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Motown Discography
This is the discography for Motown as well as its subsidiaries and imprints. Singles Number-one singles This is a list of singles released on one of the various labels owned by Motown that reached #1 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in the United States. Albums 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2008 Motown subsidiary labels Major divisions *Tamla Records *Motown Records *Gordy Records *Tamla-Motown Records Secondary R&B labels *Check-Mate Records *Miracle Records *MoWest Records *Motown Yesteryear *Soul Records *V.I.P. Records *Weed Records Alternative genre labels Country *Mel-o-dy Records *Hitsville Records Hip hop/rap *Wondirection Records *Mad Sounds Recordings *Never Broke Again Jazz *Workshop Jazz Records *Blaze Reco ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Discography
Discography is the study and cataloging of published sound recordings, often by specified artists or within identified music genres. The exact information included varies depending on the type and scope of the discography, but a discography entry for a specific recording will often list such details as the names of the artists involved, the time and place of the recording, the title of the piece performed, release dates, chart positions, and sales figures.Roy Shuker. Popular Music: The Key Concepts'. Routledge, 2005. 80. A discography can also refer to the recordings catalogue of an individual artist, group, or orchestra. This is distinct from a sessionography, which is a catalogue of recording sessions, rather than a catalogue of the records, in whatever medium, that are made from those recordings. The two are sometimes confused, especially in jazz, as specific release dates for jazz records are often difficult to ascertain, and session dates are substituted as a means of organiz ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Singin' Sammy Ward
James T. Woodley (December 21, 1929 – November 20, 1996), who performed as Singin' Sammy Ward, was an American rhythm and blues singer who recorded for Motown Records and had a R&B chart hit with "Who's The Fool", written by Smokey Robinson and produced by Berry Gordy, Jr., in 1961. He grew up in the Ensley area of Birmingham, Alabama, before moving to Detroit, Michigan, where he was established as a club singer by the late 1950s. He was named "Singin' Sammy Ward" by Berry Gordy's wife Raynoma, "Miss Ray", and first recorded for Motown in 1960, on a duet with Sherri Taylor, "Lover" / "That's Why I Love You So Much". He then moved to the Tamla label as a solo singer, and recorded "That Child Is Really Wild", co-written by Gordy and Robinson. The original B-side, "What Makes You Love Him", was changed to another song, Robinson's "Who's The Fool", which became Ward's only chart success, reaching no. 23 on the ''Billboard'' R&B chart in August 1961. The record was only the f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gino Parks
Gino or Geno Parks (born Gene Purifoy, 26 June 1933) is an American R&B singer who recorded for several labels, including Tamla, in the 1950s and 1960s. Biography He was born in Fairfield, Alabama, and in his teens sang with several gospel groups including the Harmony Four, the Five Spirituals, and the Evangelistic Gospel Choir. He attended Miles College in Birmingham, before moving to Detroit in late 1954. He soon met singer and songwriter Andre Williams, joining Williams in his group the Five Dollars, and then Williams' New Group, who had a no.9 R&B hit single in 1956 with "Bacon Fat". He and Williams then performed as a duo, and recorded for Fortune Records. In 1960, Parks signed for Berry Gordy's Motown Records, and was first credited on "Blibberin' Blabberin' Blues", an answer record to the Coasters' "Yakety Yak", in 1961. This was followed by "That's No Lie", released on the Tamla label, and then "For This I Thank You"/"Fire" in 1962. He then moved to Golden World Reco ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
I Don't Want To Take A Chance
"I Don't Want to Take a Chance" is a single released by Mary Wells in 1961 on the Motown label. It was the second single release from Wells, who hit the charts with her Jackie Wilson-esque " Bye Bye Baby". While that song was able to reach the top fifty of the pop singles chart, the string-laden follow-up performed better reaching number thirty-three on the US pop chart and peaking at number-nine on the R&B singles chart. The song became one of the first nationally released Motown singles to reach the top forty on the pop chart after Barrett Strong's "Money (That's What I Want)" and The Miracles' "Shop Around". Personnel *Vocal by Mary Wells *Instrumentation by The Funk Brothers *Strings played by assorted musicians *Written by Berry Gordy and William "Mickey" Stevenson William "Mickey" Stevenson (born January 4, 1937) is an American former songwriter and record producer for the Motown group of labels from the early days of Berry Gordy's company until 1967. Life and caree ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Let Your Conscience Be Your Guide
"Let Your Conscience Be Your Guide" is the debuting single for singer Marvin Gaye, released as Tamla 54041, in May 1961. It was also the first release off Gaye's debut album, ''The Soulful Moods of Marvin Gaye'', in which most of the material was the singer's failed attempt at making an 'adult' record compared to Motown's younger R&B sound. at Overview Background In 1960, moved to |
Marvin Gaye
Marvin Pentz Gay Jr., who also spelled his surname as Gaye (April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984), was an American singer and songwriter. He helped to shape the sound of Motown in the 1960s, first as an in-house session player and later as a solo artist with a string of successes, earning him the nicknames "Prince of Motown" and "Prince of Soul". Gaye's Motown songs include "Ain't That Peculiar", "How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)", and "I Heard It Through the Grapevine". Gaye also recorded duets with Mary Wells, Kim Weston, Tammi Terrell, and Diana Ross. During the 1970s, Gaye recorded the albums '' What's Going On'' and ''Let's Get It On'' and became one of the first artists in Motown to break away from the reins of a production company. His later recordings influenced several contemporary R&B subgenres, such as quiet storm and neo soul. "Sexual Healing", released in 1982 on the album ''Midnight Love'', won him his first two Grammy Awards. Gaye's last televised appearances we ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Supremes
