Motown - Motown: The DVD

More soulful magic from the vaults

Following on from nigh-on essential compilations focusing on individual big hitters (Marvin Gaye, The Supremes, The Four Tops, Smokey & The Miracles), this DVD casts a wider net across the Motown televisual archives. Culled from American shows between 1965 and ’72, it arguably presents a fuller picture of the label as an all-encompassing hit factory that soundtracked a generation.

Brenda Holloway’s torchy rendition of Every Little Bit Hurts and David Ruffin’s My Whole World Ended showcase the more melancholy side of Berry Gordy’s operation, while Martha & The Vandellas are on more familiar finger-clicking territory with Nowhere To Run, filmed on a Detroit car assembly line with flagrant disregard for health and safety issues. The audio tracks more often than not dub the original records over the TV broadcast sound, but are admirably well-synched.

The 18 performances are interspersed with revealing interview snippets, including Martha Reeves enthusing about her stage wardrobe and Gordy himself coyly fielding questions about his own genius. A joyous bonus feature shows the Motown family at play during a 1970 picnic and softball game, home movie footage hilariously narrated by the label’s fantastically-named special projects manager, Weldon Arthur Macdougal III.

4 stars 4 stars 4 stars 4 stars

c Universal/Hip-O Selet | B 001252509

Reviewed by Terry Staunton
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