Motown's 60th Anniversary Celebration Continues With Special, Limited Edition 'Motown In Mono' Vinyl Series

Five Classic Motown Albums Newly Remastered in Mono from Their Original Analog Master Tapes for 180-Gram Deluxe Vinyl Editions

Motown's 60th Anniversary celebration continues with today's announcement of a special, limited edition 'Motown In Mono' vinyl series, featuring The Four Tops' Reach Out (1967), The Marvelettes' Sophisticated Soul (1968), The Miracles' You've Really Got A Hold On Me (1963), Diana Ross & The Supremes' Reflections (1968), and The Temptations' The Temptations Sing Smokey (1965). To be released worldwide on November 8 by Motown/UMe, the albums are available now for preorder as a collectible five-LP set with a custom turntable slipmat, exclusively from The Sound of Vinyl's global online stores. All five albums are newly remastered from their original analog master tapes by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio, pressed on audiophile-quality 180-gram vinyl, and packaged in deluxe Stoughton tip-on jackets.

Motown’s 60th Anniversary celebration continues with today’s announcement of a special, limited edition ‘Motown In Mono’ vinyl series, featuring The Four Tops’ Reach Out (1967), The Marvelettes’ Sophisticated Soul (1968), The Miracles’ You’ve Really Got A Hold On Me (1963), Diana Ross & The Supremes’ Reflections (1968), and The Temptations’ The Temptations Sing Smokey (1965). To be released November 8 by Motown/UMe, the albums are available now for pre-order as a collectible five-LP set.

Sophisticated Soul has never before been commercially released in mono, and Reflections was issued in mono in the UK only. The mono LPs for You've Really Got A Hold On Me (also generally known, from the album's cover art, as The Fabulous Miracles), Reach Out, The Temptations Sing Smokey are long out-of-print and rare.

"There was a big reason why mono was a great thing for Motown -- the emphasis then was radio," explains remastering engineer Kevin Gray. "They did special mixes in mono, intended for radio, and those are the ones we grew up listening to."

"I'm approaching these Motown albums by trying to keep everything balanced within the same framework," Gray continues. "Within an album, I try to find a level that is representative of what the album was supposed to be, and then I match everything as closely as I can to that with EQ. I certainly don't find any need to add further compression. The tapes have held up well. I'm always pleased when that happens. It's been very rewarding to work on them, and they sounded very, very good."

Learn more about the 'Motown in Mono' vinyl series at http://mono.motown.com and preorder the limited edition five-LP set at https://soundofvinyl.lnk.to/MotownMonoSet.

Stream all of Motown's greatest hits: https://stream.lnk.to/Motown.

The Four Tops - Reach Out

SIDE 1

1. Reach Out I'll Be There

2. Walk Away Renee

3. 7–Rooms of Gloom

4. If I Were a Carpenter

5. Last Train to Clarksville

6. I'll Turn to Stone

SIDE 2

1. I'm a Believer

2. Standing in the Shadows of Love

3. Bernadette

4. Cherish

5. Wonderful Baby

6. What Else is There to Do (But Think About You)

The Marvelettes - Sophisticated Soul

SIDE 1

1. My Baby Must Be A Magician

2. Destination: Anywhere

3. I'm Gonna Hold On Long As I Can

4. Here I Am Baby

5. You're The One For Me Bobby

6. Reachin' For Something I Can't Have

SIDE 2

1. Your Love Can Save Me

2. You're The One

3. Don't Make Hurting Me A Habit

4. What's Easy For Two Is Hard For One

5. The Stranger

6. Someway, Somehow

The Miracles – You've Really Got A Hold On Me

SIDE 1

1. You've Really Got A Hold On Me (Wm. Robinson)

2. I've Been Good To You (Wm. Robinson)

3. Such Is Love, Such Is Life (Wm. Robinson)

4. I Can Take A Hint (Robinson, Bradford, Ossman, Rogers)

5. Won't You Take Me Back (Wm. Robinson)

SIDE 2

1. A Love She Can Count On (Wm. Robinson)

2. Whatever Makes You Happy (Wm. Robinson, R. White)

3. Heartbreak Road (Wm. Robinson, R. White)

4. Happy Landing (Wm. Robinson, R. White)

5. Your Love (Wm. Robinson)

Diana Ross & The Supremes – Reflections

SIDE 1

1. Reflections

2. I'm Gonna Make It (I Will Wait For You)

3. Forever Came Today

4. I Can't Make It Alone

5. In And Out Of Love

6. Bah-Bah-Bah

SIDE 2

1. What The World Needs Now Is Love

2. Up, Up And Away

3. Love (Makes Me Do Foolish Things)

4. Then

5. Misery Makes Its Home In My Heart

6. Ode To Billie Joe

The Temptations - The Temptations Sing Smokey

SIDE 1

1. My Girl

2. The Way You Do The Things You Do

3. What Love Has Joined Together

4. It's Growing

SIDE 2

1. Who's Lovin' You

2. You'll Lose A Precious Love

3. You've Really Got A Hold On Me

4. Baby, Baby I Need You

5. (You Can) Depend On Me

6. Way Over There

7. What's So Good About Goodbye

8. You Beat Me To The Punch