The Supremes were an American girl group and a premier act of Motown Records during the 1960s. Founded as the Primettes in Detroit, Michigan, in 1959, the Supremes were the most commercially successful of Motown's acts and the most successful American vocal group, vocal band, with List of Billboard Hot 100 chart achievements and milestones#Most number-one singles, 12 number-one singles on the Billboard Hot 100, ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Most of these hits were written and produced by Motown's main songwriting and production team, Holland–Dozier–Holland. It is said that their breakthrough made it possible for future African American Rhythm and blues, R&B and soul musicians to find mainstream success. ''Billboard'' ranked the Supremes as the 16th greatest Hot 100 artist of all time. Florence Ballard, Mary Wilson (singer), Mary Wilson, Diana Ross, and Betty McGlown, the original members, were all from the Brewster-Douglass Housing Projects, Brewster-Douglass public housing proje ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
I Want A Guy
I, or i, is the ninth letter and the third vowel letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''i'' (pronounced ), plural '' ies''. History In the Phoenician alphabet, the letter may have originated in a hieroglyph for an arm that represented a voiced pharyngeal fricative () in Egyptian, but was reassigned to (as in English "yes") by Semites, because their word for "arm" began with that sound. This letter could also be used to represent , the close front unrounded vowel, mainly in foreign words. The Greeks adopted a form of this Phoenician ''yodh'' as their letter ''iota'' () to represent , the same as in the Old Italic alphabet. In Latin (as in Modern Greek), it was also used to represent and this use persists in the languages that descended from Latin. The modern letter ' j' originated as a variation of 'i', and both were used interchangeably for ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Contours
The Contours is one of the early American soul singing groups signed to Motown Records. The group is best known for its classic chart-topping 1962 hit, "Do You Love Me", which sold over 1 million copies and became a major hit again in 1988. History Establishment and "Do You Love Me" Joe Billingslea (born November 14, 1937) and Billy Gordon founded a singing group called the Blenders in their native Detroit, Michigan in 1959. They completed the group with Billy Hoggs and Billy Rollins, who had responded to an ad placed in the local newspaper by Billingslea. The group soon added Leroy Fair (in place of Billy Rollins), and bass singer Hubert Johnson, and changed the name to "The Contours". In the fall of 1960, the group auditioned for Berry Gordy's Motown Records. Gordy turned the act down, prompting the group to pay a visit to the home of Johnson's cousin, R&B star and Gordy associate Jackie Wilson. Wilson in turn got the Contours a second audition with Gordy, at which they sang t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Whole Lotta Woman (The Contours Song)
"Whole Lotta Woman" is a 1961 single recorded by the Contours for the Motown Records label. Written by Smokey Robinson (of The Miracles), and Contours group members Billy Hoggs and Billy Gordon (the group's lead singers), and produced by Motown CEO Berry Gordy, Jr., it was the group's debut single for Motown. Two versions of this song was released, with very notable changes. The first version was raw, more soulful, and had minimal orchestration. The second version was more conventional, and made for a national release. There was also a personnel change in between the two versions: The first one was the only recording of the group (other than the B-side "Come On And Be Mine") that feature the vocals of original member Leroy Fair, who was replaced by Sylvester Potts by the time they recorded the second version. Both versions of the single received a lot of airplay on local Detroit stations, but it did not chart nationally. However, two singles later The Contours would finally score ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ray Singleton
Raynoma Mayberry Liles Gordy Singleton (March 8, 1937 – November 11, 2016) was an American R&B producer, songwriter, and vocalist perhaps best known for her association with ex-husband, Berry Gordy during the early days of Motown when she was often known as Miss Ray. Early life Raynoma Mayberry was born on March 8, 1937, in Detroit, Michigan. She was her mother Lucille's eighth child, but her first by her marriage to Ashby Mayberry. Although her father worked as a janitor for Cadillac, he did well enough to purchase a house on Detroit's Blaine Street in a predominantly Jewish neighborhood. In the mid 1950s, Raynoma met and married Charles Liles, an aspiring musician. They had one son, Cliff Liles, born in December 1955. Burdened by financial pressures, the marriage soon folded. Career Early association with Berry Gordy In 1958, Raynoma and her younger sister, Alice, auditioned as a duo for a young songwriter named Berry Gordy. Sensing that Gordy was not excited about their s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Debbie Dean (singer)
Reba Jeanette Smith (February 1, 1928 – February 17, 2001), known professionally as "Debbie Dean", "Penny Smith" and "Debbie Stevens", was an American singer, writer who was the first white solo artist to record for Motown. Biography Born Reba Jeanette Smith on February 1, 1928, in Corbin, Kentucky. She was the fourth child of Walter B. Smith, a railroad engineer by his wife, Alma, a housewife. Debbie Dean recorded as Penny Smith and Debbie Stevens at various labels before arriving at Motown in the early 1960s, and was Motown's first white female solo recording artist, signed by Berry Gordy. Unlike most of the early Motown recording artists, Dean preferred rock and roll to R&B and blues. She was popular in the Chicago area in the mid and late 1950s, recording as "Penny Smith" and "Debbie Stevens", as well as singing on radio. T.V., and at record hops in the Chicago area. Her husband, Jim Lounsbury, was a pioneer Rock and Roll radio, television, and record hop celebrity in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
