Spinners, The/Detroit Spinners

Despite scoring a transatlantic hit in 1970 with It’s A Shame (co-authored by Stevie Wonder), The Spinners remained overlooked at Motown in favour of The Temptations and The Four Tops.

Their first record was That’s What Girls Are Made Of and it was issued on Tri-Phi and became an immediate Top 20 success for the group. Bobby Smith was the lead voice.

In 1964, Motown merged both Tri-Phi and Marvey into their rapidly growing empire and The Spinners reappeared on the new V.I.P. label with Sweet Thing.

Only when signed to Atlantic did they find the rich Philly-inspired sound of Could It Be I’m Falling In Love? and The Rubberband Man.

The group were sufficiently unknown in the UK to be renamed The Detroit Spinners (sometimes The Motown Spinners) in deference to the British traditional folk group who already used The Spinners’ moniker.

Philippe Wynne died of a heart attack after leaping from the stage during a nightclub performance in Oakland, California, in July 1984. He was 43.

Henry Fambrough 
Vocals
Bobby Smith 
Vocals
Billy Henderson 
Vocals
Pervis Jackson 
Vocals
George Dixon 
Vocals
Edgar ‘Chico’ Edwards 
Vocals
GC Cameron 
Vocals
Philippé Wynne (Walker) 
Vocals
John Edwards 
Vocals