ad for "Ain't No Mountain" was one of the more lavish ads I'd ever seen, with the attached special picture sleeve. As far as I'm aware, they did not actually come with a record. [[I could imagine how difficult that would have been for the USPS mailing an already oversize magazine, with a record to boot!) At any rate, years ago I purchased one of these sleeves by itself and wondered why it had an odd glue strip residue on the one side, but I discounted it to a machine screwing up during the production process. When I found this ad I finally discovered my answer for the excess glue, it was one of these out of Billboard. There is also the DJ blurb on the special Billboard sleeves, which I've included a close-up of.

17174

17175

17176

[motown_marc]

great items DWSheffer!

[DWSheffer]

Thank you Marc.

Here is Yvonne Fair's Motown ID card. I acquired this not too long ago and had never seen one before in photo or in person, but I had heard of them. By the late 60's Mr. Gordy was getting pretty paranoid regarding his own security. By the time the Woodward Donovan building was in high use, you needed these cards to enter the facility, whether you were an artist or a general employee. It is signed by Yvonne and Mrs. Edwards.

17178

17179

[DWSheffer]

This is a nice vintage piece, a mid-1968 Temptations concert program signed by the Tempt's special guests, Martha and The Vandellas. Willie Tyler and Lester also appeared at the show.

17180

17181

[DWSheffer]

Here are some local radio charts with Motown artists on the covers.....

17182

17183

[reese]

In the book The Motown Album [[1990) there is a picture from Mary Wilson in Studio A, addressing Smokey, Berry, Diana and a lot of other people. On the table in front of her is the 1965 UK Tour Program of The Tamla Motown Show, so I assume this is around that time. And Mary is wearing a T-shirt of the Dutch pirate station Radio Veronica. At the time these pirate stations, broadcasting from the North Sea just out of the territorial waters of the Netherlands and the UK , were very important for Motown, since regular stations like the BBC did not play their music. I also found a picture of Mary wearing the same T-shirt while dancing with Florence and Diana in what looks like a living room. Always wondered who’s living room this was. Anyone?

In THE MOTOWN ALBUM, the living room was said to be at Loucye Gordy Wakefield's home.

In Diana's book, she captioned a similar photo as taking place at Flo's house. Originally I believed she said this because in her photo, you can see Flo's mother seated on the couch watching and I didn't think the girls had their own homes yet. But in another photo in her book, Diana-wearing the same outfit-poses in front of her own home. So the homes were definitely purchased by the time of this get-together.

[DWSheffer]

Speaking of Willie and Lester, here is the "Quality Control" copy I acquired from a Detroit dealer. I don't recall seeing any QC LP's so found it quite interesting. I would surmise though that all records pressed, LP or 45, would have had a QC pressing submitted for approval. I guess we just don't see them on the market.

17184

17185

[reese]

I've always thought this Billboard ad for "Ain't No Mountain" was one of the more lavish ads I'd ever seen, with the attached special picture sleeve. As far as I'm aware, they did not actually come with a record. [[I could imagine how difficult that would have been for the USPS mailing an already oversize magazine, with a record to boot!) At any rate, years ago I purchased one of these sleeves by itself and wondered why it had an odd glue strip residue on the one side, but I discounted it to a machine screwing up during the production process. When I found this ad I finally discovered my answer for the excess glue, it was one of these out of Billboard. There is also the DJ blurb on the special Billboard sleeves, which I've included a close-up of.

17174

17175

17176

I know there have been some very disappointed Billboard readers at my local library. Because as soon as I saw that picture sleeve, I "checked it out" and never returned it. :D

[DWSheffer]

Your secret is good with us Reese, lol! ;)

[kenneth]

17158.

Radio City Music Hall

Can’t seem to turn it

I learned through trial and error what worked for me was after taking the photo, I went into 'edit' mode on my phone and simply rotated the image. Even if the image photographed vertically it would still load here horizontally. But if I rotated the image on my phone 4 times [[making it back to the original vertical image), and then saved it that way, the image no longer seems to "wobble" from vertical to horizontal when I load it here.

It's worked that way since. If you see early in this thread originally the Motown Order Catalog had loaded horizontally but I was able to correct it later. I have an iPhone X.

[motown_marc]

In THE MOTOWN ALBUM, the living room was said to be at Loucye Gordy Wakefield's home.

In Diana's book, she captioned a similar photo as taking place at Flo's house. Originally I believed she said this because in her photo, you can see Flo's mother seated on the couch watching and I didn't think the girls had their own homes yet. But in another photo in her book, Diana-wearing the same outfit-poses in front of her own home. So the homes were definitely purchased by the time of this get-together.

Thanks a lot Reese! I never noticed that the girls were wearing the same clothes in the pictures in Diana's book. Only excuse I have is that I always concentrated more on the first page, signed for me by Diana!

17186

[kenneth]

Your secret is good with us Reese, lol! ;)

I've been guilty in the past of doing such things!

[kenneth]

Kenneth,

Your Motown catalogue also lists Easy Beats and The Other People who never had Motown releases.

It's interesting that in both the Motown Order Forms which have been displayed here, that both seem to focus on the catalog's diversity including many Rare Earth and other artists which were relatively obscure at the time or as @luckyluckyme points out never saw a release.

I suppose Motown was always looking for the next big thing as record companies tend to do and didn't focus as much on their established acts, perhaps because they already had a certain "floor" of sales that they knew they would generate without additional hype. Any other thoughts?

[WaitingWatchingLookingForAChance]

... because in the general news it was only the Beatles songs that were mentioned.
Yes, that is the point exactly why it stood out to me too.

[WaitingWatchingLookingForAChance]

17165

The Supremes on other carriers than vinyl: still sealed Ampex tape and on eight-track. Here in Europe eight-track never caught on as a format.

I was going to make a joke that eight-track never caught on here in the States either, but I'm not sure that's really a joke. I HATED eight-track. That annoying buzzing and clicking as the tape switched between channels. YUCK. And I love your collection!

