"Shop Around" is a song originally recorded by

the Miracles The Miracles (also known as Smokey Robinson and the Miracles from 1965 to 1972) were an American vocal group that was the first successful recording act for Berry Gordy's Motown Records, and one of the most important and most influential grou ...

Motown Records Motown Records is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. It was founded by Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on June 7, 1958, and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau of ''moto ...

' Tamla subsidiary label. It was written by Miracles lead singer

Smokey Robinson William "Smokey" Robinson Jr. (born February 19, 1940) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and former record executive director. He was the founder and front man of the Motown vocal group the Miracles, for which he was also chi ...

and Motown Records founder

Berry Gordy Berry Gordy III (born November 28, 1929), known professionally as Berry Gordy Jr., is a retired American record executive, record producer, songwriter, film producer and television producer. He is best known as the founder of the Motown record la ...

. It became a smash hit in 1960 when originally recorded by the Miracles, reaching number one on the ''Billboard'' R&B chart, number one on the ''Cashbox'' Top 100 Pop Chart, and number 2 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart. It was the Miracles' first million-selling hit record, and the first-million-selling hit for the Motown Record Corporation. This landmark single was a multiple award winner for the Miracles, having been inducted into the

Grammy Hall of Fame The Grammy Hall of Fame is a hall of fame to honor musical recordings of lasting qualitative or historical significance. Inductees are selected annually by a special member committee of eminent and knowledgeable professionals from all branches of ...

in 2006, inducted into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as one of The 500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll, and honored by ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its co ...

'' as #500 in their list of

The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" is a recurring survey compiled by the American magazine ''Rolling Stone''. It is based on weighted votes from selected musicians, critics, and industry figures. The first list was published in December 2004 in ...

, dropping it 5 spots from #495 in the 2004 version.

The Miracles original version

Background

The original version of "Shop Around" by

(credited as "The Miracles featuring Bill 'Smokey' Robinson"), was released in 1960 on

Motown Motown Records is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. It was founded by Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on June 7, 1958, and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau of ''mot ...

's Tamla label, catalog number T 54034. The song, written by Smokey Robinson and

, depicts a mother giving her now-grown son advice about how to find a woman worthy of being a girlfriend or wife ("My mama told me/'you better shop around'"). The original version of the song had a strong blues influence, and was released in the local area of

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

, before Gordy decided that the song needed to be re-recorded to achieve wider commercial appeal. At 3 a.m. one morning, the Miracles (Robinson,

Claudette Rogers Claudette Annette Rogers Robinson ( Rogers; born June 20, 1938) is an American singer, best known as a member of the vocal group The Miracles from 1957 to 1972. Her brother Emerson "Sonny" Rogers was a founding member of the group, which befor ...

, Bobby Rogers,

Ronnie White Ronald Anthony White (April 5, 1939 – August 26, 1995), usually referred to as Ronnie White, was an American singer, best known as the co-founder of The Miracles and its only consistent original member. White was also known for bringing Stevi ...

, and Pete Moore) recorded a new, poppier version of the song that became a major national hit. The original record label credits Bill "Smokey" Robinson as the writer, with Berry Gordy as producer. On the ''

American Top 40 ''American Top 40'' (previously abbreviated to ''AT40'') is an internationally syndicated, independent song countdown radio program created by Casey Kasem, Don Bustany, Tom Rounds, and Ron Jacobs. The program is currently hosted by Ryan Sea ...

'' program of July 4, 1987,

Casey Kasem Kemal Amin "Casey" Kasem (April 27, 1932 – June 15, 2014) was an American disc jockey, actor, and radio personality, who created and hosted several radio countdown programs, notably ''American Top 40''. He was the first actor to voice No ...

reported that Gordy had previously rejected 100 songs by Robinson as "garbage" before accepting the 101st, "Shop Around," as "a hit." The single was the first Motown record to be released in the UK, on

Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934 by Lewis, Jack Kapp, American Decca's first president, and Milton Rackmil, who later became American Decca's president. ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

label. Pictured in the infobox is the subsequent EP release, coupling the "Shop Around" single with its follow-up, "Ain't It Baby". The two singles and the EP were the only Motown releases on the London label.

Reception

"Shop Around" was a big hit for the Miracles, becoming the group's first number 1 hit on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' R&B singles chart, spending eight weeks at the top, and also hitting No. 2 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, behind "

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comm ...

" by

Lawrence Welk Lawrence Welk (March 11, 1903 – May 17, 1992) was an American accordionist, bandleader, and television impresario, who hosted the '' The Lawrence Welk Show'' from 1951 to 1982. His style came to be known as "champagne music" to his radio, te ...

. "Shop Around" also reached No. 1 on the '' Cashbox'' magazine Top 100 pop chart and is also noted for being the first million-selling record for the Miracles and for the Motown Record Corporation, as well as a 2006

inductee. The

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record company ...

to "Shop Around", "

Who's Lovin' You "Who's Lovin' You" is a Motown soul song, written in 1960 by William "Smokey" Robinson. The song has been recorded by many different artists including The Miracles, who recorded the 1960 original version, The Temptations, The Supremes, Te ...

", also saw a plethora of covers, including a version by

The Jackson 5 The Jackson 5 (sometimes stylized as the Jackson 5ive, also known as the Jacksons) are an American pop band composed of members of the Jackson family. The group was founded in 1964 in Gary, Indiana, and for most ...

in 1969. "Shop Around" inspired an answer record, "Don't Let Him Shop Around" by

Debbie Dean Debra "Debbie" Dean is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera ''Hollyoaks'', played by Jodi Albert. She first appeared in 2002, before Albert quit the role in 2004. She made her final appearance during 2005, before making a ...

