1964
HITSVILLE U.S.A. * VARIOUS ARTISTS * MOTOWN * USA
Issued in September 1964 it is said that only 300 of these records were pressed (in the US). They were not intended for sale but to be given to British and European Tamla Motown fans through the Motown appreciation society. Dave Goodin, who is mentioned by name on the record must have had some to give away himself as both JC and myself were given a copy each by Bobby Blackmore, one day back then while buying records in Dave Goodin's Soul City record shop; Blackmoore, a Soul music fan himself, was a close associate of Goodin who amongst other things worked with him in the shop. Although at the time I had no idea of the amount of these that were pressed up and how big the Motown corporation was to become I prized this disc from the start, not so much for its rarity - though for many Soul record fans, if they are honest, that is part of their passion - more because of the intimacy of the spoken messages on the record which seemed to bring me closer to, what was then, still a largely unknown and fabulous entity. Added to this the sound quality of the snatches of the recordings, many of which I didn't have at the time, was exemplary; and as snatches they were only slightly problematic from a playing point of view as I would before heading out for the night invariably only ever play snatches of the records I had, as just a taste of a dozen or so sides of my latest favorites would be all the musical fix I'd need until getting to the dance, club or party I would undoubtedly be heading for.