The Complete Motown Singles
Vol. 9: 1969 (Hip-O Select)Even as the Jackson 5’s debut single, “I Want You Back,” spun on a dime straight to No. 1, the Temptations’ burning house of love engulfed Hitsville USA as the label transitioned from Detroit to Hollywood. In between, stretches of desolation. On the 6-CD Complete Motown Singles Vol. 9: 1969, the end’s in sight. Long gone are unsung heroines Brenda Holloway, Barbara McNair, and Chris Clark, but when the Tempts unleash the inner city “Runaway Child, Running Wild” on disc one, the mirror-cracking travesty of Soupy Sales’ “MacArthur Park” send-up gets swept under the shag rug. Stevie Wonder’s double A-side “I Don’t Know Why” b/w “My Cherie Amour” vacuums the debris. Disc two cooks with the Funk Brothers’ instrumental wild child, while Martha Reeves & the Vandellas’ “(We’ve Got) Honey Love” still wipes the floor with the Supremes (“The Composer”). Marvin Gaye’s “Too Busy Thinking About My Baby.” The middle platters offer Supremes tuneless/clueless (“The Young Folks”) and weightless (“The Weight”), but Gladys Knight & the Pips get “The Nitty Gritty,” and Smokey Robinson & the Miracles soar on Dion’s “Abraham, Martin, and John.” Wes Henderson’s deep-throated “In Bed” fluffs disc four. The fivespot turns the other CDs into K-Tel, funk and blues distributing South African trumpeter Hugh Masekela’s label, Chisa, to go with a double A-side from Jr. Walker & the All Stars (including the Guess Who’s “These Eyes”) and Gladys Knight & the Pips’ pouring “Cloud Nine.” Stevie Wonder, the Spinners, and “I Want You Back” slam it home. Last call opens with “Someday We’ll Be Together,” the final Supremes single perked by Diana Ross, and kills time until the TKO of Marvin Gaye followed by the Temptations closing 1969 much as they did ’68: on fire. Up goes the “Psychedelic Shack,” inflamed. www.hip-oselect.com.
This article appears in December 28 • 2007.
