Contours, The

Delight in a Motown revue you will never forget

Genre:  60's,  70's,  Motown
Location: Detroit

About Contours, The :

The road to a Motown recording contract was a rough one for The Contours. Berry Gordy wasn't very impressed with The Contours following a three song audition in 1959 and sent them on their way.
Hubert Johnson, one of the original members of The Contours thought his cousin, Jackie Wilson might be able to help with some much needed advice. Wilson, a rock and roll legend by this time asked the group to perform some of their material for him. Once he was satisfied, Wilson called his old friend Berry Gordy back at the Motown offices. The very next day The Contours had a seven year contract with the Gordy label.
In the summer of 1962, The Contours hit the jackpot with the Berry Gordy penned classic "Do You Love Me". This tune became the group's biggest hit as well as Motown's fastest climbing hit of all time. Within two weeks of its' release, "Do You Love Me" became the #2 record in the nation as well as the group's first gold record. The ensuing years brought forth such Contour hits as "Shake Sherrie", "Can You Do It", "Jerk Like Me", "Just A Little Misunderstanding" and "First I Look At The Purse".
Today, under the leadership of original members, Joe Billingslea and Sylvester Potts, The Contours are center stage once again. Their high energy Motown show encompasses all of the spirit that made those wonderful "Motown Revues" so popular back in the 60's. Their material highlights all of the huge hits that came out of Motown during the 60' & 70's from The Temptations, Four Tops, Marvin Gaye, The Miracles and of course all of the great Contour classics.
Much of the resurgence in the Contours popularity has to do with the 1988 Acadamy Award winning film, "Dirty Dancing". Their hit "Do You Love Me" was featured in the film, and became so popular that it gave birth to an international tour entitled "The Dirty Dancing Tour" starring The Contours, Bill Medley, Merry Clayton and Eric Carmen. That tour lasted 10 months and played to over 2 million fans in 8 countries before it ceased production.
During this time, Motown Records was quick to capitalize on The Contours popularity by reissuing their original version of "Do You Love ME" in single and album form. That move paid great dividends for everyone as "Do You Love Me" climbed to #11 on the national charts. In current developments, two of their tunes, "Do You Love Me" and "First I Look At The Purse" were part of a 4 CD box set "Hitsville USA", 1959-1972 recently certified Gold.

Available For:
Corporate Events
Private Parties
Rehearsal Dinner
Wedding Reception

No sample video available.

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Here are a few samples:

Whole Lotta Woman
Come On And Be Mine
The Stretch
Funny
Do You Love Me
Move Mr. Man
Shake Sherry
You Better Get In Line
Don't Let Her Be Your Baby
It Must Be Love
You Get Ugly
Pa I Need A Car
Can You Do It
I'll Stand By You
The Day When She Needed Me
Can You Jerk Like Me
First I Look At The Purse
Searching For A Girl
Just A Little Misunderstanding
Determination
It's So Hard Being A Loser
Your Love Grows More Precious Every Day
Baby Hit And Run
Makes Me Wanna Come Back