Smokey Robinson and 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 groups in pop, rock and roll, soul and R&B music history.

Referred to as Motown's "soul supergroup", the Miracles recorded 26 Top 40 Pop hits, sixteen of which reached the ''Billboard'' Top 20, seven top 10 singles, and a number one single ("The Tears of a Clown") while the Robinsons and Tarplin were members. Following the departure of Tarplin and the Robinsons, the rest of the group continued with singer Billy Griffin and managed by Martin Pichinson who helped rebuild the Miracles, they scored two final top 20 singles, "Do It Baby" and " Love Machine", a second No. 1 hit, which topped the charts before the group departed for Columbia Records in 1977, recording as a quintet with Billy's brother Donald Griffin replacing Marv Tarplin, where after a few releases, they disbanded in 1978. In all, the group had over fifty charted hits by the time they disbanded.

On the R&B charts, the Miracles scored 26 Top 10 ''Billboard'' R&B hits, with 4 R&B No. 1's, and 11 U.S. R&B Top 10 Albums, including 2-No.1's. Bobby Rogers and Ronald White revived the group as a touring ensemble sporadically during the 1980s and again in the 1990s. Following White's death in 1995, Rogers continued to tour with different members until he was forced into retirement due to health issues in 2011, dying less than two years later. Smokey Robinson was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a solo artist in 1987, and controversy ensued over the Miracles' omission from the Hall. The Miracles were belatedly inducted into the Hall of Fame by Robinson in 2012.

History

Initial career and success

The group that later became the Miracles was formed in 1955 by five teenage friends from Detroit, Michigan, under the name the Five Chimes. Three of the founding members, Smokey Robinson, Warren "Pete" Moore, and Ronnie White, had been singing together since they each were around the age of eleven. The group, influenced by acts such as Billy Ward and His Dominoes and Nolan Strong & the Diablos, featured Clarence Dawson and James Grice in the original lineup. All of the group's original members attended Northern High School in Detroit. After Dawson quit the group and Grice dropped out to get married, they were replaced by Emerson "Sonny" Rogers and his cousin Bobby and changed their name to the Matadors. Coincidentally, both Smokey Robinson and Bobby Rogers were born in the same hospital on the same date (February 19, 1940), despite not actually meeting each other until they were fifteen. In 1957, Sonny Rogers left to join the United States Army and Claudette Rogers, his sister, who had been singing with the sister group the Matadorettes, joined them shortly afterwards, and in 1958, the group became the Miracles. Following two years of courtship, Smokey and Claudette married in November 1959.

The group's extensive work with Berry Gordy and Tamla Records gave the parent label Motown Record Corporation its first million-selling hit record with the 1960 ''Grammy Hall of Fame'' smash, "Shop Around", and further established themselves as one of Motown's top acts with the hit singles "You've Really Got a Hold on Me", " What's So Good About Goodbye", "Way Over There", " I'll Try Something New", " Mickey's Monkey", " Going to a Go-Go", " (Come 'Round Here) I'm the One You Need", " Just A Mirage", " If You Can Want", " More Love", " I Don't Blame You at All", "Ooo Baby Baby", the multi-award-winning "The Tracks of My Tears","My Girl Has Gone' " Special Occasion", "I Second That Emotion", " Baby Baby Don't Cry", the number-one Pop smashes "The Tears of a Clown" and " Love Machine", "Do It Baby", and " That's What Love Is Made Of", among numerous other hits.

The group auditioned for Brunswick Records in front of Alonzo Tucker (an original member of the Midnighters who had since left the group to join Jackie Wilson's management team), Nat Tarnopol ( Jackie Wilson's manager) and one of the label's staff songwriters, Berry Gordy, who remained quiet during the audition. Tucker was unimpressed by the audition, stating that because there was the Platters that "there couldn't be two groups in America like that with a woman in the group." After the Tarnopol and Tucker rejection, Gordy followed them and soon agreed to work with the group after discovering Robinson's notebook full of songs he had written and having been impressed with Robinson's singing voice.

