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.
The Miracles were an American vocal group formed in Detroit, Michigan in 1955. They were the first successful recording act for Motown Records and are considered one of the most important and most influential groups in the history of pop, soul, rhythm and blues and rock and roll music. The group's international fame in the 1960s, alongside other Motown acts, led to a greater acceptance of R&B and pop music in the U.S., with the group being considered influential and important in the development of modern popular music.
Robert Edward Rogers was an American musician and tenor singer, best known as a founding member of Motown vocal group the Miracles from 1956 until his death. He was inducted, in 2012, as a member of the Miracles to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In addition to singing, he also contributed to writing some of the Miracles' songs. Rogers is the grandfather of R&B singer Brandi Williams from the R&B girl group Blaque and is a cousin of fellow Miracles member Claudette Rogers Robinson.
"Shop Around" is a song originally recorded by the Miracles on Motown Records' Tamla subsidiary label. It was written by Miracles lead singer Smokey Robinson and Motown Records founder Berry Gordy. It became a smash hit in 1960 when originally recorded by the Miracles, reaching number one on the Billboard R&B chart, number one on the Cashbox Top 100 Pop Chart, and number two on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. It was the Miracles' first million-selling hit record, and the first-million-selling hit for the Motown Record Corporation.
"The Tracks of My Tears" is a 1965 song originally recorded by the Miracles on Motown Record's Tamla subsidiary label. It was composed by Miracles members Smokey Robinson, Pete Moore, and Marv Tarplin. This million-selling ,multiple award-winning R&B hit has been inducted into The Grammy Hall of Fame, has been ranked by the Recording Industry Association of America and The National Endowment for the Arts at No. 127 in its list of the "Songs of the Century" – the 365 Greatest Songs of the 20th Century, and has been selected by Rolling Stone as No. 50 on its list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time", among many other awards. In 2021, Rolling Stone ranked the Miracles' original recording of "The Tracks of My Tears" as "The Greatest Motown Song of All Time".
The Miracles were the Motown Record Corporation's first group and its first million-selling recording artists. During their nineteen-year run on the American music charts, the Miracles charted over fifty hits and recorded in the genres of doo wop, soul, disco, and R&B. Twenty-six Miracles songs reached the top 10 of the Billboard R&B singles chart, including four R&B number ones. Sixteen charted within the top 20 of the Billboard Hot 100, with seven reaching the top ten and two – 1970's "The Tears of a Clown" and 1975's "Love Machine" – reaching #1. A third song, the million-selling "Shop Around", reached #1 on the Cash Box magazine pop chart. The Miracles also scored 11 U.S. R&B top 10 albums, including 2-#1's.
"I Was Made to Love Her" is a soul music song recorded by American musician Stevie Wonder for Motown's Tamla label in 1967. The song was written by Wonder, his mother Lula Mae Hardaway, Sylvia Moy, and producer Henry Cosby and included on Wonder's 1967 album I Was Made to Love Her.
"For Once in My Life" is a song written by Ron Miller and Orlando Murden for Motown Records' Stein & Van Stock publishing company, and first recorded in 1965.
Henry R. Cosby was an American songwriter, arranger, record producer and musician who worked for Motown Records from its formative years. Along with Sylvia Moy, Cosby was a key collaborator with Stevie Wonder from 1963 to 1970. Cosby co-wrote and/or co-produced three No. 1 US hits: Stevie Wonder's "Fingertips" (1963), The Supremes' "Love Child" (1968), and The Miracles' "The Tears of a Clown" (1968).
Make It Happen is a 1967 album by Smokey Robinson & the Miracles. It featured ballads such as the hit singles "The Love I Saw in You Was Just a Mirage" and "More Love", as well as the up-tempo "The Tears of a Clown" co-written by Stevie Wonder and his producer Hank Cosby.
"More Love" is a 1967 hit single recorded by the American soul group The Miracles for Motown Records' Tamla label. The single, included on the group's 1967 album Make It Happen, later reissued in 1970 as The Tears of a Clown. Kim Carnes's 1980 cover of the song reached the Top 10 of Billboard's Adult Contemporary and Hot 100 charts.
