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The Marvelettes
The Marvelettes were an American girl group formed in Inkster, Michigan, Inkster, Michigan in 1960, consisting of schoolmates Gladys Horton, Katherine Anderson, Georgeanna Tillman, Juanita Cowart (now Cowart Motley), and Georgia Dobbins, who was replaced by Wanda Young prior to the group signing their first record deal. Achieving popularity in the early to mid-1960s, they were the first successful act of Motown, Motown Records after the Miracles and its first significantly successful female group after the release of the 1961 number-one single, "Please Mr. Postman", one of the first number-one singles recorded by an all-female vocal group and the first by a Motown recording act. The group struggled with problems of poor promotion from Motown, health issues and substance abuse, with Cowart the first to leave in 1963, followed by Tillman in 1965, and Horton in 1967. Nevertheless, they managed a comeback in 1966 with "Don't Mess with Bill". In 1969, the group ceased performing and d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gladys Horton
Gladys Catherine Horton (May 30, 1945 – January 26, 2011) was an American R&B and pop singer, notable for being the founder and lead singer of the all-female vocal group the Marvelettes, the first successful Motown girl group. Biography Early life Born in Gainesville, Florida to parents of West Indies heritage, she was raised in the western Detroit suburb of Inkster, Michigan by foster parents in an housing project built by Henry Ford. Horton never knew her biological parents throughout her life, and lived with several foster families after being put up for adoption at nine months old. By the time of her high school years at Inkster High School, Gladys had taken a strong interest in singing, joining the high school glee club. In 1960, Horton formed a group with her former highschool glee club members Georgeanna Tillman, Katherine Anderson and Juanita Cowart. She invited Georgia Dobbins to join the new group.The Marvelettes – ''Unsung (TV series), Unsung'' episode (TVOne). Car ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chubby Checker
Chubby Checker (born Ernest Evans; October 3, 1941) is an American singer and dancer. He is widely known for popularizing many dance styles, including the Twist, with his 1960 hit cover of Hank Ballard & The Midnighters' R&B song " The Twist", and the pony dance style with the 1961 cover of the song " Pony Time". His biggest UK hit, " Let's Twist Again", was released one year later (in 1962). That year, he also popularized the song " Limbo Rock", a previous-year instrumental hit by the Champs to which he added lyrics and its trademark Limbo dance. He also introduced other dance styles such as The Fly. In September 2008, "The Twist" topped ''Billboard''s list of the most popular singles to have appeared in the Hot 100 since its debut in 1960, an honor it maintained in an August 2013 update of the list. In 2014, Checker was inducted into the National Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame, and he was selected for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2025. Early life Check ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Twist (dance)
The twist is a dance that was inspired by rock and roll music. From 1959 to the early sixties it became a worldwide dance craze, enjoying immense popularity while drawing controversies from critics who felt it was too provocative. It inspired dances such as the Jerk, the Pony, the Watusi, the Mashed Potato, the Monkey, and the Funky Chicken, but none was as popular. Having seen teenagers in Tampa, Florida, doing the dance, Hank Ballard wrote " The Twist", which became the B-side of Hank Ballard and the Midnighters' 1959 single "Teardrops on Your Letter". Dick Clark, having noticed the dance becoming popular among teenagers, recommended to Cameo Records that the more wholesome Chubby Checker rerecord the song, which was released in 1959 and became a number one hit in 1960. The dance became passé among teenagers as it became acceptable among adults and the song was re-released, becoming a number one hit again in 1962. A world record was set in DeLand, Florida, on October ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Billboard Hot 100
The ''Billboard'' Hot 100, also known as simply the Hot 100, is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), online streaming, and radio airplay in the U.S. A new chart is compiled and released online to the public by ''Billboard''s website on Tuesdays but post-dated to the following Saturday, when the printed magazine first reaches newsstands. The weekly tracking period for sales is currently Friday–Thursday, after being changed in July 2015. It was initially Monday–Sunday when Nielsen started tracking sales in 1991. This tracking period also applies to compiling online streaming data. Radio airplay is readily available on a real-time basis, unlike sales figures and streaming, but is also tracked on the same Friday–Thursday cycle, effective with the chart dated July 17, 2021. Previously, radio was tracked Monday–Sunday and, before Ju ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Freddie Gorman
