Michigan girl group who signed for Tamla label 1961 and immediately got a Billboard #1 with "Please Mr. Postman", making them the first Motown act to top the list. Though the follow-up 45 "Playboy" reached #7 they were eventually forced to compeat with a growing number of successful female vocal bands - like Shirelles and Ronettes - and not least other Motown ones as Supremes and Martha & The Vandellas. But they still sold well up to around the mid-sixties when Gordy tried to "clean up" some of the label's artists as an attempt to meet the British Invasion and go further in with a white audience. Not only were they taught to dress and behave more mature or even gracefully, there were also different song choices and modifications in style and production. You can spot that already on this front sleeve pic - elegant women in chick dresses and hair-do - and the music is on that same posh path. Gone are the days when you could hear them coming out right on and unbridled, bursting with energy. Here I get smooth and smart instead, much like contemporary Supremes though without the obvious hit feeling. Most of it slow movers, some orchestrated, and even a cover of "Barefootin". Not the absolutely best I've heard from the Motown stable, but as it is Motown...good enough. The mono mix sounds legit and the audio just fine. Favorite tracks - "Keep Off, No Trespassing" and "I Can't Turn Around". Originally released on vinyl in Canada, Downunder, South America and a couple of European countries. US stereo (TS-274). UK on Tamla Motown (TML/STML 11052). Also on cassette and reel and as US six-track jukebox album. To my knowledge never issued like this on CD, but all tracks can be found on the 1986 Tamla compilation "Sophisticated Soul" (TCD08055TD). First US had label as shown here and glossy cover with Motown ad inner. (FÄV*) (TÖMÖ*) (YZÄ*) (ÖXCÅ*)
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