They were inarguably the first true stars to emerge out of Motown Records:


THE MIRACLES:
Motown's first star group, its rise was partially due to the songwriting talents of Smokey Robinson, Pete Moore, Marv Tarplin and Ronnie White, also due to Smokey's unique falsetto/tenor (or countertenor) vocals. They scored Motown's first million-seller with "Shop Around" in 1961 and went on to score a bevy of hit singles including "Tracks of My Tears", "Going to a Go-Go", "You Really Got a Hold on Me", "Mickey's Monkey", "Ooo Baby Baby", "I Second That Emotion", "Tears of a Clown" and, after Smokey left in 1973, "Love Machine". However, controversy continues to surround the group as Smokey Robinson got in solely in 1987 as a "performer" and NOT a "non-performer", which technically he was. His solo career started in 1973 and he was only fourteen years into it when he got the solo induction, so why this error is not corrected? Something tells me politics are a reason why the Smoke Man got in but not his comrades.


THE MARVELETTES:
They emerged from outsiders from Inkster, Michigan, and emerged with Motown Records' first No. 1 hit, "Please Mr. Postman", in 1961. The group's hits included "Playboy", "Beechwood 4-5789", "Gonna Lock Up My Heart", "Danger: Breakdown Dead Ahead", "Destination Anywhere", "My Baby Must Be a Magician", "Don't Mess With Bill", "Too Many Fish in the Sea" and "When You're Young and In Love". This is probably one of Motown's most maligned groups. Shortly after turning down "Where Did Our Love Go?", which became a hit for The Supremes and inarguably turned them into superstars, the Marvelettes had a hard time of it which they came with few hit singles. IMHO, they also needed to be inducted long ago. I feel an induction will finally bring a closure to their tragic saga.


MARY WELLS:
One of Motown's first solo female artists, she was the first solo artist to score a top ten hit with Motown starting with 1962's "The One Who Really Loves You", which she quickly followed with "You Beat Me to the Punch" and "Two Lovers". Her subsequent follow-ups included "Laughing Boy", "What's So Easy for Two Is So Hard for One", "Your Old Standby", "You Lost the Sweetest Boy" and of course the sixties standard, "My Guy", which was the first international hit single for Motown. Shortly afterwards, Motown's first solo star left the label due to contract technicality and royalty disputes. Wells' career saw some fine moments after Motown including hits with 20th Century Fox, a creative period at Jubilee and the disco smash, "Gigolo", but her career was relegated to the oldies' circuit by the 1980s and the records she put out never got the recognition it would've probably gotten had she stayed at Motown. Whether the cause, it's still a shame the first female star of the "Motown Sound" still gets passed over as a relic and not as something of a music legend, which she is. Hopefully, they'll finally get her the recognition she deserves with this induction.

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Of the three, I say the Miracles - regardless of how it happened - have a better chance of getting in, but do you think all three will be in or will one of three be in? State your case.

The Miracles should have been in the R&RHOF in the same year as The Temptations.

TonyVanDam said:

Correction: They should've been in by 1986!

The Miracles' first hit was way back in 1961 + 25 years = 1986 or 1987

They put Smokey in but haven't bothered to put the entire group in. What does that tell you?

People criticize of Berry Gordy's treatment of Diana Ross over the other Supremes but THEY got inducted, the Miracles didn't, just Smokey... "as a performer".

GTFOOH!

Timmy84 said:

That's like put Michael in the R&RHOF without the Jackson 5. It's wrong!

I cannot believe the Miracles are not in there!!

TonyVanDam said:

Exactly!

And Smokey's solo career was actually BULLSHIT compared to the Miracles.

Timmy84 said:

CORRECTION: "Shop Around" was issued in October 1960 and hit the top 40 in December and peaked at number 2 in February 1961. So it should've been 1986 when they should've gotten inducted.

NDRU said:

Yeah it's a travesty. Looking up, though, the Miracles ARE gonna get a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame next year so maybe that's a sign.

So damn sad that The Marvelettes are'nt even mentioned in the same sentence as The Supremes and Martha & The Vandellas.....I feel The Marvelettes bring just as much excitement to Motown as the other girl groups.....I AM A NUTT for The Marvelettes, I hope they get in THEY DESERVE it. Side note The Velvelettes are another forgotten girl group, Try The Velvelettes Anthology and you'll see why, And why is it that they have one and The Marvelettes dont..I am sure there is more than enough unreleased stuff The Marvelettes have in the vaults because they were recording SO MUCH music.

regcart said:

Like I say, they have to be one of the, if not the, most maligned girl groups in history. Even The Velvelettes get kudos before them! THE FUCK!?!

LittleAmy said:

You can say that but it was clear Smokey is often more viewed as a member/lead singer/founder of the Miracles and as a songwriter and producer for all of the early Motown records. They inducted Smokey in the performer category but technically his post-Miracles career was 14 years when he was inducted. The Miracles were more than just Smokey, his fellow Miracles also co-wrote many of the early Motown records. And like I already stated, they were the first Motown star group. In that sense, this is why it doesn't seem logical Smokey gets inducted but the Miracles get overlooked as if they're Smokey's background vocalists and they were more than that IMHO. As you said, the Miracles continued after he left right into 1977.

