Shop Around
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| "Shop Around" | ||
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| Single by The Miracles | ||
| from the album Hi...We're the Miracles | ||
| B-side(s) | Who's Lovin' You | |
| Released | October 1960 | |
| Format | vinyl record (7" 45 RPM) | |
| Recorded | Hitsville USA (Studio A) 1960 |
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| Genre | Soul | |
| Length | 3:04 (Detroit version) 2:50 (National hit version) |
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| Label | Tamla T 54034 |
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| Writer(s) | Smokey Robinson and Berry Gordy | |
| Producer(s) | Berry Gordy | |
| Chart positions | ||
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| The Miracles singles chronology | ||
| "Way Over There" (1960) |
"Shop Around" (1960) |
"Who's Lovin' You" (1960) |
"Shop Around" is a 1960 single by The Miracles (credited as "The Miracles featuring Bill 'Smokey' Robinson") for the Tamla (Motown) label, catalog number T 54034. It is notable as being the label's first #1 hit on the Billboard magazine R&B singles chart, and also hit #2 on the Hot 100.
The song, written by Robinson and Berry Gordy, depicts a mother giving her now-grown son advice about how to find a woman worthy of being a girlfriend or wife ("My mama told me/'you better shop around'"). The original recorded version of the song had a strong blues influence, and was released in the local Detroit, Michigan area before Gordy decided that the song needed to be re-recorded in order to be more commercially viable outside of Detroit. So at 2 a.m. one morning, Robinson, Claudette Rogers, Bobby Rogers, Ronnie White, and Pete Moore recorded a new, poppier version of "Shop Around" that became a major national hit. The original record label credits Bill "Smokey" Robinson as the writer, and Berry Gordy as the Producer.
Since its release, "Shop Around" has become an often-remade tune, on record, in live performance, and on television. One notable version by The Captain and Tennille hit #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1976. The Captain and Tennille's Toni Tennille changed the song's lyrics slightly so that they were sung from a woman's perspective.
"Shop Around" also inspired an answer record, "Don't Let Him Shop Around," performed by Debbie Dean (the first white artist ever signed to a Motown label). It charted #92 on the Hot 100 in February 1961 and was Dean's only chart entry.
"Shop Around's" b-side, "Who's Lovin' You", also became a Motown classic composition, mostly due to its plethora of covers, including a famous one by The Jackson 5 in 1969.
This song was voted #495 in the List of Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time
[edit] Credits
- Lead vocals by Smokey Robinson
- Background vocals by Claudette Rogers Robinson Pete Moore, Ronnie White, and Bobby Rogers.
- Written by Berry Gordy and William "Smokey" Robinson
- Produced by Berry Gordy
- Instrumentation by The Funk Brothers
