Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, the Supremes and Michael Jackson are among the array of hit-makers on a spectacular new 10-CD salute to Motown Records, but the real star of the Motown story is the man whose photo is featured on the cover of the package's booklet: Berry Gordy.
In his liner notes to the boxed set that tops this holiday gift guide edition of Backtracking, Smokey Robinson points out that Gordy's goal in starting Motown in 1959 wasn't just to build the most successful African American record company in the country. He wanted to revolutionize the music industry by making black music into an equal partner in the world of mainstream pop.
"Back then the music business was divided," Robinson explains. "If you were black, your record was called rhythm & blues. If you were white and you made the same record with that same arrangement, it was called pop. But from the day Motown started, Berry Gordy said to us, 'We are not going to make "black music." We are going to make music for everybody.' "
Sure enough, the Miracles' "Shop Around" soared to No. 2 on the pop charts in 1961, followed by the label's first No. 1 pop single: the Marvelettes' "Please Mr. Postman." By the end of the decade, more than 50 Motown singles reached No. 1 on the pop or R&B charts. The new "Motown: The Complete No. 1s" contains all those hits and nearly 150 more, including such landmark recordings as Gaye's "What's Going On" and Wonder's "Higher Ground."
Though Motown's impact on pop has waned significantly in recent years, Gordy's influence is still evident in the work of Alicia Keys, Kanye West, Usher and dozens of other bestselling contemporary artists who, too, aim at "making music for everyone." This new set is an extraordinary slice of American pop history and is packaged in a handsome replica of Motown's historic "Hitsville USA" headquarters. It is being sold for around $120.
What follows is a list of other recommended boxed sets. Prices may vary; the one listed is the lowest found in a check of major Internet merchants.
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Ry Cooder
"The Ry Cooder Anthology: The UFO Has Landed."
Warner Bros./Rhino. $24
Whether he's interpreting a song by Johnny Cash or playing music he wrote for such films as "Paris, Texas," Cooder brings such deep longing and desire to his sensual guitar lines that he seems at times to reflect the mysteries and wonders of the human heart. He is a musical treasure and this two-disc retrospective is long overdue. Bonus: Cooder introduces each of the songs in an accompanying illustrated booklet.
