Greetings!


We’ve been in the reissue racket for many years, and fancy that we know a lot about music. But sometimes, something will come out of the blue and just blow us away…which is why we’re in the music business in the first place, right? Well, that’s exactly what happened when we were pitched on a Blinky collection. We have to admit, our first reaction was, who? But as we dug into the story of Sondra “Blinky” Williams, and listened to the tracks, we realized that we had stumbled upon a coulda been, shoulda been Motown phenom. The soulful singer came to Motown in 1967 following stints at Vee-Jay and Atlantic, bringing her passionate and powerful deep soul sound to Hitsville, USA. Despite recording dozens of tracks between 1968 and 1973, only a small handful saw release: a mere four 45s plus an album of duets with Edwin Starr, two live cuts, and a couple of one-off recordings, including a key moment on the best-selling soundtrack of Lady Sings the Blues. Over the years, Blinky tracks would emerge on compilation releases, prompting fans worldwide to clamor for more and even launch a “Free Blinky from the Vaults” campaign. Now, Blinky is free at last—and her full story can be told.

Heart Full of Soul—The Motown Anthology is the ultimate collection dedicated to Motown’s great lost superstar. Over two CDs and almost 50 songs, Blinky’s Motown journey is chronicled with songs written and produced for her by the label’s greatest talents including Nickolas Ashford and Valerie Simpson, Clay McMurray, Frank Wilson, Hal Davis, Gil Askey, Deke Richards, Jerry Marcellino and Mel Larson, Don Hunter, and Stevie Wonder. The first disc presents her 1970 album Sunny and Warm in complete form for the very first time along with all of her released singles plus rarities and live tracks. The second disc premieres over 20 never-before-heard recordings, both in original Motown stereo mixes and brand-new mixes by Kevin Reeves, that showcase the depth and breadth of Blinky’s remarkable voice. Released with the full cooperation of the artist,Heart Full of Soul: The Motown Anthologyhas been produced and annotated by the team of Joe Marchese and Andrew Skurow [[Bobby Darin’s Go Ahead and Back Up: The Lost Motown Masters, The Supremes’ The Ultimate Merry Christmas), and mastered by Kevin Reeves [[The Supremes’ Expanded Editions) from the original tapes. The deluxe, 40-plus page booklet [[housed inside a 6-panel digipak) features rare photographs and extensive liner notes drawing on a new interview with Blinky. And you know what? It turns out she’s a truly nice lady, and, as shown in the accompanying photograph, she sat down with Real Gone’s Gordon Anderson and co-producer Joe Marchese to sign 100 digipaks, which we are giving away FREE to those customers who order from us while supplies last. This might be the most beautiful package we’ve ever put out, and the music is sensational. Don’t miss this one, Real Goners!

Above photo: Blinky signing copies with [[from left) Co-Producer Joe Marchese and Real Gone’s Gordon Anderson