![]() In addition to Ventress, Young is survived by children Robert Rogers III and Bobbae Rogers seven grandchildren a great-grandson four sisters and four brothers. Young and Horton sang on the 1990 album The Marvelettes: Now! according to the Times. The Motown Museum posted on its Facebook page that Young “helped The Marvelettes become one of the many success stories at Motown Records.”Īfter The Marvelettes disbanded in the early 1970s, Young recorded under another label. “She didn’t wake up every day thinking of the Marvelettes, but she never lost that glamour,” Ventress added. “I told her constantly, ‘All these people love you,’” Ventress told the Times. Young sang the lead on “Don’t Mess With Bill.” Postman.” The group would later record such hits as “Don’t Mess With Bill,” “The Hunter Gets Captured by the Game” and “My Baby Must Be a Magician.” Songs like “Twistin’ Postman,” “Playboy” and “Too Many Fish in the Sea” followed “Please Mr. Young replaced Dobbins when Gordy signed the group. The teens were students at Inkster High School outside Detroit, and along with Georgia Dobbins, a graduate, were members of a singing group called The Casinyets. Postman” to soundtrack a brawl in a pool hall, helping to pioneer the way movies would use pop music in the years ahead.Marc Gilpin, Young Actor on 'Jaws 2,' Dies at 56 Postman” was a Trojan horse: a fun pop song that, however unintentionally, served as a fulcrum point and helped to introduce a whole lot of larger issues to the national conversation.īONUS BEATS: In his 1973 movie Mean Streets, Martin Scorsese used “Please Mr. In the years that would follow, pop music would reckon a whole lot more with Vietnam. Postman” we only hear that he’s “so far away.” It seems possible, at least, that the boyfriend was in a jungle somewhere across the world. We never hear where the absent boyfriend is in “Please Mr. In the continuing story, the woman begins to lose hope on ever receiving a letter and then finally receives one. American troops were already in the country, but those troop levels tripled in 1961. The Marvelettes' follow-up single 'Twistin' Postman' (a 34 American hit) tried to capitalize on the dance craze and also continued the story of the woman who waits for a letter from her boyfriend. By 1961, President Kennedy had just started focusing on Vietnam. That would change, and Motown would have a lot to do with its changing.Īnd maybe “Please Mr. ![]() Wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute. Please please Mister Postman (Wait a minute Mister Postman) Please check and see just one more time for me. America, Motown seemed to be betting, wasn’t ready to buy anything that featured the faces of four smiling black teenagers. Yes since I heard from this boyfriend of mine (Postman postman) You better wait a minute, wait a minute. Instead, there’s just that cartoon image of an empty mailbox. For one thing, the single’s cover art didn’t feature any actual Marvelettes. ![]() Still, it speaks to changes that were in the air. It’s a good song, with the sort of hook you can hear a mile away, but it’s also slight, and it just skirts the edges of silliness. The arrangement is jumpy and giddy, all sparkly piano and calypso-inflected drums. Postman” probably sounded like a novelty when it came out - a girl-group number that was simultaneously sadder (thanks to the heart-wracked vocals of lead Marvelette Gladys Horton) and happier (thanks to the interjecting chirps of other Marvelettes) than its competition. That’s a ton of historical significance for one song to bear. Postman,” but Motown Records would change things, polishing and professionalizing it (perfecting an assembly-line formula that bigger labels would struggle to replicate), and in the process producing a whole lot of eternally great art. Black pop music was doing just fine before “Please Mr. And while I’m sure you couldn’t tell at the time, the song would prove a harbinger. 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. But the Motown pop takeover was inevitable, and it finally arrived in the form of four teenage girls from Inkster, Michigan and their plea about a letter that never seems to arrive. Postman' is a song written by Georgia Dobbins, William Garrett, Freddie Gorman, Brian Holland, and Robert Bateman. Motown Records should’ve scored its first #1 months earlier, with the Miracles’ pop masterpiece “Shop Around,” but Lawrence Welk and his accordion got in the way. Postman, Playboy, Beechwood 4-5789 and those sultry midtempo. In The Number Ones, I’m reviewing every single #1 single in the history of the Billboard Hot 100, starting with the chart’s beginning, in 1958, and working my way up into the present.Ī lot begins here. You know the Marvelettes’ songs even if you don’t know their names (and you probably don’t): Please Mr.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |