Smokey Robinson

Smokey Robinson (2006)

William "Smokey" Robinson, Jr. (* 19th February 1940 in Detroit , Michigan ) is an American soul and R & B - singer , producer , arranger and songwriter , who was instrumental as one of the leading artists in the success of the record label Motown Records was involved. Between 1955 and 1972 he celebrated hits as the lead singer of the group The Miracles , followed by solo successes such as Baby That's Backatcha (1975), Cruisin ' (1979), Being with You (1981) and Just to See Her or One Heartbeat (1987) . His recording Quiet Storm (1975) gave its name to an entire radio format for soulful soul ballads.

Life

In the late 1950s, Robinson met Berry Gordy , the founder of the Motown label, in Detroit , and he and his band The Miracles became the young label's first hit supplier. The first America-wide hit success was Shop Around from 1960. Robinson became the romantic voice of the Motown sound in contrast to the group The Temptations . But he didn't just write hits for his own band. At Motown in the 1960s almost all artists recorded songs by Robinson (including Marvin Gaye , The Supremes and The Four Tops ) and ideally made hits out of them. Songs like My Guy by Mary Wells (1964) or My Girl by the Temptations (1964/65) became classics of the Motown sound. As Vice-President of Motown Records (since 1961), Smokey Robinson had a natural interest in making hits like these. At the same time, stylistically different artists such as the Rolling Stones , Sonny & Cher , Otis Redding , Mamas & Papas , Count Basie , Dean Martin and Ella Fitzgerald covered his songs. In 1970, Smokey Robinson had a number one hit in the United States with the song Tears of a Clown .

In the late 1980s, Motown was sold and Robinson retired from the board shortly thereafter. Since then he has been on tour again and again and is still a popular guest on radio and television. In 1987 he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame . The trade magazine Rolling Stone voted him 20th among the best singers and fifth among the 100 best songwriters of all time .

On July 7, 2009, Smokey Robinson opened the memorial service for Michael Jackson at the Staples Center in Los Angeles with a speech . He read out two letters of condolence. These came from the American singer Diana Ross and the Nobel Peace Prize winner Nelson Mandela .

various

In the 1970s he had an argument with the British band Smokey because he didn't want them to use his first name as a band name. They renamed themselves Smokie and under that name they became one of the most successful bands of the decade.

Another anecdote about his name comes from 1987, when the band ABC released their song When Smokey Sings . The text is about the effect Robinson's singing has on women, and sound elements from Smokey's song Tears of a Clown were used. In addition, the name relationship of the band is spicy, because ABC Records was a direct competitor of the Motown label, which Smokey Robinson had long presided over.

Discography

See also : The Miracles / Discography

Studio albums

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)			Remarks
		DE	UK	US
1973	Smokey	-	-	US70 (19 weeks) US
1974	Pure smokey	-	-	US99 (17 weeks) US
1975	A quiet storm	-	-	US36 (42 weeks) US
1976	Smokey's Family Robinson	-	-	US57 (15 weeks) US
1977	Deep in My Soul	-	-	US47 (14 weeks) US
1978	Love Breeze	-	-	US75 (19 weeks) US
1979	Smokin '	-	-	US165 (6 weeks) US	Taken on May 25, 1978 at Roxy, Sunset Boulevard , West Hollywood
1980	Where There's Smoke ...	-	-	US17 (47 weeks) US
	Warm thoughts	-	-	US14 (21 weeks) US
1981	Being with you	-	UK17 (10 weeks) UK	US10 gold (28 weeks)US
1982	Yes it's you lady	-	-	US33 (17 weeks) US
1983	Touch the sky	-	-	US50 (17 weeks) US
1984	Essar	-	-	US141 (11 weeks) US
1986	Smoke signals	-	-	US104 (13 weeks) US
1987	One heartbeat	-	-	US26th gold (58 weeks)US
1990	Love, Smokey	-	-	US112 (11 weeks) US
1999	Intimate	-	-	US134 (3 weeks) US
2006	Timeless Love	-	UK*UK	US109 (3 weeks) US	Listed in the UK as a double CD with the compilation My World: The Definitive Collection
2009	Time Flies When You're Having Fun	-	-	US59 (3 weeks) US
2014	Smokey & Friends	-	UK21 (3 weeks) UK	US12 (1 week) US

