The 70s Supremes CD's

[marybrewster]

Does anyone know why these are so expensive? I need RIGHT ON to complete my collection, and the only options I've found on eBay are $181, $299, and $338. Others include TOUCH [[$49-$338), NEW WAYS [[$50-$338), and FLOY JOY [[$59-$338).

I realize these are out of print, and the $50 range sounds reasonable, but $300? Any suggestions on where to find one that's a little more in my pocketbook range?

[sup_fan]

i'm assuming you're trying to find the physical cd in order to complete a collection? as opposed to having the digital copies of the music.

[sup_fan]

as for an explanation, the only i can think of is the 70s cds were released for a relatively brief period of time. were any of them on the 2-fers from the 80s? i remember going to Camelot Music lol around 1991 - 93 [[some time around then) and finding just about all of the albums in a big cd bin. Cream of the Crop, Liverpool, HDH, Right On, etc. I pretty much grabbed all of them and just put them on my credit card lol. figured i'd have to pay it off over a period of time but too bad lol

it wasn't 100% of the albums. if i remember right a few weren't included at first. the tv specials were not in the release, nor were TOTT or CW&P [[although both were later released but some of the cd markings were a little different, as if these were released with a different wave). NW was released after too, although not in a "different wave" RO, touch, FJ and Mag 7 i think were all in the first set. then NW.

other than that time or so in that bin of cds, that's about the only time i saw them. they must not have been in circulation long and must not have had a huge production run of them. so the fact that so few were made and so few people are selling them off pushes the price up

[thanxal]

as for an explanation, the only i can think of is the 70s cds were released for a relatively brief period of time. were any of them on the 2-fers from the 80s? i remember going to Camelot Music lol around 1991 - 93 [[some time around then) and finding just about all of the albums in a big cd bin. Cream of the Crop, Liverpool, HDH, Right On, etc. I pretty much grabbed all of them and just put them on my credit card lol. figured i'd have to pay it off over a period of time but too bad lol

it wasn't 100% of the albums. if i remember right a few weren't included at first. the tv specials were not in the release, nor were TOTT or CW&P [[although both were later released but some of the cd markings were a little different, as if these were released with a different wave). NW was released after too, although not in a "different wave" RO, touch, FJ and Mag 7 i think were all in the first set. then NW.

other than that time or so in that bin of cds, that's about the only time i saw them. they must not have been in circulation long and must not have had a huge production run of them. so the fact that so few were made and so few people are selling them off pushes the price up

This explanation is correct. They weren’t out for long and there weren’t many pressed. I once found a website showing how many CDs were printed for each of the 80s CD reissues and it was something unbelievably low for the 70s Supremes albums… in the order of a couple thousand. Now a days they are just wicked hard to find. And people on eBay are nuts for anything like this. They think because it’s old it must be worth hundreds. I saw someone selling a Bing Crosby 78rpm starting at $250! Unreal. You can’t give those away.
edit: I also did the same thing. Ran around various Camelot cut out bins collecting as many as I could. Toward the end the storm manager of my local store sold the least popular to me for $3 for $10. I used every dime to my name. Lol. The “old days”… sigh…

[marybrewster]

I do have a CDR and of course have the JEAN TERRELL TITS cds, lol. But I guess it's just not the same as having the single CD. I missed the boat thr first time these were all released, but luckily through eBay I've picked them all up but RIGHT ON. That seems to be the toughest one. I'll never listen to it, lol, but need it to complete the collection. xo

[kenneth]

@Mary,

Being an obsessive compulsive collector myself, I totally understand why you need to have the individual CDs instead of just the box set. Although to those who are searching for these today, if given a choice, I would recommend the box sets, because the sound quality and recording techniques were much much better by that time than they were when Motown released the individual CDs. I can also appreciate that sometimes it’s just not as convenient to get out a box set and search for the album you want to hear which is usually on a half of one of the CDs. I tend to forget about the box sets unless I’m going to play them all the way through and some of them, like the various sets that have been issued on the Marvelettes or Martha and the Vandellas, have a disk of vault items which I just don’t seem to give separate attention to as I would if they were on single CDs.

