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In 1957, before Motown was born, Berry Gordy, Jr. created Tamla Records, and one of the first acts he signed was 17- year-old William "Smokey" Robinson, Jr. and his group, The Miracles. Gordy was not only impressed with Smokey's voice, he was amazed when Smokey showed him a notebook containing 100 songs he had already written!
Between 1960 and 1970, after Tamla morphed into Motown, Smokey and the Miracles had 26 Top 40 hits. Smokey also wrote or co-wrote hits for several other artists, including "My Girl" for the Temptations.
In 1987, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and in 2016, he received the Library of Congress Gershwin Award for his lifetime of contributions to popular music.
But before all that, In 1970, he released his last Top 10 hit with the Miracles before he retired, then un-retired and went on to solo success! The song (co-written in part by Stevie Wonder) went to #1 in the U.S and U.K--and #7 in Canada.
TRIVIA: In what millions of fans and Smokey himself considered to be a giant insult, The Miracles were NOT inducted into the Hall of Fame with him. It took until 2012 before the Hall finally rectified this unfortunate oversight.
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