The Contours
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| The Contours | ||
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 The cover to the Contours' only Motown LP, Do You Love Me (Now That I Can Dance)
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| Background information | ||
| Origin | Detroit, Michigan USA | |
| Genre(s) | R&B | |
| Years active | 1959 - 1968; 1971 - present | |
| Label(s) | Motown | |
| Members | ||
| Joe Billingslea Al Chisholm Charles Davis Gary Grier |
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| Former members | ||
| Billy Gordon Billy Hoggs Billy Rollins Hubert Johnson Leroy Fair Huey Davis Council Gay Jerry Green Alvin English Joe Stubbs Dennis Edwards Arthur Hinson Martin Upshire C. Autry Hatcher |
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The Contours were one of the early soul singing groups signed to Motown Records. The group is best known for its singular Billboard Top 40 hit, "Do You Love Me".
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[edit] History
[edit] Establishment and "Do You Love Me"
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.
[edit] Mid-1960s career
However, the Contours seemed unable to capitalise on the success of "Do You Love Me", and the group was beset by personnel changes. 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.
[edit] After Motown
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.
Although they charted up a posthumous hit in 1970 with a rerelase of "Just A Little Misunderstanding" (their only hit in the United Kingdom), The Contours' real claim to fame lies with "Do You Love Me". Both these tracks and others Contours work can be found on various Motown compilation albums.
[edit] Discography
[edit] Singles
All singles were issued on Gordy Records unless otherwise noted
- 1961: "I'm So Glad" (issued on Hob)
- 1961: "Whole Lotta Woman" (issued on Motown)
- 1961: "The Stretch" (issued on Motown)
- 1962: "Do You Love Me" (#3 US, #1 R&B)
- 1963: "Shake Sherry" (#21 R&B)
- 1964: "Can You Do It" (#41 US)
- 1964: "Can You Jerk Like Me" (#47 US, #15 R&B)
- 1965: "The Day When She Needed Me" (b-side of "Can You Jerk Like Me", #37 R&B)
- 1965: "First I Look at the Purse" (#57 US, #12 R&B)
- 1966: "Just a Little Misunderstanding" (#85 US, #18 R&B)
- 1967: "It's So Hard Being a Loser" (#79 US, #35 R&B)
[edit] Albums
- Do You Love Me (Now That I Can Dance) (Gordy, 1962)
- A New Direction (Orchard, 2000)
[edit] References
- "The Contours". History-of-rock.com
- "Joe Billingslea and the Contours, RIchard De La Font Booking Agency" Delafont.com
