VA — Motown Disco (Soulful Grooves From The \’70s & \’80s) (Remastered) (2005)

MP3 320 kbps / FLAC (tracks, cue, log) | 2h 21 min | Disco, Funk, Soul | 322 / 921 MB

This 22-track, remastered collection of disco hits includes original LP or 12\» versions of such Motown classics as Rick James\’s \»You and I\» and Diana Ross\’s \»The Boss.\»
When people talk about the `Motown sound\’ they usually mean the golden period of the 1960s, the mighty pop soul ballads of Smokey Robinson, or jive-perfect dancers by the likes of the Supremes or Martha Reeves & The Vandellas. It\’s often forgotten that, along with many of its artists, Motown adapted well to the 70s disco boom and the new sounds coming out of labels such as Salsoul, Philadelphia International and TK. And, ironically, that it produced many of the 70s and early 80s disco classics on which today\’s dance sound is more genuinely based. In the late 70s, with the demise of their Invictus label, the legendary Holland brothers (who had written so many of Motown\’s 60s classics with their partner Lamont Dozier) returned to the Motown camp to join multi-talented song writing teams such as Ashford & Simpson, Sawyer & McLeod and Mike & Brenda Sutton who were all able to perfectly capture the essence of the disco era. And the soulful vocalists and stellar musicians already in house at Motown were able to carry it all off with the sort of performances the material deserved. Of course, Motown\’s two biggest hitters, Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye, also both made their very best records in the 70s, and both dabbled successfully in disco from to . Add funky new acts like Rick James, Stone City Band and Teena Marie and Motown pretty much had all soulful dancefloor bases covered during the disco era. They were also the first to `eye cue\’ their 12\» disco discs, giving DJs the track\’s BPM and info on the exact length of the various sections of the song — one of the earliest examples of a record company recognising how important the DJ was to become. By `79, and very much with the DJ in mind, 12\»s such as Diana Ross\’ `The Boss\’ were being purposely intro\’d with mix-friendly drum beats, something that\’s become par for the course these days for most dance tracks released. But, as this compilation demonstrates, those disco beats were already infiltrating the Motown sound as early as 1972. Universal.
Disc 1
01. The Temptations — Law Of The Land (Original LP Version) (5:04)
02. Eddie Kendricks — Keep On Truckin\’ (Original LP Version) (7:58)
03. Diana Ross — Love Hangover (Original LP / 12\» Version) (7:51)
04. The Originals — Down To Love Town (Original 12\» Promo Version) (5:56)
05. The Supremes — High Energy (Original 12\» Mix) (5:27)
06. Eddie Kendricks — Date With The Rain (Original LP Version) (2:43)
07. Thelma Houston — Saturday Night Sunday Morning (Extended Version) (6:17)
08. Marvin Gaye — Got To Give It Up (Original LP Version) (11:52)
09. Rick James — You And I (Original LP / 12\» Mix) (8:00)
10. Platinum Hook — Standing On The Verge (Of Getting It On) (Original LP / 12\» Mix) (5:38)
11. Tata Vega — Get It Up For Love (Original 12\» Mix) (5:50)
Disc 2
01. Finished Touch — Need To Know You (Better) (Original 12\» Mix) (5:28)
02. Thelma Houston — Don\’t Leave Me This Way (Original LP / 12\» Mix) (5:46)
03. Dynamic Superiors — Nowhere To Run (Original LP Version) (9:12)
04. Jerry Butler — (I Love To See You) Dancin\’ (Original LP Version) (4:15)
05. 21st Creation — Tailgate (Original 12\» Mix) (5:45)
06. Diana Ross — The Boss (Extended Version) (7:24)
07. Carl Bean — I Was Born This Way (Original 12\» Mix) (6:32)
08. Teena Marie — Behind The Groove (Original LP / 12\» Mix) (6:03)
09. Rick James — Big (Original LP / 12\» Mix) (6:26)
10. Switch — (You Pulled A) Switch (Original LP Version) (4:03)
11. Willie Hutch — In And Out (Original 12\» Mix) (7:23)