"Please Mr. Postman ""Please Mr. Postman"" is a song written by Georgia Dobbins, William Garrett, Freddie Gorman, Brian Holland, and Robert Bateman. It is the debut single by the Marvelettes for the Tamla (Motown) label, notable as the first Motown song to reach the number-one position on the ""Billboard"" Hot 100 pop singles chart. The single achieved this position in late 1961; it hit number one on the R&B chart as well. ""Please Mr. Postman"" became a number-one hit again in early 1975 when the Carpenters' cover of the song reached the top position of the ""Billboard"" Hot 100. ""Please"
"established for him and formed Tamla Records in January of that year. The label didn't become national until later that year after the success of Barrett Strong's ""Money (That's What I Want)"", and the label changed its name to Motown Records in December. Its first national release was The Miracles' ""Way Over There"". After 1964, Motown became one of the most successful recording labels in the business and ""The Motown Sound"", partially cultivated by Gordy, began to dominate popular music and pop culture. Gordy soon developed Motown Industries in 1968, which developed television specials and variety shows. By 1973, Motown"
"Go"" by the Supremes, and ""My Guy"" by Mary Wells were amongst other big hits in the same year, also on Stateside. The first release on the Tamla Motown label was ""Stop In The Name Of Love"" by the Supremes, in March 1965. By 1964, Motown had accumulated enough British hits for EMI to release a greatest hits album, ""A Collection of Tamla Motown Big Hits"". Over the next few years, several more compilations were released, including six in the series ""16 Original Big Hits"". In 1967, the label issued the first of the ""Motown Chartbusters"" series. Although the series"
"Tamla Records (the precursor of what is now known as ""Motown"") was founded in January 1959, Sanders and Bateman were working for the label's owner Berry Gordy as backing singers. They tried to form a new vocal group of their own with Brian Holland (later to find fame as part of the Holland-Dozier-Holland songwriting trio) and Sanders' neighbour James Ellis. When Holland was unable to attend rehearsals because of his commitments to the fledgling Motown label, the group instead recruited songwriter Chico Leverett (who recorded a solo single for Motown entitled ""Solid Sender"" in early 1959) and signed to Motown"
"and signed the act to Motown's Tamla division in July 1961. The following month, the group recorded ""Please Mr. Postman"", which was polished by Brian Holland, Robert Bateman and Freddie Gorman, another songwriting partner of Holland (before Holland became part of the Holland–Dozier–Holland team), who moonlighted as a mailman, as well as the song ""So Long Baby"", sung by Wanda. Tamla issued ""Please Mr. Postman"" on August 21, 1961. The song then climbed to the top of the singles chart, reaching #1 that December. making them the first Motown act to have a #1 hit on the Hot 100. To"
"Tamla subsidiary of Motown. While the album itself didn't chart (the R&B album chart wouldn't be created until 1965), several of the songs released off the album did chart. The first single was actually the Stevenson composition ""Soldier's Plea"", which had been issued initially as a non-album single and didn't chart but was included on the album as a filler track. The second single, ""Stubborn Kind of Fellow"", was the first charted single for Gaye, reaching #8 R&B and peaking at #46 pop in late 1962. The two other singles released from the album, ""Hitch Hike"" and ""Pride and Joy"","
"Love Go"" by the Supremes and ""My Guy"" by Mary Wells were Motown's first British top-20 hits). Eventually EMI created the Tamla Motown label (""Stop! In the Name of Love"" by the Supremes was the first Tamla Motown release in March 1965). After the songwriting trio Holland–Dozier–Holland left the label in 1967 over royalty-payment disputes, Norman Whitfield became the company's top producer, turning out hits for The Temptations, Marvin Gaye, Gladys Knight & the Pips and Rare Earth. In the meantime Berry Gordy established Motown Productions, a television subsidiary which produced TV specials for the Motown artists, including ""TCB"", with"
