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The Contours
The Contours are an American rhythm and blues vocal group. They recorded for Motown Records. They are known for their 1962 hit single "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 (musician), 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 the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hubert Johnson (musician)
Hubert Johnson (January 14, 1941 – July 11, 1981) was an American singer and performer. Johnson is best known for being one of the original members of the Motown Rhythm and Blues, R&B vocal group The Contours. Johnson was also the cousin of the late Jackie Wilson. Career In 1959, local Detroit musician Joe Billingslea formed a band called "The Blenders" with fellow musicians Billy Gordon and Billy Hoggs. The next year, at the recommendation of Johnson's cousin Jackie Wilson, Johnson joined the trio making it a quartet and, at the recommendation of Billingslea, the group changed their name to "The Contours". Shortly after the renaming, Berry Gordy signed the group on to his new recording company Motown. The group's first hit came with the release of the single (music), single "Do You Love Me" in 1962. The group also achieved success with the songs "Shake Sherry" and "That Day When She Needed Me" in 1963 and 1964. In 1964, within a matter of two weeks, Johnson along with Bi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Billboard (magazine)
''Billboard'' (stylized in letter case, lowercase since 2013) is an American music and entertainment magazine published weekly by Penske Media Corporation. The magazine provides music charts, news, video, opinion, reviews, events and styles related to the music industry. Its Billboard charts, music charts include the Billboard Hot 100, Hot 100, the Billboard 200, 200, and the Billboard Global 200, Global 200, tracking the most popular albums and songs in various music genres. It also hosts events, owns a publishing firm and operates several television shows. ''Billboard'' was founded in 1894 by William Donaldson and James Hennegan as a trade publication for bill posters. Donaldson acquired Hennegan's interest in 1900 for $500. In the early years of the 20th century, it covered the entertainment industry, such as circuses, fairs and burlesque shows, and also created a mail service for travelling entertainers. ''Billboard'' began focusing more on the music industry as the jukebox ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Just A Little Misunderstanding
"Just a Little Misunderstanding" (G7052) is a 1966 song by Motown Records R&B group The Contours on the company's Gordy subsidiary label. It was composed by Stevie Wonder, along with Motown staff songwriters Clarence Paul and Morris Broadnax. The song did not appear on any original Contours studio album. Paul and Motown A&R Director William "Mickey" Stevenson were the song's producers, and Wonder plays drums on the recording. Description This song was not a big chart success, only reaching # 85 on the Billboard magazine, Billboard Hot 100. It did much better on the Billboard R&B chart, however, reaching the Top 20, peaking at #18. It was also a Top 40 hit in the UK in 1970, reaching # 31 on the UK Chart. The first hit by the group that did not feature original lead singer Billy Gordon, "Just a Little Misunderstanding" featured lead vocals by his replacement, Joe Stubbs, Joseph Stubbs, (brother of Four Tops, The Four Tops' lead singer, Levi Stubbs), who previously sang for the Detr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bobby Rogers
Robert Edward Rogers (February 19, 1940 – March 3, 2013) was an American musician and tenor singer, best known as a founding member of Motown vocal group the Miracles from 1956 until his death. He was inducted, in 2012, as a member of the Miracles to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In addition to singing, he also contributed to writing some of the Miracles' songs. Rogers is the grandfather of R&B singer Brandi Williams from the R&B girl group Blaque and is a cousin of fellow Miracles member Claudette Rogers Robinson. Early life Rogers was the son of Robert and Lois Rogers. He was born in Detroit on February 19, 1940, the same day and in the same Detroit hospital as fellow Miracles member Smokey Robinson, although the two would not meet until 15 years later. Career The 1960 single " Shop Around", with Smokey Robinson on lead, was Motown's first number one hit on the R&B singles chart, and the first big hit for the Miracles. The song was also Motown's first million selling ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Smokey Robinson
William "Smokey" Robinson Jr. (born February 19, 1940) is an American R&B and soul singer, songwriter, record producer, and former record executive. He was the founder and frontman of the pioneering Motown vocal group the Miracles, for which he was also chief songwriter and producer. He led the group from its 1955 origins, when they were called The Five Chimes, until 1972, when he retired from the group to focus on his role as Motown Records vice president. Robinson returned to the music industry as a solo artist the following year. He left Motown in 1999. Robinson was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987 and awarded the 2016 Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for his lifetime contributions to popular music. He is a double Hollywood Walk of Fame Inductee, as a solo artist (1983) and as a member of The Miracles (2009). In 2022, he was inducted into the Black Music & Entertainment Walk of Fame. Early life and early career William Robinson Jr. was born to an Afric ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Miracles
The Miracles (later known as Smokey Robinson and the Miracles from 1965 to 1972) were an American vocal group formed in Detroit, Michigan in 1955. They were the first successful recording act for Motown Records and are considered one of the most important and most influential groups in the history of Pop music, pop, Soul music, soul, rhythm and blues and rock and roll music. The group's international fame in the 1960s, alongside other Motown acts, led to a greater acceptance of R&B and pop music in the U.S., with the group being considered influential and important in the development of modern popular music. The group was formed as The Five Chimes and changed their name to the Miracles in 1958, by which time their lineup consisted of Smokey Robinson, Claudette Rogers Robinson, Claudette Rogers (later Robinson), Bobby Rogers, Warren "Pete" Moore, Marv Tarplin, and Ronnie White. Referred to as Motown's "soul supergroup", the Miracles recorded more than 50 chart hits, including 26 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
