The Marvelettes were an all-girl group who achieved popularity in the early… Read Full Bio ↴The Marvelettes were an all-girl group who achieved popularity in the early to mid-1960s. They consisted of schoolmates Gladys Horton, Katherine Anderson (nee Schnaffer), Georgeanna Tillman (nee Gordon), Juanita Cowart (later Juanita Cowart Motley) and Georgia Dobbins, who was replaced by Wanda Young (nee Rogers) prior to the group signing their first deal. The group was the first major successful act of Motown Records after The Miracles and were its first significant successful girl group on the label's early years after the release of the number-one single, "Please Mr. Postman", one of the first number-one singles recorded by an all-female vocal group and the first by a Motown recording act.
Founded in 1960 while the group's founding members performed together at their glee club at Inkster High School in Inkster, Michigan, they eventually were signed to Motown Records' Tamla label in 1961. Some of the group's early hits were written by band members and some of Motown's rising singer-songwriters such as Smokey Robinson and Marvin Gaye, who played drums on a majority of their early recordings. Despite their early successes, the group was eclipsed in popularity by groups like The Supremes, with whom they shared an intense rivalry and struggled with issues of dismal promotion from Motown, illnesses and mental breakdowns, with Cowart the first to leave in 1963, followed by Georgeanna Tillman two years later and Gladys Horton two years after that. Nevertheless, they managed a major comeback in 1966 with "Don't Mess with Bill", followed by a few smaller follow-up hits.
The group ceased performing together in 1969 and, following the release of The Return of the Marvelettes in 1970, featuring only Wanda Rogers, the group disbanded for good, with both Rogers and Katherine Anderson leaving the music business.
The group has received several honors, including the Vocal Group Hall of Fame and the Pioneer Award from the Rhythm and Blues Foundation. In 2005, two of the group's most successful recordings, "Please Mr. Postman" and "Don't Mess with Bill" earned million-selling Gold singles from the RIAA. In 2012, the Marvelettes were nominated for 2013 induction to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
The group that would become the Marvelettes formed at Inkster High School in Inkster, Michigan, a suburb located west of Detroit, Michigan by fifteen-year-old glee club member Gladys Horton in the fall of 1960. Horton enlisted older glee club members Katherine Anderson, Georgeanna Tillman, Juanita Cowart and Georgia Dobbins, who was already a high school graduate, to join her. The members struggled to come up with a name for their new act until one of the members jokingly took a stab at their own singing abilities saying "we can't sing yet." Horton altered the saying to "The Casinyets".
In 1961, the quintet, which had then changed her name to the Marvels, entered a talent show contest on the behest of their teacher and ended up finishing in fourth place. Though only the first three winners were offered a trip to audition for the fledging Motown label, two of the girls' school teachers advised that they be allowed to audition too. Upon auditioning for Motown executives including Brian Holland and Robert Bateman, they had a second audition with bigger staff including Smokey Robinson and the label president and founder, Berry Gordy, who while impressed with their vocal styles advised them to come back with their own composition. Returning to Inkster, Georgia Dobbins contacted a local musician named William Garrett, who had an unfinished blues composition he titled "Please Mr. Postman". Garrett allowed Dobbins as long as he kept songwriting credits in case the song became a hit. Despite the fact that she had no previous songwriting experience, Dobbins took the song home and reshaped the song overnight to reflect the teenage sound of doo-wop.
Prior to returning to Motown, Dobbins left the group due to her growing family and her father, who advised her not to continue her career in show business. Dobbins left Horton in full charge of the group. To replace her, Horton asked another Inkster graduate, Wanda Young, to replace Dobbins. When the group returned and performed their composition, Gordy agreed to work with the group but under the advice that they change their name. Gordy renamed them The Marvelettes and signed the act to Motown's Tamla division in July 1961. The following month, the group recorded "Please Mr. Postman", which was polished by Brian Holland and Robert Bateman, and another composition, "So Long Baby", sung by Wanda. The drummer on the session was another inexperienced performer, a skinny 22-year-old hopeful named Marvin Gaye. Tamla issued "Please Mr. Postman" the following September. The song then made a slow but eventual climb to the top of the singles chart, reaching #1 that December. making them the first Motown act to have a number-one hit on the Hot 100.
