The Monitors - Say You! The Motown Anthology 1963 – 1968

[keith_hughes]

The daffodils are out, the Contours are nearly out, but your Ace/Motown correspondent is still definitely IN - working hard on our next-release-but-two, Say You! The Motown Anthology 1963 – 1968 by the Monitors, due at the end of May.

The CD will kick off with a complete first-time-ever [[legal) digital version of Greetings! We're The Monitors, their classic 1968 LP. Then we'll be slotting in no fewer than 12 previously unreleased tracks, including a smattering from the group's very early days at Motown as the Majestics. Rounding off the set will be the two B sides that didn't make it onto their LP.

As always, this set is compiled with full support and official blessings from Universal Music.

Is this all getting too much for your pockets? Is a Motown CD a month overkill? Shall we stop? Do let me know. If you don't, we're liable to just carry on regardless ...

[[Also let me know if you think you might be able to bring Richard Street to the end of a telephone for interview. Write to keith@dftmc.info.)

Compliments of the springtime season to all,
Keith

[snakepit]

Fabulous news Keith...
No problem with overkill either....."Don't put till tomorrow what you can do today"
I'm sure there will be a big interest on this
Many thanks for everybody working on these Motown CDs

[dickiemint]

This is amazing, Thanks Keith and the Team, I really hope that we all put our hands in our pokets and buy these CD's we have been nagging for! Are these releases a limited run? I will be placing my pre order with Amazon as soon as it is up! Now what comes after a 'Fantastic Fourth' release?????????

[motown01]

I can't wait for this one. Keep them coming!!!

[robb_k]

Hooray!

[kenneth]

Ace is such an incredible label. They have so many interesting releases. In addition to the great Motown releases of late, they've also thoroughly mined the King/Federal/DeLuxe catalog and really done it proud, after hundreds of great unreleased sides just languished under the ownership of Gusto. They've put out a 4-volume series of King and Federal Doo Wop, including the Charms, Five Keys, Platters, and others; fantastic box sets on Hank Ballard and Freddy King [[includes other material besides King and Federal on this one). They have released in their Limited Edition series a great CD of Tiny Topsy and Lula Reed, two nearly forgotten R&B singers from King Records. They have a whole series of "You Heard it Here First" CDs...famous songs but the original version, not the hit version; a series of "answer" song CDs; a fantastic series of CDs which spotlight famous writers such as Goffin-King, Neil Diamond, and others; and a really wonderful series of CDs which highlight those who imitated the Spector Wall of Sound, such as Nino & April, the Righteous Brothers, Sonny and Cher, and others. I own all the CDs I've mentioned with the exception of the Freddy King box and I will definitely be picking up the Monitors set as soon as it is available! Thanks Ace!

[juicefree20]

Keith,

I'll send along your message to a friend who should be able to reach Richard.

[mr_postman]

This is amazing, Keith. Thanks so much for all the work you and the Ace/Kent and Universal Motown teams are putting down to get these sounds out. It's like being back in 2004-2005 when Motown UK were cranking out Motown Anthology collections by the numbers. I'm living the dream and the word "overkill" is as far from my satisfaction with the release schedule as you can get.

A question regarding this collection, Keith. You say that the collection will feature 12 previously unreleased tracks. Does that number include the six cuts [[correct me if I'm wrong) that were not issued at the time but have been released since? I'm thinking of:

"Crying In The Night" [[This Is Northern Soul! Vol. 1),
"Words" and "I Can't Get Along Without You" [[A Cellarful Of Motown! Vol. 2),
"Just To Keep You Satisfied" [[Marvin Gaye - Let's Get It On: Deluxe Edition),
"Just Too Much To Hope For! [[A Cellarful Of Motown! Vol. 3), and
"Doctor Of Love" [[A Cellarful Of Motown! Vol. 4)

[mr soul]

Great...bring it on...how about a box set of Jerry Butler's Motown output.

[big_mac]

Great news, can't wait. In relation to a release a month, can't you make them weekly. What, no clue as to June's offering! Can you give me some comfort, clue or indication as to the possibility of a Fantastic Four release.

