#Who sang mr postman professional#

The Marvelettes were nominated for induction into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame in 2013 and again in 2015. In 2002, Kanye West sampled Young's version of the Miracles' ' After All' for Jay-Z's rap duet, 'Poppin' Tags' from The Blueprint 2: The Gift and the Curse album, which featured Killer Mike, Big Boi and Twista. They released an album called The Marvelettes Now!, the artwork of which was modeled after their pink, 1967 album, and featured both Young and Horton on the cover. Katherine retired from show business after the Marvelettes' breakup though both Horton and Young collaborated on a Marvelettes recording for Motorcity Records. She made a brief return to performing in the early 1990s but without Marvelettes members Gladys Horton and Katherine Anderson. Another former Motown Artist, Kim Weston, encouraged her and helped rise above her problems to make her comeback. Levine had invited a number of former Motown artists, one of whom reported that she looked like a 'decrepit mess'. She re-emerged in 1989 after accepting an offer from Motorcity Records' Ian Levine to record new songs and revised versions of her classics with the Marvelettes. She also separated from her husband and lost custody of their children. Young was involved with many years of substance abuse and alcoholism following the Marvelettes' departure, largely due to witnessing the shooting death of her sister at the Young family's Inkster residence. Young left the label in 1972 when the Motown label relocated from Detroit to Los Angeles. The other Marvelettes refused to participate for the album cover and the album flopped. Sensing marketing value as a Marvelettes release, Motown released the album as The Return of the Marvelettes. In 1970, Wanda recorded a solo album with Smokey Robinson serving as her producer.

The Marvelettes' hit making days had waned by the end of the 1960s and in 1970 the group disbanded. This song only got to 25 in the charts, while Where Did Our Love Go was an instant hit. They turned down the offer to sing Where Did Our Love Go, and the song was instead given to the Supremes, while the Marvelettes recorded Too Many Fish in the Sea. She went on to sing lead on several classics such as ' Don't Mess with Bill' (a million-selling gold 45), ' The Hunter Gets Captured by the Game', ' When You're Young and in Love' and ' My Baby Must Be a Magician'.Ī moment of misjudgement in 1964 changed the fortunes of the band. From then on until the Marvelettes' departure, Young would be the main lead vocalist of the group. The first hit single to feature her on lead was the dance hit, ' I'll Keep Holding On'. Young sang co-lead on Marvelettes' songs, including singles ' Locking Up My Heart' and ' Too Many Fish in the Sea'. Horton was the main vocalist for their initial hit, but as the oldest member of the group, Young became their main voice and front woman. It was also the second song to ever hit No. 1 around the world and was one of a dozen million-selling Gold-certified singles for the duo in the United States. In 1975, the Carpenters' remake of 'Please Mr. Postman' on their second studio album With the Beatles. In 1963, the Beatles recorded ' Please Mr.

Young sang lead on the B-side of the single on a ballad, 'So Long, Baby'.

1 Pop single in late 1961-it also held the top slot for seven weeks on Billboard's R&B chart. After the song was remastered, the song was released and became Motown's first No. Impressed with the group's sound, Berry Gordy immediately signed them, and named them 'the Marvelettes'. The Marvelettes Īfter a successful audition, Young joined the group and the quintet, which had auditioned for a deal with Motown earlier, returned with a song co-written by Dobbins titled ' Please Mr. At this point the band had no name, having formerly been called the Casinyets (a contraction of 'can't sing yet'). Dobbins' father had forbidden her to sing secular music.

#Who sang mr postman professional#

Originally aspiring to be a nurse, Young's professional music career started after fellow Inkster High School classmate Gladys Horton asked her to audition for a spot left by Georgia Dobbins. Her father, James Young, worked at the Ford plant, while her mother Beatrice was a housewife. Young was born and raised in Inkster, Michigan and was one of ten children. Wanda LaFaye Young (Aug– December 15, 2021), also known as Wanda Rogers, was an American singer, known for being a member of the Motown all-female singing group the Marvelettes, and after 1965, the lead singer.