Freddie Gorman (born Frederick Cortez Gorman, April 11, 1939 – June 13, 2006) was an American musician and record producer, most famous as a singer, songwriter for the Motown Records, Motown label in the late 1960s and mid 1970s. He was a native of Detroit, Michigan. A member of the Motown quartet The Originals (band), The Originals, Freddie Gorman was also a vital unsung component of the Motown label's formative development. He co-wrote the label's first #1 pop hit "Please Mr. Postman", by the Marvelettes. In 1964 the biggest selling group of all time, the Beatles released their version, and in 1975 the Carpenters took it back to #1 again. In 2006, "Please Mr. Postman" was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Biography Before Motown Born in Detroit on April 11, 1939, Gorman developed his bass harmonizing on local street corners, and was still in high school when he made his recorded debut on the Qualitones' 1955 Josie Records single "Tears of Love". Two years later ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Berry Gordy
Berry Gordy III (born November 28, 1929), also known as Berry Gordy Jr., is an American retired record executive, record producer, songwriter, film producer and television producer. He is best known as the founder of the Motown record label and its subsidiaries, which was the highest-earning African-American business for decades. As a songwriter, Gordy composed or co-composed a number of hits including " Lonely Teardrops" and "That's Why" ( Jackie Wilson), " Shop Around" (the Miracles), and "Do You Love Me" (the Contours), all of which topped the US R&B charts, as well as the international hit " Reet Petite" (Jackie Wilson). As part of the Corporation, he wrote many hit songs for the Jackson 5, including " I Want You Back" and " ABC". As a record producer, he launched the Miracles and signed acts like the Supremes, Marvin Gaye, the Temptations, the Four Tops, Gladys Knight & the Pips, and Stevie Wonder. He was known for carefully directing the public image, dress, manners, and ... [...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] |
Robert Bateman (songwriter)
Robert Bateman (April 30, 1936 – October 12, 2016) was an American R&B singer, songwriter and record producer. Among other songs, he co-wrote the hits " Please Mr. Postman" and " If You Need Me". Biography Born in Chicago, Illinois, he was one of the founding members of vocal group the Satintones in Detroit, Michigan, in 1957. Bateman was the bass singer. "Correc-Tone: Introduction", ''Soulful Detroit.com'' Retrieved 16 October 2016 In 1959, the group made their first recordings for , and Bateman did additional work for the company as a backing singer and engineer. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brian Holland
Brian Holland (born February 15, 1941) is an American songwriter and record producer, best known as a member of Holland–Dozier–Holland, the songwriting and production team that was responsible for much of the Motown sound, and numerous hit records by artists such as Martha and the Vandellas, The Supremes, The Four Tops, and The Isley Brothers. Holland, along with Lamont Dozier, served as the team's musical arranger and producer. He has written or co-written 145 hits in US and 78 in the UK. Early life Holland was born in Detroit, Michigan. He is brother to Eddie Holland. For a short time, he partnered with Robert Bateman, and together they were known as "Brianbert", collaborating on such hits as " Please Mr. Postman" for The Marvelettes. Holland has also had an on-and-off career as a performer. He released a solo single in 1958 under the name of "Briant Holland". He and longtime friend and future songwriting partner Freddie Gorman were in a short-lived group called the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Guinness Publishing
''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, listing world records both of human achievements and the extremes of the natural world. Hugh Beaver, Sir Hugh Beaver created the concept, and twin brothers Norris McWhirter, Norris and Ross McWhirter co-founded the book in London in August 1955. The first edition topped the bestseller list in the United Kingdom by Christmas 1955. The following year the book was launched internationally, and as of the 2025 edition, it is now in its 70th year of publication, published in 100 countries and 40 languages, and maintains over 53,000 records in its database. The international Franchising, franchise has extended beyond print to include television series and museums. The popularity of the franchise has resulted in ''Guinness World Records'' becoming the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Colin Larkin (writer)
Colin Larkin (born 1949) is a British music writer. He founded and was the editor-in-chief of '' The Encyclopedia of Popular Music''. Along with the ten-volume encyclopedia, Larkin also wrote the book '' All Time Top 1000 Albums'', and edited the ''Guinness Who's Who of Jazz'', the ''Guinness Who's Who of Blues'', and the ''Virgin Encyclopedia of Heavy Rock''. He has over 650,000 copies in print. Early life Larkin was born in Dagenham, Essex. He spent much of his early childhood attending the travelling fair where his father, who worked by day as a plumber for the council, moonlighted on the waltzers to make ends meet. It was in the fairground, against a background of Little Richard on the wind-up 78 rpm turntables, that Larkin acquired his passion for the world of popular music. Larkin studied at the South East Essex County Technical High School and at the London College of Printing, where he took typography and graphic design. Art and publishing Larkin's company Scorpi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
