Sunday Wax Bits

Reprinted from http://jazzwax.com/
Gladys Horton (1945-2011), a singer who at age 15 co-founded the group that would become the Marvelettes and whose cooing, urgent vocal style set the tone for all of Motown's girl groups in the early 1960s, died in Sherman Oaks, CA, while recuperating from a stroke. She was 66. [Pictured, center: Gladys Horton]

While growing up in a Detroit suburb in 1960, Horton and classmate Georgia Dobbins formed a singing group by enlisting members of their high school glee club. Though the group finished fourth in a school talent contest, they were given an audition anyway at the newly formed Motown Records. Asked to come up with an original song, the group returned with Please Mr. Postman. But when Dobbins was prohibited from singing in nightclubs by her father, Horton became the group's sole lead vocalist.

Signed to Motown, the Marvelettes' recorded Please Mr.  Postman—which in late 1961 became the label's first No. 1 hit on the Billboard pop chart. The Marvelettes had a total of 23 pop hits before disbanding in 1969.
Despite seductive looks, enormous charm and a relaxed stage style, Horton, like all of Motown's female lead singers, soon had to take a back seat to the more successful Diana Ross and the Supremes.

Early on, Horton's passionate, honey-hoarse voice helped establish the magic formula for  Motown's future girl groups. That female vocal sound was part cocky demand, part vulnerable plea—a combination that simultaneously expressed teens' angst and sassy confidence. What enabled Horton to stand out was her  breathless delivery, which packed urgency and made her sound as though she were singing while running after a bus.

For Motown, in the early days of the label's national breakout, the Marvelettes were pioneers of a new smooth, urban sound and polished look that appealed to both black and white audiences on a mass scale. Their songs were sophisticated musically but the lyrics' message caught the baby boomer demographic right at the point of maturity, ringing a universal bell.

All of Horton's hits had a finger-snapping beat powered by a snare drum and rubbery bass, distinctly merging the swing of r&b with rock 'n' roll's big beat. Songs like Playboy, Don't Mess With Bill, Danger Heartbreak Dead Ahead and My Baby Must Be a Magician exemplified this infectious groove.

Here's Gladys Horton and the Marvelettes singing my personal favorite, Don't Mess With Bill.



Used with permission by Marc Myers
http://www.jazzwax.com/2011/01/sunday-wax-bits-4.html