[WaitingWatchingLookingForAChance]

...part 5 of 5

What If Thelma Houston
There Is A God Thelma Houston
Mama I Gotta Brand New Thing Don't Say No The Undisputed Truth
Girl You're Alright The Undisputed Truth
With A Little Help From My Fiends The Undisputed Truth
She Said That Lesley Gore
The Road I Walk Lesley Gore
Spanish Harlem The Crusaders
Papa Hooper's Barrelhouse Groove The Crusaders
Superstition Stevie Wonder
You've Got It Bad Girl Stevie Wonder
You've Got My Mind Sisters Love
Try It You'll Like It Sisters Love
Songwriter The Repairs
Fiddler The Repairs
Average People Bobby Darin
Something In Her Love Bobby Darin
Since I Met You There's No Magic Celebration
The Circle Again Celebration
Come Get This Thang GC Cameron & Willie Hutch
My Woman GC Cameron & Willie Hutch
Daddy's Home Jermaine Jackson
Take Me In Your Arms Rock Me A Little While Jermaine Jackson
I Can't Stand To See You Cry Smokey Robinson & The Miracles
With Your Love Came Smokey Robinson & The Miracles
Happy Love Theme From Lady Sings The Blues Bobby Darin
Trouble Man Marvin Gaye
Don't Mess With Mr T Marvin Gaye
Robot Man Jay & The Techniques
I'll Be Here Jay & The Techniques
Long Life And Success To The Farmer Martin & Finley
Half Crazed Martin & Finley
Take It Out On Me Jerry Ross Symposium
It's The Same Old Love Jerry Ross Symposium
Love Ain't Love Till You Give It To Somebody The Courtship
Oops It Just Slipped Out The Courtship
We're Gonna Have A Good Time Rare Earth
Would You Like To Come Along Rare Earth
Ballad Of The Unloved Wolfe
Tale Of Two Cities Wolfe
It's Not The Last Time Puzzle
On With The Show Puzzle
Good Morning Heartache Diana Ross
God Bless The Child Diana Ross
I Want To Come Home For Christmas Marvin Gaye
Christmas In The City Marvin Gaye
Neither One Of Us Wants To Be The First To Say Goodbye Gladys Knight & The Pips

Grape :)

Well, now you've convinced me I was VERY short-sighted in stopping so early! Looking over the tracklisting, I'm seeing quite a lot of songs I actually do like from the 70's at Motown. I shouldda kept my eyes shut!! Oh, well, I might just eat it and pay the price on ebay!

[WaitingWatchingLookingForAChance]

You're very right Waiting, I hadn't noticed that! Yes, a cool modern font is used and the outlining around the group photo really adds a lot! I think I like the unreleased one better too. Here's a close up of it.
Darin

17172


Good Lord, what was the graphic arts department thinking at Motown? Why on earth did they stick us with an album cover that looked like it was done on the cheap? I've seen better album covers on those budget, rip-off albums. This looks MUCH better than the schlepp that went out.

[WaitingWatchingLookingForAChance]

Thank you Marc.

Here is Yvonne Fair's Motown ID card. I acquired this not too long ago and had never seen one before in photo or in person, but I had heard of them. By the late 60's Mr. Gordy was getting pretty paranoid regarding his own security. By the time the Woodward Donovan building was in high use, you needed these cards to enter the facility, whether you were an artist or a general employee. It is signed by Yvonne and Mrs. Edwards.

17178


17179



Hey, I've got a proof sheet, or a copy of it anyway that this photo was taken from. It looks like a photo session and Yvonne is wearing the same thing with the same hair style as pictured here. If I find it, I'll post it here in the future.

[WaitingWatchingLookingForAChance]

171911719017192

Here is another original photograph used on an album cover, in this case, the rear cover of The Temptations Puzzle People. This one is attached to heavy cardboard and on the back is a plastic film and the Joe Shillair stamp.

I always liked this photo of the group. Notice the balance in composition: two guys on either end mirroring each other with one-leg-over-the-rail poses while Eddie is seated squarely in the middle. I especially love this photo because instead of the usual, standard, broad smiles, arms stretched out pose, we get a rather stoic, almost contemplative photo. I like how everyone looks deep in thought, except for Paul, who looks like he's found his serenity in this setting.

[kenneth]

I was going to make a joke that eight-track never caught on here in the States either, but I'm not sure that's really a joke. I HATED eight-track. That annoying buzzing and clicking as the tape switched between channels. YUCK. And I love your collection!

And the way some songs had to span two different "programs" on the tape, so there would be a fade out and fade in, like in a song with a Part 1 and Part 2. And if there was space left over on a program, then some songs would be repeated on the tape. And if a song you wanted to hear was 2nd or 3rd within a program, you had to listen to the songs which preceded it prior to hearing the song you wanted to hear.

Like VHS vs. Beta, Cassettes won out over 8-tracks within a very short time, I believe. The difference was I think actually Beta was a better quality than VHS whereas 8-tracks deserved their ignoble end!

[kenneth]

@WaitingWatching, one of my favorite Tempts photos as well as one of their best albums from their first Motown era. They all looked fantastic on this cover, especially Dennis. Another great find.

I guess I'm glad I never discovered this area of collecting. I spent a fortune just on the albums I didn't have when Ebay became popular. I can't begin to think how much of this stuff I would have accumulated if unleashed!

[lockhartgary]

And the way some songs had to span two different "programs" on the tape, so there would be a fade out and fade in, like in a song with a Part 1 and Part 2. And if there was space left over on a program, then some songs would be repeated on the tape. And if a song you wanted to hear was 2nd or 3rd within a program, you had to listen to the songs which preceded it prior to hearing the song you wanted to hear.

Like VHS vs. Beta, Cassettes won out over 8-tracks within a very short time, I believe. The difference was I think actually Beta was a better quality than VHS whereas 8-tracks deserved their ignoble end!

8 tracks were the worst. I remember the console stereo my mother had that came with an 8 track recorder.

[motown_marc]

I was going to make a joke that eight-track never caught on here in the States either, but I'm not sure that's really a joke. I HATED eight-track. That annoying buzzing and clicking as the tape switched between channels. YUCK. And I love your collection!


thanks WaitingWatching. I only have that eight-track cassette, no machine, so never played it. I do have a cassette player and lots of musicassettes

17194

[motown_marc]

17195 A limited edition Irish telephone card from the nineties. Still fully charged!

[copley]

I didn't think that Marvin and Tammi were still performing in concert in 1968. I thought that the last time they sang in concert together was when she collapsed on stage with him in October '67. Can anyone confirm this?

The concert never happened so this is a rare item.

While Terrell was finally being established as a star, the migraines and headaches she had suffered from childhood were becoming more constant. While she complained of pains, she insisted to people close to her that she was well enough to perform. However, on October 14, 1967, while performing "Your Precious Love" with Gaye at Hampden–Sydney College just outside the town of Farmville, Virginia, Terrell collapsed into Gaye's arms onstage. Shortly after returning from Virginia, doctors diagnosed a malignant tumor on the right side of her brain. She underwent brain surgery at Graduate Hospital in Philadelphia on January 13, 1968

[WaitingWatchingLookingForAChance]

And the way some songs had to span two different "programs" on the tape, so there would be a fade out and fade in, like in a song with a Part 1 and Part 2. And if there was space left over on a program, then some songs would be repeated on the tape. And if a song you wanted to hear was 2nd or 3rd within a program, you had to listen to the songs which preceded it prior to hearing the song you wanted to hear.

Like VHS vs. Beta, Cassettes won out over 8-tracks within a very short time, I believe. The difference was I think actually Beta was a better quality than VHS whereas 8-tracks deserved their ignoble end!
Oh yes. You know it very well, how those 8-tracks worked. UGGGGGG!

OK, so it wasn't just in my mind- I never, ever could figure out why VHS overtook Beta. Beta was infinitely better as far as picture quality. I had recorded a lot of tv shows on Beta tapes, only to have to toss 'em out. Oh, the good ol' days!

[kenneth]

The concert never happened so this is a rare item.

While Terrell was finally being established as a star, the migraines and headaches she had suffered from childhood were becoming more constant. While she complained of pains, she insisted to people close to her that she was well enough to perform. However, on October 14, 1967, while performing "Your Precious Love" with Gaye at Hampden–Sydney College just outside the town of Farmville, Virginia, Terrell collapsed into Gaye's arms onstage. Shortly after returning from Virginia, doctors diagnosed a malignant tumor on the right side of her brain. She underwent brain surgery at Graduate Hospital in Philadelphia on January 13, 1968


That is eerie. The way things become collectable is sometimes so strange.

Similarly, there was a "Superman" comic book, which was to include a story sequence where Superman meets then President JFK. However, by the time the comic book was to be published, JFK had been assassinated. So the story was pulled. It looks like it was finally put on display at the JFK Presidential Library although apparently the library tried to sell it on the collectors' market before the original artist found out and made an issue out of it! In addition, LBJ apparently wanted it to come out as an homage to JFK's commitment to physical fitness [[which was the basis for the story line in the book).

Interesting story. And as Copley said, that Marvin-Tammi poster is definitely a keeper.

https://www.wbur.org/artery/2014/03/20/superman-jfk-comic

[marv2]

I do not own this, but is a great picture from a Motown Christmas Party:

17197

[kenneth]

@Marv, what a fun photo. Rare to see Georgeanna from the Marvelettes in a photo like that! Definitely looks like party clothes.

Is that Diane on the other side of Stevie? It looks like her but her face seems full. Maybe it's just the way the light catches her.

Mary is gorgeous and dressed to the nines as always.

[WaitingWatchingLookingForAChance]

I do not own this, but is a great picture from a Motown Christmas Party:

17197
Wow, this is a great picture. And as Kenneth mentioned, its super nice to see Georgeanna and looking very happy to be there!

[marv2]

@Marv, what a fun photo. Rare to see Georgeanna from the Marvelettes in a photo like that! Definitely looks like party clothes.

Is that Diane on the other side of Stevie? It looks like her but her face seems full. Maybe it's just the way the light catches her.

Mary is gorgeous and dressed to the nines as always.

Georgeanna looks great! Yes, that is Diane behind Stevie. I would bet money that the tall guy standing back there between the Holland brothers is Eddie Kendricks. Mary was just hot, regardless of the decade! LOL!

[marv2]

Wow, this is a great picture. And as Kenneth mentioned, its super nice to see Georgeanna and looking very happy to be there!

I am pretty sure that this picture was from the Motown Company Christmas Party in 1963 at the Graystone Ballroom.

[kenneth]

Okay, I realize this does not count as Motown memorabilia, per se, but I had to post it anyway!

I think it was an earlier thread some folks were discussing the "101 Strings Perform Supremes" album. I have that one also, but I think this one is a rare one as it was produced several years later, in the waning years of the "elevator music" genre.

I think we tend to laugh these items off as sheer exploitation, which they likely were. But don't think these producers were dummies. Notice how they found a model who resembled [[somewhat) Gladys Knight for the cover. In addition, the "101 Strings" which was never actually a working orchestra, always loaded their albums with originals, much like Berry Gordy included as many Motown published songs on Motown albums. But this album seems to take the prize in that regard. There's only three Stevie Wonder songs, and only two Gladys Knight songs. In addition we have those immortal well known hits such as "King of the Day," "Little Miss Sassie" [[!), "Hooked on You," "Baby Let's Smooth it Over," and "It's So Exciting."

These folks were mercenaries!

17198

[kenneth]

I am pretty sure that this picture was from the Motown Company Christmas Party in 1963 at the Graystone Ballroom.

Georgeanna wasn't in the group much later than that, was she? She's on the cover of "Marvelous" [[1963) and "Recorded Live on Stage" [[63 or 64?) but she was gone by "Greatest Hits" which as recently discussed was nearly three years later. Hard to tell from the fashions. Georgeanna's styling compared to Mary's shows how different the two groups really were. Georgeanna's look is definitely from the 60s whereas Mary could wear today what she has on then and still look contemporary.

Yes it does look like Eddie in the back, or possibly Marvin Gaye? But Gaye was not that tall, was he? Didn't the Tempts require all their members to be at least 6'?

Who is the gentleman sitting next to Mary?

[marv2]

Georgeanna wasn't in the group much later than that, was she? She's on the cover of "Marvelous" [[1963) and "Recorded Live on Stage" [[63 or 64?) but she was gone by "Greatest Hits" which as recently discussed was nearly three years later. Hard to tell from the fashions. Georgeanna's styling compared to Mary's shows how different the two groups really were. Georgeanna's look is definitely from the 60s whereas Mary could wear today what she has on then and still look contemporary.

Yes it does look like Eddie in the back, or possibly Marvin Gaye? But Gaye was not that tall, was he? Didn't the Tempts require all their members to be at least 6'?

Who is the gentleman sitting next to Mary?

Georgeanna stayed with the group until the early part of 1965 when she began to become ill. She stayed and worked for Motown until they moved out West in 1972. Her son Darrin said years ago, that his mom loved singing and being in the Marvelettes and when she could no longer do that, she was just never quite the same.

[marv2]

Georgeanna wasn't in the group much later than that, was she? She's on the cover of "Marvelous" [[1963) and "Recorded Live on Stage" [[63 or 64?) but she was gone by "Greatest Hits" which as recently discussed was nearly three years later. Hard to tell from the fashions. Georgeanna's styling compared to Mary's shows how different the two groups really were. Georgeanna's look is definitely from the 60s whereas Mary could wear today what she has on then and still look contemporary.

Yes it does look like Eddie in the back, or possibly Marvin Gaye? But Gaye was not that tall, was he? Didn't the Tempts require all their members to be at least 6'?

Who is the gentleman sitting next to Mary?
At first, I thought that guy might be Marvin Gaye too, but Nah, that looks more like Eddie Kendricks and from another picture, I saw from this party Eddie was there. Yes, the Tempts had that height requirement. The man sitting next to Mary is Mickey Stevenson, Head of A&R for Motown

[kenneth]

At first, I thought that guy might be Marvin Gaye too, but Nah, that looks more like Eddie Kendricks and from another picture, I saw from this party Eddie was there. Yes, the Tempts had that height requirement. The man sitting next to Mary is Mickey Stevenson, Head of A&R for Motown

Oh, thanks! I've seen very few photos of Stevenson from back then. I met him the night Scherrie and Susaye sang at Vitello's in LA. He is still a very dashing, elegant man who was so gracious when I told him how much I loved his music my whole life. Come to think of it, I believe he is also pretty tall. I stand almost 6'3" and as I recall he was about my height. Definitely a real class act.

[reese]

Okay, I realize this does not count as Motown memorabilia, per se, but I had to post it anyway!

I think it was an earlier thread some folks were discussing the "101 Strings Perform Supremes" album. I have that one also, but I think this one is a rare one as it was produced several years later, in the waning years of the "elevator music" genre.

I think we tend to laugh these items off as sheer exploitation, which they likely were. But don't think these producers were dummies. Notice how they found a model who resembled [[somewhat) Gladys Knight for the cover. In addition, the "101 Strings" which was never actually a working orchestra, always loaded their albums with originals, much like Berry Gordy included as many Motown published songs on Motown albums. But this album seems to take the prize in that regard. There's only three Stevie Wonder songs, and only two Gladys Knight songs. In addition we have those immortal well known hits such as "King of the Day," "Little Miss Sassie" [[!), "Hooked on You," "Baby Let's Smooth it Over," and "It's So Exciting."

These folks were mercenaries!

17198

The model is Gloria Hendry, of LIVE AND LET DIE and BLACK CAESAR fame.

[kenneth]

The model is Gloria Hendry, of LIVE AND LET DIE and BLACK CAESAR fame.

No kidding, really? That’s fascinating!

[lucky2012]

I am pretty sure that this picture was from the Motown Company Christmas Party in 1963 at the Graystone Ballroom.
Marv2, Could this be a 1964 Christmas Party? Would the Supremes be so dressed up in late 1963? [[Diana & Flo in furs!) By December 1964 The Supremes were definitely the Queens of Motown.

[justanothermotownfan]

This is a rare album but I was shocked to see a DJ sample copy that as far as I know was not replicated on any other early Tamla album release.

1719917199

[kenneth]

Marv2, Could this be a 1964 Christmas Party? Would the Supremes be so dressed up in late 1963? [[Diana & Flo in furs!) By December 1964 The Supremes were definitely the Queens of Motown.

You may be on to something. “Lovelight” wasn’t even until 1964, was it?

[kenneth]

This is a rare album but I was shocked to see a DJ sample copy that as far as I know was not replicated on any other early Tamla album release.

17199

Really beautiful label copies. This was actually the very first release on Tamla wasn’t it? I suppose that means anything is possible at that point. What a unique item.

[motown_marc]

17200

In 1968 the Supremes performed at the Midem in Cannes, France. Midem [[Marché international de l'édition musicale) is a yearly music fair since 1967. In 1994 Diana Ross was honoured with a special edition of her One Woman-CD. I have box No. 0655.

[marybrewster]

Mary Wilson Fan Club

17035

Kenneth, do you know much about the MWFC? How many newsletters were produced and when? I'm looking for another fan that might have copies; I'm looking for one in specific, and have several duplicates that I'd be willing to trade. In all I have collected about 20 issues from 1982 - 2001, but know I'm missing at least one.

[detmotownguy]

I do not own this, but is a great picture from a Motown Christmas Party:

17197

Flo looks radiant.

[grapevine]

Well, now you've convinced me I was VERY short-sighted in stopping so early! Looking over the tracklisting, I'm seeing quite a lot of songs I actually do like from the 70's at Motown. I shouldda kept my eyes shut!! Oh, well, I might just eat it and pay the price on ebay!

Yes Waiting ...it wouldn't be ...The Complete Motown Singles ...unless it was ...COMPLETE...!! ...IMHO...!

Grape :)

[snakepit]

17204

I hope this works....it should show me and a friend in Studio A at Hitsville

[snakepit]

17205.

CD collection....not all..eg TCMS set not shown

[snakepit]

17206

Photos from my "den"

[snakepit]

17207

More from "The Snakepit"

[snakepit]

17208

Sanctuary

[snakepit]

17209

Marvin Gaye autograph from 1976

[snakepit]

17211
More from the den

[kenneth]

Kenneth, do you know much about the MWFC? How many newsletters were produced and when? I'm looking for another fan that might have copies; I'm looking for one in specific, and have several duplicates that I'd be willing to trade. In all I have collected about 20 issues from 1982 - 2001, but know I'm missing at least one.

I’m sorry I don’t. I was never in the club. I think I got the membership card when I wrote to Mary Wilson and asked her for a photo.

Perhaps someone else knows about the publication that you’re looking for.

[marv2]

Marv2, Could this be a 1964 Christmas Party? Would the Supremes be so dressed up in late 1963? [[Diana & Flo in furs!) By December 1964 The Supremes were definitely the Queens of Motown.

Lucky, it is the '63 Christmas party based on other pics I've seen from this party. The Supremes had just gotten their first hit about a month earlier with "When The Love Light Starts Shining Through His Eyes". The Marvelettes were higher up in rank and got more expensive Christmas gifts as compared to the Supremes.

[marv2]

Kenneth, do you know much about the MWFC? How many newsletters were produced and when? I'm looking for another fan that might have copies; I'm looking for one in specific, and have several duplicates that I'd be willing to trade. In all I have collected about 20 issues from 1982 - 2001, but know I'm missing at least one.

I know you were asking Kenneth, but I was a member beginning in late 1975 until I can't remember. I was still getting newsletters in the mail in the late 90s, maybe early 2000s

[benross]

"Would the Supremes be so dressed up in late 1963? [[Diana & Flo in furs!)"

Lucky 2012, to me the coats, especially Florence's, look like "fun furs," which were a fad at the time. The coats seem to lack the luster of real fur and also the hairs seem a bit too long and too fluffy to be mink; they look like angora kittens' fur! Also, the colors change from presumably dark brown to lighter brown to rusty brown to beige in a random pattern that does not resemble any of the status furs -- who ever heard of a calico or striped ermine? -- and does not resemble leopard spots or zebra or tiger markings. The coats seem like cheap imitations. At least the fun furs that Diana and Florence wore on the back of their Christmas album didn't try too hard; they were synthetic pile and didn't pretend to be more than that.

