Wednesday, April 18, 2001
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Wednesday, April 18, 2001 |
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Summer concert series starts off smokin' By MICHAEL
BOYLAN
The summer concert series at the Frederick Brown Jr. Amphitheater is kicking off with a bang this weekend as pop legend Smokey Robinson comes to town. Robinson has more than 4,000 songs credited to him, is in the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame, the Vocal Group Hall of Fame with his former group the Miracles and also won a Grammy Legend award. Robinson was one of the biggest building blocks for Motown Records in its early years and has wooed audiences with hit songs in six decades. William "Smokey" Robinson was born in Detroit, Mich. in 1940. His love of music led him to start performing with some friends in a group called The Miracles in 1958. Berry Gordy, founder of Motown Records, loved their sound and signed the group in 1960. The Miracles' first hit was "Shop Around" in 1961, it reached number one on the R&B charts and number two on the pop charts. The group followed that song up with more hits, including "You Really Got A Hold On Me" and "Mickey's Monkey." By 1967, the group was called Smokey Robinson and the Miracles. They recorded some of their biggest hits in the final four years as a group, including "The Way You Do The Things You Do," "Tracks Of My Tears," "I Second That Emotion" and their final number one hit, "Tears Of A Clown." The group parted ways in 1971 having recorded over 24 Top 40 hits and in 1972, Robinson embarked on a solo singing career. During this time, Robinson was also vice president of Motown Records, helping acts like Mary Wells and The Temptations with some of their hit songs. Robinson co-wrote and/or co-produced both "My Guy" and "My Girl." In 1979, Robinson struck it big on the charts again with the song "Cruisin'," which reached number four on both the pop and R&B charts. In 1987, he released the album "One Heartbeat," which included the Grammy winning song "Just To See Her." That was the same year Robinson was inducted into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame. Three years later, he would be presented with the Grammy Legend Award. In 1990, Robinson left the Motown label, continuing to tour and record music. Nine years later he returned to the empire he helped build and recorded the Grammy-nominated album "Intimate," with executive producer Berry Gordy. Since then, Robinson has toured on the strength of his most recent album. He and The Miracles were also recently inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame. Robinson will bring his repertoire of hits and his soulful blend of rhythm and blues songs to the Frederick Brown Jr. Amphitheater this Friday and Saturday, April 20 and 21. The show will start at 8 p.m. and tickets are $35. Call 770-631-0630. |