[psychedelic jacques]

wow, thanks Keith, and everyone involved. This is turning into a memorable series.

[keith_hughes]

Mr P, the previously unreleased tracks will be ... previously unreleased, although one is likely to be an alt recording and another an alt mix of tracks already out there. Full list to follow.

Big Mac [[and others), I can only announce releases when Ace set a release date. That's their rule, and I think it a good one.

JuiceFree, thank you!

[woodward]

I am hoping for a release on a monthly basis. That is very appropriate. I would like to make one worthwhile suggestion and would like other readers to comment on my suggestion. It would be to our advantage if there was ONE company in the USA that would have exclusive rights to sell these. As it currently is, many distributors get the releases and they are often competing against one another, i. e. one person gets it a month ahead of another, etc. etc. Has this been considered? It is often difficult to get UK releases in the USA and requires extra work to obtain them.

[Kamasu_Jr]

I am hoping for a release on a monthly basis. That is very appropriate. I would like to make one worthwhile suggestion and would like other readers to comment on my suggestion. It would be to our advantage if there was ONE company in the USA that would have exclusive rights to sell these. As it currently is, many distributors get the releases and they are often competing against one another, i. e. one person gets it a month ahead of another, etc. etc. Has this been considered? It is often difficult to get UK releases in the USA and requires extra work to obtain them.

Is there really enough Motown material left by 2nd and 3rd tier acts for a monthly releases ?

Once ACE/ Kent is done with the Contours, The Monitors, Marv Johnson [[ maybe this was Reel Music) and the inevitable Fantastic Four release many fans have asked for, what's left from Motown's golden or classic period that Hip-O or other labels are not already issuing?

Out of curiousity, what happened to Paul Nixon and the UK division of Motown/UME? It was issuing Anthologies and Motown Collections for a while, but have apparently stopped. There are a lot of companies issuing Motown product at the moment. In a way it's good for the fans, but it's getting crowded and confusing.

Another concern is the price of these sets which tend to be a little expensive because it's American music coming back to America as imports and that bothers me some. But I'm glad to see the Monitors get a CD release. I just hope there's more on the disc than just what has been issued already and Hello Love and its B-Side The Further You Look must be included.

[brother_love]

It is way too expensive for small US companies to license and release a lot this product here in the states. This is the reason that companies like Ace who do a great job are able to put so many tracks on one Cd collection. It's much more cost effective to reissues these in the UK. By the way I heard it through the grapevine that Ace will be issuing another ultra cool compilation that will be of great interest to Motown collectors in a few months time.

[chestersong]

I would like to know this, too. I recently heard that Andy is no longer with Universal and doing what he did with Hipp-O and other releases. He will have to confirm this. Also heard that Hipp-O will be changing in some ways as there has been some sort of upset. But I haven't been able to confirm. Andy has made some comments on his facebook. Anybody know what is going on?

[Kamasu_Jr]

Gee. I don't know what's going on at Hip-O. I always thought that selling expensive discs via mail and the internet had limited appeal.

And ACE still needs to get a grip on its price structure for these discs which find their way back into the US.

[chestersong]

Andy has answered some on his facebook and says he is still with universal but that the east coast studio has closed due to money concerns and 9 people have been let go that he once worked with. this economy really sucks.

[paul_nixon]

Yes Andy is still in place

[honest man]

Great stuff THANK YOU Paul and everyone for working so hard to get these releases out,i can;t wait,i will -do support every motown release,i buy alot of music,but always prioritize motown, so good to see ACE taking the reigns especially the way HIPO treated us in the UK, I find it strange that some people complain about material not being out then complain that there is to much happening,i want it all, keep them coming fast love it, yes a Spinners, jj barnes along with F4 Will complete my needs,HA thumbs up lads. cheers,

[honest man]

sorry meant for keith, THANK YOU for the news,

[tamla617]

well done ace!

[vcq]

Keith, thank you SO much for the welcome news. I'm sitting over here in Japan, and I sorely needed some GOOD news since it's been such a stressful week. I'm really looking forward to this Monitors release...the hard part will be waiting until May! And one Motown release a month? I'd be happy with a Motown release every week, thanks :-)

[144man]

Another one that I shall definitely buy. Thanks to everyone involved.

