"Bad Girl" is a 1959 doo-wop single by

The Miracles The Miracles (also known as Smokey Robinson and the Miracles from 1965 to 1972) were an American vocal group that was the first successful recording act for Berry Gordy's Motown Records, and one of the most important and most influential group ...

. Issued locally on the Motown Records label, it was licensed to and issued nationally by Chess Records because the fledgling Motown Record Corporation did not, at that time, have national distribution. It was the first single released (and the only one released by this group) on the Motown label – all previous singles from the company (and all following ones from the group) were released on Motown's

Tamla Motown Records is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. It was founded by Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on June 7, 1958, and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau of ''moto ...

label. Although The Miracles had charted regionally and on the R&B charts with several earlier songs, including "Got a Job", "I Cry", "I Need a Change", and "

(You Can) Depend on Me "(You Can) Depend on Me" (TAMLA 54028), was a 1959 song by Motown Records group The Miracles, which also appeared on the group's first album, '' Hi... We're The Miracles'' (released in 1961). It also appeared as the " B" side of the group's hit ...

", "Bad Girl" was their first ''national'' chart hit, reaching #93 on the '' Billboard'' Hot 100. Written by Miracles lead singer Smokey Robinson and Motown Records' President and Founder

Berry Gordy Berry Gordy III (born November 28, 1929), known professionally as Berry Gordy Jr., is a retired American record executive, record producer, songwriter, film producer and television producer. He is best known as the founder of the Motown record l ...

, "Bad Girl" is a sad, remorseful ballad about a young woman, whom Robinson, as the narrator, says "was so good at the start", but who later in the song "is breaking my heart". It is in the popular doo-wop style, as several of The Miracles' songs were during the late 1950s. The record's success, coupled with the distributor's failure to pay Gordy and The Miracles properly for its sales, prompted Robinson to urge Gordy to "go national" with it, meaning that Motown should do its own national distribution of its songs, and eliminate the middleman, to ensure that all money from sales of its records would go directly to the label. On the Motown/Universal DVD '' Smokey Robinson and The Miracles: The Definitive Performances 1963-1987'', Robinson and fellow Miracles

Bobby Rogers Robert Edward Rogers (February 19, 1940 – March 3, 2013) was an American musician and tenor singer, best known as a member of Motown vocal group the Miracles from 1956 until his death. He was inducted, in 2012, as a member of the Miracles to t ...

and Pete Moore commented that the song's success allowed the group to tour nationally for the first time, and to play New York's legendary

Apollo Theatre The Apollo Theatre is a Grade II listed West End theatre, on Shaftesbury Avenue in the City of Westminster, in central London.

during the

Ray Charles Ray Charles Robinson Sr. (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential singers in history, and was often referred to by contemporaries as "The Ge ...

Show. The group was not ready for the appearance: it lacked performance experience and failed to produce professional big band arrangements to the satisfaction of theatre manager Honi Coles. Ray Charles intervened, took the group under his wing, and, with his band, created arrangements for their songs. Charles was one of the first to help them on their climb to eventual success. "Bad Girl" has since become a doo-wop classic and was named one of the 100 Greatest Doo-Wop Songs of All Time by ''Doo Wop Nation''. It appears on several Miracles' compilations, including '' Greatest Hits from the Beginning''. The song was also performed by the group on their final live album, '' 1957–1972''. It has been covered by the

Dazz Band The Dazz Band is an American R&B/funk band most popular in the early 1980s. Emerging from Cleveland, Ohio, the group's biggest hit songs include " Let It Whip" (1982), "Joystick" (1983), and "Let It All Blow" (1984). The name of the band is a ...

Jackie Jackson Sigmund Esco "Jackie" Jackson (born May 4, 1951) is an American singer best known as a founding member of the Jackson 5, for which he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997. Jackson is the second child of the Jackson family, a ...

and by fellow Motown artist

Mary Wells Mary Esther Wells (May 13, 1943 – July 26, 1992) was an American singer, who helped to define the emerging sound of Motown in the early 1960s. Along with The Supremes, The Miracles, The Temptations, Martha Reeves and the Vandellas, and the F ...

, whose version was called "Bad Boy" and appeared on her debut album, '' Bye Bye Baby I Don't Want to Take a Chance''.

Personnel

*Lead vocals by Smokey Robinson *Backing vocals by Claudette Rogers Robinson,

Ronnie White Ronald Anthony White (April 5, 1939 – August 26, 1995), usually referred to as Ronnie White, was an American singer, best known as the co-founder of The Miracles and its only consistent original member. White was also known for bringing Stevi ...

, Pete Moore *Guitar by

Marv Tarplin Marvin Tarplin (June 13, 1941 – September 30, 2011) was an American musician, best known as the guitarist for the Miracles from the 1950s through the early 1970s. He was one of the group's original members and co-wrote several of their bigges ...

*Other instrumentation by

The Funk Brothers The Funk Brothers were a group of Detroit-based session musicians who performed the backing to most Motown recordings from 1959 until the company moved to Los Angeles in 1972. Its members are considered among the most successful groups of stud ...

**Flute by Thomas "Beans" BowlesThe Complete Motown Singles Vol. 1: 1959-1961 iner notes New York: Hip-O Select/Motown/Universal Records

References

Other sources

* ''Smokey Robinson & The Miracles:

The Definitive Performances 1963-1987 ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

'' * ''Smokey: Inside My Life'' (autobiography), McGraw-Hill, (1989) by Smokey Robinson and David Ritz, pp. 84–86. * ''Doo Wop Nation's Top 100 Doo-Wop Songs of All Time''

External links

''Bad Girl by The Miracles (1959)''

''Bad Girl ''- by The Miracles (1959) Review from the ''Motown Junkies'' website
{{authority control 1959 singles The Miracles songs Songs written by Smokey Robinson Doo-wop songs Motown singles Songs written by Berry Gordy 1959 songs Chess Records singles Song recordings produced by Berry Gordy