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Mike Miracle Cole Miracle Biography & Facts

The Miracles (also known as Smokey Robinson and the Miracles from 1965 to 1972) were an American vocal group that was the first successful recording act for Berry Gordy's Motown Records, and one of the most important and most influential groups in the history of pop, soul, R&B and rock and roll music. The group's international fame in the 1960s, alongside other Motown acts, led to a greater acceptance of Rhythm & Blues and pop music in the U.S., with the group being considered influential and important in the development of modern popular music. Referred to as Motown's "soul supergroup", the Miracles recorded more than 50 chart hits, including 26 Top 40 pop hits, 16 of which reached the Billboard Top 20, seven Top 10 singles, and a number-one single ("The Tears of a Clown") while the Robinsons and Tarplin were members. Following the departure of Tarplin and the Robinsons, the rest of the group continued with singer Billy Griffin and managed by Martin Pichinson, who helped rebuild the Miracles. They scored two final Top 20 singles, "Do It Baby" and "Love Machine", a second No. 1 hit, which topped the charts before the group departed for Columbia Records in 1977. Recording as a quintet at Columbia with Billy's brother Donald Griffin replacing Marv Tarplin, after a few releases, they disbanded in 1978. In all, the group had more than fifty charted hits by the time they disbanded, and have won numerous music industry awards, including four songs inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, several BMI and ASCAP Songwriters' Awards, and Induction into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. On the R&B charts, the Miracles scored 26 Top 10 Billboard R&B hits, with four R&B No. 1's, and 11 U.S. R&B Top 10 Albums, including two No. 1's. Bobby Rogers and Ronald White revived the group as a touring ensemble sporadically during the 1980s and again in the 1990s. Following White's death in 1995, Rogers continued to tour with different members until he was forced into retirement due to health issues in 2011, dying less than two years later. Smokey Robinson was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a solo artist in 1987, and much controversy ensued over the Miracles' omission from the Hall. The Miracles were finally inducted into the Hall of Fame by lead singer Robinson in 2012. History Initial career and success The group that later became the Miracles was formed in 1955 by five teenage friends from Detroit, Michigan, under the name the Five Chimes. Three of the founding members, Smokey Robinson, Warren "Pete" Moore, and Ronnie White, had been singing together since they each were around the age of eleven. The group, influenced by acts such as Billy Ward and His Dominoes and Nolan Strong & the Diablos, featured Clarence Dawson and James Grice in the original lineup. All of the group's original members attended Northern High School in Detroit. After Dawson quit the group and Grice dropped out to get married, they were replaced by Emerson "Sonny" Rogers and his cousin Bobby and changed their name to the Matadors. Coincidentally, both Smokey Robinson and Bobby Rogers were born in the same hospital on the same date (February 19, 1940), despite not actually meeting each other until they were fifteen. In 1957, Sonny Rogers left to join the United States Army and Claudette Rogers, his sister, who had been singing with the sister group the Matadorettes, joined them shortly afterwards, and in 1958, the group became the Miracles. Following two years of courtship, Smokey and Claudette married in November 1959. The group's extensive work with Berry Gordy and Tamla Records gave the parent label Motown Record Corporation its first million-selling hit record with the 1960 Grammy Hall of Fame smash, "Shop Around", and further established themselves as one of Motown's top acts with the hit singles "You've Really Got a Hold on Me", "What's So Good About Goodbye", "Way Over There", "I'll Try Something New", "Mickey's Monkey", "Going to a Go-Go", "(Come 'Round Here) I'm the One You Need", "The Love I Saw in You Was Just a Mirage", "If You Can Want", "More Love", "I Don't Blame You at All", "Ooo Baby Baby", the multi-award-winning "The Tracks of My Tears", "My Girl Has Gone", "Special Occasion", "I Second That Emotion", "Baby Baby Don't Cry", the number-one Pop smashes "The Tears of a Clown" and "Love Machine", "Do It Baby", and "That's What Love Is Made Of", among numerous other hits. The group auditioned for Brunswick Records in front of Alonzo Tucker (an original member of the Midnighters who had since left the group to join Jackie Wilson's management team), Nat Tarnopol (Jackie Wilson's manager) and one of the label's staff songwriters, Berry Gordy, who remained quiet during the audition. Tucker was unimpressed by the audition, stating that because there was the Platters that "there couldn't be two groups in America like that with a woman in the group." After the Tarnopol and Tucker rejection, Gordy followed them and soon agreed to work with the group after discovering Robinson's notebook full of songs he had written and having been impressed with Robinson's singing voice. Gordy recorded their first single, "Got a Job", an answer song to the Silhouettes' "Get a Job" in January 1958. Gordy shortly thereafter struck a deal with George Goldner's End Records to distribute the single. Before the song was released, the group changed their name to the Miracles, taking it from the moniker "Miracletones", with the "'Tones" taken out. This first Miracles' single became a Top 10 National R&B Hit, peaking at #5, although it missed the Pop Hot 100. (see Miracles' Discography) .After earning only $3.19 for his production success, Gordy was told by Robinson to form his own label, which Gordy did, forming Tamla Records in 1959. One of the Miracles' first Tamla singles, the ballad "Bad Girl", became the Miracles' first song to chart on the Billboard Hot 100 Pop chart that October when it was licensed to and issued nationally by Chess Records. The next Miracles song, "It", was credited to "Ron & Bill", in a duet between White and Robinson, and was released on Tamla and nationally picked by Chess subsidiary Argo Records. Following a dismal reception at the Apollo Theater in 1959, Robinson recruited guitarist Marv Tarplin to join them on a few touring dates after Tarplin played with the Primettes (later the Supremes), with Tarplin officially joining the Miracles shortly afterwards. The addition of Tarplin was the final element in making the Miracles' "classic lineup" complete. In 1960, the Miracles reached the charts with "Way Over There", their second national hit, which Robinson wrote and based on the Isley Brothers' "Shout". Later that year, the Miracles released "Shop Around", backed with "Who's Lovin' You", which became the group's first smash hit, reaching number one on the R&B charts, number two on the Billboard Hot 100, and number one on the Cash Box Magazine "Top .... Discover the Mike Miracle Cole Miracle popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Mike Miracle Cole Miracle books.