Smokey Robinson Album Catalog Hits iTunes

SMOKEY ROBINSON, MIRACLES ALBUMS AVAILABLE NOW ON ITUNES

Nine titles, including classics Greatest Hits From the Beginning to Touch The Sky, now available digitally for the first time ever
Six additional titles, from Going To A Go-Go to Being With You, newly mastered for iTunes

Legendary Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Songwriter’s Hall of Fame singer/songwriter Smokey Robinson, who helped turn Motown Records into a world-wide sensation through his work with The Miracles and later on, as a solo artist, will have 14 titles in his platinum-plus catalog Mastered for iTunes: iTunes.com/Motown. The Miracles – Warren “Pete” Moore, Claudette Robinson, Bobby Rogers, Ronnie White and guitarist Marv Tarplin – were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012, 25 years after Robinson’s induction as a solo artist in 1987.

Robinson was the founder and front man for the group from its 1955 incarnation as The Five Chimes, then the Matadors and finally the Miracles, until 1972 when he stepped down from stage work to concentrate on his job as a Motown executive, but not before scoring a string of hits, starting with their first single, “Got a Job,” in 1959. The group scored its first major hit the following year with “Shop Around,” the label’s first million-seller. Between 1960 and 1970, Robinson would produce 26 Top 40 hits with the Miracles, including the Top 10 “You’ve Really Got A Hold On Me,” “Mickey’s Monkey,” “I Second That Emotion” and the #1 hit, “Tears of a Clown.” Other notable Miracles songs included “Ooh Baby,” “The Tracks of My Tears,” “Going to a Go-Go” and “The Love I Saw in You (Was Just a Mirage).” With the 1965 album, Going to a Go-Go, the band’s name was changed to Smokey Robinson & the Miracles.

As a songwriter, Robinson also wrote or co-wrote Mary Well’s “My Guy,” the Temptations’ “The Way You Do the Things You Do,” ‘My Girl” and “Get Ready,” the Marvelettes’ “Don’t Mess with Bill” and “The Hunter Gets Captured by the Game” and Marvin Gaye’s “Ain’t That Peculiar.”

Robinson launched his solo career with 1973’s Smokey album, and soon scoring crossover smashes with “Cruisin’” (#4), “Being with You” (#2) and “Just to See Her” (#8), which earned Robinson his first Grammy® Award, and “One Heartbeat” (#10).

Robinson just released his first new album in four years, Smokey Robinson – Duets, featuring, among others, Elton John, Linda Ronstadt and James Taylor, in August.

Here’s a complete list of the Smokey Robinson and Miracles titles making their iTunes debut:

The Miracles, Greatest Hits From the Beginning: This 1965 release, the first double album ever on the Tamla label, is more than a hits package: it includes several early singles otherwise unavailable on any Miracles album, and includes unique mixes of the tracks featured on other LPs. Among the highlights are “Shop Around,” “Who’s Loving You,” “You’ve Really Got a Hold on Me,” “Mickey’s Monkey,” the underground favorites “Would I Love You” and “Bad Girl,” as well as non-album singles “I Like It Like That” and “That’s What Love Is Made Of.” The album reached #21 on the Billboard pop charts and #2 on the R&B side.

Smokey Robinson & the Miracles, A Pocket Full of Miracles: One of three albums the group released in 1970, it peaked at #56 on the Billboard pop charts and went Top 10 on the R&B charts. Hit singles on the album include “Point It Out” and the Ashford & Simpson written-and-produced “Who’s Gonna Take the Blame.” Also included is “Darling Dear,” which spawned a beloved cover version by the Jackson Five.

Smokey Robinson & the Miracles, The Season for Miracles: This 1970 album, the group’s second holiday-themed collection, includes traditional Yuletide classics “Deck the Halls,” “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen,” “The Christmas Song,” “Jingle Bells” and “Go Tell It on the Mountain” with originals by Stevie Wonder, “I Can Tell When Christmas Is Near” and “It’s Christmas Time,” and Smokey’s own “I Believe in Christmas Eve.”

Smokey Robinson & the Miracles, One Dozen Roses: This 1971 Tamla album features the Top 20 single “I Don’t Blame You At All,” and an alternate mix of the group’s chart-topping “The Tears of a Clown.” The album includes two other charting singles in “Satisfaction” and “Crazy About the La La La.”

