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22.12.2006
No more boys
A peculiar post : a post about the music I am not going to post !
I hope I won’t upset too many people but I decide to cut the Motown male selection short. I’ve been thinking about what I had, what I wanted to post and I decided against it.
Here are the reasons why:
Basically I wanted to post 1 short compilation of Stevie Wonder’s early stuff but I figured you can find better compilations on other blogs so you didn’t really need my little greatest hits. (but get it because “I Was Made To Love Her” is probably one of the greatest songs of the 60’s. Period)
I wanted to post another compilation, but by the Four Tops this one. And then it hit me: I don’t really like the Four Tops. I mean I like some of their singles. Okay: “Standing in the Shadow of Love”, great song, one of Motown’s best singles. But besides that, I found them too soft. They don’t have the energy of the Temptations, they don’t have to smoothness of Marvin Gaye, they represent what I don’t like about Motown: sometimes, it’s just too soft. But not “poppy” enough. So it bores me. Sorry. And again, it wasn’t a great compilation.
I decided against posting early Temptations stuff. I don’t have them – that’s a good reason to start with. But I could have asked to my good friend Michelcharles who has most of them. But enough of that, he’s contributing a lot already. I used to have “With a lot o’ soul” which is a really good album. But someone stole it from me and I never took the time to buy it again. So maybe if I buy it one of these days, I’ll post it. But right now, forget about it.
Last (but not least): Marvin Gaye. Well I figured I already posted the duos with Tammi Terrell and I still think that’s the best thing he recorded during the 60’s. And also, you can find a lot of his material on other blogs. So get it because it’s great but let me post stuff you can’t find anywhere else.
So I’ll end up on a positive note: this all means that yes, it is time to start posting some Martha & The Vandellas. So fasten your seatbelts because it’s going to be a bumpy blog from now on!
The Mike
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Last updates
Some of you might have noticed, I continued to reupload some of the missing links :
- Bill Hicks: Rant in E Minor
- Nick Drake: Five Leaves Left
- Leonard Cohen: Songs of.
- The Cure: Sixteen Seconds
And if you go to “Bringing All Back Home”, you’ll find a new link for Bob Dylan’s immortal “Blonde on Blonde” – and to get the right address, same advise as for the Stooges.
(While we're on the subject of Bob Dylan, I recently received a very nice comment from Hermanthegerman. Here is my answer:
if you want to contribute with bootlegs series 1 to 4, be my guest. Personnaly, I have them and I've seen them on other blogs. I just posted the No 5 because I was constantly listening to it and it inspired me the little post with the food so I thought it would be silly to write the post and not illustrate it with the album.
Wow, I'm showing you a whole new side of this blog, I hope you're all impressed ;) )
The Mike
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Another INCREDIBLE contribution
It's a great early christmas present! A very nice contribution from Jorg! Check this out!
Hi,
I have an addition to your previous posts of Albums of and related to the great Curtis Mayfield:
Another excellent soundtrack with music from Curtis is "Claudine", sung by Gladys Knight, unfortunately long out of print and sold at the very moment for USD 50,-- and more.
I was unbelievably lucky today to finally get this gem without paying a fortune for it and want to share my luck with other fans, despite I don´t have an blog on my own:
The CD-rip can be downloaded at
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=NQH1POXG
Please share it, the album is great and searched for sure by many people who are not able to pay an unreasonable price for it.
Best regards, Jörg.
Thank you so much, Jorg! That is a great contribution and don't worry about the "late" thing - nor anybody should. My "agenda" is one thing, your contributions entirely something else. So don't be shy, don't be stressed out, post what you want when you want - those empty two last weeks proved you that is what I do, anyway, right?!
So I didn't know that album, I don't even know the movie, but it's is great: great collaboration between Gladys Knight & The Pips and Curtis Mayfield. So my advice: for successful holidays, get it, play it and things should go nice and smooth!.
