The productivity of Motown Records endures as a highpoint in 20th Century music, an achievement that endures right up to the present. Long playing records are a superb point of entry into this bountiful garden of aural delights, and beginning this month Elemental Music kicks off the Motown Sound Collection, a thoughtfully assembled series that will reissue over two dozen Motown albums monthly throughout 2024 and into next year from a wide range of celebrated acts. The first two LPs, The Supremes’ We Remember Sam Cooke and The Temptations’ Wish It Would Rain and are available now.
There would seem to be little argument that Motown Records’ crucial format was the 45rpm single. For over two decades, Barry Gordy’s organization was an unstoppable hit machine (indeed, Hitsville, USA), and singles delivered a steady stream of material to the radio stations where the hitmaking process was extended, inspiring listeners young and old to bring those songs into their homes for repeat play.
If the hit single was Motown’s bread and butter, full length albums were a further validation of success. It’s to Gordy’s credit that he didn’t simply choose to dump hit singles and their flipsides onto LPs as an afterthought. Taking a considered and occasionally thematic approach to album assemblage secured Motown as a prestige enterprise in an era where youth music was still undervalued as largely disposable. The label’s LPs were regularly crossover hits themselves.
Recorded and released in 1965, We Remember Sam Cooke is the fifth album by The Supremes and the third in a trio of themed albums, following The Supremes Sing Country, Western and Pop, and A Bit of Liverpool. Those prior entries have their moments (and a reissue of the Brit Invasion set is on the horizon from Elemental), but the Cooke tribute connects as the most natural fit for the vocal group’s talents.
Bloomington, IL | Anniversary bash toasts Reverberation Vinyl’s 13 years — as records reasserted themselves: Every spring, John Anderson converts Bloomington’s Reverberation Vinyl into a mini concert venue. It’s his way of marking another turn around the sun for the Main Street record store he opened 13 years ago. It’s as good an excuse as any to get some of Anderson’s favorite bands to play Bloomington-Normal, in what he’s haphazardly labeled Reverberation’s annual anniversary/pre-Milwaukee Psych Fest/general bacchanal. To be clear, Reverberation Vinyl is not a concert venue; their May 9 anniversary bash felt something akin to a house concert with fewer places to sit. A rack filled to the brim with LPs in the center of the store relegates bands to two corners of the room with a small, donut-shaped crowd surrounding them. Stage lights consist of a couple strands of red twinkle lights hung at ceiling level. Craft services is a cooler labeled “band beer.” And yet, 
Liverpool, UK | The Mysterines to rock Jacaranda Baltic as part of record store tour: The Mysterines are gearing up to hit the stage at Jacaranda Baltic as part of 
Athens, GA | Sense of Place: Wuxtry Records is the heart of Athens’ musical legacy: If you were to plan a musical pilgrimage to Athens, Ga. — one of the birthplaces of alternative rock and home to bands like R.E.M., Pylon, Drive-By Truckers and The B-52s — you would be smart to schedule in a whole day to visit Wuxtry Records. It’s the kind of record shop you could spend forever in. As part of our Sense of Place: Athens series, World Cafe stopped by the independent record store to find out why it’s such an important part of the Athens music scene and its music history. In this session, we’ll meet the folks who run Wuxtry, like owner Dan Wall and longtime manager Nathaniel Mitchell. Wall talks about some of Wuxtry’s former employees who went on to become famous, and about how this record store has survived thanks to 
Portland, ME | Maine’s vintage record sellers thrive on the chase of finding vinyl treasures: There is nothing like walking into a record store and seeing the shelves and rows of different vinyls just waiting to be gone through. The excitement peaks when one store may have the Def Leppard “Pyromania” vinyl you’re after, and the other has the Fleetwood Mac “Rumours” album that you’ve searched high and low for. As soon as you step foot into Electric Buddhas, you are immersed into another world of everything retro. You are greeted by the owner, Mike Breton, who is cashing out customers at his tiki-inspired cash register stand surrounded by a wide variety of things — everything from a “Godzilla” poster to albums to old video game systems, cassettes and VHS tapes. There are rows and rows of different albums to file through, ranging from Frank Sinatra to Elvis to Duran Duran. There’s a range of rock and roll, country, R&B, jazz, classical, hip-hop and 
Rochester, NY | Records on the rise in Rochester. This is why we love vinyl again. You see signs of it in Rochester and similar cities, with new acolytes and prodigal consumers returning to the fold — the lasting re-birth of vinyl has happened. If you are young and love Taylor Swift, this might feel new. It’s actually a re-boot of a long-standing American hobby of form and function appreciation that lasted a century before almost dying in the early 2000s. One of many vocal fans of the vinyl rebirth is Sigmund Bloom. His mantra: “Get a record player. Start a record collection. Because it’s the ritual. It is marrying music back to ritual. And whenever you take your record out and you handle it very gently, because it’s a precious thing. … it’s a moment in your life when you slow down and you make yourself ready to receive something.” …Love of vinyl has 
Indio, CA | Geodes and Musical Gems: Indio’s New Rocks & Records Store Combines Vinyl and Fossils—With an Emphasis on Community. As the city of Indio continues to pour money and effort into revitalizing downtown, new businesses and events are popping up that celebrate arts, culture and community—and one of the latest additions is Rocks & Records. Rocks & Records sells … 
