The Number 1's series is a brand-new line of CDs featuring #1 radio hits from the biggest names in music. This collection includes decade compilations as well as individual artist CDs and is being released by Universal Music Enterprises (UMe) in its ground-breaking, environmentally-friendly packaging format. A first for the music industry, the standard package (both sleeve and tray) will be completely paper-recyclable, continuing the company's long-standing commitment to being "green."To further reduce the amount of paper in the Eco-Pack, the CD booklet will no longer be offered.UMe is the first North American music company to replace the traditional jewel case with recycled paperboard sleeves and the plastic tray with trays made from PaperFoam®, a new packaging technology from Shorewood Packaging, a business of International Paper, that is paper-recyclable and biodegradable. Shorewood Packaging is the first North American packaging supplier to produce disc trays from PaperFoam®.
In the path of enormously popular collections of number one singles by Elvis and the Beatles comes this crammed (seconds shy of the 80-minute mark) disc from another pop-culture icon, Diana Ross & the Supremes. 14 Diana Ross/Supremes tracks appear in some of their most vivid sound ever, while the post-Ross Supremes get their due with "Stoned Love." Ross’ Hollywood years make for the weakest music here ("Touch Me in the Morning," "Endless Love"), but disco smashes "Upside Down," "I’m Coming Out," and "The Boss" prove as smart, canny, and enduring as Supremes 45s like "You Keep Me Hangin’ On" and "Reflections." The contemporary, yet already dated, remix of "Hangin’ On" at album’s end suggests, in fact, that Ross might make one more dance-floor comeback if paired with the right behind-the-scenes team. Basement Jaxx, anyone? --Rickey Wright
