Archive for April 25th, 2011
It’s Motown Monday: Kent Releases The Definitive Monitors In June
It’s Motown Monday here at The Second Disc as we’re pleased to spread the news of the latest title in Ace Records’ series of lost Motown treasures! Previous releases have been devoted to The Satintones, The Contours and Marv Johnson, and this June will see the first-ever CD anthology dedicated to the recordings of The Monitors. Led by future Temptation Richard Street, The Monitors released five singles on Berry Gordy’s V.I.P. and Soul labels and one LP on Soul. Say You!: The Motown Anthology 1963-1968, on Ace’s Kent label, includes the entirety of Greetings!…We’re The Monitors (which included eight tracks already released as singles) plus two B-sides and a whopping twelve unreleased tracks directly from the Motown vaults. The resulting set includes a version of every track released by The Monitors under that name during the group’s nearly seven-year stay at the Detroit label (i.e. every Monitors A- and B-side plus LP tracks). Most are being reissued in stereo for the very first time.
Street, John “Maurice” Fagin, Warren Harris and Sandra Fagin (John’s wife) , a.k.a. The Monitors, began their recording life at Motown as The Majestics. However, none of the original members of The Majestics remained by the time the group signed with Motown. (The Majestics began recording in 1958 for the small Contour label and also recorded for Chex Records.) “Hello, Love” was written by Street, Harris and Thelma Gordy, and was scheduled for release on V.I.P. in 1964, backed with “The Further You Look, The Less You See” written by two Motown legends, Smokey Robinson and Norman Whitfield. Unfortunately V.I.P. 25010 never got past the test pressing stage. The Majestics re-entered the Snakepit in 1965 to re-dub “Hello, Love” but this version was also consigned to the vault.
It wasn’t until 1966 and “Say You” that The Monitors finally received the greenlight for a released single. (Somewhat ironically, Richard Street was a Quality Control analyst at Motown by day, seeing that only the finest records were released on the label!) After the initial pressing, Motown learned that a white group named The Majestics had been recording on the Linda label. And so The Monitors were born. The 1964 “Hello, Love” saw a belated release on 2006’s The Complete Motown Singles Volume Four: 1964; the 1965 version remains unreleased. “Hello, Love” is the only key Monitors song not included on Kent’s new CD, in either version. “The Further You Look, The Less You See” was used as a B-side in 1968 and also appeared on The Monitors’ LP; that song is, indeed, part of the new anthology. Greetings!…We’re the Monitors was the sole LP released by the group, and it featured a fine cover of Jay and the Techniques’ “Baby Make Your Own Sweet Music” as well as a Smokey Robinson ballad, “You Share the Blame.”
Hit the jump for more details on this new compilation plus the full track listing with discographical information and pre-order links! Read the rest of this entry »
WE HAVE A WINNER!: Bob Dylan’s “The Other Side of the Mirror” on Blu-Ray
The Second Disc would like to extend hearty congratulations to reader MICHAEL ELDER! Michael is the winning entrant in our contest for The Other Side of the Mirror: Bob Dylan Live at the Newport Folk Festival 1963-1965 on Blu-Ray, courtesy of our wonderful friends at Legacy Recordings!
Mike and I would like to extend a big “THANK YOU!” to all who entered, as well as a special thanks to those of you who had such nice things to say about The Second Disc along with your contest entries. Your feedback is, as always, important to us, and we read each and every comment posted or emailed. In the meantime, watch this space for future contest announcements and all of the other features you’ve come to expect from The Second Disc!
Congratulations, Michael!