More studio albums

• 1972: Smokey the Writer
• 1977: Big Time - Original Music Score from the Motion Picture
• 1991: Double Good Everything
• 2004: Food for the Spirit

Compilations

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)			Remarks
		DE	UK	US
1983	Blame It on Love & All the Great Hits	-	-	US124 (7 weeks) US
1988	Love songs	-	UK69 gold (9 weeks)UK	-	with Marvin Gaye
2005	My World: The Definitive Collection	-	UK39 (2 weeks) UK	US64 (2 weeks) US	Listed in UK as double CD including album Timeless Love
2010	Now and Then	-	-	US131 (1 week) US

More compilations

1974: The Songs Of 1978: Smokey's World 1981: Smokey Robinson 1982: The Smokey Robinson Story - 18 Golden Greats 1983: 18 Greatest Hits (with The Miracles ) 1985: The Greatest Songs Written by Smokey Robinson 1987: Greatest Hits (with Marvin Gaye and The Miracles) (UK:silver) 1988: 16 all-time hits 1990: The Tracks of My Tears - The Best of Smokey Robinson (Writer & Performer) (with The Miracles, Mary Wells , Marvin Gaye, The Four Tops and The Temptations ) 1994: Motown Legends: Cruisin '- Being with You 1997: The Ultimate Collection

1999: The Best of Smokey Robinson & the Miracles (with The Miracles) 2000: The Best of Smokey Robinson 2006: Smokey Robinson & the Miracles (with The Miracles) 2007: Color Collection (with The Miracles) 2010: Icon 2010: The Solo Albums: Volume 1: Smokey / Pure Smokey 2010: The Solo Albums: Volume 2: A Quiet Storm / Smokey's Family Robinson 2010: The Solo Albums: Volume 3: Deep in My Soul / Big Time 2011: The Solo Albums: Volume 4: Love Breeze / Where There's Smoke ... 2011: The Solo Albums: Volume 5: Smokin ' 2011: The Solo Albums: Volume 6: Warm Thoughts / Being with You

Singles

year	Title album	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes)			Remarks
		DE	UK	US
1973	Sweet Harmony Smokey	-	-	US48 (13 weeks) US
	Baby Come Close Smokey	-	-	US27 (16 weeks) US
1974	Just My Soul Responding Smokey	-	UK35 (6 weeks) UK	-
	It's Her Turn to Live Pure Smokey	-	-	US82 (5 weeks) US
	Virgin Man Pure Smokey	-	-	US56 (7 weeks) US
	I Am I Am Pure Smokey	-	-	US56 (9 weeks) US
1975	Baby That's Backatcha A Quiet Storm	-	-	US26 (11 weeks) US
	The Agony and the Ecstasy A Quiet Storm	-	-	US36 (12 weeks) US
1976	Quiet Storm A quiet storm	-	-	US61 (7 weeks) US
	Open Smokey’s Family Robinson	-	-	US83 (8 weeks) US
1977	There Will Come a Day (I'm Gonna Happen to You) Deep in My Soul	-	-	US42 (11 weeks) US
1978	Daylight and Darkness Love Breeze	-	-	US75 (8 weeks) US
1979	Cruisin ' Where There's Smoke ...	-	-	US4 (25 weeks) US
1980	Let Me Be the Clock Warm Thoughts	-	-	US31 (14 weeks) US
1981	Being with You Being with You	-	UK1 gold (13 weeks)UK	US2 gold (25 weeks)US
	You Are Forever Being with You	-	-	US59 (7 weeks) US
1982	Tell Me Tomorrow - Part I Yes It's You Lady	-	UK51 (4 weeks) UK	US33 (12 weeks) US
	Old Fashioned Love Yes It's You Lady	-	-	US60 (9 weeks) US
1983	Blame It on Love Blame It on Love & All the Great Hits	-	-	US48 (12 weeks) US	with Barbara Mitchell
1984	And I Don't Love You Essar	-	UK90 (3 weeks) UK	-
1986	Hold On to Your Love Smoke Signals	-	UK83 (4 weeks) UK	-
1987	Just to See Her One Heartbeat	-	UK52 (10 weeks) UK	US8 (21 weeks) US
	One Heartbeat One Heartbeat	-	-	US10 (19 weeks) US
	What's Too Much One Heartbeat	-	-	US79 (10 weeks) US
1988	Love Don't Give No Reason One Heartbeat	-	UK89 (1 week) UK	-
1991	Double Good Everything Double Good Everything	DE59 (8 weeks) DE	-	US91 (3 weeks) US

