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"I want to write songs that people want to sing. I want to write songs that, if I had written them fifty years before then, they would have meant something to people, they would mean something now, and they will mean something fifty years from now." -- Smokey Robinson
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In the late 1950's a group of students from Northern High School in Detroit formed a singing group called The Five Chimes. Over the years, the group's lineup changed several times, but lead singer Smokey Robinson remained. In 1958, Barry Gordy heard the group audition for Brunswick Records and when they were rejected, Gordy offered to record them on his own. The group changed its name to The Miracles and after several failed attempts, the group finally got a hit song with "Shop Around" (# 2) in 1960, issued by Gordy's new label, Tamla (soon to include Motown). The Miracles were the first Motown artists to appear on American Bandstand (12/27/1960) . In 1963, The Miracles had two big hits with "You've Really Got A Hold On Me" (#8) and "Mickey's Monkey" (#8). The Miracles were the prototype for the Motown sound which would produce constant hit records in the years to come, many written by members of The Miracles. The Temptations' "The Way You Do the Things You Do" (#11) was written by Smokey Robinson and Robert Rogers. "My Guy" (#1) by Mary Wells was written by Smokey Robinson. Marvin Gaye's "I'll Be Doggone" (#8) was written by Robinson, Warren Moore and Marvin Tarplin. "Shop Around" had been credited to The Miracles (featuring Bill "Smokey" Robinson). In the late 1960's the group name would change to Smokey Robinson & The Miracles and would have top ten records with "I Second That Emotion" (#4, 1967), "Baby, Baby, Don't Cry" (#8, 1969) and the group's only #1 record, "The Tears of a Clown" (#1, 1970). Smokey Robinson would also have a successful solo career with "Cruisin'" (#4, 1979), "Being With You" (#2, 1981), "Just To See Her (#8, 1986) and "One Heartbeat" (#10, 1986). In 1986 Smokey Robinson was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The Miracles were inducted in 2012. |
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