The Motown sound was alive and well in the 80's, and one of the players leading the charge was also the voice that started it all.
1961's, Hi... We're The Miracles, was the first album released by Motown, then known as Tamla. Featuring the harmonizing vocals of Smokey Robinson, Ronnie White, Claudette Robinson, Warren "Pete" Moore, Bobby Rogers, and Marv Tarplin, The Miracles paved the way for future acts to come. They didn't just project the Motown sound, they were the foundation in which it was created.
Smokey left the group in 1972 with the intentions of retiring. However, after a year, he announced a solo career, releasing his eponymous album, Smokey. Unfortunately, success was not easily found as other Motown solo artists of the time, as Robinson struggled to produce hit singles.
As the critics began to talk, the singer came back with 1975's Quiet Storm, which produced three hits, including the number one chart topper, Baby That's Backatcha. The return was short lived, as Robinson found himself taking a back seat at Motown, with his follow up albums receiving minimal promotion from the label.
Robinson's solo career remained on somewhat of a roller coaster ride, with albums which either produced solid hits, or none at all. It's because of this, that the success he once saw with The Miracles never seemed to repeat. Of his nineteen solo albums released under the Tamla and Motown labels, only 1981's Being With You, and 1987's One Heartbeat received any form of certification, those both being Gold.
It's here where we pause for today's Retro Spin, firing up One Heartbeat.
When I first started listening to this record, I had no clue of the above history, which I researched while listening to it. In my mind, Smokey Robinson was a hit maker. "THE" voice of Motown. I quickly found out that this was not the case at all.
One Heartbeat started out strong with, Just To See Her, and the title track of the album, but from there tanks pretty hard. It's over saturated with ballads, and other tunes that simply fall flat. This was not what I expected at all, and it was incredibly disappointing.
Even my girl, who essentially grew up listening to Motown, agreed that the album as a whole wasn't any good. In fact, she too was surprised by this.
Robinson left the Motown label in 1999, and continued to release albums under various recording contracts, but overall, his albums continued to perform minimally, at best. His last album released to date was the Christmas themed, Christmas Everyday (2017).
This was a disappointing one. I really expected more from the original voice of The Miracles.
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| THIS WEEK ON THE CHARTS February 8, 1986 |
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