The Miracles

The Miracles was an American vocal harmony group from Detroit, Michigan, notable as the first succesful group act for Berry Gordy's Motown Records. The Miracles went on to become one of Motown's signature acts of the 1960s, during which time their original lead singer and founding member Smokey Robinson became one of the most successful songwriters and record producers of all time.

History

Early years
The Miracles began with two young Detroit students, William Robinson and Ronald White, who had become friends and started singing together while in the fifth grade. Robinson, nicknamed "Smokey" because of his love of cowboy movies, started a doo-wop group called The Five Chimes in 1955 at Northern High School with himself, White, bass singer Pete Moore, Clarence Dawson, and James Grice. Within a half a year, Dawson and Grice had been replaced by cousins Emerson and Bobby Rogers, and the group's name had been changed to The Matadors. Emerson Rogers was drafted in 1956, and replaced by his sister Claudette Rogers. In 1960, the group added guitarist Marv Turpin, who had originally been the accompanist for The Primettes (later known as The Supremes).

In 1958, local songwriter Berry Gordy and colleague Tyrone Carlo (cousin of Jackie Wilson) wrote a song called "Get a Job" as an answer song to The Silhouettes' hit single "Get A Job". Gordy, an admirer of the Matadors, took the song to the group, and got them a deal with End Records. At this time, they changed their named to "The Miracles" (as "Matadors" had a masculine sound to it, and the group now included a girl). Gordy became the group's main outside collaborator, and he and Robinson wrote another Miracles single, "Bad Girl". Issued on Chess Records, "Bad Girl" became the group's first charting single, peaking at #93. After a suggestion from Robinson, Gordy founded Tamla Records (later Motown) in 1959, and signed The Miracles as one of his first acts.

Motown success years
After three unsuccessful singles, The Miracles' fourth Tamla single, "Shop Around" (1960), became their first Motown hit, and was the first Motown song to reach #1 on the R&B charts. Its b-side, "Who's Lovin' You", "You Really Got a Hold on Me" (1962), "Mickey's Monkey" (1963), "Going To A Go-Go" (1965), "The Tracks Of My Tears" (1965), and their signature song, "Ooh, Baby Baby" (1965). During this period, The Miracles were the most popular group on the label, and as its lead singer, Smokey Robinson became a popular teen idol. Behind the scenes, Robinson handled most of the songwriting and production for not only the Miracles, but for most of the acts on Motown during this early period. Durig the first half of the 1960s, Robinson tutorted both The Supremes and The Temptations, and penned hits for the Temptations ("My Girl",1964; "Since I Lost My Baby", 1965), Mary Wells ("My Guy", 1964), and Brenda Holloway ("When I'm Gone", 1965).

Smokey Robinson and Claudette Rogers married in 1964, and had two children, both named after Motown: a son, Berry, and a daughter, Tamla. At this point, Claudette Robinson retired from touring with the Miracles or appearing in photographs or on television, although she continued to sing backup with the group. Constantly away from home and his family, Smokey Robinson began planning to leave the group for a solo career, which would allow him more time to remain at home more often. The name of the group was changed to Smokey Robinson & the Miracles with the release of the Going to a Go-Go album in 1965.

After scoring a few more major hits such as "I Second That Emotion" (1967), The Miracles' career faltered somewhat during the early 1970s, though hits such as 1970's "The Tears of a Clown" still did quite well. "The Tears of a Clown" was in fact recorded in 1966, and became the group's first US #1 hit (and their only #1 hit with Smokey Robinson) after becoming a hit in the United Kingdom.

Robinson departed from The Miracles after a 1972 farewell tour, and was replaced by Billy Griffin. The group continued, and scored the biggest hit of its existence with 1976's #1 hit "Love Machine (Part 1)". However, the group's other releases failed to match the success of "Love Machine", and The Miracles never managed to regain their former fame.

In 2001, the group was inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame.