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1. 1 day ago on Dick Tracy

   PARAPHRASING FROM WIKIPEDIA! DANCING IN THE STREET WAS INDUCTED TO THE GRAMMY HALL OF FAME IN 1999! IN 1993 MARTHA REEVES AND THE VANDELLAS WON THE PIONEER AWARD BY THE RHYTHM & BLUES FOUNDATION! IN 1995 THEY WERE INDUCTED TO THE ROCK & ROLL HALL OF FAME BECOMING THE SECOND ALL FEMALE GROUP TO BE INDUCTED!

2. 1 day ago on Dick Tracy

   Hello, Haf-and-Haf here. Quoting from Wikipedia: After the Vandellas’ split in 1972, in 1978, Reeves and original Vandellas Ashford and Beard reunited at a Los Angeles benefit concert for actor Will Geer. In 1983, Reeves successfully sued for royalties from her Motown hits and the label agreed to have the songs credited as Martha Reeves and the Vandellas from then on. That year, Reeves performed solo at Motown 25, which alongside some of their songs being placed on the Big Chill soundtrack, helped Reeves and the Vandellas gain a new audience. In 1989, original members Ashford and Beard also sued Motown for royalties. During this time, the original trio were inspired to reunite both as a recording act and in performances. They were offered a recording contract with Ian Levine at Motorcity Records who issued the group’s first single since the Vandellas disbanded seventeen years earlier called “Step into My Shoes”.

3. 1 day ago on Dick Tracy

   Quoting from Wikipedia: Between 1964 and 1967, singles like “Wild One” (US #34), “Nowhere to Run” (US #8; UK #26), “Love (Makes Me Do Foolish Things)” (US #70; R&B #22), “You’ve Been in Love Too Long” (US #36), “My Baby Loves Me” (US #22; R&B #3), “I’m Ready for Love” (US #9; R&B #2; UK #29) and “Jimmy Mack” (US #10; R&B #1; UK #21) kept the Vandellas on the map as one of the label’s top acts. The Vandellas’ popularity helped the group get spots on The Ed Sullivan Show, The Mike Douglas Show, American Bandstand and Shindig!. Throughout this period, the Vandellas had also become one of the label’s most popular performing acts. On June 28, 1965, the group appeared with several other popular acts of the period on CBS-TV’s Murray The K-It’s What’s Happening, Baby. Martha, Rosalind and Betty performed “Nowhere to Run”, as they skipped through a Ford auto plant and sat in a Ford Mustang convertible as it’s being assembled.

4. 1 day ago on Dick Tracy

   PARAPHRASING FROM WIKIPEDIA! THEIR NEXT TWO SINGLES FAILED TO REACH THE POP TOP 40! BUT THE SINGLE AFTER THAT DANCING IN THE STREET ROSE TO # 2 ON THE BILLBOARD HOT 100 AND FOUND GLOBAL SUCCESS PEAKING AT # 21 IN THE UK SINGLES CHART IN 1964! IT WAS REISSUED IN 1969 AND PLUGGED HEAVILY ON RADIO STATIONS PEAKING AT # 4 IN THE UK MAKING IT ONE OF THE ALL-TIME FAVORITE MOTOWN SINGLE RELEASES EVER! THE SONG IS ONE OF THE MOST PLAYED SINGLES IN HISTORY!

5. 1 day ago on Dick Tracy

   Hello, Haf-and-Haf here. Quoting from Wikipedia: The group’s success continued with their second Top Ten single and third Top 40 single, “Quicksand”, which was another composition with Holland-Dozier-Holland and reached number eight pop in the late fall of 1963. Around that time, Annette, who was pregnant with her first child and set to get married, chose to leave her singing career behind by 1964. Betty Kelly, formerly of the Velvelettes, was brought in shortly afterward to continue the Vandellas’ rise.

6. 1 day ago on Dick Tracy

   Quoting from Wikipedia: Following their signing to Motown’s Gordy imprint in 1962, the Vandellas struck gold with their second release, the first composition and production from the famed writing team, Holland–Dozier–Holland, titled “Come and Get These Memories”. It became the Vandellas’ first Top 40 recording, reaching number twenty-nine on the Billboard Hot 100 and peaking at number six on the R&B chart. Their second hit, “Heat Wave”, became a phenomenal record for the group, reaching number four on the Hot 100 and hitting number one on the R&B singles chart for five weeks. It became their first million-seller and eventually got the group their only Grammy Award nomination for Best R&B Performance. On the single and album, the song was titled “Heat Wave”. It was sometime later that the song was retitled to avoid confusion with the Irving Berlin song.

7. 1 day ago on Dick Tracy

   PARAPHRASING FROM WIKIPEDIA! BY 1961 THE GROUP NOW KNOWN AS THE VELS WERE RECORDING BACKGROUND VOCALS FOR MOTOWN ACTS! IN 1962 AFTER ANOTHER SINGER FAILED TO MAKE A SCHEDULED RECRODING SESSION THE VELS RECORDED A DEMO OF I’LL HAVE TO LET HIM GO! MOTOWN WAS SO IMPRESSED ESPECIALLY BY MARTHA’S LEAD VOCALS THAT THE GROUP WAS OFFRERED A CONTRACT! WILLIAMS OPTED OUT OF THE GROUP AND THE REMAINING TRIO OF ASHFORD, BEARD, AND REEVES WERE TOLD THEY NEEDED A NEW NAME! MOTOWN CEO BERRY GORDY CAME UP WITH THE VANDELLAS!

8. 1 day ago on Dick Tracy

   Hello, Haf-and-Haf here. Quoting from Wikipedia: The group originally had up to six members, subsequently reduced to four. When one of the four left the group, she was replaced by Alabama-born vocalist Martha Reeves, a former member of two groups, the Fascinations and the Sabre-Ettes. In 1960, the group signed their first recording contract with Checker Records, releasing the Reeves-led “I’ll Let You Know”, which flopped. The Del-Phis then went to Checkmate Records, a subsidiary of Chess Records, recording their “There He Is (At My Door)” featuring Williams on lead vocals, which also flopped.

9. 1 day ago on Dick Tracy

   Quoting from Wikipedia: Teenagers Rosalind Ashford and Annette Beard first became acquainted after a local music manager hired them to be members of a girl group he named the Del-Phis. Ashford, Beard, and lead vocalist Gloria Williams, performed at local clubs, private events, church benefits, YMCA events and school functions. They were also being coached by Maxine Powell at Detroit’s Ferris Center. One of the group’s first professional engagements was singing background for singer Mike Hanks.

10. 1 day ago on Dick Tracy

    PARAPHRASING FROM WIKIPEDIA! DURING THEIR 9 YEAR RUN FROM 1963-72 THEY CHARTED OVER 26 HITS! TEN OF THEIR SONGS REACHED THE TOP TEN OF THE BILLBOARD R&B SINGLES CHART INCLUDING TWO NUMBER ONE HITS AND SIX TOP TEN POP HITS ON THE BILLBOARD HOT 100! MEMBERS OF THE GROUP WERE INDUCTED INTO THE ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME AND THE NATIONAL RHYTHM & BLUES HALL OF FAME!