fine single CD retrospective
The Ultimate Collection by The Marvelettes is a very strong single CD compilation of what fine artistry these young woman produced when they were a girl group! The sound is excellent and I like the artwork.

"Please Mr. Postman" starts the track set with one of their best huts ever; they sing and harmonize to perfection; the percussion and guitar work add a lot to this tune. "Please Mr. Postman" has the group singing of a young woman who wants an important letter from the man she loves. The melody is great, too--perfect for dancing! "So Long Baby" has them singing in a higher vocal range but it still holds its own very well; and I like the piano arrangement very much. Moreover, there's also "Beechwood 4-5789;" they sing this to perfection and this peppy little tune gets the royal treatment from these gals as they sing this one out strong! Awesome!

"Twistin' Postman" is a cute twisting dance number that really rocks well even all these years later; and The Marvelettes do a fine job on "Forever." "Forever" is a slow dance romantic tune that sounds so fresh even today; The Marvelettes perform this with panache and this impresses me greatly. "Too Many Fish In The Sea" was another of their biggest hits ever; you may well recognize this tune the moment you hear it. The percussion and hand clapping sound great and The Marvelettes sing this better than any other girl group ever could! I love it.

"Don't Mess With Bill" also scored big for this group; and the great sound quality makes you think that they're actually right there in your living room as you listen! The Marvelettes handle the tempo changes like the pros they always were and I predict that you'll enjoy "Don't Mess With Bill" very much.

"My Baby Must Be A Magician" has that classic Marvelettes sound and the young gals do a fine job on this; they sing and harmonize so well. The musical special effects work well, too. Listen also for "Here I Am Baby;" this tune benefits from their fine singing and the percussion is awesome!

Of course, another huge hit for this group was "When You're Young And In Love." This ballad features The Marvelettes front and center as they sing this so sweetly it sails straight out of the ballpark! It's a touching ballad that always moves me when I hear it; I really like "When You're Young And In Love."

Overall, this CD by The Marvelettes truly does deliver most of their greatest hits. There's not way for a single CD to capture everything they did to contribute to the arts but this comes pretty close in my book. I highly recommend this for fans of The Marvelettes; and people who like oldies music will appreciate this album as well.

Marvelettes
Most of the songs on the CD are great. The marvelettes were a fantastic group.

Great
If you like old Motown, the Marvelettes, or any of the 60s girl groups, this album gave me their entire collection and a few songs that I have never heard. It was a good purchase for me a lover of the old Motown sound and many B side songs put out many years ago. Grade A.

The Marvelous Marvelettes
The first 45 I ever bought was Beechwood 45789. I loved the music of the Marvelettes. The Ultimate Collection has so many of their songs that I enjoyed then and now. I can't think of one song that I liked that is not included. This CD reconnected me to some great memories and long-forgotten dance moves. I love it!!!

Only One True "Ultimate" Collection
A search in Music under the heading Ultimate Collection will garner you thousands of hits, and even searching in Album Title will result in quite a few, ranging from Benny Hill and George Formby to 10cc and The Who, and just about everyone in between. Even Motown uses Ultimate Collection on a number of their CDs, but the best of the lot where they are concerned is this series, each with 25 tracks and similar cover art by David Irvin, and involving Diana Ross & The Supremes, The Four Tops, Smokey Robinson & The Miracles, Martha (Reeves) & The Vandellas, Jr. Walker & The All Stars, Gladys Knight & The Pips, and Mary Wells.

All provide the bulk of the hit records for each artist or group, as well as more photos in the insert, comprehensive liner notes [in this instance by noted writer [Newsweek, NY Times, Essence, and the International Herald Tribune] Diane Marie Weathers, and a complete discography of the contents.

This Motown girl-group from Inkster, Michigan, whose singles were released on the Tamla subsidiary, had earlier recorded as The Darnells before hitting it big in 1961 with Please Mr. Postman (# 1 on both the Billboard Pop Hot 100 and R&B charts (where it stayed for 7 weeks that fall). From there to 1969 they would add 22 more. And here you get all but one of them.

The completist side of me wanted to deduct one star for the omission of I'm Gonna Hold On As Long As I Can [# 76 Hot 100 in January 1969], but in the end I gave in to an otherwise fantastic CD and assigned the full 5. Non-hits included here are track 3, the flip of their first hit, and Too Strong To Be Strung Along. which backed Strange I Know [# 10 R&B/# 49 Hot 100 in early 1963]. The flipside of Beechwood 4-5789 [# 7 R&B/# 17 Hot 100 in 1962], Someday, Someway [track 5] reached # 8 on the R&B charts.

Original members, when they were a quintet, included Gladys Horton, Georgeanna Marie Tillman Gordon, Wanda Young, Katherine Anderson, and Juanita Cowart. Both Horton and Young took turns singing lead. Gordon, who left in 1965, died from lupus on January 6, 1980. Horton quit in 1967 and was replaced by Anne Bogan, who would later become part of the group New Birth.

I recommend this CD to anyone interested in the classic girl-group sound of that era, but I would sure would like to hear from producer Harry Weinger why he would decide to omit one hit in putting this package together. Was 26 tracks out of the question?