Smokey Robinson

Some Lesser Known Facts About Smokey Robinson

• Smokey Robinson was born into a poor family in the North End neighbourhood of Detroit, Michigan.

  

• He traces his roots to Nigerian, Scandinavian, Portuguese, and Cherokee ancestry.

• Robinson’s parents divorced when he was three years old, but they stayed closely involved together in raising him.

• Robinson shared a deep bond with his uncle Claude, who was also his godfather. Claude nicknamed him ‘Smokey Joe’ when he was 4. The name, which came from their shared love for cowboy movies, caught on so quickly that even his teachers called him that.

• Robinson and singer Aretha Franklin grew up just a few houses apart on Belmont in Detroit. He often visited her older brother, Cecil, and heard Aretha playing piano even before she became famous.

  

• Robinson was 10 when he lost his mother to a brain haemorrhage. He then moved in with his older sister, Geraldine, and her husband, who were raising 10 children.

• At 12, he chose to drop ‘Joe’ from his nickname ‘Smokey Joe,’ which many thought was linked to his light skin tone, but that was not the case.

• During his childhood, Smokey lived just four doors away from singer and actor Diana Ross. When she was still a high school student, he helped her get her very first audition at Motown Records.

  

• During his time at Northern High School in Detroit, Robinson performed well academically and actively participated as an athlete.

• Smokey showed a strong interest in music from a young age. As a child, he was inspired by groups like ‘Nolan Strong & the Diablos’ and ‘Billy Ward and his Dominoes.’ He was also influenced by singer Barrett Strong, who shaped the way Smokey sang.

• Robinson founded a group called ‘The Five Chimes’ with childhood friend Ronald White and classmate Pete Moore in Detroit, Michigan, in 1955 and became the group’s lead vocalist. He also played a key role as their primary songwriter and producer.

  

• Over the years, the group changed its names several times, first as The Matadors (1955-1957), then as Smokey Robinson & The Miracles (1965-1972), and later as The New Miracles (1980-1983).

• In August 1957, after an unsuccessful audition with Brunswick Records, Robinson and The Miracles met songwriter Berry Gordy. Gordy was struck not only by Robinson’s vocal ability but also by a notebook he brought along, which was filled with 100 songs he had written during high school.

  

• With Gordy’s guidance, The Miracles released their debut single, ‘Got a Job’ (1958), which was made as a playful answer to the hit song Get a Job by the Silhouettes. This marked the beginning of a fruitful collaboration.

  

• In January 1959, Robinson began studying electrical engineering in college, but after just two months, he dropped out to focus on The Miracles after they released their first song.

• On 12 January 1959, Berry Gordy founded Tamla Records, which later became known as Motown Records. The Miracles had been collaborating with him even before the label’s official launch, making them one of its earliest acts.

• In 1959, Smokey got married to Claudette Rogers, a fellow member of The Miracles. They had two children. Robinson named his son Berry after Motown founder Berry Gordy, and his daughter Tamla after Gordy’s original record label Tamla.

  

• In late 1960, the group recorded ‘Shop Around,’ which became Motown’s first hit to sell over a million copies.

• Throughout 1960, Robinson worked as The Miracles’ songwriter and producer, and contributed to 26 songs that made it to the Top 40.

• When The Miracles became known as ‘Smokey Robinson & The Miracles,’ he worked on several other albums, including ‘Going to a Go-Go’ (1965), ‘Special Occasion’ (1968), ‘Four in Blue’ (1969), ‘One Dozen Roses’ (1971), and ‘Flying High Together’ (1972).

  

• Robinson worked with the group until 1972, when he stepped away from performing with them to concentrate on his duties as vice president of Motown Records.

• In 1972, Robinson gave up red meat because of a bet with his bandmates, practising meditation and yoga. He was also inspired by singer and songwriter Paul McCartney‘s vegetarian lifestyle.

• Smokey Robinson returned as a solo artist in 1973 with the release of his album ‘Smokey.’