Again I don’t have all of the Supremes CDs that you have, Mary, but for example the official CD release of the country and western album is in mono and it was really the stereo mix of this album which really sparkles, the vocals and mixing on that early LP are just beautiful. Of course that album is not on either of the box sets but that’s the individual CD I am most familiar with. I only bought a few of them when they came out, but I did get the NW CD with the bonus track, and the various greatest hits and rare classics. The rare classic titles, which came out later I think were much improved as well, in my opinion, in terms of sound quality than the initial group of releases.

I usually find a better selection and better prices on Discogs than I do on either eBay or Amazon. I checked and they have a few copies of the “Right On” CD. There was only one available for sale here in the states and it was about $100. Still way over priced in my opinion for the CD.

[sup_fan]

there was an incredible MASSIVE cd store down at the Ohio State campus. struggling to remember it's name but i want to say CD Warehouse or something - but that doesn't feel quite right

anyway it was like 3 stories tall with a big atrium staircase in the middle. this was teh early 90s and so cds were huge. i remember finding the Sups 70s GHARC, both cd and cassette, there. and then the Sup/Tops cd. was ecstatic!!

there were also some amazing odder music stores on the campus then. where you could find techno and other cool things. disco was starting to make it's comeback and at first djs were remixing things to give them a current sound - like I Will Survive. or there was techno dance tune using clips from the Brady Bunch and was called Jan's Theme lolol you could find these oddities at places like this

while i of course appreciate the ease of digital music and the superior audio quality of today, i do miss the thrill of discovery from back then

[reese]

I guess I should consider myself lucky that I was around and able to buy so many cds when Motown really started putting out what seemed like everything in the early 90s.

As I recall, there didn't seem to be any notice beforehand. So you never knew what might be in the racks. It used to be such a thrill to go to Tower and be surprised by finding MEET THE SUPREMES or NEW WAYS BUT LOVE STAYS on cd, not to mention cds by the Marvelettes, the Pips, the Vandellas, etc.

[danman869]

I guess I should consider myself lucky that I was around and able to buy so many cds when Motown really started putting out what seemed like everything in the early 90s.

As I recall, there didn't seem to be any notice beforehand. So you never knew what might be in the racks. It used to be such a thrill to go to Tower and be surprised by finding MEET THE SUPREMES or NEW WAYS BUT LOVE STAYS on cd, not to mention cds by the Marvelettes, the Pips, the Vandellas, etc.

In those "halcyon days" back in the late '80s and early '90s, you definitely needed to do rounds of the record stores [at least, that's what I always called them] to see what [as you said] might pop up in the racks. It was always a thrill to walk in and discover something new--whether it was just released or something that had finally come into stock in that store. I can even recall a time when I called Tower Records in New York City to find out whether they had gotten "Right On" newly in stock. At this moment, I can't remember whether they had or hadn't. Luckily, I did eventually get it!

[marybrewster]

We still have one used CD store in the Twin Cities, Cheapo Records. For years, I would hit it frequently to see whether or not I could add to my collection. Over time I was able to pick up several CD's, as well as some imported Supremes vinyl. The well has been dry for some time now, so I'm at the mercy of online sellers and auctions to complete my collection. Truly, the last two items are the HOLY GRAIL, "Meet the Supremes" original LP, and "Right On" CD.

The search continues!

