The Marvelettes

The Marvelettes – American girl group that achieved popularity in the early- to mid-1960s. They consisted of schoolmates Gladys Horton, Katherine Anderson, Georgeanna Tillman, Juanita Cowart (now Cowart Motley), and Georgia Dobbins, who was replaced by Wanda Young prior to the group signing their first deal.

They were the first major successful act of Motown Records after the Miracles and its first significantly successful girl group after the release of the 1961 number-one single, “Please Mr. Postman“, one of the first number-one singles recorded by an all-female vocal group and the first by a Motown recording act.

“Postman”, as well as other chrpy early-’60s hits like “Playboy“, “Twistin’ Postman“, and “Beechwood 4-5789“, were the label’s purest girl group efforts. Featuring two strong lead singers, Gladys Horton and Wanda Young, the Marvelettes went through five diffrent lineups, but maintained a high standard on their recordings.

After a few years, they moved from girl group sounds to up-tempo and mid-tempo numbers that were more characteristic of Motown’s production line. They received no small help from Smokey Robinson, who produced and wrote many of their singles; Holland-Dozier-Holland, Berry Gordy, Mickey Stevenson, Marvin Gaye, and Ashford-Simpson also got involved with the songwriting and production at various points.

After the mid-’60s Wanda Young assumed most of the lead vocal duties; Gladys Horton departed from the group in the late ’60s. While the Marvelettes didn’t cut as many monster smashes as most of their Motown peers after the early ’60s, they did periodically surface with classic hits like “Too Many Fish in the Sea,” “Don’t Mess With Bill,” and “The Hunter Gets Captured by the Game.”

The group quietly disbanded in the early ’70s after several years without a major hit.