The Mike
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New contributions
I am deeply sorry : my dear help Michelcharles has sent a couple of links that I haven’t taken the time to transform as a real post. Let me whip myself a couple of times and finally do it. Wuuttttchi! Wuutttchi! Alright, I feel… better?
So the last two Temptations albums on this blog.
Good stuff, of course.
First a live from 1973. Michelcharles talked a lot about it and not being big on live albums, I wasn’t too thrilled. But as he stated, the Temps are perfect. But let’s read what HE has to say about it.
The Temptations - 1973 In Japan
2004 Reissue
mp3 @ 192
This concert was recorded in Japan in 1973 (and issued in 2004) during the tour following the release of "Masterpiece". The setlist draws heavily from "Masterpiece" and "All Directions" but does not forget the early classics. The Tempts are in fine vocal form and the band playing behind is top notch (as you could expect).
Funky Music Sho Nuff Turns Me On!!
Pass: MC4FunHouse
http://rapidshare.com/files/6892139/T73LIJ04.rar.html
And the second album isn’t really a contribution since he didn’t send it directly to the blog but only to me. But I was authorized to share it with you all. So here it is:
“1990” by the Temptations.
http://rapidshare.com/files/6890028/T731990.rar.html
Pw: michelcharles
It’s the missing link between “Masterpiece” and “A Song For You” and it’s probably a better album than these two. And you know I really like each of them. But “1990” is a very good album and the mix between the psychedelic sound and the disco/funk to come is very well dosed. Even though there is no hit on it, I strongly recommend it.
The Mike (and a lot more Michelcharles)
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08.12.2006
Update
Hello everyone!
A little post to let you know that I did a series of RE-UPLOADING!
This sucks but thanks to my new buddy: gigasize, everything should be okay from now on.
(In case some of you don't know, gigasize works a lot better if you subscribe to one of these free accounts they offer. No trick, no surprise. 2 minutes to subscribe and then you can upload and download as much as you want.)
So on the right side of this blog, there are 2 lists: one called "les evidents", which means "the obvious" (in french) and here is a list of all the albums that are the classic albums that everybody should have and know. And the purpose of this list is to be available at all time. So if some of the links are dead, it totally defeats its purpose. So, so far, I re-uploaded:
- Dusty Springfield: Dusty In Memphis
- T.Rex: Electric Warrior
- The Zombies: Odessey & Oracle
- Scott Walker: Scott 3
- The Stooges: Funhouse - Rawpower (Bowie 73's mix AND Iggy 97's mix)
(I still have a few to do but that's a start, right?
ONE LITTLE PRECISION: THE LINKS FOR THE STOOGES ARE NOT SHOWING COMPLETELY. sO IF YOU HAVE PROBLEM, YOU HAVE TO TRY TO SELECT THE LINE UNDER THE ADDRESS. You see what I mean?
And below that list, there is another list called "pas pour les Mickeys", which means, not for light weights (french slang) and it's a similar list except it's more about albums which are a little tougher to get into. But they are just as classic as the ones above. And of this list, I reuploaded:
- Suicide: s/t
- Robert Wyatt; Rock Bottom.
So I still have a few to do and I'll try to do it as soon as possible.
And then I'll try to start with re-uploading the old posts. I'll see about that. It's not as urgent. If you have requests, you can always send them.
One other thing: with the classic albums, I separated the bonus tracks from the original album. I don't know if it's a good or a bad thing (haven't got any feedback about it) but don't forget to upload the bonus tracks. The links are still good (all the megaupload ones).
Finally, the presentation of the archives isn't the greatest. If you are visiting the blog, and you're checking the archives, don't forget to click on the NOT EASY TO SEE little link "toutes les notes" AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PAGE - it's in light green (stupid presentation). That ought to send you to the page with all the archives of the month. I guess that is why everybody uses "blogspot" and not "hautetfort", "hautetfort" could use a lot of improvements.
That's all folks!
