William "Smokey" Robinson Jr. 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.
Mary Esther Wells was an American singer, who helped to define the emerging sound of Motown in the early 1960s.
Syreeta Wright, who recorded professionally under the mononym Syreeta, was an American singer-songwriter, best known for her music during the early 1970s through the early 1980s. Wright's career heights were songs in collaboration with her ex-husband Stevie Wonder and musical artist Billy Preston.
The Marvelettes were an American girl group that achieved popularity in the early to mid-1960s. They consisted of schoolmates Gladys Horton, Katherine Anderson, Georgeanna Tillman, Juanita Cowart, and Georgia Dobbins, who was replaced by Wanda Rogers prior to the group signing their first deal. They were the first successful act of 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 Andantes were an American female session group for the Motown record label during the 1960s. Composed of Jackie Hicks, Marlene Barrow, and Louvain Demps, the group sang background vocals on numerous Motown recordings, including songs by Martha Reeves & the Vandellas, the Temptations, Stevie Wonder, the Four Tops, Jimmy Ruffin, Edwin Starr, the Supremes, the Marvelettes, Marvin Gaye and the Isley Brothers, among others. It is estimated they appeared on 20,000 recordings.
Brenda Holloway is an American soul singer who was a recording artist for Motown Records during the 1960s. Her best-known recordings are the hits "Every Little Bit Hurts", "When I'm Gone", and "You've Made Me So Very Happy". The latter, which she co-wrote, was later widely popularized when it became a Top Ten hit for Blood, Sweat & Tears. She left Motown after four years, at the age of 22, and largely retired from the music industry until the 1990s, after her recordings had become popular on the British "Northern soul" scene.
Kim Weston is an American soul singer, and Motown alumna. In the 1960s, Weston scored hits with the songs "Love Me All the Way" and "Take Me in Your Arms ", and with her duet with Marvin Gaye, "It Takes Two".
George Curtis Cameron is an American soul and R&B singer perhaps best known as the lead singer of The Spinners on their 1970 hit "It's a Shame" and for his 1975 hit "It's So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday". He is credited with having "six different voices."
The Originals, often called "Motown's best-kept secret", were a successful Motown R&B and soul group during the late 1960s and the 1970s, most notable for the hits "Baby I'm for Real", "The Bells", and the disco classic "Down to Love Town." Formed in 1966, the group originally consisted of baritone singer Freddie Gorman, tenor/falsetto Walter Gaines, and tenors C. P. Spencer and Hank Dixon. Ty Hunter replaced Spencer when he left to go solo in the early 1970s. They had all previously sung in other Detroit groups, Spencer having been an original member of the (Detroit) Spinners and Hunter having sung with the Supremes member Scherrie Payne in the group Glass House. Spencer, Gaines, Hunter, and Dixon were also members of the Voice Masters. As a member of the Holland–Dozier–Gorman writing-production team, Gorman was one of the co-writers of Motown's first number 1 pop hit "Please Mr. Postman", recorded by the Marvelettes. In 1964 the Beatles released their version and in 1975 the Carpenters took it to number 1 again. In 2006, "Please Mr. Postman" was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
Walk the Line is the second and final solo studio album released by former Supremes member Mary Wilson in 1992 on the independent CEO Records label.
Willie Frances Nero was an American soul and jazz singer. She recorded for Motown after winning their 1965 talent contest and had a UK hit single in 1991 with "Footsteps Following Me".
Wanda LaFaye Rogers, née Young, was an American singer, known for being a member of the Motown all-female singing group the Marvelettes, and after 1965, the lead singer.
The Monitors were an American vocal group who recorded for Motown Records in the 1960s. The group, which consisted of lead singer Richard Street, Sandra Fagin, John "Maurice" Fagin, and Warren Harris, had two minor hits, "Say You", and then a cover of the Valadiers' "Greetings ", which reached #21 on the Billboard R&B Chart, and #100 on the Billboard Pop Singles Chart.
Motorcity Records is a British record label formed by producer Ian Levine in 1989. The label aimed to record new material with former Motown artists.
William L. Griffin is an American singer and songwriter. He replaced Smokey Robinson as the lead singer of The Miracles in 1972.
Recorded Live On Stage is the name of a 1963 live album recorded by Motown star Mary Wells. The album was the only live album released by the soul singer during her short but successful tenure with Motown Records in the early sixties. The album starts off with an a cappella introduction of Wells by her backup vocalists, The Love-Tones, who are heard throughout the album. Her live version of her first release, "Bye, Bye, Baby" improved upon the studio version and became the way she would perform it from then on. The only other live performances Wells recorded on Motown can be found on the first two volumes of the Motortown Revue series. Marvin Gaye, the Marvelettes, (Little) Stevie Wonder and Smokey Robinson & The Miracles also recorded albums in the Recorded Live On Stage series.
James T. Woodley, who performed as Singin' Sammy Ward, was an American rhythm and blues singer who recorded for Motown Records and had a R&B chart hit with "Who's The Fool", written by Smokey Robinson and produced by Berry Gordy, Jr., in 1961.
Freddie Gorman was an American musician and record producer, most famous as a singer, songwriter for the Motown label in the late 1960s and mid 1970s.
Joe Stubbs was an American R&B/soul singer who became the lead singer of four different groups throughout his recording career. He was the younger brother of The Four Tops' lead Levi Stubbs.
Marilyn McLeod was an American songwriter and occasional singer. McLeod began her career as a songwriter for Motown. Together with Pam Sawyer, she wrote the 1976 Diana Ross hit "Love Hangover".