Smokey Robinson & the Miracles, Flying High Together: This 1972 Tamla release was the last studio album by the Miracles with Smokey as their lead singer. It charted at #46 on the Billboard 200 album chart and featured two singles, including the aptly named “We’ve Come Too Far to End It Now,” which reached the #9 the R&B charts, and “I Can’t Stand to See You Cry,” which peaked at #21 at R&B. The release coincided with the group’s final nationwide tour, with Billy Griffin replacing Robinson, who left to concentrate on his duties as a Motown Vice President.

Smokey Robinson, Yes, It’s You Lady: Released in 1982, the George Tobin-Mike Piccirillo-arranged album peaked at #33 on the Billboard 200 and #6 on the R&B charts. It features the singles, “Tell Me Tomorrow,” which went to #3 on the R&B charts, “Old Fashioned Love,” #17 on the R&B tally, and the title track.

Smokey Robinson, Touch the Sky: This 1983 Tamla album went to #50 on the Billboard 200 and #8 on the R&B charts, thanks to the singles “I’ve Made Love to You a Thousand Times” and the title track, which featured original Motown bassist James Jamerson. Added to this digital release are four songs included on a Smokey’s All The Great Hits collection in the summer of 1983, but were otherwise without an album release: the chart hit “Blame It On Love” (duet with Barbara Mitchell), “Don’t Play Another Love Song,” “Just A Touch Away” and “Just Like You.”

Smokey Robinson, Essar: This beautiful-sounding 1984 Tamla album climbed to #35 on the R&B charts and features the singles, “And I Don’t Love You” and “I Can’t Find.”

Smokey Robinson, Smoke Signals: This 1986 Tamla release featured the Top 15 R&B hit, “Hold on to Your Love,” as well as singles, “Sleepless Nights” and “Because of You (It’s the Best It’s Ever Been).”

And here’s a complete list of the Smokey Robinson and Miracles titles previously available digitally which have now been Mastered for iTunes:

Smokey Robinson & the Miracles, Going to a Go-Go: This 1965 release is an indelible classic, one of the most focused albums of the Motown singles era, and was the first to change the group’s name to include Smokey as the headliner. It includes the Top 20 hits “Ooo Baby Baby,” “The Tracks of My Tears,” “My Girl Has Gone” and the title track. This was the only Miracles studio album to chart inside the Top 10 of the Billboard 200 chart, where it peaked at #8 and #1 on the R&B side. It was ranked #271 in Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

Smokey Robinson & the Miracles, What Love Has…: A 1970 Tamla concept album consisting of six extended-length love songs, written by Smokey, Stevie Wonder, Berry Gordy-Frank Wilson-Brenda and sister Patrice Holloway, Burt Bacharach and Hal David, Marvin Gaye and John Lennon-Paul McCartney (“And I Love Her”), it reached #9 on Billboard’s album chart and, due to its too-brief appearance on CD, became one of the most coveted of the Miracles’ albums; the New Yorker referred to it in 2013 as “one of the rare jewels in the Motown label’s crown.” Its re-appearance on iTunes adds two previously unreleased bonus tracks, recorded during the album sessions but unavailable anywhere until now: “(You’ve Got Me) Looking Through The Eyes Of Love” and “Paper People.”

Smokey Robinson, A Quiet Storm: This 1975 release was one of the most acclaimed and lush-sounding soul albums of its time, as Robinson responded to the funk movement in black music with an album described as “stylish and mature,” spawning the term which gave birth to a radio programming format that still exists today. It also produced three hit singles, including “Baby That’s Backatcha” (#26 Pop, #1 R&B, #7 Dance), “The Agony and the Ecstasy” (#36 Pop, #7 R&B) and the title track (#25 R&B), as well as the Michel LeGrand co-write, “Happy,” a vocal version of the love theme from Lady Sings the Blues.

Smokey Robinson, Where There’s Smoke…: This 1979 solo album, best-known for the Top 10 hit single, “Cruisin’,” brought Smokey back on top. Critic Robert Christgau dubbed it Smokey’s best solo album, praising his “concise, smoldering romanticism.” The album charted at #17 on the Billboard Pop charts and #8 on the R&B side, while the single went to #4 at both formats.

Smokey Robinson, Being With You: His 1981 solo release went to #10 on the Billboard Top 200 Albums chart and #1 at R&B, certifying gold. The title track, which peaked at #2 Pop, was his highest-charting solo hit since leaving the Miracles. Robinson’s first wife, Claudette Robinson, contributed background vocals.