Motown Legends Vol. 1 CD

Unfortunately, throughout the '80s and '90s Motown took advantage of the burgeoning CD movement, endlessly packaging and repackaging chart-topping hits from the label's massive collection. This led to a flood of budget-line compilations that helped to keep Motown afloat during the leanest of years, when the hit factory in Los Angeles had all but dried up. Much like several other series entries, this Motown Legends set features familiar radio-friendly hits like Smokey Robinson's "Shop Around" (one of the label's first hits), Mary Wells' "My Guy," and two of Stevie Wonder's finest tracks, "I Was Made to Love Her" and "Shoo-Be-Doo-Be-Doo-Da-Day." The Supremes dominate almost a third of the disc with "Come See About Me," "Love Child," and "You Keep Me Hanging On." Most devotees will already own many if not all of these tracks, but casual fans looking for the hits who can't find any of the other available budget-line series would be well-served by this disc. ~ Rob Theakston