[sup_fan]

yeah i have all of the vinyl except the stool cover MTS album. i did find a bread wrapper years ago. i think i have all of the TOPPS cardboard 45s although i might be missing 1. I have most of the US picture sleeves except Your Heart. Have a few of the Taiwan lps which are a real hoot. totally weird covers

[luckyluckyme]

I went back to store order forms & catalogs & pieced this together.
Floy Joy, Right On & Touch saw cd release on 9/12/89. They were again featured on pg. 3 of the 1/30/90 flyer as they were being released on cassette. The Greatest Hits & Rare Classics series was made available on 2/26/91. Suprisingly New Ways But Love Stays was finally added on 7/2/91.
By the 1993-94 catalogue only the Greatest Hits & Rare Classics is listed under The Supremes heading.

As an aside, I do remember seeing a sealed copy of the 2nd issue of Right On [with the longer id code] in a bin of cd's in the mid 90's. As I owned the first issue, I passed on the 2nd, partially because of price. Even back then, it was priced at $8.99, which was much high than the other clearance items in the bin.

[kenneth]

yeah i have all of the vinyl except the stool cover MTS album. i did find a bread wrapper years ago. i think i have all of the TOPPS cardboard 45s although i might be missing 1. I have most of the US picture sleeves except Your Heart. Have a few of the Taiwan lps which are a real hoot. totally weird covers

Would love to see the Taiwan covers if you can scan some and load them here!

[thanxal]

The search continues!

I found my CD copy and a cassette version of GH&RC in a music shop in Johannesburg, South Africa about 30 years ago. You never know where one might be lurking!

[Glenpwood]

I went back to store order forms & catalogs & pieced this together.
Floy Joy, Right On & Touch saw cd release on 9/12/89. They were again featured on pg. 3 of the 1/30/90 flyer as they were being released on cassette. The Greatest Hits & Rare Classics series was made available on 2/26/91. Suprisingly New Ways But Love Stays was finally added on 7/2/91.
By the 1993-94 catalogue only the Greatest Hits & Rare Classics is listed under The Supremes heading.

The Supremes general catalog was in disarray by the end of 91 thanks to the majority owners of Motown deciding that MCA wasn’t promoting the label’s product so they set up a rival distribution deal with Polygram. This would drag out for a couple of years until MCA sold the label to them in 93 only for a reorganized Universal to wind up buying Motown in 99. All that briefly printed catalog with only a few exceptions wound up in cut out bins as a result of the multi label chaos in the mid nineties. Since Polygram agreed to take back MCA printed titles, a lot of catalog that didn’t instantly sell just got dumped rather than reprinted. I fished Right On and Touch CD’s out of a Tower NYC clearance outlet in 95. The next year I found an entire 30 count box of We Remember Sam Cooke discs at the Lincoln Center HMV. Had I known what folks would eventually pay for them I would’ve bought them all. I believe I paid like 5-7 bucks each for them.

I do remember the seventies albums outside the GH&RM were never in the artists section by the mid nineties when I started looking for CD’s. Generally a few comps like the 95 version of Anthology, the original GH broken into two volumes, I Hear A Symphony, & Farewell were common in NYC. Talk Of The Town & CW & Pop lasted about a year before disappearing. The main Ross solo titles beyond hit sets were Diana Ross 76, Touch Me In The Morning, DR70 but retitled Ain’t No Mountain High Enough, An Evening With…, and Diana 80. Her RCA titles were long out of print so I had to wait for that comp the label did in 97 to get anything not covered by the Forever box.

The cassettes were much easier to find for a couple of years. New Ways But Love Stays and Reflections I found at Big Lots in Michigan for 3 bucks. Sing HDH & A Go Go at a Boston HMV for four dollars. A few other odds and ends popped up over time until I stopped buying tapes around 98.

When I started using eBay around 98-99 folks were paying stupid money for the CD’s. I even caved and bought TCB for a hundred bucks. At least Universal still hasn’t reissued it to justify me spending so much!

[copley]

Too late now Mary but at one time I had all the individual Supremes CD's. When 'This Is The Story' was released I sold them all.

I don't know where you live but there a few copies for sale on Discogs. Hope this helps.

https://www.discogs.com/sell/release/9184761?ev=rb