The Contours

The Contours
The Contours. From left to right: Huey Davis, Hubert Johnson, Billy Gordon, Billy Hoggs, Joe Billingslea, and Sylvester Potts.
Background information
Origin	Detroit, Michigan, United States
Genres	R&B
Years active	1959–1968; 1971–present
Labels	Motown
Members	Joe Billingslea Al Chisholm Gary Grier Lyall Hoggart Dwjuan Brock
Past members	Billy Gordon Billy Hoggs Billy Rollins Hubert Johnson Huey Davis Leroy Fair Council Gay Jerry Green Alvin English Joe Stubbs Dennis Edwards Arthur Hinson Leroy Seabrooks Darrell Nunlee Martin Upshire C. Autry Hatcher Sylvester Potts Kim Green Tee Turner Tony Womack Odell Jones Charles Davis

The Contours were one of the early African-American soul singing groups signed to Motown Records. The group is best known for its classic chart-topping 1962 hit, "Do You Love Me," a million-selling single that became a major hit all over again in 1988.

Joe Billingslea (born November 14, 1937) and Billy Gordon founded a singing group called The Blenders in their native Detroit, Michigan in 1959. They completed the group with Billy Hoggs and Billy Rollins, who had responded to an ad placed in the local newspaper by Billingslea. The group soon added Leroy Fair (in place of Billy Rollins), bass singer Hubert Johnson, and guitarist Huey Davis, and changed the name to "The Contours". In the fall of 1960, the group auditioned for Berry Gordy's Motown Records. Gordy turned the act down, prompting the group to pay a visit to the home of Johnson's cousin, R&B star and Gordy associate Jackie Wilson. Wilson in turn got the Contours a second audition with Gordy, at which they sang the same songs they had at the first audition, the same way, and were signed to a seven-year contract.

The group's first single, "Whole Lotta' Woman," was released in January 1961 and failed to chart. Within months of its release, Leroy Fair was replaced by Benny Reeves, brother of Martha Reeves. Shortly thereafter, Benny Reeves left to serve in the United States Navy and he was replaced by Sylvester Potts. In 1961 the group's second single, "The Stretch", was released and it also failed to chart. In early 1962, Gordy had the Contours record "Do You Love Me," a composition allegedly originally meant for The Temptations. But, in a 2008 interview for MOJO Magazine, original Contour Joe Billingslea stated that this was not the case. In the article, Billingslea stated to author Phil Alexander that the song's author, Motown founder Berry Gordy, offered the song to the Contours first, only intending to give The Temptations the song after he saw that the Contours were having trouble with it. However, after practicing the tune again, Gordy gave the nod—and the song—to the Contours.