The Contours

Biography

The Contours are widely remembered because of their 1962 smash “Do YOU LIKE Me?,” among the early strikes that helped place Motown in the map. However they aren’t generally connected with their contribution towards the label; these were among the roughest, hardest R&B groupings Berry Gordy ever agreed upon, and their audio merely didn’t resemble the simple, advanced blueprint that afterwards became Motown’s brand. Nor do their stage existence; as opposed to the slick choreography and closet of Motown’s personal artists, the Curves were all outrageous, irrepressible energy, leaping and slipping all around the stage and also carrying out the splits. Because of this, they fell away from favour once Motown got its crossover-friendly strike factory ready to go, rather than duplicated the achievement of their initial hit. Produced in Detroit in 1958, the Curves originally began lifestyle being a quartet known as the Blenders. Lead vocalist Billy Gordon, Billy Hogg, Sylvester Potts, and Joe Billingslea had been soon joined up with by Hubert Johnson, a cousin from the renowned Jackie Wilson, in addition to guitarist Huey Davis. Changing their name towards the Curves, the group arrived an audition with Berry Gordy’s fledgling Motown label. Gordy had not been impressed and informed these to try once again in a calendar year, plus they enlisted Jackie Wilson’s assist in honing their action. Wilson personally suggested the group to Gordy, who finally relented and agreed upon them up in 1961. The Curves’ first one “Entire Lotta Girl” sank with out a track, and Gordy almost slipped them until Wilson once more interceded with the person. The move paid handsomely when Gordy provided them an opportunity to cut “Perform YOU LIKE Me?,” a melody originally designed for the Temptations, who couldn’t quite toe nail down the tough and rowdy experience Gordy wished. Released in 1962, “Perform YOU LIKE Me?” zoomed right to the top from the R&B graphs in just several brief weeks, peaking at number 3 in the pop aspect. Although the Curves were using high because of their strike and their fascinating live take action, they discovered the momentum hard to maintain. These were able to rating a follow-up strike, “Tremble Sherrie,” in 1963, and went off a string of R&B Best 40 singles over 1965-1966: “IS IT POSSIBLE TO Jerk Like Me?,” the very best Ten “YOUR DAY When She Required Me,” the Smokey Robinson-penned “First I Go through the Handbag,” and “Slightly Misunderstanding.” Regardless of the often top quality of these singles, the Curves simply weren’t obtaining the interest — either from your label or the general public — that Motown’s best stars had been, and their audio was even more of an anomaly at Hitsville than ever before. By this time around, the initial quintet was no more intact; new associates included Joe Stubbs, sibling from the Four Tops’ Levi Stubbs, and Dennis Edwards, who continued to displace David Ruffin within the Temptations. The Curves acquired their last charting one in 1967 with “It’s SO DIFFICULT Being truly a Loser”; Billingslea and Potts eventually led variations of the group over the oldies circuit through the ’70s and ’80s. Unfortunately, Johnson dedicated suicide in 1981, and wasn’t around to see the 1988 revival of “Perform YOU LIKE Me?” because of the wildly well-known film Dirty Dance. Billingslea, Potts, and their brand-new cohorts strike the oldies circuit with restored vigor, and in addition cut the record Working in Circles for U.K. Motown revivalist Ian Levine’s Motorcity label in 1990. Stubbs passed on in 1998, and guitarist Davis do furthermore in 2002.

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