"R&B and Tamla Motown covers, but more and more original material appeared as the year wore on, particularly by the release of the ""My Generation"" album in December. The instrument destruction that marked the band's early years was at its height at this stage. As no audience recordings from 1965 have surfaced to date, the group's television and radio appearances provide the only glimpses into their act, along with media accounts. Live material from 1965 (excluding TV appearances where the band mimed to pre-recorded material) has appeared on a number of different releases: The band promoted their debut single, the"
"chief William ""Mickey"" Stevenson, Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier, and Norman Whitfield, had become a major force in the music industry. From 1961 to 1971, Motown had 110 top 10 hits. Top artists on the Motown label during that period included the Supremes (initially including Diana Ross), the Four Tops, and the Jackson 5, while Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, the Marvelettes, and the Miracles had hits on the Tamla label. The company operated several labels in addition to the Tamla and Motown imprints. A third label, which Gordy named after himself (though it was originally called ""Miracle"") featured the Temptations, the"
"television and film production as well as music production. In 1959, Gordy formed his first label, Tamla Records, and purchased the property that would become Motown's Hitsville U.S.A. studio. The photography studio located in the back of the property was modified into a small recording studio, and the Gordys moved into the second-floor living quarters. Within seven years, Motown would occupy seven additional neighboring houses: By the end of 1966, Motown had hired over 450 employees and had a gross income of $20 million. In 1967 Berry Gordy purchased what is now known as the Motown mansion, in Detroit's Boston-Edison"
"original B-side (""You Got the Love I Love"") and ""I Miss You Baby (How I Miss You)"". It also contains several previously unissued songs, such as ""Farewell Is a Lonely Sound"" (originally recorded by Jimmy Ruffin), and mono mixes of his three Gordy singles. In 2015, Marv Johnson was inducted into the Michigan Rock and Roll Legends Hall of Fame. Marv Johnson Marv Earl Johnson (October 15, 1938 – May 16, 1993) was an American R&B and soul singer, notable for performing on the first record issued by Tamla Records, which later became Motown. Johnson was born in Detroit, Michigan,"
"and has lyrics that are almost entirely rewritten. Money (That's What I Want) ""Money (That's What I Want)"" is a song written by Tamla founder Berry Gordy and Janie Bradford that became the first hit record for Gordy's Motown enterprise. The song was recorded in 1959 by Barrett Strong for the Tamla label, distributed nationally on Anna Records. It went on to be covered by many artists, including the Beatles in 1963 and the Flying Lizards in 1979. The song was originally recorded by Barrett Strong and released on Tamla in August 1959. Anna Records was operated by Gwen Gordy,"
"Motown Chartbusters 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. Early Motown Records releases in Britain were not on the Motown label, but were issued on the London, Fontana, Oriole and Stateside labels. In 1964, Motown's first number 1 in Britain was ""Baby Love"" by the Supremes, released on EMI's Stateside label. ""Where Did Our Love"
"Marv Johnson Marv Earl Johnson (October 15, 1938 – May 16, 1993) was an American R&B and soul singer, notable for performing on the first record issued by Tamla Records, which later became Motown. Johnson was born in Detroit, Michigan, in 1938. He began his career singing with a doo-wop group, the Serenaders, in the mid-1950s. With budding talents not only as a singer but also as a songwriter and pianist, he was discovered by Berry Gordy while Johnson performed at a carnival. Gordy had already decided to form his first record label, Tamla, and Johnson's recording of their song"
"""Come to Me"" was the label's first single, released in May 1959. The fledgling label did not have national distribution, so the song was released by United Artists. It reached number 30 on the ""Billboard"" Hot 100 chart. Johnson went on to co-write another four songs with Gordy. After he issued the first release for the Tamla (Motown) label, Johnson was signed by United Artists. He released three albums and several singles for UA but continued to record in Motown’s homegrown studios at Hitsville USA. Between 1959 and 1961, Johnson issued nine Billboard Hot 100 singles, including two Top 10s."
