UMC's The Motown 7s Box (Volume 2) represents another collection of 14 rare and previously unreleased vinyl gems, with all tracks lovingly restored. As with Volume 1, many of the tracks included here were never released at their time of recording, for a variety of reasons. Some got pushed to one side as albums usually only contained 12 songs and a few more were usually cut at the session - sometimes other Motown artists were given the songs and other versions were released, or it was simply a matter of the tracks being "rejected" at the weekly A+R meeting held with Berry Gordy and his team of songwriters and producers...

For those that bought and enjoyed Volume 1 in this series, Volume 2 represents another 14 impressive tracks spread over 7 vinyl singles. The packaging has been altered too for this release. UMC has adapted the label copy insert into a more substantial four page card leaflet. Vinyl was also manufactured at Optimal to give the authentic push out centre hole of the time. Sleeves are also paper rather than gloss card.

We received MP3 files for review, and so can't comment on the packaging and extras. But if you still own a record player then this is an essential purchase.

What more is there to say? 14 glorious forgotten tracks from some of Motown's greatest names...

Track listing:

Single 1
Jimmy Ruffin - 'He Who Picks A Rose'
Gladys Knight & The Pips - 'If You Ever Get Your Hands On Love'

Single 2
Stevie Wonder - 'I Want My Baby Back'
The Contours - 'Take Him Back If It Makes You Happy'

Single 3
The Spinners - 'We're Gonna Be More Than Friends'
Kim Weston - 'You Can Do It'

Single 4
Brenda Holloway - 'We'll Keep On Rolling'
The Temptations - 'Angel Doll'

Single 5
Marvin Gaye - 'My Love For You'
The Four Tops - 'I'm Grateful'

Single 6
The Isley Brothers - 'Sure Is A Whole Lotta Woman'
Barbara McNair - 'I Know Better'

Single 7
The Velvelettes - 'That's A Funny Way'
The Originals - 'Don’t Stop Now'

10

Nick Smithson