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 (and label'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. The song was the Gordy label's first million-seller, and it still holds the record as Motown's fastest rising hit of all time.
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". However, by the time this song was released, The Contours would undergo a major restructuring.
THE CONTOURS with Joe Billingslea continue to record and tour extensively. Their show is jam-packed with dazzling high-energy choreography, impeccable harmonies and those timeless Motown grooves that everyone knows and loves.
You can choose to dance, sing along, or just sit back (if you can) and watch the show as they perform all of their greatest hits together with many of the greatest hits of the 1960s and a selection of classic songs from the Dirty Dancing Soundtrack. The show is as high energy as it was in the 1960s, though the flips and splits of yesteryear have been replaced by a brilliant choreography more suited to gentlemen in their second half-century of life!
Hit Songs include:
"Whole Lotta' Woman" "Do You Love Me" "Shake Sherry" "Can You Jerk Like Me" "That Day When She Needed Me" "First I Look at the Purse" "Just a Little Misunderstanding"