First I Look At The Purse
"First I Look At the Purse" (G7044) is a 1965 song recorded by R&B group the Contours on Motown Records' Gordy label. It was written by Miracles members Smokey Robinson and Bobby Rogers, the authors of the Temptations' first hit single, " The Way You Do the Things You Do". Background "First I Look at the Purse" was the last Contours hit featuring original lead Billy Gordon. It also features the renewed line-up of Contours, as several original members had left back in 1964. Shortly after its release, Gordon departed the group, and Motown, due to personal problems. He was replaced with Joe Stubbs, brother of lead singer of fellow Motown group the Four Tops, Levi Stubbs. In the early 2000s, the Contours performed the song on the PBS special ''Motown: The Early Years''. They still sing it in their live shows today. It has also appeared in several Contours' Motown "Greatest Hits" CD compilations. Chart performance "First I Look at the Purse" reached #57 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
100 Proof (Aged In Soul)
100 Proof (Aged in Soul) was an American funk/soul group, who formed in Detroit, Michigan, in 1969. They were put together by former Motown songwriting team Holland-Dozier-Holland, signing the group to their new Hot Wax Records label. The group went on to release several hit singles between 1969 and 1972. The biggest of these was " Somebody's Been Sleeping", which reached #8 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, sold more than one million copies, and was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America. The group also recorded the track "She's Not Just Another Woman", which began to be played by radio stations due to the popularity, at that time, of " Somebody's Been Sleeping". Although "She's Not Just Another Woman" was originally intended to be an album track, the record label realised that they had another potential hit on their hands. However, on the belief that having another 100 Proof (Aged in Soul) track in the charts at the same time as Somebody's Been Sleeping, i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Levi Stubbs
Levi Stubbs (born Levi Stubbles, June 6, 1936 – October 17, 2008) was an American baritone singer, widely known as the lead vocalist of the R&B group the Four Tops, that released a variety of Motown hit records during the 1960s and 1970s. He was noted for his powerful, emotional, and dramatic singing style. In 1990, Stubbs was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Four Tops. Stubbs was also a voice artist in film and television, and provided the voice of "Audrey II", the alien plant in the 1986 musical horror comedy film '' Little Shop of Horrors'' (an adaption of the stage musical of the same name), as well as Mother Brain in the 1989 TV series '' Captain N: The Game Master''. Stubbs was admired by his peers for his impressive vocal range, and influenced many later pop and soul artists, such as Daryl Hall of Hall and Oates. Stubbs was born and spent much of his life in Detroit, Michigan. He had five children with his wife Clineice Stubbs, to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Four Tops
The Four Tops are an American vocal group formed in Detroit, Michigan in 1953 as the Four Aims. They were one of the most commercially successful American pop music groups of the 1960s and helped propel Motown Records to international fame. The group's repertoire has incorporated elements of Soul music, soul, R&B, disco, adult contemporary music, adult contemporary, doo-wop, jazz, and show tunes. Lead singer Levi Stubbs, along with backing vocalists Abdul "Duke" Fakir, Renaldo "Obie" Benson and Lawrence Payton remained together in the group for over four decades, performing until 1997 without a change in personnel. Along with fellow Motown groups the Miracles, the Marvelettes, Martha and the Vandellas, the Temptations, and the Supremes, the Four Tops helped to establish the "Motown sound"; pop-friendly soul and R&B with a clean, polished production quality. They were notable for having Stubbs, a baritone, as their lead singer, whereas most other male and mixed vocal groups of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
That Day When She Needed Me
"That Day When She Needed Me" (also known as "I was a Thousand Miles Away That Day When She Needed Me"), is a 1964 R&B song by the Motown Records group The Contours, on the label's Gordy Records subsidiary imprint. Issued as the "B" side of their hit " Can You Jerk Like Me", this song broke out as a hit on its own, reaching No. 37 on the ''Cash Box'' R&B listings that year.(Billboard had temporarily suspended its R&B Chart in 1964.) Written, composed, and produced by Miracles lead singer Smokey Robinson, this song was different from every other tune the Contours had recorded up to that point. A unique counterpoint to the group's trademark rough, raucous delivery, "That Day" was a soft, quiet, and heart-felt ballad with a unique call and response delivery,(structured like a ''"question and answer session"''). Though the song wasn't on the "A" side, it still became a hit, making it The Contours' only charting flip-side hit. In the song, Billy Gordon, the lead singer, acts as the na ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Can You Jerk Like Me
"Can You Jerk Like Me" (Gordy G7037) is a 1964 R&B song by Motown Records group The Contours, issued on its Gordy Records subsidiary. It charted on the Billboard Hot 100, reaching #47, and a Top 20 hit on its R&B chart, reaching #15. A single-only release, it did not appear on any original Contours studio album, as the group only had one album release during their five years on the label, 1962's " Do You Love Me (Now That I Can Dance)". (Note: It has been recently revealed that this song was recorded for a planned, but unreleased, Contours album for Motown in 1964 entitled ''The Contours: Can You Dance'' (Gordy 910). This album was released, in modified form, by the import label, Kent Records, in 2011 under the name ''Dance With The Contours'' under license from Motown Records). The song's flip side, the Smokey Robinson-written-and-produced "That Day When She Needed Me", which featured the original Contours before their departure, was also a hit, reaching #37 on the Cash Box R&B ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