To follow up on this success, Motown had the group record "Twistin' Postman" to take advantage of the twist dance craze and the re-release of Chubby Checker's "The Twist". The song eventually peaked at #34 on the pop chart in early 1962. Before the end of 1961, Tamla issued the first Marvelettes album, also named Please Mr. Postman, but it failed to chart. The group's next single, "Playboy", marked the second time one of their singles was written by a band member, this time by Gladys Horton. Like "Postman", the song was retooled by other writers and upon its released in early 1962, reached #7. A fourth hit, "Beechwood 4-5789", co-written by Marvin Gaye, reached #17. During 1962, two more albums would be issued by the band including The Marvelettes Sing and Playboy. Following the success of "Beechwood", R&B radio stations also frequently played the song's b-side, "Someday, Someway", which paid off sending the song to #8 on the R&B chart becoming their first double-sided hit.
Due to their success, the group had to leave school in order to perform for audiences and despite the promise of tutors to help with their schooling, they were never granted any. Due to their young ages and Horton being an orphaned ward of the courts, they eventually were taken in by Esther Gordy Edwards, who bussed them to Motortown Revue shows. After several successful Top 40 recordings, the group released the modest success, "Strange I Know", which peaked at #49. In early 1963, the group was shortened to a quartet when Juanita Cowart opted to leave the band citing a mental breakdown caused by stress from performing on the road and a mistake she made in describing the group's background during an appearance on American Bandstand. Carrying on as a quartet, the group issued one of Holland–Dozier–Holland's early compositions, "Locking Up My Heart", which peaked at #44. It was one of the first singles to feature Horton and Young in co-leads. The success of "Locking" was probably tested due to strong airplay by the song's B-side, the Young-led ballad "Forever", which also received a pop charting, peaking at #78. Following this, Berry Gordy composed and produced the single, "My Daddy Knows Best", but this led to their lowest charting at the time, #97.
By 1964, the majority of American vocal groups especially all female bands such as The Shirelles and The Ronettes started struggling with finding a hit after the arrival of British pop and rock acts. In the meantime, other Motown girl groups such as Martha & The Vandellas and The Supremes were starting to get promoted by Motown staff with the Vandellas becoming the top girl group of 1963. The following year, the Supremes took their place as the label's top primary female group after a succession of hit recordings that year, culminating in the release of their second album, Where Did Our Love Go, which Motown was able to promote successfully. Contrary to popular belief, the Marvelettes never received the song, "Where Did Our Love Go", which the Supremes later recorded as their first number-one hit, though Wanda Young-Rogers was to have said that she thought the song was "absolutely ridiculous".
That year, the Marvelettes reached the top forty with the Norman Whitfield production, "Too Many Fish in the Sea", reaching #25 with the recording. By now, Motown had begun its charm school hiring choreographer Cholly Atkins and Maxine Powell to refine the label's acts. Atkins began polishing the Marvelettes' dance moves while Powell taught the group to be more graceful. telling them and every other Motown act that they would "perform in front of kings and queens". Meanwhile two of the Marvelettes got married: Georgeanna Tillman married longtime boyfriend Billy Gordon of The Contours and Wanda Young married her longtime boyfriend Bobby Rogers of The Miracles changing her name to Wanda Rogers. By the end of 1964, Georgeanna Tillman, a longtime sufferer of sickle cell anemia was diagnosed with lupus. By early 1965, struggling to keep up with their stringent recording sessions and touring schedules and her illnesses, a doctor of Tillman's advised her to leave performing for good. The rest of the Marvelettes carried on as a trio from then on.