One a month sounds good to me. My suggestion for a future compilation is Eddie Holland.

[Kamasu_Jr]

The "I want it all" attitude led to problems for Hip O and collectors. It's illogical and can lead to problems like being taken advantage of.
Being a consumer and a long time Motown collector, I'm always gonna be on the side of people spending money for this stuff. I'm always going to have concerns and ask questions. There is a lot of Motown material coming at us from various sources and as long as the quality is good and respect for customers is cool, I'm OK. I was on the side of consumers in the beginning of Hip-O's direct to consumers project and you see what happened to collectors in the UK. You guys had to come up with other sources for this Motown music. Someone has to be on the side of consumers.

[mr_postman]

Mr P, the previously unreleased tracks will be ... previously unreleased, although one is likely to be an alt recording and another an alt mix of tracks already out there. Full list to follow.

Thanks Keith, but does that mean that the six cuts I mentioned above will be included in the set? From your description I got the impression that the the compilation would include the "Greetings! We're The Monitors" LP + 12 previously unreleased cuts + 2 non-LP B-sides, totaling 26 songs, but not the songs that were previously unreleased at the time but has turned up since.

[Kamasu_Jr]

I've heard an alt. version of Step by Step somewhere.

[boywonder]

This is brilliant news, means I don't have to buy that Marginal cd with the Elgins. This is what I wanted to happen from the start- I purchased the Satintones set for this, even though in all honesty I had no interest in them whatsoever- they are a bit early to be the classic 'motown' sound for me. The same goes, to an extent, for the Contours cd, I would have been much more interested in a set dedicated to the period around Dennis' tenure. I will still be buying it though! The Monitors, however, are the real deal for me; this is one which I am genuinely excited about. Next; give us a load of half-finished Temptations tracks please! A minute of Ruff is priceless.

[Kamasu_Jr]

This is brilliant news, means I don't have to buy that Marginal cd with the Elgins. This is what I wanted to happen from the start- I purchased the Satintones set for this, even though in all honesty I had no interest in them whatsoever- they are a bit early to be the classic 'motown' sound for me. The same goes, to an extent, for the Contours cd, I would have been much more interested in a set dedicated to the period around Dennis' tenure. I will still be buying it though! The Monitors, however, are the real deal for me; this is one which I am genuinely excited about. Next; give us a load of half-finished Temptations tracks please! A minute of Ruff is priceless.

It's a safe bet that there are Motown artists that Hip-O won't be licensing tracks to other parties to release. The Temptations are consistent moneymakers [[ like the Supremes, Diana Ross, Marvin Gaye, Smokey Robinson, The Four Tops, the Jackson 5, etc. ) for Hip-O/Motown.

[longtimefan]

GREAT news! Another happy customer here!

[honest man]

boywonder my sentiment could,nt have put it better, sow and reap, thank you

[honest man]

as long as we have SDF and other sources to keep us informed on releases ,i don't care if 50 companies are to reissue rare-decent-official motown. especially 60s, you can never have too much, keep them coming ace. cheers.

[rovereab]

as long as we have SDF and other sources to keep us informed on releases ,i don't care if 50 companies are to reissue rare-decent-official motown. especially 60s, you can never have too much, keep them coming ace. cheers.

Totally agree honest-man!

[boywonder]

Kamasu_Jr, ; true, they may be consistent money makers but I doubt Hip-O will ever release anymore new Temptations tracks or the kind of music which us over the pond want to hear. Motown 50 was a complete blowout; we never saw those early Stevie albums which are still for the most part rare and unreleased in the cd age and the second Temptations DVD never appeared [[the only record I could find was here, http://faac.us/adf/messages/131452/1...tml?1230979729, but all of this on the official Motown50 website at one time as well).

And am I the only person who thinks that Hip-O select have lost sight of the 60's soul market? Something odd is going on there, it looks like they are trying to get the attention of the jazz market at the moment. Hip-O just don't bother releasing their mainstream artists these days, they come out on Motown with re-hashed best of comps.