[benross]

Sophisticated Soul and Waiting Watching...the fact that Where Did Our Love Go was played for the astronauts, supposedly at the astronauts' request, was reported more than might be expected. It was a big deal. I read about it in either Time or Newsweek, the leading news magazines of the day, while sitting on my parents' porch in the sunshine. This was long before the group had a "household name," and the writer identified them as [[paraphrasing) "The Supremes, apparently three young girls from Detroit..."

[benross]

Sophisticated Soul and Waiting Watching...the fact that Where Did Our Love Go was played for the astronauts, supposedly at the astronauts' request, was reported more than might be expected. It was a big deal. I read about it in either Time or Newsweek, the leading news magazines of the day, while sitting on my parents' porch in the sunshine.

This was long before the group had become a "household name," and the writer identified them as [[paraphrasing) "The Supremes, apparently three young girls from Detroit..."

[lucky2012]

"Would the Supremes be so dressed up in late 1963? [[Diana & Flo in furs!)"

Lucky 2012, to me the coats, especially Florence's, look like "fun furs," which were a fad at the time. The coats seem to lack the luster of real fur and also the hairs seem a bit too long and too fluffy to be mink; they look like angora kittens' fur! Also, the colors change from presumably dark brown to lighter brown to rusty brown to beige in a random pattern that does not resemble any of the status furs -- who ever heard of a calico or striped ermine? -- and does not resemble leopard spots or zebra or tiger markings. The coats seem like cheap imitations. At least the fun furs that Diana and Florence wore on the back of their Christmas album didn't try too hard; they were synthetic pile and didn't pretend to be more than that.

Lol. Thank you for the info about "furs"! The Supremes still look more "prosperous" than the others in the photo. It was a sign of good things to come!

[marybrewster]

I know you were asking Kenneth, but I was a member beginning in late 1975 until I can't remember. I was still getting newsletters in the mail in the late 90s, maybe early 2000s

Thanks marv. These are great pieces of memorabilia. Can you imagine a time of no Internet and having to wait for newsletters to find out all of the happenings?

[sophisticated_soul]

17212
. .

[marv2]

Thanks marv. These are great pieces of memorabilia. Can you imagine a time of no Internet and having to wait for newsletters to find out all of the happenings?

I can imagine. I can remember calling Carl the publisher and president long-distance until my father put a stop to it! LOL!

[marv2]

Thanks marv. These are great pieces of memorabilia. Can you imagine a time of no Internet and having to wait for newsletters to find out all of the happenings?

I think one of the last newsletters I got was in 2003 -2004. I remember pictures of Mary with Johnny Bristol in that one. So I was getting them for roughly 25 years! Wow!

[sophisticated_soul]

17213
. .

[kenneth]

@sophisticated_soul,

Joseph, Forgive my ignorance, but what do the above album covers represent? Are they reel-to-reel tapes possibly?

K

[sophisticated_soul]

@sophisticated_soul,

Joseph, Forgive my ignorance, but what do the above album covers represent? Are they reel-to-reel tapes possibly?

K

No ignorance. Yes, they are reel-to-reel. I meant to state that.:)

[WaitingWatchingLookingForAChance]

Okay, I realize this does not count as Motown memorabilia, per se, but I had to post it anyway!

I think it was an earlier thread some folks were discussing the "101 Strings Perform Supremes" album. I have that one also, but I think this one is a rare one as it was produced several years later, in the waning years of the "elevator music" genre.

I think we tend to laugh these items off as sheer exploitation, which they likely were. But don't think these producers were dummies. Notice how they found a model who resembled [[somewhat) Gladys Knight for the cover. In addition, the "101 Strings" which was never actually a working orchestra, always loaded their albums with originals, much like Berry Gordy included as many Motown published songs on Motown albums. But this album seems to take the prize in that regard. There's only three Stevie Wonder songs, and only two Gladys Knight songs. In addition we have those immortal well known hits such as "King of the Day," "Little Miss Sassie" [[!), "Hooked on You," "Baby Let's Smooth it Over," and "It's So Exciting."

These folks were mercenaries!

17198

Sometimes albums like this is where you find unexpected gold. I never paid attention to these budget albums and elevator music LPs, but somehow, recently I got into collecting albums from a record company called Crown Records, in particular, the Tijuana Brass knock off group, The Mexicali Brass. Like you wrote about 101 Strings, The Mexicali Brass was just a studio band that churned out album after album. I'm finding that while I was never really a bit Herb Alpert & TJB fan, I do like these knock offs a lot because they're fun to listen to.

There is a tune on one of the albums, a cover of "I Can't Stop Loving You", that sounds like someone was paying critical attention to what Motown was doing circa 1965. The arrangement sounds very much like an HDH production with a mad, Earl Van Dyke-like pounding piano figure being doubled by a marimba. The drummer is just pounding the heck out of his drum, a furious 4/4 beat and the kick drum is working overtime, similar to the drum work on the Four Tops' "Something About You." So you got a Motown beat layered over with Mariachi band-styled brass. I was pleasantly surprised at how good it is. I'll have to pick up some of these 101 Strings albums sometime.

[WaitingWatchingLookingForAChance]

Sophisticated Soul and Waiting Watching...the fact that Where Did Our Love Go was played for the astronauts, supposedly at the astronauts' request, was reported more than might be expected. It was a big deal. I read about it in either Time or Newsweek, the leading news magazines of the day, while sitting on my parents' porch in the sunshine. This was long before the group had a "household name," and the writer identified them as [[paraphrasing) "The Supremes, apparently three young girls from Detroit..." Wow, that's really nice to know. See, this is the kind of perspective you don't get very often, even from the books on Motown. That says a lot that this was going down even before, as you said, the Supremes were a household name. I could never figure out why few at Motown seemed to see how good a song "Where Did Our Love Go" was when it was recorded. But I guess sometimes you can be too close to something to see its value. Apparently, those astronauts knew a good thing when they heard it.

[WaitingWatchingLookingForAChance]

Yes Waiting ...it wouldn't be ...The Complete Motown Singles ...unless it was ...COMPLETE...!! ...IMHO...!

Grape :) I have been ZINGED! I love it!!!!! [[cuz it's true!)

[WaitingWatchingLookingForAChance]

17204

I hope this works....it should show me and a friend in Studio A at Hitsville

NICE! Nice pictures and you and your friend actually made it in. I was there once when we were visiting relatives but they were closed! Still, it felt special just being on the front porch, like we had made a pilgrimage of some sort. I love your sanctuary too!