• In 1974, Robinson released his second solo album, ‘Pure Smokey,’ but it did not produce any hit songs. During this time, he found it hard to keep up with his former Motown colleagues, who were all releasing several hit singles.

  

• That same year, he separated from Claudette Rogers and had an affair that became the inspiration for his song ‘The Agony And The Ecstasy’ (1975).

  

• In 1976, The Beatles’ lead guitarist George Harrison paid tribute to Smokey Robinson with a song called ‘Pure Smoke.’ The other Beatles, including John Lennon and Paul McCartney, were also Smokey’s fans and even covered his song ‘You’ve Really Got a Hold on Me’ on one of their early albums.

• Over time, Robinson’s responsibilities as Motown’s vice president began to affect his solo career. Many of his albums, like ‘Deep in My Soul’ (1977) and ‘Love Breeze’ (1978), were not promoted or praised, and he began relying more on outside writers and producers.

  

• Smokey later overcame his struggle to write songs when musician Marv Tarplin, who was also his close friend and former bandmate, played him a guitar tune that inspired him again.

  

• Robinson later wrote the lyrics for ‘Cruisin’ (1979), which became his first solo top ten hit. The song topped the Cash Box chart, reached number four on the Billboard Hot 100, and was his first solo song to hit number one in New Zealand.

  

• In 1981, Robinson released another big hit song, ‘Being with You.’ It reached number one on the Cash Box chart, number two on the Billboard Hot 100, and was his first number one in the UK.

  

• The success of ‘Being with You’ led Robinson to work with producer George Tobin. Together, they released several Motown albums, including ‘Yes It’s You Lady’ (1982), ‘Touch the Sky’ (1983), and ‘Essar’ (1984).

  

• In his early years, Robinson smoked a lot of marijuana, which he considered manageable.

• After the success of ‘Being With You’, he started using cocaine, thinking he would not become addicted, but eventually, he did. The problem worsened as he drifted away from grounded friends and surrounded himself with people who never questioned him.

• Smokey kept using cocaine until 1986, when a pastor at a Los Angeles church prayed for him and helped him quit.

• During his marriage to Claudette, Robinson had an on-and-off relationship with a model named Kandi, with whom he had a son named Trey in 1984.

• He later admitted to Claudette that he had been involved with Kandi for 20 years and filed for legal separation, followed by divorce. Their divorce was finalised in 1986.

• In 1987, he returned from personal struggles and a slow career phase to the spotlight with the album ‘One Heartbeat.’ Its singles ‘Just to See Her’ and ‘One Heartbeat’ reached the Top 10 across Pop, R&B, and Adult Contemporary charts.

  

• In 1988, MCA bought Motown Records, and Robinson left his position as vice president two years later in 1990. In 1991, he signed with SBK Records and released the album ‘Double Good Everything,’ which did not make it onto the charts.

  

• During the 1990s, Robinson kept a low profile. In 1999, he made a brief comeback when he signed again with Motown Records and released the album ‘Intimate.’

• In 2003, Robinson left Motown Records once again and went on to release an album titled ‘Food for the Spirit’ in 2004 under Liquid 8 Records.

• In 2004, Robinson lent his voice to the theme song of the kids’ show TLC’s ‘ToddWorld.’

• In 2009, Smokey launched ‘Robso Records.’

• In April 2017, Smokey Robinson visited Fremont-Lopez Elementary School in Stockton as an arts mentor for the Turnaround Arts program. He spent time with students, singing, dancing, and encouraging them to enjoy and learn through music.

• On 10 November 2017, Smokey Robinson released ‘Christmas Everyday,’ his first solo Christmas album since leaving The Miracles.

  

• On 31 July 2018, Smokey Robinson appeared as a special guest on the show ‘Beat Shazam,’ which aired on Fox.

  

• In 2019, he featured in the music video for the song ‘Make It Better’ by Anderson .Paak.

  

• In November 2023, Smokey Robinson became the owner and host of Smokey’s Soul Town, a SiriusXM channel on Soul Town that features R&B and soul hits from the 1950s to the early 1980s.