Diana Ross and the Supremes - Anthology - Motown 3746307942- 1986 Found this used , the quality of the mastering is all over the place, but enough good stuff for me. 49 songs. I'm set for life. The post Miss Ross songs are enjoyable, also. The liner notes state "Compiled for Compact Disc by Robert Robitaille and Russ Terrana, Hitsville USA, Hollywood." Compiled?
I don't have this. Russ Terrana was a recording engineer for Motown at one time - one of their in-house guys. He used to work with Diana Ross.
Those comps aren't to be confused with the more recent ANTHOLOGY series, which are mostly mono mixes. The old ones are repackages, more or less, of the old '70s ANTHOLOGY 2-Lp, 3-Lp sets, and mostly stereo. I think the Four Tops edition is still in print, but the others long OOP. Another good find, Ferric; this was sure your lucky day! ED
MMM, It seems to be stereo mixes for the most part. I have mono mixes on the Hitsville, USA box set. Mono - "You can't hurry Love" Does have "The Happening" which is a personal favorite and a minor hit. The booklet has the smell of strange perfume.
Well after all The Supremes did have 12 #1 singles, and I don't think any artist got more than 4 or 5 cuts on that first Hitsville box set. Plus the mono single mix of "The Happening" isn't that radically different from it's stereo counterpart. On the other hand a track like "Love Child" the mono and stereo mixes are like night and day. I love the mono single mix of that song!!! The bass and percussion seated right up front in the mix. Really makes a major difference I think!
A LOT of hits didn't make that Motown box-not enough room. That's all. "The Happening" was more than worthy. Many casual fans may not realize just how many singles the company released and just how many charted well over the last 40+ years.
You can find the songs on other comps in far superior sound. As an overview it's interesting, but you may want to seek out other sources. The mastering is at times tinny and harsh. For a very interesting listen, try to find "Diana Ross and the Supremes: the Never-Before Released Masters", a Motown CD from the late 1980's. Paul
Supremes Anthologies The 1986 Anthology CD was an update of the 1974 3-disc LP release with similar cover artwork. It was mostly stereo and is the one that ferric man mentioned. In 1995, they released a 2-disc Anthology packaged in a slip case mastered by Bill Inglot & Dan Hersch. It included mostly mono single mixes. In 2001, the released another 2-disc Anthology that is the one that is currently available. It is mostly stereo with mastering by Suha Gur. It suffers from a lot of dynamic range compression compared to the other releases. The 2001 Anthology included only 60s tracks with no post-Diana material. This made way for... The Supremes 70s Anthology which was released this past Fall. This was also mastered by Suha Gur, but it sounds better than its immediate predecessor. On an additional note, if the Hitsville Box included titles based on sales and popularity alone, it would have come across as the "Supremes and Temptations" box and you would not have gotten as good of a picture of what Motown was all about. Heck, the Hitsville USA 2 box omitted two of their biggest pop hits of the 80s, Charlene's "I've Never Been to Me" and Diana and Lionel's "Endless Love". Regards,