In mid-1965, Wanda Rogers took over as lead vocalist, as Motown producers felt Rogers' voice was more suitable for this rolethan Horton's. With Rogers as lead, the group had a hit with "I'll Keep Holding On", which reached #34 while "Danger! Heartbreak Dead Ahead" settled for a #61 showing but was #11 on the R&B chart. Later in 1965, the group released the Smokey Robinson composition, "Don't Mess with Bill", which brought the group back to the top ten reaching #7 and becoming their second single to sell over a million copies. From then on, with Robinson mainly in charge, most of the Marvelettes singles would feature Rogers on lead. To enhance the fading vocal talents of the group in general, Gordy hired The Andantes to "smooth out" the group's rough edges. In 1966, they had a modest success with "You're the One" and by the end of that year, they reached the top 20 with the ballad "The Hunter Gets Captured by the Game", which was almost not released due to the song having a jazz influence. In 1967, the group recorded the Van McCoy composition, "When You're Young and in Love", which had been originally recorded by Ruby & the Romantics. The song reached #23 in the U.S. and peaked at #13 in the UK.
By 1967, Gladys Horton had reconsidered her involvement with the Marvelettes. After her first child, Sammie, was born with cerebral palsy, Horton decided to leave the group entirely, doing so before the release of the hit "My Baby Must Be a Magician". The song peaked at #17 and was noted for featuring The Temptations' Melvin Franklin providing the opening line. With Horton out, Harvey Fuqua introduced the group to Ann Bogan and they agreed on Bogan as Horton's replacement. However, by the time Bogan joined the group in 1968, most of the musicians of Motown's early years had left, mainly due to financial disputes with the label. The group struggled with recordings after the release of "Magician", with Motown offering little to no promotion. The 1968 singles "Here I Am Baby" and "Destination: Anywhere" were only modestly successful, peaking at #44 and #63 respectively. The release of their 1969 album, In Full Bloom, failed as did its only single, the Justine Washington remake of "That's How Heartaches Are Made".
Wanda Rogers substance abuse and alcoholism led to problems. Concert scheduling was difficult as she sometimes failed to turn up for performances. In 1970, Rogers recorded songs for the album, The Return of The Marvelettes, which was produced by Smokey Robinson and included covers of earlier Motown recordings. As this album featured no other Marvelettes, original member Katherine Anderson refused to participate in appearing on the cover of the album due to what she felt was Motown's disrespect towards her and the group. The album was only a modest hit, reaching #50 on the R&B album charts and featured no charted hit singles. Following this, the group went their disbanded with Katherine Anderson settling briefly as a staff writer for Motown. After Motown moved to Los Angeles in 1972, Anderson and Rogers left the business altogether returning to Michigan with Anderson settling in her hometown of Inkster while Rogers moved to Southfield, Michigan. Meanwhile, Gladys Horton had moved to Los Angeles where she raised her three sons.
In January 1980, former Marvelette and original member Georgeanna Tillman died from complications of lupus, in her mother's house in Inkster, at the age of 36. Shortly afterwards, several of the former members filed suit against Motown, complaining of not receiving any royalties from their work. In 1989, Gladys Horton tried to reunite the original Marvelettes after being offered a contract with Motorcity Records. Wanda Young was the only other Marvelette to agree to sing on the recording. Following this, Horton continued to perform, sometimes as "Gladys Horton of the Marvelettes". Due to a legal disagreement with Larry Marshak, who bought the Marvelettes' name from Motown after the label lost rights to the name, Horton would fight for years to retain ownership of the name. Marshak had several groups billing themselves as "The Marvelettes", but the women billing themselves as the group members who portrayed themselves as the Marvelettes were much younger than the original lineup.
By 2006, legislation had been launched in 33 states via The Truth In Music Act to prevent performers from using the name of a group that didn't have at least one original member, causing the groups who Marshak had hired as Marvelettes to bill themselves as "Tribute to the Marvelettes". Both Horton and Katherine Anderson began fighting to get back ownership of the name and were in their final stages of having the name returned to them when Horton died from a stroke at a California nursing home in January 2011. Following their exits from the Marvelettes, both Georgia Dobbins and Juanita Cowart remained in Inkster and settled into life outside the entertainment industry, with Cowart being active in her Inkster church choir. Wanda Rogers now lives with her daughter in Westland, Michigan while Katherine Anderson resides in Inkster and mentors several Detroit-area vocal groups. Ann Bogan, the latter-day member of the group, now lives in Cleveland, Ohio and is a member of a gospel group. All the surviving members of the group were recently interviewed for an episode of their lives on the TV-One show, Unsung.
In 2005, the group was awarded two gold plaques for their biggest hits, "Please Mr. Postman" and "Don't Mess with Bill" after the RIAA had certified the singles as million-sellers. The following year, Horton appeared on the PBS concert special, My Music Salute to Early Motown, along with other Motown stars from the label's early years. Some of the group's recordings were later sampled for songs by rap musicians, most notably Jay-Z's song, "Poppin' Tags", sampled the group's 1970 cover of Smokey Robinson's composition, "After All", from his 2002 album, The Blueprint 2: The Gift & The Curse.
In 1995, they were honored with the "Pioneer Award" at the Rhythm & Blues Foundation. In 2004, the group was inducted to the Vocal Group Hall of Fame. In 2006, Marc Taylor issued the biography, The Original Marvelettes: Motown's Mystery Girl Group. The group's story had been documented several years before in Goldmine magazine from a 1984 article.
In 2009, as part of Motown's 50th Anniversary celebrations, a new limited-edition triple-CD set on the group entitled The Marvelettes: Forever – The Complete Motown Albums Vol. 1 was released. This featured the group's first six albums, some of which had never been released on CD. The Marvelettes: Forever More – The Complete Motown Albums Vol. 2, which included their later albums and bonus material, was released in 2011.
In 2012 the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame nominated the Marvelettes for 2013 induction. They became eligible for induction in 1987.
Founded in 1960 while the group's founding members performed together at their glee club at Inkster High School in Inkster, Michigan, they eventually were signed to Motown Records' Tamla label in 1961. Some of the group's early hits were written by band members and some of Motown's rising singer-songwriters such as Smokey Robinson and Marvin Gaye, who played drums on a majority of their early recordings. Despite their early successes, the group was eclipsed in popularity by groups like The Supremes, with whom they shared an intense rivalry and struggled with issues of dismal promotion from Motown, illnesses and mental breakdowns, with Cowart the first to leave in 1963, followed by Georgeanna Tillman two years later and Gladys Horton two years after that. Nevertheless, they managed a major comeback in 1966 with "Don't Mess with Bill", followed by a few smaller follow-up hits.
The group ceased performing together in 1969 and, following the release of The Return of the Marvelettes in 1970, featuring only Wanda Rogers, the group disbanded for good, with both Rogers and Katherine Anderson leaving the music business.
The group has received several honors, including the Vocal Group Hall of Fame and the Pioneer Award from the Rhythm and Blues Foundation. In 2005, two of the group's most successful recordings, "Please Mr. Postman" and "Don't Mess with Bill" earned million-selling Gold singles from the RIAA. In 2012, the Marvelettes were nominated for 2013 induction to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
The group that would become the Marvelettes formed at Inkster High School in Inkster, Michigan, a suburb located west of Detroit, Michigan by fifteen-year-old glee club member Gladys Horton in the fall of 1960. Horton enlisted older glee club members Katherine Anderson, Georgeanna Tillman, Juanita Cowart and Georgia Dobbins, who was already a high school graduate, to join her. The members struggled to come up with a name for their new act until one of the members jokingly took a stab at their own singing abilities saying "we can't sing yet." Horton altered the saying to "The Casinyets".
In 1961, the quintet, which had then changed her name to the Marvels, entered a talent show contest on the behest of their teacher and ended up finishing in fourth place. Though only the first three winners were offered a trip to audition for the fledging Motown label, two of the girls' school teachers advised that they be allowed to audition too. Upon auditioning for Motown executives including Brian Holland and Robert Bateman, they had a second audition with bigger staff including Smokey Robinson and the label president and founder, Berry Gordy, who while impressed with their vocal styles advised them to come back with their own composition. Returning to Inkster, Georgia Dobbins contacted a local musician named William Garrett, who had an unfinished blues composition he titled "Please Mr. Postman". Garrett allowed Dobbins as long as he kept songwriting credits in case the song became a hit. Despite the fact that she had no previous songwriting experience, Dobbins took the song home and reshaped the song overnight to reflect the teenage sound of doo-wop.
Prior to returning to Motown, Dobbins left the group due to her growing family and her father, who advised her not to continue her career in show business. Dobbins left Horton in full charge of the group. To replace her, Horton asked another Inkster graduate, Wanda Young, to replace Dobbins. When the group returned and performed their composition, Gordy agreed to work with the group but under the advice that they change their name. Gordy renamed them The Marvelettes and signed the act to Motown's Tamla division in July 1961. The following month, the group recorded "Please Mr. Postman", which was polished by Brian Holland and Robert Bateman, and another composition, "So Long Baby", sung by Wanda. The drummer on the session was another inexperienced performer, a skinny 22-year-old hopeful named Marvin Gaye. Tamla issued "Please Mr. Postman" the following September. The song then made a slow but eventual climb to the top of the singles chart, reaching #1 that December. making them the first Motown act to have a number-one hit on the Hot 100.
To follow up on this success, Motown had the group record "Twistin' Postman" to take advantage of the twist dance craze and the re-release of Chubby Checker's "The Twist". The song eventually peaked at #34 on the pop chart in early 1962. Before the end of 1961, Tamla issued the first Marvelettes album, also named Please Mr. Postman, but it failed to chart. The group's next single, "Playboy", marked the second time one of their singles was written by a band member, this time by Gladys Horton. Like "Postman", the song was retooled by other writers and upon its released in early 1962, reached #7. A fourth hit, "Beechwood 4-5789", co-written by Marvin Gaye, reached #17. During 1962, two more albums would be issued by the band including The Marvelettes Sing and Playboy. Following the success of "Beechwood", R&B radio stations also frequently played the song's b-side, "Someday, Someway", which paid off sending the song to #8 on the R&B chart becoming their first double-sided hit.
Due to their success, the group had to leave school in order to perform for audiences and despite the promise of tutors to help with their schooling, they were never granted any. Due to their young ages and Horton being an orphaned ward of the courts, they eventually were taken in by Esther Gordy Edwards, who bussed them to Motortown Revue shows. After several successful Top 40 recordings, the group released the modest success, "Strange I Know", which peaked at #49. In early 1963, the group was shortened to a quartet when Juanita Cowart opted to leave the band citing a mental breakdown caused by stress from performing on the road and a mistake she made in describing the group's background during an appearance on American Bandstand. Carrying on as a quartet, the group issued one of Holland–Dozier–Holland's early compositions, "Locking Up My Heart", which peaked at #44. It was one of the first singles to feature Horton and Young in co-leads. The success of "Locking" was probably tested due to strong airplay by the song's B-side, the Young-led ballad "Forever", which also received a pop charting, peaking at #78. Following this, Berry Gordy composed and produced the single, "My Daddy Knows Best", but this led to their lowest charting at the time, #97.
By 1964, the majority of American vocal groups especially all female bands such as The Shirelles and The Ronettes started struggling with finding a hit after the arrival of British pop and rock acts. In the meantime, other Motown girl groups such as Martha & The Vandellas and The Supremes were starting to get promoted by Motown staff with the Vandellas becoming the top girl group of 1963. The following year, the Supremes took their place as the label's top primary female group after a succession of hit recordings that year, culminating in the release of their second album, Where Did Our Love Go, which Motown was able to promote successfully. Contrary to popular belief, the Marvelettes never received the song, "Where Did Our Love Go", which the Supremes later recorded as their first number-one hit, though Wanda Young-Rogers was to have said that she thought the song was "absolutely ridiculous".
That year, the Marvelettes reached the top forty with the Norman Whitfield production, "Too Many Fish in the Sea", reaching #25 with the recording. By now, Motown had begun its charm school hiring choreographer Cholly Atkins and Maxine Powell to refine the label's acts. Atkins began polishing the Marvelettes' dance moves while Powell taught the group to be more graceful. telling them and every other Motown act that they would "perform in front of kings and queens". Meanwhile two of the Marvelettes got married: Georgeanna Tillman married longtime boyfriend Billy Gordon of The Contours and Wanda Young married her longtime boyfriend Bobby Rogers of The Miracles changing her name to Wanda Rogers. By the end of 1964, Georgeanna Tillman, a longtime sufferer of sickle cell anemia was diagnosed with lupus. By early 1965, struggling to keep up with their stringent recording sessions and touring schedules and her illnesses, a doctor of Tillman's advised her to leave performing for good. The rest of the Marvelettes carried on as a trio from then on.
In mid-1965, Wanda Rogers took over as lead vocalist, as Motown producers felt Rogers' voice was more suitable for this rolethan Horton's. With Rogers as lead, the group had a hit with "I'll Keep Holding On", which reached #34 while "Danger! Heartbreak Dead Ahead" settled for a #61 showing but was #11 on the R&B chart. Later in 1965, the group released the Smokey Robinson composition, "Don't Mess with Bill", which brought the group back to the top ten reaching #7 and becoming their second single to sell over a million copies. From then on, with Robinson mainly in charge, most of the Marvelettes singles would feature Rogers on lead. To enhance the fading vocal talents of the group in general, Gordy hired The Andantes to "smooth out" the group's rough edges. In 1966, they had a modest success with "You're the One" and by the end of that year, they reached the top 20 with the ballad "The Hunter Gets Captured by the Game", which was almost not released due to the song having a jazz influence. In 1967, the group recorded the Van McCoy composition, "When You're Young and in Love", which had been originally recorded by Ruby & the Romantics. The song reached #23 in the U.S. and peaked at #13 in the UK.
By 1967, Gladys Horton had reconsidered her involvement with the Marvelettes. After her first child, Sammie, was born with cerebral palsy, Horton decided to leave the group entirely, doing so before the release of the hit "My Baby Must Be a Magician". The song peaked at #17 and was noted for featuring The Temptations' Melvin Franklin providing the opening line. With Horton out, Harvey Fuqua introduced the group to Ann Bogan and they agreed on Bogan as Horton's replacement. However, by the time Bogan joined the group in 1968, most of the musicians of Motown's early years had left, mainly due to financial disputes with the label. The group struggled with recordings after the release of "Magician", with Motown offering little to no promotion. The 1968 singles "Here I Am Baby" and "Destination: Anywhere" were only modestly successful, peaking at #44 and #63 respectively. The release of their 1969 album, In Full Bloom, failed as did its only single, the Justine Washington remake of "That's How Heartaches Are Made".
Wanda Rogers substance abuse and alcoholism led to problems. Concert scheduling was difficult as she sometimes failed to turn up for performances. In 1970, Rogers recorded songs for the album, The Return of The Marvelettes, which was produced by Smokey Robinson and included covers of earlier Motown recordings. As this album featured no other Marvelettes, original member Katherine Anderson refused to participate in appearing on the cover of the album due to what she felt was Motown's disrespect towards her and the group. The album was only a modest hit, reaching #50 on the R&B album charts and featured no charted hit singles. Following this, the group went their disbanded with Katherine Anderson settling briefly as a staff writer for Motown. After Motown moved to Los Angeles in 1972, Anderson and Rogers left the business altogether returning to Michigan with Anderson settling in her hometown of Inkster while Rogers moved to Southfield, Michigan. Meanwhile, Gladys Horton had moved to Los Angeles where she raised her three sons.
In January 1980, former Marvelette and original member Georgeanna Tillman died from complications of lupus, in her mother's house in Inkster, at the age of 36. Shortly afterwards, several of the former members filed suit against Motown, complaining of not receiving any royalties from their work. In 1989, Gladys Horton tried to reunite the original Marvelettes after being offered a contract with Motorcity Records. Wanda Young was the only other Marvelette to agree to sing on the recording. Following this, Horton continued to perform, sometimes as "Gladys Horton of the Marvelettes". Due to a legal disagreement with Larry Marshak, who bought the Marvelettes' name from Motown after the label lost rights to the name, Horton would fight for years to retain ownership of the name. Marshak had several groups billing themselves as "The Marvelettes", but the women billing themselves as the group members who portrayed themselves as the Marvelettes were much younger than the original lineup.
By 2006, legislation had been launched in 33 states via The Truth In Music Act to prevent performers from using the name of a group that didn't have at least one original member, causing the groups who Marshak had hired as Marvelettes to bill themselves as "Tribute to the Marvelettes". Both Horton and Katherine Anderson began fighting to get back ownership of the name and were in their final stages of having the name returned to them when Horton died from a stroke at a California nursing home in January 2011. Following their exits from the Marvelettes, both Georgia Dobbins and Juanita Cowart remained in Inkster and settled into life outside the entertainment industry, with Cowart being active in her Inkster church choir. Wanda Rogers now lives with her daughter in Westland, Michigan while Katherine Anderson resides in Inkster and mentors several Detroit-area vocal groups. Ann Bogan, the latter-day member of the group, now lives in Cleveland, Ohio and is a member of a gospel group. All the surviving members of the group were recently interviewed for an episode of their lives on the TV-One show, Unsung.
In 2005, the group was awarded two gold plaques for their biggest hits, "Please Mr. Postman" and "Don't Mess with Bill" after the RIAA had certified the singles as million-sellers. The following year, Horton appeared on the PBS concert special, My Music Salute to Early Motown, along with other Motown stars from the label's early years. Some of the group's recordings were later sampled for songs by rap musicians, most notably Jay-Z's song, "Poppin' Tags", sampled the group's 1970 cover of Smokey Robinson's composition, "After All", from his 2002 album, The Blueprint 2: The Gift & The Curse.
In 1995, they were honored with the "Pioneer Award" at the Rhythm & Blues Foundation. In 2004, the group was inducted to the Vocal Group Hall of Fame. In 2006, Marc Taylor issued the biography, The Original Marvelettes: Motown's Mystery Girl Group. The group's story had been documented several years before in Goldmine magazine from a 1984 article.
In 2009, as part of Motown's 50th Anniversary celebrations, a new limited-edition triple-CD set on the group entitled The Marvelettes: Forever – The Complete Motown Albums Vol. 1 was released. This featured the group's first six albums, some of which had never been released on CD. The Marvelettes: Forever More – The Complete Motown Albums Vol. 2, which included their later albums and bonus material, was released in 2011.
In 2012 the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame nominated the Marvelettes for 2013 induction. They became eligible for induction in 1987.
Too Strong to Be Strung Along
The Marvelettes Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Hey! Listen now
Everybody's talking about their heartache
And crying an ocean of tears
But I'm too strong to be strung along
By some silly boy's foolish charm
It just boils my blood to see a girl so weak
Weak and humbled at me
Because if it was me I'd make that silly boys see
Ain't nothing they can do to put the hurt on me
(I'm too strong to be, strung along
By some silly boy's foolish charms)
Now listen! Hey!
(If it was me I'd make those silly boys see
Ain't nothing they can do to put the hurt on me)
It made me so mad when I saw Wanetta
Taking in that playboy's jive
I told her once and I told her twice
He'd take her love and leave her cold as ice
A tip to the wise should be sufficient enough
Playing around with love, girl, is really rough
It just boils my blood to see a girl so weak
Weak and humbled at me
Because if it was me I'd make that silly boys see
Ain't nothing they can do to put the hurt on me
(I'm too strong to be, strung along
By some silly boy's foolish charms)
I'm too strong now baby~
(If it was me I'd make those silly boys see
Ain't nothing they can do to put the hurt on me)
One more time now!
(I'm too strong to be, strung along
By some silly boy's foolish charms)
Hey, now listen!
(If it was me I'd make those silly boys see
Ain't nothing they can do to put the hurt on me)
I'm too strong baby, too strong
To be, strung along
By some silly boy's foolish charms
Everybody's talking about their heartache
And crying an ocean of tears
But I'm too strong to be strung along
By some silly boy's foolish charm
It just boils my blood to see a girl so weak
Because if it was me I'd make that silly boys see
Ain't nothing they can do to put the hurt on me
(I'm too strong to be, strung along
By some silly boy's foolish charms)
Now listen! Hey!
(If it was me I'd make those silly boys see
Ain't nothing they can do to put the hurt on me)
It made me so mad when I saw Wanetta
Taking in that playboy's jive
I told her once and I told her twice
He'd take her love and leave her cold as ice
A tip to the wise should be sufficient enough
Playing around with love, girl, is really rough
It just boils my blood to see a girl so weak
Weak and humbled at me
Because if it was me I'd make that silly boys see
Ain't nothing they can do to put the hurt on me
(I'm too strong to be, strung along
By some silly boy's foolish charms)
I'm too strong now baby~
(If it was me I'd make those silly boys see
Ain't nothing they can do to put the hurt on me)
One more time now!
(I'm too strong to be, strung along
By some silly boy's foolish charms)
Hey, now listen!
(If it was me I'd make those silly boys see
Ain't nothing they can do to put the hurt on me)
I'm too strong baby, too strong
To be, strung along
By some silly boy's foolish charms
The Marvelettes' "Too Strong to Be Strung Along" is an empowering anthem for women who refuse to be manipulated or controlled by men. The opening lines are a commentary on how everyone talks about heartbreak and the emotions they go through when dealing with it. However, the singer of the song is too strong to allow herself to be strung along by a man's "foolish charm". The lyrics go on to say that it's frustrating to see women reduced to a state of weakness by men's deceptive ways, and it’s the female protagonist's mission to set things right.
The second verse features the Marvelettes addressing Wanetta, a woman who has fallen prey to a playboy. The Marvelettes express their disapproval and warn Wanetta that her connection with this “silly boy” will only lead to heartbreak. The Marvelettes project that love could be really rough, and that playing with it as Wanetta did will lead to disastrous consequences. The chorus is a reaffirmation of the singer's strength and refusal to let anyone hurt her.
The song became popular for its message of female empowerment, which was quite rare for women in the '60s to express. It was in tune with the feminist movement of the time and provided a new voice for working women who wanted nothing more than to be treated better than love-struck fools.
Line by Line Meaning
Hey! Listen now
Listen up, pay attention
Everybody's talking about their heartache
Many people are talking about their broken hearts
And crying an ocean of tears
They are also crying excessively
But I'm too strong to be strung along
However, I am not easily manipulated
By some silly boy's foolish charm
By the silly charms of a boy
It just boils my blood to see a girl so weak
It infuriates me to see a girl so helpless
Weak and humbled at me
She appears vulnerable and defeated in my presence
Because if it was me I'd make that silly boy see
If I were in her position, I would make that boy realize
Ain't nothing they can do to put the hurt on me
That no one can hurt me
Now listen! Hey!
Listen up, hey!
It made me so mad when I saw Wanetta
I got angry when I saw Wanetta
Taking in that playboy's jive
Being fooled by that playboy's smooth talk
I told her once and I told her twice
I warned her not once, but twice
He'd take her love and leave her cold as ice
That he would use her love and then abandon her
A tip to the wise should be sufficient enough
A smart person should only need one warning
Playing around with love, girl, is really rough
Taking love lightly can be very difficult
I'm too strong now baby~
I am very strong now
One more time now!
One more time, let me say it
I'm too strong baby, too strong
I am extremely strong
To be, strung along
And cannot be manipulated
By some silly boy's foolish charms
By the silly charms of a boy
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: BRIAN HOLLAND, FREDDIE GORMAN, LAMONT HERBERT DOZIER
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
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