Nineteen years after the death of soul music legend Marvin Gaye, Motown/UME is readying for a Jan. 14 release "Greatest Duets: a Love Songs Collection," a single-disc compilation culling 14 tracks from throughout Gaye's career. Due Jan. 14, the set includes duets with Mary Wells, Oma Page, Kim Weston, Tammi Terrell, and Diana Ross, and others.
The digitally remastered tracks include seven top-10 R&B and/or pop smashes -- including two No. 1 R&B hits ("Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing" and "You're All I Need To Get By," both with Terrell) -- alongside three rarer cuts: the 1964 Page duet "So Good To Be Loved By You," an alternate version of the Ross collaboration "Pledging My Love," and "Distant Lover," a posthumous "duet" with Betty Wright, issued as an independent single in 1994.
Other songs featured on the album include "Once Upon a Time" and "What's the Matter With You Baby," both recorded with Wells for the 1964 album "Together" (Motown); and "It Takes Two" and "It's Got To Be a Miracle (This Thing Called Love)" with Weston.
Motown/UME is also preparing for release the same day a reissue of Ross' 1981 album "To Love Again," digitally remastered and expanded with previously unreleased tracks and alternate mixes for its first-ever release on the CD format. The disc tacks 11 songs onto the original nine-track album, including "Endless Love" and "Dreaming Of You," a pair of 1981 duets with Lionel Richie; an alternate version of her Gaye duet "Stop, Look, Listen (To Your Heart);" previously unreleased '70s cuts "Share Some Love" and "We're Always Saying Goodbye;" and Ross' covers of Stevie Wonder's "Too Shy To Say" and Melissa Manchester/Carole Bayer Sager's "Come In From the Rain."
The digitally remastered tracks include seven top-10 R&B and/or pop smashes -- including two No. 1 R&B hits ("Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing" and "You're All I Need To Get By," both with Terrell) -- alongside three rarer cuts: the 1964 Page duet "So Good To Be Loved By You," an alternate version of the Ross collaboration "Pledging My Love," and "Distant Lover," a posthumous "duet" with Betty Wright, issued as an independent single in 1994.
Other songs featured on the album include "Once Upon a Time" and "What's the Matter With You Baby," both recorded with Wells for the 1964 album "Together" (Motown); and "It Takes Two" and "It's Got To Be a Miracle (This Thing Called Love)" with Weston.
Motown/UME is also preparing for release the same day a reissue of Ross' 1981 album "To Love Again," digitally remastered and expanded with previously unreleased tracks and alternate mixes for its first-ever release on the CD format. The disc tacks 11 songs onto the original nine-track album, including "Endless Love" and "Dreaming Of You," a pair of 1981 duets with Lionel Richie; an alternate version of her Gaye duet "Stop, Look, Listen (To Your Heart);" previously unreleased '70s cuts "Share Some Love" and "We're Always Saying Goodbye;" and Ross' covers of Stevie Wonder's "Too Shy To Say" and Melissa Manchester/Carole Bayer Sager's "Come In From the Rain."
Up for Discussion