From:   "Dik de Heer" 
Date:  Tue Feb 19, 2002  1:14 am
Subject:  Born To Be With You : Smokey Robinson
 
SMOKEY ROBINSON

Born William Robinson, 19 February 1940, Detroit, Michigan

Singer / songwriter / producer.
Smokey Robinson is second in importance only to Berry Gordy in
the development of Motown Records. As a singer with the Miracles
(42 pop chart hits) and then as a solo act (24 pop chart hits), Smokey
has been the best interpreter of his own classic songs.
Robinson formed the Miracles in 1954, then as the Matadors. They knew
Berry Gordy when he was writing songs for Jackie Wilson and were among
Gordy's first signings when he formed a label, Tamla. However, their first
records appeared on other labels: "Got A Job" (an answer song to "Get
A Job") on End, and "Bad Girl" (# 93) on Chess. The Miracles' second
single for Tamla, "Shop Around" (penned by Smokey), shot to # 2 pop.
Motown and the Miracles were on their way. Several minor hits for the
group followed, until "You've Really Got A Hold On Me" (# 8) began a
string of increasingly sophisticated songs that led Bob Dylan to call
Smokey "the world's greatest living poet".
From 1967 onwards, the group was billed as Smokey Robinson and the
Miracles. By 1970, Smokey, tired of touring, was ready to leave the group,
but that year the group had the biggest hit of their career with "The Tracks
Of My Tears" (# 1 US and UK) and he was persuaded to stay. At least,
until 1972, when Smokey embarked on a solo career, scoring his biggest
hit in 1981 with "Being With You" (# 2 US, # 1 UK).
Forty years after he and Berry Gordy began the Motown revolution, Smokey
is still a viable recording artist. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall
of Fame in 1987 and won the Grammys' Living Legend Award in 1989.

Further reading: Smokey Robinson with David Ritz, Smokey : Inside My Life.
New York : McGraw-Hill, 1989
CD : Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, The Ultimate Collection (1998,
Uni/Motown). 25 tracks, all the big hits.
Official website: http://www.smokeyrobinson.net