More singles

1974: The Family Song 1976: When You Came 1976: To Old-Fashioned Man 1976: Just Passing Through 1977: Vitamin U 1977: Theme from Big Time 1978: Why You Wanna See My Bad Side 1978: Shoe Soul 1978: Madam X 1979: Get Ready 1980: Heavy on Pride (Light on Love) 1980: Wine, Women and Song 1981: Who's Sad 1981: Food for Thought 1981: Aqui contigo 1982: I've Made Love to You a Thousand Times 1982: Greatest Hits Medley

1982: Yes It's You Lady 1983: Don't Play Another Love Song 1983: Touch the Sky 1984: And I Don't Love You 1984: Hold On to Your Love 1984: I Can't Find 1986: Sleepless Nights 1986: Because of You (It's the Best It's Ever Been) 1987: Love Don't Give No Reason 1989: (It's The) Same Old Love 1990: Everything You Touch 1990: Take Me Through the Night 1991: Rewind 1999: Sleepin 'In 1999: Easy to Love 2009: Love Bath

Collaborations

year	Title album	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes)			Remarks
		DE	UK	US
1979	Pops, We Love You (A Tribute to Father) Diana's Duets	-	UK66 (5 weeks) UK	US59 (8 weeks) US	with Diana Ross , Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder
1983	Ebony Eyes Cold Blooded	-	UK96 (3 weeks) UK	US43 (12 weeks) US	with Rick James
1989	Indestructible Indestructible	DE14 (17 weeks) DE	UK30 (7 weeks) UK	-	The Four Tops feat. Smokey Robinson

Further collaborations

• 1987: I Know You by Heart ( Dolly Parton with Smokey Robinson)

Video albums

• 1992: Greatest Hits Live
• 2001: Standing Room Only
• 2004: Food for the Spirit
• 2005: My World: The Definitive Collection
• 2005: 20th Century Masters: DVD Collection
• 2006: The Definitive Performances: 1963–1987 (US:gold)

Awards for music sales

Golden record  Canada 1982: for the single Being with You

Note: Awards in countries from the chart tables or chart boxes can be found in these.

Country / Region	silver	gold	platinum	Sales	swell
Awards for music sales (country / region, awards, sales, sources)
Canada (MC)	-	gold1	-	75,000	musiccanada.com
United States (RIAA)	-	4 × gold4th	-	2,050,000	riaa.com
United Kingdom (BPI)	silver1	2 × gold2	-	660,000	bpi.co.uk
All in all	silver1	7 × gold7th	-

literature

• Smokey Robinson with David Ritz: Smokey: inside my life . McGraw-Hill, New York 1989. ISBN 0-07-053209-5 .

swell

1. ↑ Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Smokey Robinson in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
2. ↑ 100 Greatest Singers of All Time , accessed February 20, 2014
3. ↑ The 100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time. Rolling Stone , August 2015, accessed August 8, 2017 . 
4. ↑ ^{a b c d} Chart sources: Singles Albums UK US1 US2
5. ↑ ^{a b} The Billboard album by Joel Whitburn , 6th Edition, Record Research 2006, ISBN 0-89820-166-7 .

Web links

Commons : Smokey Robinson  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Smokey Robinson at Allmusic (English)
• Smokey Robinson at Discogs (English)
• Smokey Robinson in the Songwriters Hall of Fame
• Smokey Robinson's 75th birthday World hits in the highest tones , portrait of the musician on Deutschlandfunk, February 19, 2015