Gordy recorded their first single, "Got a Job", an answer song to the Silhouettes' " Get a Job" in January 1958. Gordy shortly thereafter struck a deal with George Goldner's End Records to distribute the single. Before the song was released, the group changed their name to the Miracles, taking it from the moniker "Miracletones", with the "'Tones" taken out. After earning only $3.19 for his production success, Gordy was told by Robinson to form his own label, which Gordy did, forming Tamla Records in 1959. One of the Miracles' first Tamla singles, the ballad " Bad Girl", became the Miracles' first song to chart on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 Pop chart that October when it was licensed to and issued nationally by Chess Records. The next Miracles song, "It", was credited to "Ron & Bill", in a duet between White and Robinson, and was released on Tamla and nationally picked by Chess subsidiary Argo Records. Following a dismal reception at the Apollo Theater in 1959, Robinson recruited guitarist Marv Tarplin to join them on a few touring dates after Tarplin played with the Primettes (later the Supremes), with Tarplin officially joining the Miracles shortly afterwards. The addition of Tarplin was the final element in making the Miracles' "classic lineup" complete.

In 1960, the Miracles reached the charts with "Way Over There", their second national hit, which Robinson wrote and based on the Isley Brothers' " Shout". Later that year, the Miracles released "Shop Around", backed with "Who's Lovin' You", which became the group's first smash hit, reaching number one on the R&B charts, number two on the ''Billboard Hot 100'', and number one on the '' Cash Box Magazine "Top 100"'' Pop Chart, and was the first Motown single to sell a million copies. Both sides of this record became classics, and standards for R&B and rock musicians alike for several decades afterwards.

As a result of this success, the Miracles became the first Motown act to appear on Dick Clark's " American Bandstand" on December 27, 1960. The Miracles had modest success with their next few singles, including "Ain't It Baby", "Mighty Good Lovin'", "Brokenhearted" and " Everybody's Gotta Pay Some Dues", as 1961 continued. During this early period, the group suffered some problems as Robinson caught Asian Flu and had to be bedded for a month, leaving wife Claudette Robinson to lead the Miracles on tour until he recovered. Claudette herself had her share of problems, having suffered her first miscarriage that occurred after a car accident and Pete Moore was drafted to serve in the United States Army. The group's next charted successes included " What's So Good About Goodbye", and the string-laden " I'll Try Something New".

The Miracles have been awarded many top music industry honors over the years. In 1997, the group received the Pioneer Award at the Rhythm and Blues Foundation for their musical achievements. Four years later, in 2001, they were inducted to the Vocal Group Hall of Fame. In 2004, they were ranked No. 32 on the ''Rolling Stone'' magazine's list of The 100 Greatest Artists of All Time, retaining that same position seven years later, in 2011. Four of their hit songs were inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame (The most of any Motown group). In 2009, the group received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Throughout their careers, the Miracles were also enshrined with honors for their songwriting by both BMI and ASCAP. In 2008, '' Billboard'' listed them at No. 61 on their 100 most successful Billboard artists ever list.

"The Showstoppers"

The group reached the top ten again with "You've Really Got a Hold on Me" (another Grammy Hall of Fame-inducted hit) in 1962, featuring lead vocals by Smokey Robinson and Bobby Rogers. (This song actually began life as the "B" side to the group's ''intended'' "A" side, " Happy Landing", but the nation's Dee Jays flipped the song over, because they liked "Hold on Me" better). The Miracles hit the top ten still a third time the following year with the Holland-Dozier-Holland-written-and-produced song " Mickey's Monkey". The group's exciting live performances were so well received, they were often referred to as "The Showstoppers". The Miracles' success paved the way for all future Motown stars, and, as Motown's first group, they would serve as the prototype for all other Motown groups to follow. The Miracles had become a national sensation, and their success catapulted them to the position of Motown's top-selling act, making them headliners at the nationwide Motortown Revue package touring shows, which showcased Motown artists, and that started around late 1962.

