Originally Posted by
Bokiluis
Like probably a lot of posters on this site, I have an extensive collection of Motown memorabilia and a very eclectic collection of Motown albums. In the early 70s, there was a record store in San Francisco, I believe it was called The Record House, that carried almost every Motown album released, often at reasonable prices like $2.99. It was there I was introduced to rare albums by Motown acts like Puzzle [[a Chicago Transit Authority sounding pop, rock and soul band), Gloria Jones, Jackie Jackson. I own most of the Rare Earth albums, including the recent CD Anthology, "Fill Your Head" released by Hip-O Select. When I first visited the Motown Museum in the 80s, Hitsville U.S.A. Was underwhelming. I heard that tons of important memoribila was tossed out when the company moved to Los Angeles. I have often thought about leaving my collection to the Motown Museum. However, though I have visited the Motown Museum several times since then, I never get the feeling that they are set up to receive such collections, or that they care. I heard that the dearly departed, Esther Edwards, was part of the problem. I heard that she often blocked attempts to modernize the museum. Unfortunately, while it was nice that a Gordy family member oversaw the museum, it would probably better be handled by a new outside party with a curator's sense of running a museum.
i am heartbroken for Pete Rivera that he had to experience that lack of visibility. Rare Earth was a huge contribution to the Motown legacy. They had 4 Gold/Platinum albums, several Top 10 hits along with giving Motown legitimate entree into rock ' roll, they obviously broke an important color barrier. It now reminds that they have never been mentioned on either "Motown 25", Motown 40" or "Motown 45". That is really a shame. I maybe could understand like one hit wonder, R. dean Taylor [[but even he was an important songwriter), Charlene or Shorty Long. But Rare Earth signaled a new era for Motown, as it matured from a singles driven company to an album label. Motown should be very proud of their contribution. Pete Rivera has ever right to feel slighted by this careless oversight.
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