Category: Smokey Robinson & The Miracles

THE MAGIC BEHIND THE DETROIT MOTOWN SOUND! ’70

“THE TEARS OF A CLOWN” (EXT. INSTRUMENTAL; w/VOCAL) * S. ROBINSON & THE MIRACLES * 1970

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THE MIRACLES! MOTOWN ’60s SNAPSHOT FLASHBACKS

‘GOING TO A GO-GO,’ was the 8th album the Miracles recorded for the Tamla label. Released in November 1965, the album was the first LP headlining the group’s new billing, Smokey Robinson & The Miracles. The album produced four Top 20 singles. “OOO Baby Baby” (Pop; #16), “The Tracks Of My Tears” (Pop; #16), “My Girl Has Gone” (Pop; #14) and “Going To A Go-Go” (Pop; #11), their biggest selling single from the album. All four singles released were produced by Smokey Robinson.  All songs (except one track in the LP) were written by Smokey Robinson and credited named members of the Miracles. All four singles off the album were released in 1965. ‘Going To A Go-Go,’ the LP, became the only album in their career to break Top 10 (#8) and would remain on the Billboard LP chart for 40 weeks before dropping off the album chart, September 1966. The LP was produced by Smokey Robinson, Frank Wilson and William “Mickey” Stevenson.
SMOKEY ROBINSON and the MIRACLES, performing on stage in the U.K., in Motown’s first European Tamla-Motown tour, 1965.

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50TH! ROBINSON & THE MIRACLES PLAY TO WIN AT WHISKY-A-GO GO . . . JANUARY 28, 1967

From the MCRFB NEWS archive: 1967

Miracles’ Whisky Performance Stellar; Club’s Mikes Are Not

 

 

 

 

LOS ANGELES — Smokey Robinson and the Miracles prove that a hit record creates loyal fans. When the Whisky A Go Go reopened last Thursday (January 12) after a face-lifting, fans flocked to the opening show. The foursome’s opening was a happy, noisy affair. Some 85 per cent of the crowd were young girls who bounced and sang in their seats with the performers.

SMOKEY ROBINSON and the Miracles, 1966

The club’s management has reacted to the recent abolishing of teenage dance permits, by moving the stage out where the dance floor formerly was. The hour was SRO for the Miracles, whose singing was marred by poor mike balances with a good eight-piece band which covered them up front with their own
dynamics.

Consequently, much of the quartet’s harmonies and counterpoints were lost in the front seats. Robinson handles his solos with exuberance while his aides provide the oohs and aahs.

Repertoire encompasses some good numbers like “Poinciana” and “Yesterday” and the “Best Is Yet to Come,” but they suffered because of bad sound balances. On the jump tunes, like “Mickey’s Monkey,” “Ooh Baby, Baby” and “Going To A Go-Go,” the quartet works hard and involves the crowd.

Motown act has a subtle sex appeal which helps build visual appeal. To be an effective club act, the group needs better control over its back up bands to allow their own vocal blendings to come through. END

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(Information and news source: Billboard; January 28, 1967)

THE SCENE OUTSIDE the Whisky-A-Go Go in West Hollywood, at the corner of Clark and Sunset Blvd, in Los Angeles. On January 12, 1964, Johnny Rivers was booked for live on-stage performances at the Whiskey’s premiere opening that year. Exactly three years later to the day, Smokey Robinson and the Miracles took to the Whiskey stage with a live performance for the club’s grand-reopening, January 1967.

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