Has anyone explored the possibility of joint ventures as well; am I right in thinking that the Ace/Kent avalanche of Cameo Parkway material is a joint venture with the Collector's Choice label, since they are releasing identical material at the same time, CC for the US market, Ace/Kent for the UK. Couldn't a similar thing be done for the classic Motown artists; a joint collaboration where the two companies get together to compile the album, and taking on distribution in the two different markets. [[* ahem * also, didn't pretty much the same thing already happen with those TCM 1966 box sets that suddenly appeared out of nowhere a year or so ago? All of the sites which were selling those sets sold them as 'new releases' from Commercial Marketing UK. I may be wrong, but something very odd went on there.)

Sorry to go off on a complete tangent, but I'm foaming at the mouth at the prospect of more unreleased 60's motown tracks. And also still annoyed about paying so much money for the TCMS 1966 box set only to have market swarmed with them!

[theboyfromxtown]

Boywonder.

Paying over the top...tell me about it!

All those Invictus and Hot Wax recordings were once only available in Japan. You can now find them with extra tracks and sleeve notes for a quarter of the price I paid for the Japanese releases. Oh well!

[mysterysinger]

A Monitors CD - great news.

I admit it can be confusing to have multiple labels issuing Motown product, but rather that than not at all. Witness the release of Face to Face with the Undisputed Truth some years ago.

I prefer those releases that re-create the original album covers - Reel Music have done some good work in that respect. The ACE Marv Johnson cover, though, looks very tasteful from what I've seen [[and the I'll Pick A Rose For My Rose UK album cover was a cop out anyway).

I'm unsure about the criticism of Hip-O-Select - the Tammi CD was great.

Wonder when we'll get a full Earl Van Dyke set? Choker Campbell? Originals, Tom Clay? Joe Harnell? Impact of Brass? Well why not - how well did the Gordon Staples CD sell?

[Kamasu_Jr]

[QUOTE=mysterysinger; I'm unsure about the criticism of Hip-O-Select - the Tammi CD was great.

BUT APPARENTLY IT DIDN'T SELL AND WAS QUICKLY DISCOUNTED.

Wonder when we'll get a full Earl Van Dyke set? Choker Campbell? Originals, Tom Clay? Joe Harnell? Impact of Brass? Well why not - how well did the Gordon Staples CD sell?[/QUOTE]

Probably never. Albums by Joe Harnell, Tom Clay and Impact of Brass didn't appeal to the masses the first time around. ASIDE FROM COMPLETISTS DOES ANYONE ELSE REALLY WANT THIS STUFF?

[lakedistrictlad1]

I just want to say a big thanks to Keith and his team. Our favourite music is in VERY loving hands - which is where it should be.

[boywonder]

I think the thing with the Tammi collection, it was on its own, a really isolated release. Hearing about 'forthcoming' releases on Ace/Kent makes me buy even the ones I would not normally buy - [[a) because I want to guarantee that the ones I really want are released and [[b) most importantly, I've got to have 'em all! That's one of the things about most of us fans of soul music, most of us need to get the whole lot. The Tammi release didn't excite people's imagination since it should have been part of wider campaign to release 'second-string' motown artists. Ace/Kent have got it spot on with their current releases. The other thing is that people who buy the Marv set or the Monitors ones might go back and buy the earlier releases in this series. The lesson is that if you are going to release Motown do it properly, not just odd releases every now and then.

[mysterysinger]

Well I would certainly buy a complete Earl Van Dyke. I also liked the Joe Harnell music so yes would buy that too [[as I did the Gordon Staples CD). Oh and I forgot, San Remo Strings - they had a couple of album releases didn't they [[and Marginal sought fit to issue a CD of their stuff)?
I doubt the Monitors album, Marv Johnson [[UK), Bobby Taylor's Taylor Made Soul etc would have sold that well first time around - especially in the UK - I recall discount sellers had stocks of all of these. Anyway - what's wrong with being a completist especially when its what you enjoy. Let's face it, some of the sides on The Complete Motown Singles are hardly inspiring.

