Music Blog, Sixties

Monday Motown Magic 5.6

Nancy's Notes 🖊️🎶

In 1960, Berry Gordy signed a talented group of vocalists called The Contours as one of Motown’s first acts. “Do You Love Me?”, recorded in 1962, was The Contours third single, far and away their best-known record. This song blazed its way up the charts and became a smash hit before being goosed all the way up the charts again more than 25 years later thanks to a little movie called Dirty Dancing.

As with many American R&B songs of the 1960s, “Do You Love Me” was recorded by several British Invasion groups. A 1963 version by Brian Poole and the Tremeloes reached number one on the UK Singles Chart. It also became a hit for the Dave Clark Five, reaching #11 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1964. “Do You Love Me” appeared twice on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, reaching #3 in 1962 and #11 in 1988.

This song is not just a big hit; it’s an enduring classic that’s still going strong!

From 1962, here are The Contours asking an age-old question: “Do You Love Me?”

And this is what was on the B Side – “Move, Mr. Man”

Thanks for joining me today for Monday Motown Magic.

See you on the flip side. 😎

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15 thoughts on “Monday Motown Magic 5.6”

    1. If you look up ‘dance song’ in the dictionary, the definition will be this song! It’s impossible not to dance when this tune is playing. These guys made a few other recordings but this was their only hit.

      I loved the DC5 and his drumming was tops …. always with that great smile.

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  4. Berry Gordy intended to give this to the Temptations for them to record, as they had not charted a Top 40 hit yet.  Gordy hit with a burst of inspiration and he knew this song was going places, so he set out to locate the Temptations, as he thought this would be a good fit for them.  He tried phoning the various group members, but got no answer and it seemed like they were nowhere to be found.  They had all departed Motown’s Hitsville USA recording studio to be in the audience for a local Detroit gospel music showcase, having no idea that Gordy was trying to get in touch with them.  After spending some time looking for the Temptations, Gordy ran into the Contours in the hallway.  Wanting to record and release ‘Do You Love Me’ as soon as possible, Gordy decided to let the Contours have his tune instead of the Temptations.

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    1. Fascinating! How this might have changed the course of musical history … especially for the Contours!

      Thanks, Jim.

      PS - I knew about Gordy wanting the Temptations to record it but the bit about not being able to track them down is news to me. Great background info!

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