5
After struggling at Motown for most
of the 1960s, toiling as chaperones,
chauffeurs, background singers,
and road managers when they
weren’t releasing fine but overlooked
singles (their biggest seller, the doo-
wop-drenched
That’s What Girls Are
Made For
, came out in 1961 on Tri-
Phi Records before Berry Gordy
swallowed the imprint up), The
Spinners finally nailed a huge seller
in 1970 with the Stevie Wonder-
produced
It’s A Shame
.
But stardom wouldn’t envelop the choreographically immaculate quintet in
their native Detroit. It would take Philadelphia producer Thom Bell to lift
The Spinners to major stardom on Atlantic Records. Ironically, G.C.
Cameron, lead singer on
It’s A Shame
, wouldn’t be joining them there
.
“One of the reasons I had to stay at Motown was because my contract
was not up, and theirs were. We signed individual contracts, and I came
in much later in the game,”
says G.C.
“I had no choice but to remain
behind when they went over to Atlantic.”
1. The Spinners
Could It Be I’m Falling In Love
(Melvin Steals-Mervin Steals)
Atlantic 2904
