Billy Gordon, Billy Hoggs, Joe Billingslea and Billy Rollins founded a singing group called The Blenders in their native Detroit, Michigan in 1959. The group soon added Leroy Fair (in place of Billy Rollins), bass singer Hubert Johnson, and guitarist Huey Davis, and auditioned for Berry Gordy's Motown Records. Gordy turned the act down, prompting Johnson to call his cousin, R&B star and Gordy associate Jackie Wilson. Wilson in turn got The Contours a second audition with Gordy, at which they sang the same songs they had at the first audition, the same way, and were signed to the company.
The group's first singles, "Whole Lotta Woman" and "The Stretch", were unsuccessful, and the group was in danger of being let go. Also at this time, Leroy Fair was replaced with Sylvester Potts. In early 1962, Gordy had the Contours record "Do You Love Me", a composition originally meant for The Temptations. The resulting record, with its shouted lead vocals from Billy Gordon, became a number-two hit 1962.
In 1964, Billy Hoggs, Joe Billingslea, Hubert Johnson, and Sylvester Potts all quit the group. Berry Gordy hired Council Gay, Jerry Green and Alvin English to back Billy Gordon, making the Contours a quartet. Within a year, Sylvester Potts returned to the group (replacing Alvin English), but Billy Gordon departed at about the same time. Gordon was replaced by Joe Stubbs, brother of Four Tops lead singer Levi Stubbs. Stubbs soon quit the act and was replaced by Dennis Edwards.
During the mid-1960s, The Contours recorded several records which received R&B radio play (notably "First I Look At The Purse" and "Just a Little Misunderstanding"), but were considered secondary to Motown's major male vocal groups: The Temptations, the Four Tops, and The Miracles. The group's contract with Motown expired in 1967, and the Contours disbanded. Lead singer Dennis Edwards was recruited to replace the departed David Ruffin as lead singer of The Temptations. Edwards later became a solo hitsmaker as well.
After the group's demise, Joe Billingslea has reformed the Contours several times. Billingslea first resurrected the group in 1971, with himself, Council Gay, Arthur Hinson, Martin Upshire and C. Autry Hatcher as its members. By 1987, the lineup included Billingslea, Hinson, Darell Nunlee, Charles Davis, and Motown-era Contour Sylvester Potts. The same year, "Do You Love Me" was prominently featured in the film Dirty Dancing, which led to a revival of both the recording and the Contours touring career.
The Contours were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989. The group is today a quartet led by Joe Billingslea, with fellow members Al Chisholm, Charles Davis, and Gary Grier. Former member Hubert Johnson committed suicide on July 11, 1981, and Huey Davis died February 23, 2000. Sylvester Potts died in January 2017.
It Must Be Love
The Contours Lyrics
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'Cause the thought of losing you makes me feel so doggone blue
There's something about you baby that makes my heart beat fast
My soul's on fire Virginia, how long will it last?
Do you really, really love me? (Do you really, really love me?)
Do you really, really love me? (Do you really, really love me?)
Do you really, really love me?
Heey, now, now, whoa, whoa, whoah
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Feels like I'm falling, falling from the mountain top
Going too fast and I can't stop
What could it be? (What could it be?)
What a life for me (What a life for me)
I can't understand (I can't understand)
Do you really love me baby or do I stand a chance?
Seems like I'm falling, falling
Baby, baby falling, falling
(It must be love)
I'm falling, falling
Baby, baby falling, falling
(It must be love)
Hey, hey!
There's something about you baby that makes my heart beat fast
My soul's on fire Virginia, how long will it last?
Do you really, really love me? (Do you really, really love me?)
Do you really, really love me? (Do you really, really love me?)
Do you really, really love me?
Or am I living in the past?
Feels like I'm falling, falling from the mountain top
Going too fast and I can't stop
What can it be? Now, now, now, now
What a life for me (What a life for me)
I can't understand (I can't understand)
Do you really love me baby or do I stand a chance?
Seems like I'm falling, falling
Baby, baby falling, falling
(It must be love)
Seems like I'm falling, falling
Baby, baby falling, falling
(It must be love)
The lyrics to The Contours' song "It Must Be Love" are about the singer's intense feelings for their partner, and their fear of losing them. The singer's inability to sleep at night and the feeling of falling from a mountain top represent their overwhelming emotions towards their partner. The repetition of the phrase "Do you really, really love me?" shows the singer's insecurities and the uncertainty of the relationship. The chorus repeats the idea that the singer is falling and that it must be love. The repetition emphasizes the forceful nature of the emotion, and the feeling that the singer cannot control it.
The lyrics of the song represent the classic Motown sound of the 1960s. The song was popularized by The Contours, a Detroit-based R&B group that was popular in the 1960s. The song was originally recorded by The Velvelettes, another Motown group, but it was never released. The Contours version of the song was released in 1963 and reached number 23 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
Line by Line Meaning
I can't sleep at night, I wake up baby in a terrible fright
The fear of losing you keeps me up and fills me with dread.
'Cause the thought of losing you makes me feel so doggone blue
The idea of being without you makes me sad and depressed.
There's something about you baby that makes my heart beat fast
Being around you quickens my pulse and excites me.
My soul's on fire Virginia, how long will it last?
I am so passionately in love with you, I wonder if this feeling will ever fade.
Do you really, really love me? (Do you really, really love me?)
Do you really, really love me? (Do you really, really love me?)
Do you really, really love me?
Or am I living in the past?
I need to know if your feelings for me are genuine, or if I'm holding onto old memories.
Feels like I'm falling, falling from the mountain top
Going too fast and I can't stop
My love for you is so intense that I feel like I'm tumbling down a mountainside and I can't slow down.
What could it be? (What could it be?)
What a life for me (What a life for me)
I can't understand (I can't understand)
Do you really love me baby or do I stand a chance?
I'm trying to make sense of my emotions and figure out if there's hope for our relationship.
Seems like I'm falling, falling
Baby, baby falling, falling
(It must be love)
My overwhelming feelings for you can only be described as love.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: JOSEPH BILLINGSEA, SYLVESTER JR POTTS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind