"Motown Songs" "The Contours That Day When She Needed Me" "Men Of Motown"

"Rough. Rowdy. Gritty. These are compliments. Compliments when talking about The Contours. The Contours at Motown were unlike any of the other male groups the company had. The Temptations were, well...THE TEMPTATIONS! Smokey Robinson & The Miracles were the group for romantic ballads and some good dance rockers. The Four Tops nailed the dramatic spectrum from A-to-Z of love. The Contours? They were men who were from around the way. They were street. They were the group that for the longest time, Motown decided not to try to "pretty up" the rough edges. And they were darn good at singing those dance tunes. There was no artifice or posing or posturing here- they were the link to an older style of gut-punching, sweaty, man-and-a-half R&B. So. How on earth did they come to record something like That Day When She Needed Me? Only one person at Motown, at least at the time, could have found the sweet spot in this group and that was Motown's ace in the hole, Smokey Robinson. Smokey had an astonishing ability to find out these hidden strengths in an artist that nobody else would have dreamed of. Contours lead singer Billy Gordon had one of the rawest voices EVER at Motown or anywhere else. You'd never think that voice could get within 250 miles of a sweet ballad and yet Smokey somehow heard something in Billy and the Contours that convince him the group could do this. Probably even more surprising that the group responsible for the anti-perspirant-proof "Do You Love Me" could sing this with such a sincerity and genuinely moving pathos. When Billy sings the line "Going home so I could explain/ why I was a million miles away that day when she needed me" I always feel like the pain and regret was very real, as if he was going through the lyrics in real life at the time. Even the way the song's call-and-response structure is done in a surprisingly inventive way. Instead of the other Contours just singing "ooohs" and "ahhhs", they are just as important to the narrative as Billy Gordon; it is they who help us coax the entire story out of Billy. Many at Motown had no idea this was The Contours, such was the radical change in vocal style Smokey brought out of Billy. Much like the vocal makeover he performed with Mary Wells, Smokey had Billy sing in a style closer to Smokey's own hushed, tender tones. (Note: when I first heard this on the radio, I had no idea who this was until the song got the the bridge and Billy suddenly broke out with YEAH, YEAH, YEAH in his trademark rasp!) Supposedly, when Berry Gordy heard the song and found out it was indeed the group, he was less than thrilled. His feeling was that there were 3 main male groups at Motown and each had their role and sound that the public was familiar with. To have the Contours sing something this tender would probably have thrown the public for a huge loop. No doubt, he must have felt the Contours were Motown's go to group for the dance tunes. Well, listen for yourself and see what you think. To get the full effect, listen to "Do You Love Me" first, then this one. Definitely this was one of Motown's most striking surprises and a beautiful one at that. That Day When She Needed Me (William Robinson) published Jobete 15-Nov-64 The Contours; recorded Hitsville, 1963 ; produced by Smokey Robinson ; [v2 2nd odb] 16-Nov-64; 45 (M): Gordy G 7037 B 23-Mar-99; CD (M): Motown 31454 9504 2 The Very Best Of The Contours 28-Jan-03; CD (M): Motown 064 040 2 Millennium Collection: The Best Of The Contours 24-Feb-06; CD (M): Hip-O Select B0005946-02 The Complete Motown Singles Vol. 4 1964" Recording info from the amazing site "Don't Forget The Motor City" http://www.dftmc.info/titles/tt-03.htm #motown #motownrecords #thecontours #motowngreatesthits #soulmusic #oldies #menofmotown #doyouloveme

Added 27 Sept 2026