The Contours

The Contours were one of the early African-American soul singing groups signed to Motown Records. The group is best known for its singular Billboard Top 10 hit, "Do You Love Me," a song that peaked twice in the Top 20.

History establishment and "do you love me"

Joe Billingslea, Billy Gordon, Billy Hoggs, and Billy Rollins founded a singing group called The Blenders in their native Detroit, Michigan in 1959. The group soon added Leroy Fair (in place of Billy Rollins) and bass singer Hubert Johnson and changed the name to The Contours. In the fall of 1960, the group auditioned for Berry Gordy's Motown Records. Gordy turned the act down, prompting the group to pay a visit to the home of Johnson's cousin, R&B star and Gordy associate Jackie Wilson. Wilson in turn got The Contours a second audition with Gordy, at which they sang the same songs they had at the first audition, the same way, and were signed to a seven-year contract.

The group's first single, "Whole Lotta' Woman," was released in January 1961 and failed to chart. Within months of its release, Leroy Fair was replaced by Benny Reeves, brother of Martha Reeves. Shortly thereafter, Benny Reeves left to serve in the United States Navy and he was replaced by Sylvester Potts. In 1961 the group's second single, "The Stretch", was released and it also failed to chart. In early 1962, Gordy had The Contours record "Do You Love Me," a composition originally meant for The Temptations. The resulting record, with its shouted lead vocals from Billy Gordon, became a number-two hit in 1962.

Mid-1960s career

Although The Contours never quite repeated the extraordinary success of "Do You Love Me," they returned to the charts three times during 1963 and 1964 with "Shake Sherry," "Can You Do It" and "Can You Jerk Like Me." In 1964, Billy Hoggs, Joe Billingslea, Hubert Johnson, and Sylvester Potts all left Motown. Berry Gordy hired Council Gay, Jerry Green and Alvin English to back Billy Gordon, making the Contours a quartet. Within a year, Sylvester Potts returned to the group (replacing Alvin English), and Billy Gordon departed shortly thereafter. Gordon was replaced by Joe Stubbs, brother of Four Tops lead singer Levi Stubbs. Stubbs soon quit the act and was replaced by Dennis Edwards.

During the mid 1960s The Contours recorded several records which received R&B radio play (notably "First I Look at the Purse" and "Just a Little Misunderstanding"), but were considered secondary to Motown's major male vocal groups: The Temptations, the Four Tops, and The Miracles. The group's seven-year contract with Motown expired in 1967 and when lead singer Dennis Edwards was recruited to replace the departed David Ruffin as lead singer of The Temptations in early 1968, The Contours disbanded. Edwards later became a solo hits maker as well.

Although they charted up a hit in the UK Singles Chart in 1970 with a re-release of "Just A Little Misunderstanding," The Contours' real claim to fame lies with "Do You Love Me." Both these tracks and others Contours work can be found on various Motown compilation albums.

After Motown

In the early 1970s, Joe Billingslea resurrected the group with himself, Council Gay, Arthur Hinson, Martin Upshire and C. Autry Hatcher as its members, and began performing at local clubs around Detroit. During the seventies and early eighties, the group's popularity increased and they began playing dates throughout the US and even some international dates. In 1984, Charles Davis replaced Hinson and a week later Potts rejoined the group replacing Gay. In 1987, Hatcher left the group and Arthur Hinson returned. In 1988, Darell Nunlee was added when Martin Upshire left. The same year, "Do You Love Me" was prominently featured in the film Dirty Dancing. In 1988, a reissue of "Do You Love Me" sent the song back to the Billboard pop charts for eight weeks, peaking at number eleven. The movie and the record spawned a 1988 "Dirty Dancing Concert Tour" followed by a new recording contract for Ian Levine's Motorcity RecordsFlashback and Revenge although the latter was not released although the songs came out on a later compilation. where the group recorded two albums

In 1992, Hinson left the group, and it continued as a quartet until 1993 when Nunlee left. Al Chisholm (formerly with The Falcons) and Gary Grier were recruited in 1993. This configuration - Joe Billingslea, Chisholm, Davis, Grier and Potts - continued from 1993 until 2004.

In 2004, Sylvester Potts left to form his own group with the four members (Leroy Seabrooks, Kim Green, Tony Womack and Darell Nunlee) of a local Detroit group named Upscale, which immediately began performing as 'The Contours'. Billingslea sued and Potts countersued, each claiming the rights to the name. These suits were resolved in an out-of-court settlement which provided for the existence of both groups to be identified as "Joe Billingslea and The Contours" and "The Contours featuring Sylvester Potts," respectively. Seabrooks has since left the Potts group making it a quartet. In 2006, Joe Billingslea and The Contours filled the vacant bass singing spot created by Potts' departure with Odell Jones. Both groups are currently performing. Joe Billingslea and The Contours are among the acts featured in a DVD released by Motown in January 2007 called "Motown: The Early Years," featuring their appearances on the Public Broadcasting System specials.

Present times

Billingslea continues to perform with "Joe Billingslea and The Contours." Original member Hoggs left The Contours in 1964 to become a minister. Today he is retired and lives in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan. In 2005, Hoggs made his first and only appearance since 1964, singing with Billingslea and The Contours for the taping of "Motown: The Early Years." Johnson committed suicide in Detroit on July 11, 1981. Gordon died in 1999 and Fair died in December 2004. Mid-1960s member Joe Stubbs - brother of Levi Stubbs - died February 5, 1998. Huey Davis (pictured on the Do You Love Me album cover, but never officially a member of The Contours) died February 23, 2000 at his home in Detroit. Potts continues to perform with his version of the Contours to this day. They can be seen headlining the 'Ultimate Doo Wop' series of concerts that travel around the United States each year.

Discography singles

All singles were issued on Gordy Records unless otherwise noted

• 1961: "Whole Lotta' Woman" (issued on Motown)
• 1961: "The Stretch" (issued on Motown)
• 1962: "Do You Love Me" (#3 US, #1 R&B)
• 1963: "Shake Sherry" (#43 US, #21 R&B)
• 1964: "Can You Do It" (#41 US, #16 R&B)
• 1964: "Can You Jerk Like Me" (#47 US, #15 R&B)
• 1965: "The Day When She Needed Me" (b-side of "Can You Jerk Like Me," #37 R&B)
• 1965: "First I Look at the Purse" (#57 US, #12 R&B)
• 1966: "Just a Little Misunderstanding" (#85 US, #18 R&B)
• 1967: "It's So Hard Being a Loser" (#79 US, #35 R&B)
• 1988: "Do You Love Me" (#11 US, issued on Motown, re-released after the success of the 1987 movie Dirty Dancing)
• 1989: "Face Up to the Fact" (issued on Motorcity Records)
• 1992: "Running in Circles" (issued on Motorcity Records)

Discography albums

• Do You Love Me (Now That I Can Dance) (Gordy, 1962)
• Flashback (Motorcity Records, 1990)
• The Very Best (Hot Productions, 1995)
• The Very Best of the Contours [Original Recording Remastered] (Motown, 1999)
• Essential Collection (Spectrum, 2000)
• A New Direction (Orchard, 2000)
• 20th Century Masters: Millennium Collection (Universal, 2003)
• Live II (Middle Earth, 2003)