[snakepit]

NICE! Nice pictures and you and your friend actually made it in. I was there once when we were visiting relatives but they were closed! Still, it felt special just being on the front porch, like we had made a pilgrimage of some sort. I love your sanctuary too!

We were lucky insofar as we had access to the studio. We could sit amongst the musical apparatus without any restrictions I believe today's visitors are kept away from the studio A floor area. Our original plan was to meet Martha Reeves for a tour, but she had to attend the funeral of one of Mary Wilson's relatives [[ can't recall details). We eventually did meet her but not on a Hitsville visit.

[WaitingWatchingLookingForAChance]

172141721517216


Who knew things like this existed? That's what Ebay is for! 3 FULL HOURS of MUSICAL ARTISTRY IN STEREO. Imagine an airline playing such a sophisticated and soothing program of music. I guess there are quite a few of these reels that were distributed to United Airlines [[maybe other airlines had a similar musical program?) I'd really like to know how these were planned and how Motown was involved. Did someone in marketing at Motown approach the producers of this series thinking it would be an avenue to gain exposure for the artists as well as these MOR albums? Pretty savvy if that's the case. Nice to see selections from "The Supremes We Remember Sam Cooke" album were included here amongst the standards and show tunes. I was hoping the last photo would come out a bit larger, but I highlighted all the Motown songs on the reel-to-reel as well as the albums the songs were taken from.

[WaitingWatchingLookingForAChance]

We were lucky insofar as we had access to the studio. We could sit amongst the musical apparatus without any restrictions I believe today's visitors are kept away from the studio A floor area. Our original plan was to meet Martha Reeves for a tour, but she had to attend the funeral of one of Mary Wilson's relatives [[ can't recall details). We eventually did meet her but not on a Hitsville visit. Now that is wonderful that you know Martha Reeves [[!) and that you were able to gain that access to the studio. To me, those sorts of experiences make for such a fun and wonderful life.

[WaitingWatchingLookingForAChance]

17217172181721917220

So these are probably not all that rare...except in the States. Most of these I got from ebay UK. Never paid attention to EPs and picture sleeves until I started noticing how many of them have some terrific photos on them. So here are a few of my favorites that I've collected.

[snakepit]

Hi Waiting.
My friend had met MR on a UK tour. She gave him a business card, and told him to contact her should he ever visit Detroit.
Anyway, we did get the opportunity to visit Detroit for a 3[[4)??? Day tour.
We contacted MR immediately on arrival but she informed us that the funeral of MW [[son/daughter??) Was taking place in LA.
Two days later she returned and sent her personal driver to pick us up and join her on her regular night at a club, where she coached/trained local youngsters with a view to preparing them for a talent show days later.
We ended up singing on stage [[ Temptations medley !!) For the " audience" of kids.
Martha was hoping to take us to Hitsville the following day but got sidetracked for a radio interview, so we had to go alone.
We visited each day, and I think by day 3, the staff left us to roam on our own..trusted us I guess.

[WaitingWatchingLookingForAChance]

Hi Waiting.
My friend had met MR on a UK tour. She gave him a business card, and told him to contact her should he ever visit Detroit.
Anyway, we did get the opportunity to visit Detroit for a 3[[4)??? Day tour.
We contacted MR immediately on arrival but she informed us that the funeral of MW [[son/daughter??) Was taking place in LA.
Two days later she returned and sent her personal driver to pick us up and join her on her regular night at a club, where she coached/trained local youngsters with a view to preparing them for a talent show days later.
We ended up singing on stage [[ Temptations medley !!) For the " audience" of kids.
Martha was hoping to take us to Hitsville the following day but got sidetracked for a radio interview, so we had to go alone.
We visited each day, and I think by day 3, the staff left us to roam on our own..trusted us I guess.
Man, that is THE BEST. I always read how Martha Reeves is such a nice person, and your experience is yet one confirmation. I love that, "give me a call when you're in town" thing...and she MEANT it. Love reading that. Sounds goofy, but for a few minutes I kinda felt like I was there too!

[snakepit]

I can tell you that en route to the club, Martha had the driver take us in a drive- through burger fast food shop. We sat in her limo with her eating a burger, trying to talk Motown....I think the burger won the contest.
We sat with her whilst she and her young musical arranger worked on the young kids.
I got the impression that she was "working", and didn' t really want to be "interviewed" by us..fair enough.
So, initially , she was a bit distant.
We bought her a few drinks and left her to get on with her work.
By the end of the night, she insisted we get on stage and perform...highly embarrassing I can tell you.
Her musical arranged tried us with a Temptation song..probably My Girl, then another and another...until he realized we knew our stuff.
Eventually all the young audience joined us on stage for a Motown sing song.....AND then Martha joined us on stage.....which hours earlier she was NOT in the mood for.
We were joined by all in the club, asking us about our UK scene, love of Motown etc...[[ we had sweat shirts with Earl Van Dyke' album covet on them!!!!)....we were celebrities for 5 minutes.
A magical evening.

[motown_marc]

17222

That’s a great story Snakepit!
For our honeymoon in 1994 we visited Hitsville from the Netherlands. Since it had to be a surprise for my wife-to-be, I arranged everything with the Motown Museum. Our visit coincided with a fundraiser at the Roostertail. We were introduced to Esther Gordy Edwards, hauled onstage and sung to by the Contours!
Then we met Barney Ales and I told him a story that I remembered that when he was with Esther and Berry in the Netherlands mid-sixties to make a deal with the Dutch company Bovema, they were invited to an Indonesian restaurant and he put a lot of Sambal-sauce on his food. This is very spicy and flames came out of his ears. Barney laughed and said he never had thought about that incident, but now remembered it. Like Martha Reeves did with you Snakepit, he gave me his business card and said to call when we were back in Detroit again. The year after we returned, give him a call and visited him. Of course I had brought a bottle of the spicy Sambal-sauce with me for him!
He had a look a the list of vinyl records we were trying to find in and around Detroit. When he saw ‘Do I love you [[indeed I do)’ by Frank Wilson he mentioned that he had had a stack of those in his garage and that his wife Mitzi gave them away at a garage sale. How about that?
He said, if you’re that interested in Motown, visit Jim Hendin who has his shop nearby. [[Jim Hendin was one of the photographers that Motown used. He made the sleeve picture of Marvin Gaye’s What’s going on album). So he just called him and said: two Dutch friends of mine will drop by, show them what you have. So we did and he showed us all these pictures, also the ones that were never used. Long story, but lots of good memories. And basically, all the people we met at Motown were so friendly and could not believe that people in Europe [[outside the UK) had ever heard of them. So many stories.

