The Contours

The Contours,originally known as the Blenders, were formed in Detroit in 1958/9 by Billy Gordon, Joe Billingslea, Billy Hoggs and Billy Rollins. Leroy Fair soon replaced Rollins, and Hubert Johnson was added to sing the bass lines. The group recorded their first single for Finch Records in 1960 and then decided to try Motown. They failed their first audition in the Autumn of 1960 but managed to secure a second chance, after Johnson’s cousin Jackie Wilson persuaded Berry Gordy to hear them again. This time round, Gordy was happy to sign the group on a seven-year contract.

Before the end of 1961, the Contours, as the group was now known, had recorded two singles, both released on the new Motown label. The first was “Whole Lotta’ Woman” / “Come On and Be Mine”, produced by Gordy. The A-side was co-written by group member Billy Hoggs and Berry Gordy and the B-side co-written by group member Joe Billingslea and Berry Gordy. The second was “Funny”, co-written by Gordy and Mickey Stevenson, with “The Stretch” on the B-side, written by Berry Gordy’s sister Loucye Gordy Wakefield. Mickey Stevenson produced the record. The line-up now featured a new member, Benny Reeves (Martha’s brother), who had replaced Leroy Fair. Reeves soon left to join the navy, with Sylvester Potts coming in to fill the gap.

Their luck changed dramatically in 1962, when Berry Gordy switched them to his new subsidiary label Gordy and came up with a song that suited the group perfectly, “Do You Love Me”. With Billy Gordon’s lead vocal impossible to ignore, the song climbed to number one on the Billboard R&B Singles Chart and then reached number three on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart. It went on to sell over a million copies, later earning all concerned a gold disc from the RIAA. It was a hit all over again when Motown re-issued the song in 1988, following its inclusion in the film Dirty Dancing.

The song was covered by two well-known Pop groups in the UK. First, Brian Poole & the Tremoloes took the song to number one on the UK Official Pop Singles Chart in 1963, and then the Dave Clark Five version reached number eleven on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart in 1964.

The Contours released “Can You Do It” in February 1963, a song co-written by Motown singer Richard Street and Berry Gordy. It has strong echoes of their big hit “Do You Love Me”. Their second single of the year was another dance track, written by Ivy Jo Hunter and Mickey Stevenson, “Can You Jerk Like Me”, sung by a new Contours line-up of Billy Gordon, Council Gay, Jerry Green and Alvin English. It was a perfectly good song, but it was the B-side that attracted air-play. “That Day When She Needed Me” was a distinct departure from the norm. It is a sensitive ballad written and produced by Smokey Robinson with a call and response structure that consists of a number of questions from the group members to lead singer Billy Gordon, which he then answers. It was the last recording issued by the original group of Billy Gordon, Billy Hoggs, Joe Billingslea, Hubert Johnson and Sylvester Potts. The song reached number thirty-seven on the Cash Box R&B Singles Chart.

The Contours were given the chance to release just one single in 1965. “First I Look at the Purse”, issued in June, was written by Smokey Robinson and Bobby Rogers of the Miracles and was sung by the reformed group of Billy Gordon, Sylvester Potts, Council Gay and Jerry Green, with Huey Davis playing guitar as usual. It is a tongue-in-cheek look at what might attract a boy when he meets a girl, which comes down strongly in favour of how much money she has as the key attraction. It was Billy Gordon’s last outing with the Contours, as he left soon after the single was released, with Joe Stubbs coming in to replace him. Joe was the brother of the Four Tops’ lead singer Levi Stubbs. The song reached number fifty-seven on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart and number twenty on the Billboard R&B Singles Chart.

The Contours “Just A Little Misunderstanding” on the Kent Soul label

Album Cover Image courtesy of Ace Records UK

The group also had only single released in 1966. In April, Gordy Records issued “Just A Little Misunderstanding”, co-written by Clarence Paul, Stevie Wonder and Luvel Broadnax. The producers were Clarence Paul and Mickey Stevenson. Stevie Wonder played drums on the recording, with James Jamerson on bass and Huey Davis on guitar. The Andantes feature strongly, backing the group that is led for the first time on record by Joseph Stubbs, Levi’s brother, who left the Contours soon after this, with Dennis Edwards coming in as replacement. The song charted in the UK and the USA, reaching number thirty-one on the UK Official Pop Singles Chart and number eighteen on the Billboard R&B Singles Chart. On the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart it peaked at number eighty-five. The B-side is worth a listen. “Determination”, with Joe Stubbs on lead again, is a Smokey Robinson song, produced by Ivy Jo Hunter. It shows the group’s qualities really well.

The group’s contract with Motown expired in 1967. When Dennis Edwards was recruited by the Temptations not long after that, the group decided to disband. After a fantastic start with the success of “Do You Love Me”, they found it difficult to match the success of other male vocal groups at Motown. With output dwindling to one single a year, they were not able to re-ignite that early promise.