special delivery

The Marvelettes were the first big-time girl group to come out of Detroit. Actually, they came out of Inkster, from the high school in that Detroit suburb, where they finished fourth(!) in a school talent contest.

The school let them go to the big audition at new Motown Records studios anyway, even though only the first three finishers were supposed to go. The story becomes complex at that point, but the upshot is the girls were able to record "Please, Mr. Postman," released in the summer of '61 and subsequently at number one on all charts for seven weeks.

Even though this video is lip-synced, it's a rave. The song has few lyrics and no story -- it's not a narrative but a sweetheart's lament, delivered up-tempo and syncopated, like it was a celebration. Leadsinger Gladys Horton, at left in the photo, simply overpowers the vocal and wrestles it into submission, in a pound-'em-down-to-the-bricks performance.

For more on the complicated and chequered history of the Marvelettes, see the article at Wikipedia.