"album, ""Now That's What I Call Motown"", was released on the Universal Motown label. The series was re-issued by the budget label Spectrum, starting in 1997. The clear differences between the two releases are the logos on the disc and cover: the original release has the Tamla Motown logo; the re-release has the Motown logo. After its success in the UK, Motown went on to release variants of the compilation format in other counties such as the United States and Australia. There were also various releases on the same type of platform, such as ""Motown Chartbusters"", ""150 Hits of Gold"""
"Berry and Tamla (both named after aspects of the Motown corporation). Robinson informed his groupmates Pete Moore, Bobby Rogers, and best friend Ronald White that he would be retiring from the act to concentrate on his duties as vice-president of Motown Records. In 1970, to capitalize on the Miracles' success there, and due to a lack of new material from the group, Motown Britain selected ""The Tears of a Clown"" from the group's catalog for single release. The single became a #1 hit in the UK seven weeks after its July release. This newfound popularity prompted Motown to release the"
"Motown Motown Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was originally founded by Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on January 12, 1959, and was incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau of ""motor"" and ""town"", has become a nickname for Detroit, where the label was originally headquartered. Motown played an important role in the racial integration of popular music as an African American-owned label that achieved significant crossover success. In the 1960s, Motown and its subsidiary labels (including Tamla Motown, the brand used outside the US) were the"
"Motown Motown Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was originally founded by Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on January 12, 1959, and was incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau of ""motor"" and ""town"", has become a nickname for Detroit, where the label was originally headquartered. Motown played an important role in the racial integration of popular music as an African American-owned label that achieved significant crossover success. In the 1960s, Motown and its subsidiary labels (including Tamla Motown, the brand used outside the US) were the"
"one of the rarest issues from the Motown stable. Berry's third release was ""Bad Girl"" by the Miracles, the first release on the Motown record label. ""Bad Girl"" was a solid hit in 1959 after Chess Records picked it up. Barrett Strong's ""Money (That's What I Want)"" initially appeared on Tamla and then charted on Gordy's sister's label, Anna Records, in February 1960. It was The Miracles who gave the label its first million-selling hit single, with the 1960 ""Grammy Hall of Fame"" smash, ""Shop Around"" and this song, and its follow up hits,""You've Really Got a Hold on Me"""
"Anna's brother Berry Gordy had just established his Tamla label (soon Motown would follow) and licensed the song to the Anna label in 1960, which was distributed nationwide by Chicago-based Chess Records in order to meet demand; the Tamla record was a resounding success in the Midwest. The song has Strong curtly insisting that money is what he needs, more than anything else. In the US, the single became Motown's first hit in June 1960, making it to number 2 on the Hot R&B Sides chart and number 23 on the ""Billboard"" Hot 100. The song was listed as number"
"her graduation, Teairra Marí has enjoyed a successful career, including her hit single ""Make Her Feel Good"" in 2005. One of the highlights of Detroit's musical history was the success of Motown Records during the 1960s and early 1970s. The label was founded in the late 1950s was founded by auto plant worker Berry Gordy, and was originally known as Tamla Records. As Motown, it became home to some of the most popular recording acts in the world, including Marvin Gaye, The Temptations, Stevie Wonder, Diana Ross & The Supremes, Smokey Robinson & The Miracles, The Four Tops, Martha Reeves"
"at the time). They hired future Motown star Marvin Gaye as drummer for the label. Anna Records is most notable for issuing the first national Motown hit, ""Money (That's What I Want)"", recorded by singer-songwriter Barrett Strong, which hit number two on the R&B chart in early 1960. The label wasn't so successful afterwards and in 1961 Anna and all its artists were absorbed by Gwen and Anna's brother Berry Gordy into Motown. Gaye, in particular, became a solo artist and signed with the corporation's oldest label Tamla while still serving as a session drummer, and Ruffin later joined the"
"classic Miracles albums have been re-released as part of the 2009 Motown 50th anniversary limited edition CD release: """". Hi... We're the Miracles Hi... We're the Miracles is the first album by Motown's first group, The Miracles, released on Motown's Tamla subsidiary label in the summer of 1961. It also has the distinction of being the first album ever released by the Motown Record Corporation The album features several songs that played an important role in defining The Motown Sound and establishing songwriters Smokey Robinson and Berry Gordy. The styles of the album tracks vary from the late doo-wop sound"