Timmy84 said:

The point I'm making is about PUBLIC PERCEPTION. To the public perception, Smokey Robinson WAS The Miracles, or more bluntly, to a lot of people the group was unofficially named Smokey Robinson and The Nobodies.

My mother-in-law is a huge fan of Smokey and was around during the '60s. But whenever she refers to songs like "Shop Around," "Tears of a Clown" and "You've Really Got a Hold on Me" she doesn't say The Miracles, she refers to it as "Smokey Robinson sang those songs" or "That was Smokey." She never refers to those songs as by "The Miracles;" hell, I believe she actually forgot the name of the group one time in reference to him. For that matter, my mother and some other people her age have used that same tone of referencing them.

The Miracles were a group, but it seems to quite a few people this was an act with an outsized personality from the start, a la Teddy Pendergrass with Harold Melvin and The Blue Notes. Whenever I hear references to the group, it's almost always in the context of "Smokey Robinson AND ...;" rarely just "The Miracles."
[Edited 6/27/08 4:39am]

LittleAmy said:

Well that's sad then. I still think it's retarded regardless of public perception. The Miracles were MORE than Smokey. But hey what can you do?

Timmy84 said:

It's similar in some respects in that discussion re: New Edition. To some people, they were stuck on the notion that New Edition was some Jackson 5 ripoff and completely ignored that they only made one album that had J5 influences (their first album 25 years ago). To a lot of people, the perception was Smokey Robinson WAS The Miracles.

I understand you're young and weren't around during the '60s, but even in my formative years in the late '70s the only reference I've heard in regards to The Miracles was ALWAYS in the context of Smokey Robinson. And from my understanding it wasn't a case of someone developing into an outsized personality within the group concept, a la Beyonce with Destiny's Child or Lionel Richie with The Commodores. Smokey was the outsized person almost from the beginning, and as Motown grew so did his standing as a primary songwriter for a lot of other Motown acts' hits and being Motown's vice president.
[Edited 6/26/08 19:59pm]

LittleAmy said:

That IS true.

Timmy84 said:

Again, look at those compilations. If that doesn't tell you there is a public perception that Smokey Robinson was The Miracles ...

Another way to think about it is like this, Timmy: How many people do you know associate the group that sang "The Tracks of My Tears" and "Ooh Baby Baby" as the same group that made "Love Machine?" Most people don't, IMO. Typically, they associate the first two songs only with Smokey Robinson and think the latter song was made by some '70s disco-era act like Tavares or The Trammps.

IMO, that's why I feel Smokey was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame by himself -- the totality of his work but also because people only associate the '60s stuff with him. So you can forget an induction of The Miracles because to most people the act already is represented by Smokey. I feel you're being too literal with the category reasons concerning Smokey's induction and not looking at the logical deduction for his inclusion.
[Edited 6/27/08 6:05am]

LittleAmy said:

Yeah, I see what you mean now.

Timmy84 said:

OTOH, it could also be seen as an indictment on his solo career.

AlexdeParis said:

I don't see how. Smokey Robinson had a solid, long solo career; it's not like the guy hit the skids, a la Aaron Hall. Smokey's solo career is similar in a lot of respects to Babyface's in that it is secondary to the hit songs he generated for others and ends up accentuating the totality of his work. But like 'Face, Smokey's solo work could stand on its own.
[Edited 6/26/08 20:16pm]

LittleAmy said:

Just that Smokey's solo career can stand alone, but it usually doesn't. I agree completely that he had a good solo career, but it's interesting that they keep tacking a handful of his hits on the end of Miracles collections. There are relatively few pure Smokey compilations.

AlexdeParis said:

Smokey Robinson - The Solo Anthology (2CD)

FuNkeNsteiN said:

I know about that one. I believe it's the latest and it was released 7 years ago. Since then, there's been at least 3 or 4 Miracles + Smokey solo compilations.

AlexdeParis said:

There is a Smokey solo effort released in 2004 (Motown Legends: Being With You), it has only ten tracks though and it was already released under a different name in 1995. Oh and, there's been more than 3-4 Smokey + The Miracles comps after 2001

AlexdeParis said:

That's because there is such an association between Smokey Robinson and his stuff with The Miracles that there is a near seemless distinction. Like I said to Timmy, the general perception is Smokey WAS The Miracles to the point where some people associate those songs only with him. Like I said, I have a mother-in-law who was around during the '60s and she refers to The Miracles only in the context of Smokey and it's safe to say that perception has been reinforced even more as time (and casual association) moves on.

When I initially read your statement, it seemed to imply that Smokey's solo career was inferior. But IMO those Miracles songs are tacked on to those compilations because I speculate there are some people who thought those were Smokey solo songs.

FWIW, I've seen Lionel Richie compilations that featured songs he performed with The Commodores. I've seen Jeffrey Osborne compilations with an L.T.D. song or two. And IMO it's clearer to the general public there is a distinction between The Commodores' and Richie's music (as well as Osborne's and L.T.D.'s).
[Edited 6/27/08 5:10am]