The Marvelettes were an all-girl group who achieved popularity in the early to mid-1960s. They consisted of schoolmates Gladys Horton, Katherine Anderson (later Katherine Anderson Schnaffer), Georgeanna Tillman (later Georgeanna Tillman-Gordon), Juanita Cowart (later Juanita Cowart Motley) and Georgia Dobbins, who was replaced by Wanda Young (later Wanda Rogers) prior to the group signing their first deal. The group was the first major successful act of Motown Records after The Miracles and were its first significant successful girl group on the label's early years after the release of the 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.
Founded in 1960 while the group's founding members performed together at their high school's glee club, they eventually were signed to Motown Records' Tamla label in 1961. Some of the group's early hits were written by band members and some of Motown's rising singer-songwriters such as Smokey Robinson and Marvin Gaye, who played drums on a majority of their early recordings. Despite their early successes, the group was eclipsed in popularity by groups like The Supremes, with whom they shared an intense rivalry and struggled with issues of dismal promotion from Motown, illnesses and mental breakdowns, with Cowart the first to leave in 1963, followed by Georgeanna Tillman two years later and Gladys Horton two years after that. Nevertheless, they managed a major comeback in 1966 with "Don't mess with Bill", followed by a few smaller follow-up hits.
The group ceased performing together in 1969 and, following the release of The Return of the Marvelettes in 1970, featuring only Wanda Rogers, the group disbanded for good, with both Rogers and Katherine Anderson leaving the music business.
The group has received several honors, including the Vocal Group Hall of Fame and the Pioneer Award from the Rhythm and Blues Foundation. In 2005, the band's most successful recordings, "Please Mr. Postman" and "Don't Mess with Bill" earned them two gold-certified awards from the RIAA. In 2012, the Marvelettes were nominated for induction to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
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