"(another ""Grammy Hall of Fame""-inducted hit), ""Mickey's Monkey"",""What's So Good About Goodbye"", and ""I'll Try Something New"", made The Miracles the label's first stars. The Tamla and Motown labels were then merged into a new company, Motown Record Corporation, incorporated on April 14, 1960. In 1960, Gordy signed an unknown singer, Mary Wells, who became the fledgling label's second star, with Smokey Robinson penning her hits ""You Beat Me to the Punch"", ""Two Lovers"", and ""My Guy"". The Miracles' hit ""Shop Around"" peaked at No. 1 on the national R&B charts in late 1960 and at No. 2 on the"
"spotted by Motown CEO Berry Gordy, who promised to sign her to Motown. Terrell agreed and signed with the label on April 29, her 20th birthday. Before releasing her first single with Motown's Tamla subsidiary, ""I Can't Believe You Love Me"", Gordy suggested a name change. Figuring ""Tammy Montgomery"" was too long of a name to put on a single, Gordy changed it to ""Tammi Terrell"". He felt this name screamed ""sex appeal"". ""I Can't Believe You Love Me"" became Terrell's first R&B top forty single, followed almost immediately by ""Come On and See Me"". In 1966, Terrell recorded two"
"the Tamla Motown-styled ""Micky"", backed by ""Darby and Joan"", both produced by Mike d'Abo (also among the relatively few pop musicians of a privileged background in that era) for the Immediate label. The single vanished, unpublicised. In the ensuing years, unsigned and working in music for advertising, she recorded a suite of songs inspired by her relationship with ""Micky"", the actor/model Michael Hannah, who was killed in an air-crash in 1974. These remained unreleased until they were included on CD compilations. Her later recordings appeared under the name Twinkle Ripley. She recorded a 1975 single, ""Smoochie"" with her father, Sidney"
"Tamla's first release, in the Detroit area, was Marv Johnson's ""Come to Me"" in 1959 (released nationally on United Artists). Its first hit was Barrett Strong's ""Money (That's What I Want)"" (1959), which made it to number 2 on the ""Billboard"" R&B charts (released nationally on Anna Records). Gordy's first signed act was the Matadors, who immediately changed their name to the Miracles in order to avoid confusion with the Matadors who recorded for Sue. Their first release, ""Got a Job"", was an answer record to the Silhouettes' ""Get a Job"" (issued on George Goldner's End Records). The Miracles' first,"
"girl, Tamla, after the Miracles' record label, Tamla (the Motown Records' subsidiary label for which The Miracles recorded). ""More Love"" peaked at number 23 on the ""Billboard"" Hot 100 and number 19 on the ""Cash Box"" Top 100 in the United States, and was a Top 10 Billboard R&B hit, peaking at number five. Although not quite reaching the Pop Top 10 nationally, it was a regional smash, reaching #1 on the Cleveland Ohio Pop Charts for the week of August 11, 1967. The song's ""B"" side, ""Swept For You Baby"", was also a popular regional hit, and has inspired"
"Brothers; there have also been several other cover versions of the song. The song's title served as the inspiration for Berry Gordy's first record label. In 1959, Gordy set up a new record company, and wanted to call it ""Tammy Records"" after the song, but the name was taken and ""Tamla"" was chosen instead. The main Motown label was created later that year and the two labels were incorporated into the Motown Record Corporation in 1960. Tamla served as a primary R&B and soul subsidiary throughout Motown's existence. The most popular version, by actress and singer Debbie Reynolds, was released"
"fellow Miracles group mates Bobby (Rogers), Ronnie (White) and Pete (Moore), and Tamla Claudette Robinson was named after Motown's original record label, Tamla Records. Smokey Robinson and Claudette were divorced in 1986, after 27 years of marriage. Motown founder Berry Gordy gave Claudette the official title of the ""First Lady of Motown"", as noted in his autobiography, because, as a member of the Miracles, Motown's first group and first recording act, she was the first female artist ever signed to a Motown-affiliated record label (Tamla). Several years ago, Claudette began writing her autobiography, ""A Miraculous Life"", a book of her"
"be followed by The Temptations in 1968 and Martha (Reeves) and the Vandellas that same year. According to the liner notes later on, Marvin's performance there was a success, however, an ongoing feud between Gaye and his brother-in-law, Motown recording boss Gordy, was said to have been one of the reasons why the album was eventually shelved with the duo fighting over how the album was to be produced. The album had been scheduled for release in January 1967 as Tamla 273 before its permanent shelving. In 2005, Hip-O Select Records, a Motown-associated label created to re-release or release unreleased"
"Money (That's What I Want) ""Money (That's What I Want)"" is a song written by Tamla founder Berry Gordy and Janie Bradford that became the first hit record for Gordy's Motown enterprise. The song was recorded in 1959 by Barrett Strong for the Tamla label, distributed nationally on Anna Records. It went on to be covered by many artists, including the Beatles in 1963 and the Flying Lizards in 1979. The song was originally recorded by Barrett Strong and released on Tamla in August 1959. Anna Records was operated by Gwen Gordy, Anna Gordy and Roquel ""Billy"" Davis. Gwen and"