Motown had hits -- many big hits -- prior to 1964, but it's easy to think of that year as the year when the label truly began. It's the year that Motown became more than a successful independent label and became a phenomenon, churning out hits at a blinding speed, defining the era as much as the Beatles-driven British Invasion of 1964. As with any massive success, this was not an overnight sensation but rather the result of years and years of work, with all of the separate pieces falling into place at the same time. Berry Gordy refined his crossover concepts and sharpened his business acumen, while the house band gelled, creating a unified sound for most of the Motown/Tamla singles, bringing muscle and soul to the compositions of the stable of writers. Gordy began to recede as a writer, but Smokey Robinson and Marvin Gaye continued to pen hits, both for themselves and for other artists, but their contributions tended to be overshadowed by the astonishing partnership of Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier, and Eddie Holland, whose productions and compositions formed the core of the Motown sound during these peak years of the '60s, the first fully successful year of which is documented on this superb six-disc box set, The Complete Motown Singles, Vol. 4: 1964.

Throughout 1964, Holland-Dozier-Holland churned out song after song, songs that didn't become hits but became anthems, turning groups into superstars in the process. Chief among them were the Supremes, who had "Where Did Our Love Go," "Come See About Me," and "Baby Love" this year, hits that turned them into the biggest American recording artist of the year, but 1964 was also the year of Martha & the Vandellas' "Dancing in the Streets," Mary Wells' "My Guy," Marvin Gaye's "You're a Wonderful One," "Baby Don't You Do It," and "How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You)," the Four Tops' "Baby I Need Your Loving," and the Temptations' "The Way You Do the Things You Do" and "My Girl," all songs that defined the era. It's only next to these songs -- perhaps overplayed, but sounding exciting again in the context of this set -- that Shorty Long's "Devil with the Blue Dress," Brenda Holloway's "Every Little Bit Hurts," Mary Wells' "When I'm Gone," the Velvelettes' "Needle in a Haystack" and "He Was Really Sayin' Somethin'," and the Marvelettes' "Too Many Fish in the Sea" could be seen as second-tier songs, when they're every bit the classics that the others are. This is the strongest indication of how everything was clicking for Motown this year: they were a machine with soul, turning out hits that defined what soul was in the mid-'60s.

Given this phenomenal success rate and the number of singles Motown and its subsidiaries released -- this six-disc box contains 163 songs, both As and Bs, along with alternate mixes -- it's not surprised that some cuts got lost in the shuffle, and there were some good ones. There are some grittier R&B numbers from Earl Van Dyke and Junior Walker & the All-Stars, and mainstays the Contours still kicked out some high-octane soul, plus there's smoother stuff that could have been hits if the cards broke another way. All of this gives the impression that Motown released nothing but excellence this year, which isn't quite the case: Gordy was still pursuing several of his odd subsidiaries, including Mel-o-Dee, which released more Johnny Cash knockoffs by Howard Crockett, along with some gospel sides from Liz Lands, and there's also some novelties, most notably R. Dean Taylor's stomping "My Lady Bug Stay Away from That Beatle," an acknowledgement of that other pop phenomenon of 1964. These detours might prevent The Complete Motown Singles, Vol. 4 from being the nonstop party that the hits, big and small, suggest that it would be, but they also explain how the times were shifting in 1964, while those hits and the forgotten gems explain how Motown was on the vanguard of that change, and how they made music that still amazes. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide