Marvelettes Mono/Stereo

**762rob** · 12-17-2011, 10:25 PM

On Volume One Marvelettes Forever, The albums Playboy and Marvelous Marvelettes and in mono.

The single CD issue of Playboy was a great sounding stereo mix, and the Marvelous Marvelettes came out later in mono as part of the Motown Masters series during the time the catalog was part of Polygram. The reissue producers were on a mono kick at that time as I recall.

We still do not have a version of that album in a stereo mix, and many of the singles B sides are in mono on Marvelettes Forever.

At some point it would be great if we could have as an addendum an additional Stereo release making these 2 albums available in Stereo. I sure would love to hear a stereo mix of my favorite B side "Your Cheating Ways ". Love the backup vocals on that cut, and Gladys's lead vocal and the instrumentation/arrangement......

The new 4 CD set is stunning. I remember buying the pink album in 1967 and being amazed at the quality of the material

huntergettingcaptured · 12-17-2011, 11:27 PM

"Your Cheating Ways" in stereo would indeed be fantastic to hear! I love that one too. I thought it was really a quantum leap as far as the Motown sound and Marvelettes recordings. Gladys was showing off a more sultry delivery in her vocals and those backups were incredible! It was great to really hear Katherine and Wanda harmonizing and hear them loud and clear. The whole thing had a sort of Andrews Sisters/McQuire Sisters sophistication to it. The music was one of the best that the Funk Brothers did [[and notice how closely the track follows Kim Weston's "I'm Still Loving You" chord progression)

One other track I'd love to hear in stereo is "Anything You Wanna Do"

**kenneth** · 12-18-2011, 03:08 AM

Back in the mid to late 80s, when a lot of the original Motown LPs were being rereleased, I think the "Please Mr. Postman" was a stereo issue. I'm not sure about the single CD issue of it, however. Perhaps someone else can say.

**nabob** · 12-18-2011, 02:45 PM

Originally Posted by kenneth

Back in the mid to late 80s, when a lot of the original Motown LPs were being rereleased, I think the "Please Mr. Postman" was a stereo issue. I'm not sure about the single CD issue of it, however. Perhaps someone else can say.

My copy of the early 80s reissue of Please Mr Postman is mono. As stated in the introductory post, The Marvelous Marvelettes CD is also a mono recording, while the Playboy CD is a stereo recording.

**kenneth** · 12-18-2011, 03:15 PM

Originally Posted by nabob

My copy of the early 80s reissue of Please Mr Postman is mono. As stated in the introductory post, The Marvelous Marvelettes CD is also a mono recording, while the Playboy CD is a stereo recording.

The audiocassettes were labeled as Stereo. I'm pretty sure I had Postman in both LP and tape. I'm curious to check and see if the tape is stereo.

**soulster** · 12-18-2011, 04:14 PM

Originally Posted by 762rob

The reissue producers were on a mono kick at that time as I recall.

Mono kick or not, mono is the way the majority of people listened to and bought music back then, and Motown mono mixes were usually superior. There is the possibility that the stereo tapes do not exist for every song.