The Mike
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07.12.2006
Smokey Robinson & The Miracles – The 35th Anniversary Collection CD 1
For a long time, to me, Motown was the Supremes and Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On. I didn’t know much, I guess. And it’s also the time when I discovered Girl Groups and British Girls. And after a while, I was starting to get fed up with women singing and I was looking for equivalent male artists. I tried the Four Tops, who had good singles but nothing I could get gung-ho over. And the Temptations too (60’s version) but I didn’t think they were a match to the Supremes incredible singles, that perfect mix between pop and rhythm&blues.
Until I found Smokey Robinson & The Miracles. And not even at first. I started by buying a single CD collection. Although it had 26 tracks and all the hits, I wasn’t hooked.
Why did I buy that collection, then? I guess it wasn’t expensive, even a really good deal. And I just bought “A Quiet Storm”, which really blew my mind. So I thought I’d give it another shot.
Very good instinct on my part: this collection is a must-have! And a big one too. Of course, having the albums could be even better but we all know that at the time, Motown demanding production rhythm was so intense that every album had fillers. But there sure are no filler in this collection. A few different mix here and there, maybe a couple of unreleased tracks, and the rest is perfect pop songs.
http://www.gigasize.com/get.php/217679/Smokey_Robinson__T...
Enjoy!
The Mike
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Smokey Robinson & The Miracles – The 35th Anniversary Collection CD 2
This box set is also a great pleasure to listen to because of the evolution of Smokey Robinson’s great songwriting talent.
While the 1st CD allows us to hear the promise of Robinson’s talent, the beginning, its purity but also its limits, the 2nd CD dives into the core of Smokey’s ability to write songs like no one else.
Beginning with “You Really Got A Hold On Me” and ending with “Tracks of My Tears”, every one of these 25 tracks, along with “Going To A Go-Go” and “Mickey’s Monkey”, will give you a nice taste of smooth Motown Soul music. Every one of these songs are exploding with this beautiful balanced sound. Makes you almost wish you were from Detroit ;)
http://www.gigasize.com/get.php/218304/Smokey_Robinson__T...
Enjoy!
The Mike
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Smokey Robinson & The Miracles – The 35th Anniversary Collection CD 3
Third CD is the best: Smokey is mastering his art to the perfection, he doesn’t have to worry about Claudette being on the road with him, Gordy gave him basically as much freedom as he wanted and he had success. Intoxicating success.
The only critic you could make to that collection is not about the music but about the sound: most of the songs are in mono while they were recorded in stereo. It doesn’t really matter to me. But I know some people care about things like that.
(just the way I do about mp3 encoded size).
http://www.gigasize.com/get.php/218345/Smokey_Robinson__T...
Enjoy!
The Mike
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Smokey Robinson & The Miracles – The 35th Anniversary Collection CD 4
The last CD of the collection is very diverse but just as pleasant to listen to: mix of songs between the end of the carrier of the band, the solo carrier of Smokey Robinson and the new version of the Miracles.
Smokey Robinson & the Miracles ended with “Tears of a Clown” which is definitely a highlight. And the amazing part is that Smokey Robinson managed to record even more amazing songs and albums… as you can hear if you go back a little while ago on this blog.
http://www.gigasize.com/get.php/218366/Smokey_Robinson__T...
Enjoy!
The Mike
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Smokey Robinson & The Miracles – Lost & Found: Along Came Love
You, little lucky you! A great collection, pretty rare and hard to find. And it’s just as promising as it sounds. I haven’t listened to it in a while so I don’t really remember what tracks are the best but I remember that the whole collection plays really nice and smooth.
And from all the reviews I read to help me write this post, I gathered that this will be the perfect addition to the 35th Anniversary collection.
http://www.gigasize.com/get.php/218374/Smokey_Robinson__T...
Enjoy!
The Mike
PS: I’m a little sorry I didn’t have more to say to this incredible band. But once I said they’re great, I don’t see much more to say. When music is this great, no deep analysis is required.
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