[boywonder]

Nothing wrong with being a completist, that's exactly what I mean about us soul fans. Companies are not going to excite a completist with isolated releases, as Hip-O are doing. Do it the Ace way- give a steady stream of releases, or as Hip-O themselves used to do with the TCMS series. Obviously I bought the Tammi cd, but I did not get very excited by it, even though I love Tammi. I would have much more interest if Hip-O followed it with similar releases, which they are not doing these days. Don't get me wrong, I love Hip-O select, they define quality as Ace/Kent do [[sorry Rhino!) I'm just trying to say Ace/Kent are doing a much better job of building up the 'buzz' by the fact that we KNOW more releases will be coming. I have absolutely no idea when or if the next 60's Hip-O motown release will be [[and I check the twitter page most days to keep up-to date.)

[snakepit]

Many serious Motown collectors would probably already posses the previous Tammi Terrell compilation, and the Marvin Gaye duets.....so stalled on the new one.....I've still got to order, I'll check the price and move in when I feel I need it.
Ace , and the others new companies are serving us well.
The Ace serious would seem to favour 60's back catologue and U/I items...
So artists like the Spinners,Eddie Holland,Originals, and possibly 'themed' comps on Sammy Ward, Gino Parks, La Brenda Ben, Bunny Paul etc might have an appeal.
Where we stand on "Lost & Found" sets on Gladys Knight & Pips and The Miracles [[1965-1970) I'm not sure

[robb_k]

Universal might end up releasing a comprehensive Spinners anthology, as they "denied" Ace/Kent the rights to produce a Spinners' CD. Let's hope that whoever releases one will include all the vaulted cuts that have yet to be released. Every "new" one by them that I hear is of high quality. So far, they seem to have had no "losers" in the can.

[snakepit]

It might seem "picky" but I would prefer a 100% Motown comp on artists. Subconciously it may be why I've stalled on the Tammi Terrell CD

[rovereab]

Snakepit, may I suggest you buy the Tammi CD - it is superb and even if you skip the non-Motown tracks the mastering of the Motown songs is outstanding.

Eamonn

[snakepit]

Eamonn
I will buy it...eventually.
I'll pop along to Amazon to check price....

[snakepit]

Bought it ...£11.56 inc p&p

[Kamasu_Jr]

Nothing wrong with being a completist, that's exactly what I mean about us soul fans. Companies are not going to excite a completist with isolated releases, as Hip-O are doing. Do it the Ace way- give a steady stream of releases, or as Hip-O themselves used to do with the TCMS series. Obviously I bought the Tammi cd, but I did not get very excited by it, even though I love Tammi. I would have much more interest if Hip-O followed it with similar releases, which they are not doing these days. Don't get me wrong, I love Hip-O select, they define quality as Ace/Kent do [[sorry Rhino!) I'm just trying to say Ace/Kent are doing a much better job of building up the 'buzz' by the fact that we KNOW more releases will be coming. I have absolutely no idea when or if the next 60's Hip-O motown release will be [[and I check the twitter page most days to keep up-to date.)

Completists or collectors only think of what they want, but if something does not sell in this economy, it's not gooing to be worthwhile for companies to release discs on obscure Motown acts like Joe Harnell. Who was he besides the musical guy on the old Mike Douglas Show? I have no interest in hearing his instrumentals. I think Hip-O did some miscalculation in launching its boutique line or special titles. I don't think the market or demand was big enough or strong enough to support expensive titles like The Complete Motown Singles. Most of today's music retail stores are shifting away from carrying discs because people are joining music sharing sites like Rhapsody and ITunes and downloading what tracks they want.

[honest man]

All the more reason to get these motown releases out ASAP, i am a completist and will buy any never before released 60s motown artist work, can't get enough. cheers.

[rovereab]

Bought it ...£11.56 inc p&p

Great, I'm sure that you will not be disappointed. The remastering on You Ain't Living... is a revelation and that is just one aspect :-) The sleeve and booklet are brilliant too.

Eamonn