"It's a Shame" is a song co-written by

Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris ( Judkins; May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, who is credited as a pioneer and influence by musicians across a range of genres that include rhythm and blues, pop, s ...

Syreeta Wright Syreeta Wright (February 28, 1946 – July 6, 2004), who recorded professionally under the single name Syreeta, was an American singer-songwriter, best known for her music during the early 1970s through the early 1980s. Wright's career heights we ...

and

Lee Garrett Lee Garrett (born June 30, 1943, in Mississippi) is an American rhythm and blues singer-songwriter, most famous for co-writing the classic song "Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours". He recorded a handful of solo singles during the 1960s, one of ...

and produced by Wonder as a single for the Spinners on Motown's

V.I.P. Records 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 ''mot ...

label. The single became the Detroit-reared group's biggest single on the Motown Records company since they had signed with the company in 1964 and also their biggest hit in a decade. The lineup of the Spinners include original members

Pervis Jackson Pervis Jackson (May 17, 1938 – August 18, 2008) was an American R&B singer, noted as the bass singer for The Spinners, and was one of the group's original members as well as their spokesman. His deep timbered voice and calm swagger garnered hi ...

Henry Fambrough Henry Lee Fambrough (born May 10, 1938) is an original vocalist and current member of the R&B quintet The Spinners (aka The Detroit Spinners and also The Motown Spinners). He is the last surviving original member of the Spinners. The group ...

, Billy Henderson and Bobby Smith and lead vocalist

G.C. Cameron George Curtis Cameron is an Americans, American soul music, soul and R&B singer who is currently married to singer Linda Dixon Cameron a.k.a. “Lady L.”. Perhaps best known as the lead singer of The Spinners (American R&B group), The Spinner ...

. The quintet recorded the single in 1970. The song, which is about a man who complains about a lover's "messin' around" on him, became a huge hit for the group reaching number-fourteen on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and number-three on the

R&B singles chart The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by ''Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 p ...

, making it one of their biggest hits to date. The song was the first song Wonder produced for another act by himself. Two years later, the group would leave Motown for a contract with

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most im ...

on the advice of fellow Detroit native

Aretha Franklin Aretha Louise Franklin ( ; March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Referred to as the " Queen of Soul", she has twice been placed ninth in '' Rolling Stone''s "100 Greatest Artists of All Time". Wit ...

, also an artist on that label. Cameron, who was having an affair with Gwen Gordy Fuqua (sister of Motown founder Berry Gordy) decided to stay in Motown and the group hired Cameron's cousin

Philippé Wynne Philippé Wynne (''aka'' Philippe Escalante Wynn; ''né'' Walker; April 3, 1941 – July 14, 1984) was an American singer, best known for his role as a lead vocalist of The Spinners (a role he shared with fellow group members Bobby Smith and H ...

to replace him. Later, Cameron moved with the Gordys to Los Angeles, and stayed with Motown for over a decade. In 2003

Paul Jackson Jr. Paul Milton Jackson Jr. (born December 30, 1959) is an American fusion/urban jazz composer, arranger, producer and guitarist. He was born and raised in Los Angeles. Jackson knew by the age of fifteen that he wanted to become a professional musi ...

performed a cover on the electric guitar from his album '' Still Small Voice''. Beverly Dewitt Yancey, the father of hip-hop producer

J Dilla J, or j, is the tenth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its usual name in English is ''jay'' (pronounced ), with a now-uncommon vari ...

, claims to have ghostwritten the song and sold it to Motown, but the song’s attributed writers dispute this.

Television performance

The Spinners performed "It's a Shame" and other hits on '' The Midnight Special'' television program on July 23, 1976 (season 4, episode 37). The group hosted the show that week.

Chart performance

Weekly chart

Year-end charts

Credits

*Lead vocals by

*Background vocals by Bobby Smith,

and Billy Henderson *Instrumentation by

and

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 ...

*Arranged by Paul Riser

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:It's A Shame (The Spinners Song) 1970 songs 1970 singles The Spinners (American R&B group) songs Motown singles Songs written by Stevie Wonder Songs written by Syreeta Wright Songs written by Lee Garrett