[snakepit]

Good stuff Marc.
I'd would have liked to meet Motown royalty like Mrs. Edwards , but alas , we didn't. Perhaps she was at the Funeral too.
Lamont Dozier's first wife was at Hitsville...I have a photo of me and her.
I had a few artist's telephone numbers supplied by a friend. As a result, I spoke to Frances Nero on the phone, and spoke to Pat Lewis as well. Martha had recommended a club to us...Bomacks...and I invited Pat to meet us on our second visit there.
Pat came down to join us, and she ended up in the possession of my Golden World T shirt.
The next night, Pat had left a message on the hotel phone. She wanted to know if we were interested in going to George Clinton's birthday party! Sadly it was the night we had arranged to meet Martha so could not attend.

[snakepit]

I've just checked George Clinton details..it wasn't a birthday party, perhaps just a passing through Detroit thing.

[DWSheffer]

Here is a post Diana era Supremes account check from the Woodward address:

17270

A Motown Corporation "Thank You" card, interestingly made by Jostens....yes, the same company that probably made your high school graduation invitations, lol.

17271

[DWSheffer]

A larger cardboard display poster for the "Rock Gospel The Key To The Kingdom" LP M743L, obviously in the shape of a cross.

17272

And a smaller strip poster promoting the cheapie "drilled and bagged" 45's for .15 cents a record. What a bargain! Most of the time they were 3 for $1.

17273

[DWSheffer]

A Motown 25 program signed on the cover by Berry Gordy......

17274

[marv2]

Here is a post Diana era Supremes account check from the Woodward address:

17270

A Motown Corporation "Thank You" card, interestingly made by Jostens....yes, the same company that probably made your high school graduation invitations, lol.

17271

DWSheffer, about 10-11 years ago. I found an auction house online that was auctioning off checks made out the Supremes [[Mary Wilson, Scherrie Payne, and Cindy Birdsong) from NBC and "The Tonight Show" for an appearance. The checks had each of the ladies' social security numbers on it in plain view of the world! I had to contact Mary's management to get them to take it down!

[marv2]

This is the program from Florence Ballard's funeral

17275

[DWSheffer]

That's interesting Marv, seems like the auction house would've known better, since our SS# [[usually!) is ours for life!

[marv2]

Man, that is THE BEST. I always read how Martha Reeves is such a nice person, and your experience is yet one confirmation. I love that, "give me a call when you're in town" thing...and she MEANT it. Love reading that. Sounds goofy, but for a few minutes I kinda felt like I was there too!

She is a very nice.....tough person! LOL!

[marv2]

That's interesting Marv, seems like the auction house would've known better, since our SS# [[usually!) is ours for life!

They didn't even care. I emailed them but got nowhere. I got Richard Duryea and his attorney and Poof! It was gone before the week was over.

[Laurent]

17158.

Radio City Music Hall

Can’t seem to turn it

This is a very odd poster. I checked the date: June 21st can only be a Friday in 1963 and 1968.
1963: the Supremes were clearly not successful enough to be billed alone at the Radio City Music Hall,
1968: no need to to tell that the group wasn't billed the Supremes anymore [[even by mistake like is sometimes happened in the second half of 1967) but Diana Ross & the Supremes. And to use this very old photo with Florence instead of Cindy wouldn't do either.

[Laurent]

No I have not seen the blue lettering version before. I think I like it more, better contrast. You've got some great stuff, I love the "Rodgers & Hart" reel-to-reel! Very cool.

Here's a website were you can find all the Supremes pictures sleeves you can think of [[and even more!). There are at least 52 different picture sleeves released in the Netherlands during the 60s period alone.

http://dianarosssupremes.free.fr/index.htm

[sophisticated_soul]

Here's a website were you can find all the Supremes pictures sleeves you can think of [[and even more!). There are at least 52 different picture sleeves released in the Netherlands during the 60s period alone.

http://dianarosssupremes.free.fr/index.htm

What a beautiful website, you've done a fantastic job! Thank you for the link.:)

[robb_k]

Sometimes albums like this is where you find unexpected gold. I never paid attention to these budget albums and elevator music LPs, but somehow, recently I got into collecting albums from a record company called Crown Records, in particular, the Tijuana Brass knock off group, The Mexicali Brass. Like you wrote about 101 Strings, The Mexicali Brass was just a studio band that churned out album after album. I'm finding that while I was never really a bit Herb Alpert & TJB fan, I do like these knock offs a lot because they're fun to listen to.

There is a tune on one of the albums, a cover of "I Can't Stop Loving You", that sounds like someone was paying critical attention to what Motown was doing circa 1965. The arrangement sounds very much like an HDH production with a mad, Earl Van Dyke-like pounding piano figure being doubled by a marimba. The drummer is just pounding the heck out of his drum, a furious 4/4 beat and the kick drum is working overtime, similar to the drum work on the Four Tops' "Something About You." So you got a Motown beat layered over with Mariachi band-styled brass. I was pleasantly surprised at how good it is. I'll have to pick up some of these 101 Strings albums sometime.
17282
Crown Records was The Bihari Brothers' budget records subsidiary, first of Modern Records, and later, of Kent Records. They often had their house band play the instrumentals. The singers on the vocals came from across all genres, but worked cheaply[[in other words, people who had nothing going at the time).

[WaitingWatchingLookingForAChance]

17282
Crown Records was The Bihari Brothers' budget records subsidiary, first of Modern Records, and later, of Kent Records. They often had their house band play the instrumentals. The singers on the vocals came from across all genres, but worked cheaply[[in other words, people who had nothing going at the time). I appreciate that background on the label. I've gotten pretty interested in their albums lately, especially the Mexicali Brass and some of their Country albums. Actually some really good Country tunes on those LPs, especially the guitar instrumentals. I've been reading too that session guitarist Jerry Cole would record a boatload of material and Crown would just put it all out under various names and themes. I got a few of those too and those are pretty fun to listen to.

[WaitingWatchingLookingForAChance]

She is a very nice.....tough person! LOL!
I guess!!!!! But props to her, she's been going strong all these years.

[WaitingWatchingLookingForAChance]

DWSheffer, about 10-11 years ago. I found an auction house online that was auctioning off checks made out the Supremes [[Mary Wilson, Scherrie Payne, and Cindy Birdsong) from NBC and "The Tonight Show" for an appearance. The checks had each of the ladies' social security numbers on it in plain view of the world! I had to contact Mary's management to get them to take it down!
That is one of the most bizarre and careless things I've ever heard. Nice of you to make sure something was done about that. Goes to show, you lose a certain amount of control over your personal life when you become a celebrity!

