The Miracles "City of Angels"

In 1975, the Miracles, now with Billy Griffin on lead vocal, exploded back into the Pop mainstream with “Love Machine” – a No. 1 hit across the board, a song that remains an icon of ’70s dance music. The song was the centerpiece of a concept album – City Of Angels, a thematic soul/pop masterpiece that told the story of two souls searching for love and fame in Hollywood, Los Angeles, the “City of Angels.” In addition to the smash hit, the album’s “Overture” and “Night Life” became underground disco classics, while “Ain’t Nobody Straight In L.A.” spurred controversy. Throughout City of Angels the group showed off its longtime close harmony.

Yet even with “Love Machine” a perennial favorite, City Of Angels remained MIA on CD in its home country. (A U.K. compilation included all of the album’s tracks with cuts from other albums but did not reproduce the cover art or tell the full story.)

Now, for the first time ever, The Miracles’ City Of Angels is on a U.S. CD, along with careful reproduction of the eye-catching artwork, an essay by soul music expert David Nathan – who provided from his personal archive an interview with Miracles Billy Griffin and Warren “Pete” Moore that he conducted back when the album was originally released – and a previously unreleased bonus track, the “missing” extended 12-inch instrumental version of “Love Machine.”

Consulting on this reissue were Miracles Griffin and Moore, who wrote every track together. The reissue is released about one year after the group finally received its genuine star on Hollywood Boulevard, just off Sycamore Street in the “City Of Angels,” an event that mirrored the album’s cover image. Long live the Miracles, and a classic that burst on the scene 35 years ago.


1. Overture
2. City of Angels
3. Free Press
4. Ain’t Nobody Straight in L.A.
5. Night Life
6. Love Machine
7. My Name is Michael
8. Poor Charlotte
9. Waldo Roderick DeHammersmith
10. Smog
11. Bonus Track: Love Machine (instrumental version)

http://hip-oselect.com/scr.public.produ ... F611A506F3

Great news, this goes to the top of my shopping list!

I'll probably buy this. I'm really looking forward to the second volume of Miracles albums though.

One of my all-time favorites, so this is a treat! Though the album has been available for some years as "The Miracles Collection" in the U.K., it's nice Hip-O is shining new light on this classic.

What makes this project so interesting is that one has to remember these are men from Detroit, and these "love songs" that they've dedicated to their new home in Los Angeles is sung from a very green point of view, giving the songs a very honest feel. Everything is new to them - the gay bars, the wanna-be starlets, the smog, the earthquakes, the flashy pimps, etc. The tracks are catchy as hell (especially my favorite, "Free Press"), and ironically the only song that deviates from the concept (and does not fit) is the hit "Love Machine." Brilliant just the same.

The 1972/73 period in the Miracles' career is sadly overlooked on CD. Hip-O... please send us all into orbit and release the Miracles' debut with Billy ("Renaissance"), Smokey's solo debut ("Smokey") and the final studio set from Smokey & The Miracles ("Flying High Together"). Two of these have never seen the light of day on CD.