. Dean's "Don't Let Him Shop Around" charted No. 92 on the Hot 100 in February 1961 and was Dean's only chart entry.

later recorded a sequel song for his 1987 album '' One Heartbeat'', entitled "It's Time to Stop Shopping Around".

Awards and accolades

* The

Record Corporation's first million-selling hit record. * Inducted into the

in 2006. * The Motown Record Corporation's first ''

'' number-one R&B hit. It held the No. 1 position on the ''Billboard'' R&B Chart for 8 consecutive weeks. * Ranked as No. 500 on ''

''s list of "

". * Reached number one on the '' Cash Box'' magazine Pop chart. * The first Motown Records song to reach the top 5 on the ''Billboard'' pop chart (No. 2). * Honored by the

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), sometimes simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum and hall of fame located in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States, on the shore of Lake Erie. The museum documents the history of rock music an ...

as one of the "500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll".

Track listings

# "Shop Around" – 2:50 # "Who's Lovin' You" – 3:06

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Personnel

The Miracles *

- lead vocals, writer * Marv Tarplin - guitar *

Claudette Rogers Robinson Claudette Annette Rogers Robinson ( Rogers; born June 20, 1938) is an American singer, best known as a member of the vocal group The Miracles from 1957 to 1972. Her brother Emerson "Sonny" Rogers was a founding member of the group, which befor ...

- background vocals * Pete Moore - background vocals *

- background vocals * Bobby Rogers - background vocals Additional personnel *

- piano, writer, producer *

The Funk Brothers The Funk Brothers were a group of Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The ...

- other instrumentation ** Joe Hunter - keyboards **

James Jamerson James Lee Jamerson (January 29, 1936 – August 2, 1983) was an American bass player. He was the uncredited bassist on most of the Motown Records hits in the 1960s and early 1970s (Motown did not list session musician credits on their releases ...

- bass **

Benny Benjamin William "Benny" Benjamin (July 25, 1925 – April 20, 1969), nicknamed Papa Zita, was an American musician, most notable as the primary drummer for the Motown Records studio band The Funk Brothers. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall o ...

- drums **Ron Wakefield - tenor saxophone **

Mike Terry Mike Terry may refer to: * Mike Terry (recording engineer) * Mike Terry (saxophonist) Andrew Alexander "Mike" Terry (July 18, 1940 – October 30, 2008) was an American saxophonist, songwriter, arranger, producer and musical director. His bariton ...

- baritone saxophone

Captain & Tennille version

Background

In 1976, the American

pop music Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom. The terms ''popular music'' and ''pop music'' are often used interchangeably, although the former describ ...

duo

Captain & Tennille Captain & Tennille were American recording artists whose primary success occurred in the 1970s. The husband-and-wife team were "Captain" Daryl Dragon (1942–2019) and Toni Tennille (born 1940). They have five albums certified gold or platinu ...

released their version of "Shop Around" for their second studio album, ''

Song of Joy "Ode to Joy" (German: , literally "To heJoy") is an ode written in the summer of 1785 by German poet, playwright, and historian Friedrich Schiller and published the following year in ''Thalia''. A slightly revised version appeared in 1808, cha ...

'', issued on the

A&M Records A&M Records was an American record label founded as an independent company by Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss in 1962. Due to the success of the discography A&M released, the label garnered interest and was acquired by PolyGram in 1989 and began distr ...

label.

Toni Tennille Cathryn Antoinette "Toni" Tennille (born May 8, 1940) is an American singer-songwriter and keyboardist, best known as one-half of the 1970s duo Captain & Tennille with her former husband Daryl Dragon; their signature song is " Love Will Keep U ...

changed the lyrics slightly so that they were sung from a woman's perspective. The "Shop Around" single was produced by the duo and featured the song "Butterscotch Castle" as its

. The single first entered the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart on May 1, 1976, at number 62.

Reception

Released as the second single of Captain & Tennille from the ''Song of Joy'' album, their version of "Shop Around" was a success. The single reached number 4 in Canada on the '' RPM'' singles chart and peaked at number 4 on the US Hot 100 chart on July 9, 1976. While not out-charting The Miracles' original, their version became a gold record, and also topped the ''Billboard'' easy listening chart for one week in 1976.

Track listings

# "Shop Around" - 3:29 # "Butterscotch Castle" - 3:19

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Personnel

- piano, vocals, background vocal *

Daryl Dragon Daryl Frank Dragon (August 27, 1942 – January 2, 2019) was an American musician, known as Captain from the pop musical duo Captain & Tennille with his then-wife, Toni Tennille. Career Born into a musical family, Dragon was the son of E ...

- guitar, bass guitar, keyboards *

Hal Blaine Hal Blaine (born Harold Simon Belsky; February 5, 1929 – March 11, 2019) was an American drummer and session musician, thought to be among the most recorded studio drummers in the music industry, claiming over 35,000 sessions and 6,000 singles ...

- drums, percussion *Gary Sims - bass vocal

References

*''Hits Of The Sixties: The Million Sellers'' by Demitri Coryton & Joseph Murrells, Batsford Ltd., 1990, , (pg 43).

Notes

External links

* * {{Authority control 1960 singles 1960 songs 1976 singles The Miracles songs Captain & Tennille songs Johnnie Ray songs Madness (band) songs Grammy Hall of Fame Award recipients Songs written by Smokey Robinson Songs written by Berry Gordy Tamla Records singles A&M Records singles Song recordings produced by Berry Gordy

The Miracles original version

Background

Reception

Awards and accolades

Track listings

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Personnel

Captain & Tennille version

Background

Reception

Track listings

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Personnel

See also

References

Notes

External links