Search - Various Artists :: Motown Love Songs

Creating an 18-track collection of love songs from the vast Motown catalog is no easy task. Sensibly, this package includes some obvious classics like the Miracles' "Ooh Baby Baby," the Originals' "Baby I'm for Real"--penned and produced for the group by Marvin Gaye--and the Temptations' "Just My Imagination." On the obscure tip, there's Gaye's own "I'll Take Care Of You" (a 1967 B-side) and former Spinner G.C. Cameron's original version of the Cooley High theme, "It's So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday," later revived by Boyz II Men as a No. 1 hit in 1991. But there are some major flaws. Why three tracks each by the Miracles and Michael Jackson (including "Ben," his famed ode to a rodent) when there are countless major Motown artists--like Diana Ross and the Four Tops--missing from this package? Arbitrary choices in the selection of repertoire and some strange sequencing make this a little less than satisfying, but if you want a half-dozen Motown classics on one CD, this will do the trick. --David Nathan