| The Ultimate Collection | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Compilation album by | ||||
| Released | February 10, 1998 | |||
| Recorded | 1959–1972 | |||
| Genre | Soul music | |||
| Length | 71:03 | |||
| Label | Motown Records | |||
| Producer | Harry Weinger | |||
| The Miracles chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |  [1] |
The Ultimate Collection is acompact disc bySmokey Robinson and The Miracles, released onMotown Records, catalogue 314530857-2, in February 1998. It is a collection ofsingles comprising many of the group'sgreatest hits, withliner notes written by Stu Hackel.
The disc contains seventeen top tenRhythm and Blues singles chart hits, and nineteenTop 40 hits on theBillboard Hot 100 enjoyed by the Miracles and released on the Motown subsidiarylabelTamla Records imprint. The only exception is "Bad Girl," released locally in theDetroit area on the Motown label (the first single under this imprint) but nationally licensed toChess Records. Three of the tracks included wereB-sides — "Who's Lovin' You," "Choosey Beggar," and "(You Can) Depend on Me" — respectively the flipsides to "Shop Around," "Going to A Go-Go," and "Way Over There," with "Choosey Beggar" charting independently of itsA-side on the R&B singles chart. "The Tears of A Clown" had been initially buried as a track on thealbumMake It Happen in 1967, but to quell clamor for more record releases by the group in theUnited Kingdom became a belated hit three years later. Issued in theUnited States shortly thereafter, it was the Miracles' only #1 hit with Smokey Robinson on the American pop singles chart. Years later, the group hit #1 again on the Billboard Pop chart with the smash hit "Love Machine," but by then Robinson had long since left the group, replaced withBilly Griffin. The disc was part of an "Ultimate Collection" series initiated in 1997 by Motown for many of their top-selling classic artists.
Starting in the late 1960s and early 1970s, standardindustry practice shifted to a focus on album sales, where a single became less a separate entity and more simply an advertisement for an LP, and alead single would be pulled off an album as a promotional tool. Prior to this, singles were concentrated upon as a profitable commodity, especially for smallerrecord labels, and albums were often built around already successful singles. Since Motown fixated on thehit single until the very end of its stay in Detroit, single versions of songs often featured differentmixes than versions that would be later placed on albums. Singles were usually mixed "punchier" and "hotter" to sound better oncar radios receivingAM broadcast.[2] The single versions are the ones appearing here.
All six original members of The Miracles are pictured on the cover, clockwise from left:Claudette Robinson, her cousinBobby Rogers,Ronnie White,Smokey Robinson,Marv Tarplin, andPete Moore .
Singles chart peak positions fromBillboard charts; no R&B chart existed from November 30, 1963, through January 23, 1965.
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom (BPI)[3] | Silver | 60,000‡ |
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. | ||
