Soul Salad

Malc that Sweet Pearl is brand new to my ears - where's that been hiding? absolutely fantastic - Yes every day is indeed a school day

Was it Sean Chapman by any chance?

LOL now in on to the 70s with the Philadelphia - irrelevant, ignore

Thanks Robbk Your feedback is unsurpassed as usual! (2) Thankyou (1) I'm thinking this may have been more of a statement/thought than a question, but I'm in the UK, music lover since i suppose the mid/late80s. Things were different during that golden Motown period the US compared to European "tastes" /many more radio stations/much easier access to black music in general. I've always brought records i like, not which label they were on. But then music especially back then was i guess was a much bigger part of life.. I can only speak from my perspective (from the sales/chart hits in the UK) of course millions were sold, but growing up even to this day ALL "Motownish" radio plays/hits happen to ALL be on the Motown label. I cant think of any records at this point that were "Motownish" but NOT on the Motown label. Again (thinking aloud) the reason was the sheer size of Motown meant their records were able to become overseas hits. I guess the "closest" other label here in the UK was Philadelphia Int but that's another story. Dax

Thanks Guys, Thats so fascinating, i don't need a book now! - if that was that was their MO in the 60s then I'm presuming they actively changed and slimmed down during the 70s and 80s, so true to say that those decades became far less profitable for them. Again that 60s distinctly "Motown" sound disappeared. Then another question without drawing it out too much was did "buyers "actively" purchase records on the Motown label? - There of course are many Motown "sounding" records which of course never charted/you never hear on the radio but the "commercial" ones were pretty much ALL Motown, (in an hour this morning I've heard two already on Radio2!!) i guess that comes down to their connections at the time. ie the "Motown" ones got through and the Motown sounding ones didn't. I'm not the greatest asker of questions but hope the above makes sense.

Thanks again, Then their business model was to record tonnes of songs knowing that a % would break the charts and carry the loses of all the others - i guess it worked and i get if they released them but if they didn't even get a release so what was the point? - They must've been astute enough to know which were winners (commercially viable) and which weren't before recording them. I might just buy a book! Dax

PS And "who" decided which were and which werent commercial enough?

Thanks Jimmy Mack, I get that "pile em high" etc but then why bother in the first place recording them (so so many) if they weren't "commercial"? Example how was "Stormy" not commercial?

I gave in and recently got myself the Stormy Supreme's 7, then never hearing the Stevie Wonder B side from the box sets, WOW just magical and blew me away - my best new record!. Then there was obviously the Gaye CD Box set. I then had a morning of listening to a good few of those other unreleased Motown songs from the other box sets. How did that whole Motown thing work? What was their thinking behind recording so much good music but never releasing it coupled with some of the recordings that i presume don't even exist now. I'm wondering who and how songs were chosen for release on either single or LP. I know Motown were vast, but the shear amount of time and money wasted seems ridiculous. Other Record labels would have gone into liquidation with just a tiny fraction of their wasted efforts. I don't really want to but a book, but is there an accurate and reliable "concise" (not a dissertation) link anywhere? Thankyou

Another one that never turns up

Yep, i gave up, forgotten that one - i see they haven't found a 200 box count since i gave up looking then - Sometimes with these records i wonder if they ever even got a release? i know of nobody who has this or ever seen it - Butch probably has it though LOL

Err 3.9K LOL, mentioned before, always been a tough one, but as a few members on here have said recently "testing the water" with those in demand records ie chancers - but saying that I've not seen another for sale for a good few years though. B sides great too - i won't be buying one

OK not stupidly rare but rare enough in good nick

I never quite got the buzz around this record when it starting getting plays? - but know it's a loved record but i won't upset anyone as I'm sure nobody actually, has it? - or do they?, yes super-duper rare!

Good calls, We the People escaped me, right up my street too? - I want one as well - Anyone?