Smokey Robinson

If you haven't heard it, it's a bit of a toe-tapper!

Motown issued a sizable amount of seasonal material, and as this two-disc, 51-track collection shows, a lot of it was done at a high level of quality. There are simply some wonderful Christmas sides here, including the Jackson 5's buoyant "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town," the Temptations' delightfully rendered "Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer," the Funk Brothers' surging and joyous instrumental take on "Winter Wonderland," Smokey Robinson's hopeful "Christmas Everyday," the Four Tops' lightly funky "Merry Christmas Baby," and a pair of odd but beautiful Marvin Gaye pieces, "Christmas in the City" and the achingly perfect "I Want to Come Home for Christmas."

Berry Gordy was more than just a visionary label owner, he was also an astute businessman who studied and understood how the pop charts worked, and his stable of songwriters, arrangers, musicians, and singers all worked toward the same aim of refining R&B and soul music into a pop product that appealed across race, gender, and generational lines. And Gordy knew – although the radio play and sales period was extremely brief – that nothing endured more than a good Christmas record, which could regenerate sales each and every year when the holiday season rolled around again. It should come as no surprise, then, that Motown issued a sizable amount of seasonal material, and as this two-disc, 51-track collection shows, a lot of it was done at a high level of quality.

Various Artists - Motown: The Complete No. 1's (2008) {10 CD Box Set Motown Records Limited Edition B0012208-02}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 5.09 Gb | MP3 @320 -> 1.71 Gb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (png) -> 1.20 Gb | 5% repair rar
© 2008 Motown Records | B0012208-02 | Limited Edition
R&B / Soul / Motown Sound / Early R&B / Pop / Funk / New Jack Swing

This special once-in-a-lifetime set is housed in a replica of the original Motown headquarters: the "Hitsville U.S.A." house on Detroit's West Grand Boulevard, now the home of the internationally renowned Motown Museum. It's a true collectible. Inside the house are 5 digi-paks - containing 10 CDs. The box set comes with a beautiful 100-page mini-photo book, including rare and classic images, track annotations and an introductory essay by the man who started it off, the one and only Smokey Robinson. Limited to 30,000 copies.