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Smokey
Robinson
Inducted into the Rock
and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987.
Michigan Connection
William "Smokey" Robinson was born in Detroit on February 19,
1940.
Band
Robinson began his career with the Miracles. They became Smokey Robinson and
the Miracles in 1965. Robinson left the Miracles in 1972, retired for a year
and then started a solo career.
Notable
Robinson wrote songs for Mary Wells and the Temptations. Robinson wrote
twenty-seven Top Forty hits for the Miracles. He wrote and produced for other
Motown artists such as Marvin Gaye ("Ain't That Peculiar" and
"I'll Be Doggone"), the Temptations ("Get Ready,"
"The Way You Do the Things You Do" and "My Girl"), Mary
Wells ("My Guy" and "You Beat Me to the Punch") and the
Marvellettes ("Don't Mess With Bill" and "The Hunter Gets
Captured by the Game"). Robinson won a Grammy in 1987 for "Just To
See Her." Robinson served as producer and vice president of Motown
Records.
Big Hits
The Miracle's first hit "Shop Around" established Motown's Tamla
label as a national presence, selling more than a million copies and rising
to #2 on the pop charts and #1 on the R&B charts. Robinson's biggest
solo hits were "Cruisin'"(#4 on the charts) and "Being With
You" (#2 on the charts) in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
Find out more about
Smokey Robinson and other musical Michiganians in
Makin'
Music: Michigan's Rock & Roll Legacy.
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