The Contours
In the late 1950s in Detroit, two singers named Joe Billingslea and Billy Gordon left their group (The Majestics) to create their own vocal group. Billingslea placed an ad in the local paper for other singers and Billy Hoggs answered it. Hoggs suggested they also consider his neighbor, Billy Rollins. Billingslea and Gordon agreed and named the quartet “The Blenders.” Almost immediately, Rollins was replaced with another friend of Hoggs named Leroy Fair. After singing together for a while, the group decided that adding a fifth member would round out the harmonies and complete the sound that Billingslea and Gordon were looking for. They added Hubert Johnson. By the fall of 1960, The Blenders believed they had perfected their sound to the point where they could make a recording. They visited a music company called “Flick and Contour Records.” The audition didn’t pan out, but Billingslea, intrigued by the company’s name convinced the group to change its name to “The Contours.” In January 1961, Motown released The Contours “Whole Lotta Woman,” “Come On And Be Mine.” The record did not have much success. Shortly afterward, there was some disappointing news for Leroy Fair. Despite his great voice, Leroy couldn’t handle the required choreography. The group replaced him with Bennie Reeves. Reeves tenure ended when the United States Navy called him to active duty. Sylvester Potts replaced Reeves. This group recorded, “The Stretch,” “Funny” which didn’t fare much better than the first effort. However, for The Contours, the third time would become the charm! In 1962, Gordy created a new label for Motown Records called the Gordy label and signed The Contours as its first artist. In the summer of 1962, the group recorded Berry Gordy Jr.’s, “Do You Love Me,” resulting in the group’s first hit. Within two weeks of its release, the song roared to #2 on the Billboard Hot 100, taking the #1 spot on the R&B charts and #3 on the pop charts. It remained on the charts for five months. In 1963, the group charted another hit, sending “Shake Sherry” to the #21 position on the R&B charts (#43 pop). In 1964, they charted “Can You Do It” at #41 R&B. Still in 1964, they recorded a ballad entitled “The Day When She Needed Me.” The group had irreconcilable creative differences with Motown. At a 1964 meeting with Berry Gordy, Jr., original members Joe Billingslea and Billy Hoggs along with Sylvester Potts announced they were quitting. A week later original member Hubert Johnson resigned, leaving Billy Gordon as the only original member of the group. Motown reconstructed the group as a quartet, adding Council Gay, Jerry Green and Alvin English. The reconstituted group recorded and released “Can You Jerk Like Me??” On the flip side was “The Day When She Needed Me” by the earlier members of The Contours. Both songs charted in 1965 (#15 R&B and #37 R&B/#47 pop respectively). The reconstituted group also charted “First I Look At the Purse” (#12 R&B/#57 pop, 1965). After a year Sylvester Potts returned to the group replacing Alvin English. However, almost immediately afterwards, the only remaining original member, Billy Gordon, left and was replaced by Joe Stubbs. This group charted “Just a Little Misunderstanding” (#18 R&B/#85 pop, 1966). Joe Stubbs quit and was replaced by Dennis Edwards (who would later replace David Ruffin in The Temptations). After its contract with Motown expired, The Contours disbanded.. In 1971, original member Joe Billingslea revived the group, playing a few dates here and there. In 1984, “Do You Love Me” was included in the movie, “Dirty Dancing,” starring Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey. This revived the song and it returned to the pop charts in July 1988 for eight weeks, peaking at #11. The movie soundtrack spawned a “Dirty Dancing Concert Tour”, which featured THE CONTOURS, entertaining over two million fans in eight countries. The “Dirty Dancing Tour” was Performance’s 1998 Variety Act of the Year. The tour also gave birth to a live CD release. THE CONTOURS contributed “Get Ready,” “Higher and Higher,” “Cry to Me” and “Do You Love Me” to the 1989 release “Dirty Dancing Live In Concert.” In September 1998, THE CONTOURS released a CD, “Great Dirty Dancing Hits”, sprinkled with several of their hits as well as hits of other artists. In July 1999, yet another Dirty Dancing CD, “Dirty Dancing: More Dirty Dancing” which included “Do You Love Me” was released. In all, re-released version contributed to ten million new copies of the song, “Do You Love Me.” THE CONTOURS have been nominated for The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. 52
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