Thursday, June 16, 2011
Smokey Robinson & The Miracles
Smokey Robinson formed the Miracles at Northern High School in Detroit in 1955. In 1959, Berry Gordy founded Tamla Records (later Motown) and signed The Miracles as one of his first acts. By 1961, Smokey Robinson would be appointed vice-president of the corporation. Smokey Robinson left the Miracles for a solo career in 1972.
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The FIRST and GREATEST group to EVER come out of MOTOWN. PERIOD And, the MOST IMPORTANT. Other Motown groups didn't even write their own material. THE MIRACLES DID. All of them....not just SMOKEY . And, they also wrote for most of the OTHER acts on the label as well.
ReplyDeletePeople today, tend to give other Motown groups more praise than THE MIRACLES...particularly THE TEMPTATIONS and THE SUPREMES.
Here are the facts.
1) The Temptations owe THE MIRACLES their very career, because 9 of the group's first 12 hits,(including their biggest hit EVER..."MY GIRL") not to mention numerous album cuts and flip sides, were written by members of THE MIRACLES.
2)The Supremes also owe their very career to The MIRACLES....because SMOKEY discovered them IN THE FIRST PLACE !!!
3) THE MIRACLES have MORE SONGS inducted into the GRAMMY HALL OF FAME than The Supremes, The Temptations, or ANY OTHER MOTOWN GROUP.
4) THE MIRACLES are THE MOST-COVERED MOTOWN GROUP of ALL TIME. Over 60 of their songs have been covered by artists ALL OVER THE WORLD... in EVERY MAJOR MUSICAL GENRE... Pop, Country & Western, Jazz, Reggae, Acapella, Rap/Hip-Hop, MOR/Easy Listening, Bluegrass,& Grunge...as well as Soul/R&B. NO OTHER MOTOWN GROUP EVEN COMES CLOSE !!!
5) "Without THE MIRACLES...Motown would NOT be the Motown it is today" Those are BERRY GORDY'S words....not mine.
Who should know better then HIM?
6) THE MIRACLES WERE:
a)The FIRST Motown act to appear on Dick Clark's AMERICAN BANDSTAND . THE VERY FIRST.
b)The label's FIRST MILLION-SELLER: "SHOP AROUND".
c) had the label's first #1 R&B hit.
d) Were the STAR ATTRACTION of the legendary MOTORTOWN REVUE touring shows of the early Sixties. They were the ones the crowds were coming to see. (with few or no hit records, do you really think the crowds were coming to see any of the others)?
7) The MIRACLES SUCCESS paved the way for ALL future Motown Stars. They tore down the doors.
The others just walked on through.
8) MARVIN GAYE'S first two million-sellers, I'LL BE DOGGONE and AIN'T THAT PECULIAR, were written by THE MIRACLES.
9)THE MIRACLES were a UNIT. It was NOT simply "all about Smokey...a fact that he's acknowledged in interview after interview. MARY WELLS, KIM WESTON, THE CONTOURS, BRENDA HOLLOWAY, and numerous others had hits with songs written by THE MIRACLES.
It's high time that people knew the TRUTH , and stop BASHING & MINIMIZING the legacy and accomplishments of THE MIRACLES...
...and give this group their proper due.