The Miracles were also the first Motown act to receive coaching and instruction from famed choreographer Cholly Atkins, who had previously worked with Little Anthony & the Imperials, the Cadillacs, and future Motown act Gladys Knight & the Pips. (Bobby Rogers, the Miracles' best dancer, did choreography for the group prior to Atkins' arrival). Through his association with the Miracles, Atkins came into Motown at their insistence, and soon became the official in-house choreographer for ''all'' of the company's acts, including the Temptations, the Marvelettes, the Four Tops, the Contours, Martha & the Vandellas, and the Supremes.

Songwriting

In addition to penning their own material, Miracles Robinson, White, Rogers, Tarplin, and Moore wrote for many of their labelmates as well. Motown hits written, but not recorded, by members of the Miracles include songs for the Temptations ("The Way You Do The Things You Do", " My Girl", " Don't Look Back", " Since I Lost My Baby", "It's Growing", " Get Ready", " My Baby"), Mary Wells ("My Guy", "The One Who Really Loves You", "What Love Has Joined Together", " Two Lovers"), Marvin Gaye ("I'll Be Doggone", "Ain't That Peculiar", "One More Heartache"), the Marvelettes (" Don't Mess With Bill", "My Baby Must Be a Magician", "The Hunter Gets Captured by the Game"), The Contours ("First I Look at the Purse), and Brenda Holloway (" When I'm Gone"). Unlike other Motown artists, whose songs were written for them by staff songwriters, the Miracles were one of the few Motown acts that composed their own songs, adding to the group's already impressive reputation.

Around 1964, Smokey Robinson became Motown's vice president, while the other members of the Miracles also began to work staff jobs with the company. Smokey and Claudette Robinson made plans to begin a family, but the rough life of touring caused Claudette to have several miscarriages. In early 1964, Claudette decided to retire from the road and remain at home in Detroit after another miscarriage, her sixth. From this point on, Claudette did not tour with the Miracles or appear in any official group photographs or on television, although she remained as a non-touring member of the Miracles, and continued to sing backup with the group in the studio until 1972.

After Claudette Robinson's departure, the remaining Miracles appeared on '' The T.A.M.I. Show'', a landmark 1964 concert film released by American International Pictures that included performances by numerous popular rock and roll and R&B musicians from the United States and England, filmed and recorded live at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium on October 28 and 29, 1964. This film had theatrical release in theatres across the United States, and also included performances by fellow Motown artists the Supremes and Marvin Gaye, along with Chuck Berry, Lesley Gore, the Beach Boys, the Rolling Stones, and James Brown and the Famous Flames. The Miracles' performance was one of the show's highlights, called "athletically electrifying" by critics. Miracles chart hit singles that year included " That's What Love Is Made Of" and " I Like It Like That". In early 1965, the group released Motown Records' first double album, '' The Miracles Greatest Hits from the Beginning'', which was a success on ''Billboard's'' Pop and R&B Album Charts. Also in 1965, the Miracles released their landmark Top 10 album, '' Going to a Go-Go'', under the new group name of ''Smokey Robinson and the Miracles''. This album launched four top 20 singles into the Billboard Hot 100, including the landmark million-selling ''Grammy Hall of Fame'' single, "The Tracks of My Tears", "Ooo Baby Baby", " Going to a Go-Go" and "My Girl Has Gone", all of which became top ten R&B hit singles as well. During this period, their music had also made its way abroad, influencing several British groups along the way. The effects of this influence soon became even more pronounced when the Beatles, the Hollies, the Zombies, the Who, and the Rolling Stones all began recording covers of Miracles hits. Members of the Beatles, in particular, publicly stated that the music of the Miracles had greatly influenced their own.

Around this time, the group had begun performing in nightclubs and other high-profile venues after years on the Chitlin' Circuit. According to an ''Ebony'' article on the group, the group began grossing $150,000 a year due to royalties and personal investments. They also were making between $100,000 and $250,000 for nightly shows. In addition, the Miracles appeared on many of the popular variety television programs of the period, including ''The Ed Sullivan Show'', ''Shindig!

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