[DWSheffer]

These are the two Sterling Ball albums which were given to attendees of the event in 1969 and 1971. I think I had read once upon a time that maybe 300 of each were pressed. If anyone knows for sure, please let us know. I do know that they do not come up for sale all that often. The bottom photo are items associated with the SB, a press kit label, silver card, and small envelope.

17283

17284

17285

17286

[DWSheffer]

Here are a few more inside items from the Donovan Building.
Barney Ales letterhead, a "from the desk of Esther G. Edwards" sheet, and "With the compliments of Motown Record Corporation" card.....

17287

Motown letterheads....inter-office memo, Motown, and Motown International Department with the Tamla-Motown logo at the bottom.....

17288

Envelopes for Mowest, Jobete, and Motown Center.

17289

[DWSheffer]

And a few more....
Phone cards for easy access to contact information.

17290

Multi-Media Management Corporation letterhead and artist agreement.

17291

Motown Studio Pass. This is a duplicate form in white and canary and they were for use at both the Detroit or L.A. studios. Wouldn't these have been the "golden ticket" to have had at the time!

17292

[marv2]

How's this for a collectible. Berry Gordy, Wille Tyler, and Lester at a Halloween party at the Gordy Mansion, Detroit:

17293

[WaitingWatchingLookingForAChance]

And a few more....
Phone cards for easy access to contact information.

17290



Multi-Media Management Corporation letterhead and artist agreement.

17291

Motown Studio Pass. This is a duplicate form in white and canary and they were for use at both the Detroit or L.A. studios. Wouldn't these have been the "golden ticket" to have had at the time!

17292


Your collection has re-ignited my Motown Collector's bug. And the timing was absolutely perfect! I have been looking for one of the Lewis Sisters EPs for years. Seems their EPs are among the hardest to find, but I finally did! I can't wait for it to arrive and when it does, I'll share it here. Maybe not so much the songs on the EP, but I happen to think it's one of the most
aesthetically attractive of the Motown sleeves ever designed. I love the blue backdrop and that it matches the dresses of the sisters.

Next on my list are a few Marvin Gaye and Miracles EPs.

[marv2]

I love your collection DWSheffer.

[kenneth]

Temptations sheet music

17302

[kenneth]

Marvin Gaye sheet music

17303

[kenneth]

WaitingWatching's favorite girls! And mine, too!

17304

[kenneth]

Sometimes albums like this is where you find unexpected gold. I never paid attention to these budget albums and elevator music LPs, but somehow, recently I got into collecting albums from a record company called Crown Records, in particular, the Tijuana Brass knock off group, The Mexicali Brass. Like you wrote about 101 Strings, The Mexicali Brass was just a studio band that churned out album after album. I'm finding that while I was never really a bit Herb Alpert & TJB fan, I do like these knock offs a lot because they're fun to listen to.

You are right. In fact, some of these budget knock-off albums become collectable in their own right. I believe that Jimi Hendrix plays guitar on some early psychedelic cheapies from when he was a session musician knocking around Los Angeles.

In fact, the 101 Strings themselves have a psychedelic album! I don't mean just an album containing their Martini with 2 Olives versions of "Light My Fire" and "Hey Jude," but an actual psychedelic offering! And of course it's their most collectable vinyl release. I don't even want to admit what I paid for it when I finally found it!

17305

[Boogiedown]

such cool cool stuff !! :cool::cool::cool:!!

[WaitingWatchingLookingForAChance]

WaitingWatching's favorite girls! And mine, too!

17304

My Wonderful Friend! You know me well! To cop a line from a Stevie Wonder song, "Somebody Knows"

[WaitingWatchingLookingForAChance]

You are right. In fact, some of these budget knock-off albums become collectable in their own right. I believe that Jimi Hendrix plays guitar on some early psychedelic cheapies from when he was a session musician knocking around Los Angeles.

In fact, the 101 Strings themselves have a psychedelic album! I don't mean just an album containing their Martini with 2 Olives versions of "Light My Fire" and "Hey Jude," but an actual psychedelic offering! And of course it's their most collectable vinyl release. I don't even want to admit what I paid for it when I finally found it!

17305


Now that is a mind-blower if ever there was one! "Astro-Sounds" as played by 101 Strings. Hey, you don't have to feel any shame about what you paid for this. I just plunked down an unfathomable amount for The Lewis Sisters EP. I think everyone should experience a moment where for once, you just don't even think about the price of something. I'm not even going to regret the bill when it arrives... I'm not even going to regret the bill when it arrives. If I keep saying it, it will be true!

[kenneth]

Mary Wilson "Red Hot" Promo on Red Vinyl

17317

[kenneth]

My Wonderful Friend! You know me well! To cop a line from a Stevie Wonder song, "Somebody Knows"

I have what I think is a pretty unusual Marvelettes collectable but I can't find it just now. I'm dying to show it to you so I'll keep looking.

[kenneth]

Marvin Gaye [[looking fine) sheet music.

This looks like the same suit he wears on the "Diana and Marvin" album cover.

17319

17321

17322

[kenneth]

Martha Reeves and the Vandellas sheet music

17320

[WaitingWatchingLookingForAChance]

I have what I think is a pretty unusual Marvelettes collectable but I can't find it just now. I'm dying to show it to you so I'll keep looking.

Well now you've got me on edge in anticipation! I'm looking forward to it!

[WaitingWatchingLookingForAChance]

Mary Wilson "Red Hot" Promo on Red Vinyl

17317

I love these red vinyl promos. I wonder if there is a story behind their always being red. I mean, you don't see blue or green vinyl promos...

[jboy88]

I suppose my most 'Special Motown Collectables' ...are the 75 disc ...1849 track ...14 Volume complete set of ...The Complete Motown Singles...that were released by Hip-O / Motown Select between 2004 and 2013...!!!

17139

Grape :)

I also consider this the cornerstone of my Motown collection. I remember hustling and scrambling to collect volumes 9,8,5,7 and 3 within months after seeing volume 6 [[which I already had thank god) sell out and become extremely hard to find at a reasonable price. Totally worth it. I’m still not in a financial position to indulge in collecting memorabilia as astonishing as what’s been posted. Someday though.

[jboy88]

I didn't think that Marvin and Tammi were still performing in concert in 1968. I thought that the last time they sang in concert together was when she collapsed on stage with him in October '67. Can anyone confirm this?

The last time Marvin and Tammi performed together was in late ‘69 at the Apollo theatre. Albeit, it was an impromptu performance as Gaye was actually appearing with Carla Thomas. [[ He spotted Tammi in the audience with her fiancé) As far as their last tentative performance together, I’m not sure.