One Dozen Roses is a 1971 album by Smokey Robinson & The Miracles, issued on Motown Records' Tamla label. The penultimate album before lead singer Smokey Robinson departed the group for a solo career, One Dozen Roses features the Top 20 Billboard Hot 100 hit single "I Don't Blame You at All". Also included is the group's number-one smash hit "The Tears of a Clown", which was also made available through the reissue of the 1967 Miracles LP Make It Happen as The Tears of a Clown. Both of these songs were also huge hits in the UK, reaching #11 and #1 respectively.
"Baby, Baby Don't Cry", released in December 1968, is a single recorded by the Miracles for Motown Records' Tamla label. The composition was written by Miracles lead singer Smokey Robinson, Motown staff writers Al Cleveland and Terry Johnson, a former member of The Flamingos. Robinson, Johnson, and Miracles member Warren "Pete" Moore were the song's producers.
"(Come 'Round Here) I'm the One You Need" is a 1966 hit single by Motown group The Miracles, released on Motown Records' Tamla label.
1957–1972 is a 1972 double album by The Miracles on Motown Records' Tamla label. This two-record set is noted as the group's final series of live concerts with original lead singer Smokey Robinson, recorded over a period of three days, July 14–16, during the 1972 National Parks Centennial, at the Carter Barron Amphitheater in Washington, D.C., and charted at No. 75 on the Billboard Top 200 Album chart, and at No. 14 on its R&B Album chart. During the show, Smokey's wife, original Miracles member Claudette Rogers Robinson, who stopped touring with the group in 1964, reunited with the Miracles on stage for the first time in eight years. As a celebration of the group's fifteen years together, The Miracles made this an "all request" show, where audience members could choose which of the group's long string of hits they wanted performed. Also, at the end of the concert, Miracles fans were introduced to the group's new lead singer, Billy Griffin. According to Smokey's autobiography, Smokey: Inside My Life, The Miracles' final concert was videotaped in movie form, but was never publicly released. However, 1957–1972 was released on CD originally in 1990, and re-released again in 2004 along with The Miracles' 1969 "Live" album in the 2004 Motown/Hip-O Select release Smokey Robinson and The Miracles: The Live Collection.
Flying High Together is an album by Smokey Robinson and the Miracles on Motown Records' Tamla label, released in 1972. It is noted as The Miracles' last studio album with original lead singer Smokey Robinson, who retired from the act to concentrate on his duties as vice president of Motown. The album charted at #46 on the Billboard Pop Album chart, and featured two singles: the appropriately named "We've Come Too Far to End It Now", which matched the parent album's chart position on the Billboard singles chart, charting at #46, and reached the Top 10 of the Billboard R&B singles chart, charting at #9, and "I Can't Stand to See You Cry", which charted at #45 Pop, and #21 R&B.
What Love Has...Joined Together is a 1970 album by R&B group Smokey Robinson & The Miracles on Motown Records' Tamla label. A concept album consisting solely of six short love songs, it charted at number 97 on the Billboard Top 200 Album chart, and reached the Top 10 of Billboard's R&B album chart, peaking at number 9. It was the first Miracles album to have no new songs; the recordings are all cover versions of songs written by noted composers, such as Stevie Wonder, Berry Gordy, Frank Wilson, Brenda Holloway and her sister Patrice Holloway, Burt Bacharach and Hal David, Marvin Gaye, The Beatles' John Lennon & Paul McCartney,, and Miracles members Smokey Robinson and Bobby Rogers.
Motown Chartbusters is a series of compilation albums first released by EMI under licence on the Tamla Motown label in Britain. In total, 12 editions were released in the UK between 1967 and 1982. Volumes 1 and 2 were originally called British Motown Chartbusters; after this the title Motown Chartbusters was used.
"Never Had a Dream Come True" is a song written by Stevie Wonder and Motown staff songwriters Henry Cosby and Sylvia Moy, released as a single on the Tamla subsidiary in February 1970. Featured on his 12th studio release, Signed, Sealed & Delivered, as the lead single, "Never Had..." was a modest hit in the U.S. upon its release, debuting at No. 67 on the Billboard Hot 100 during the week of Feb. 7, 1970, and No. 11 on the R&B chart. The song received a boost in the U.K. where it eventually peaked at No. 6.
The Ultimate Collection is a compact disc by Smokey Robinson and The Miracles, released on Motown Records, catalogue 314530857-2, in February 1998. It is a collection of singles comprising many of the group's greatest hits, with liner notes written by Stu Hackel.
