Save for Motown founder Berry Gordy, no single figure has been more closely allied with the Detroit-based recording empire than William "Smokey" Robinson. In addition to leading his own group, the Miracles, Robinson served as an in-house producer, songwriter, talent scout and more. It was the Miracles' first hit, "Shop Around," that established Motown's Tamla label as a national presence, selling more than a million copies while rising to #2 on the pop chart and #1 on the R&B side in early 1961. Everything at Motown was an in-house family affair in those heady days. The Supremes (first known as the Primettes) wound up auditioning at Motown because Diana Ross was a neighbor of Robinson's, and the Primettes' guitarist, Marv Tarplin, became an accompanist, arranger and co-writer of Robinson's in the Miracles.
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