Marvelettes Lead Singer Question

[mr_june]

I'm confused as to who sang lead on the groups hits. On Wikipedia it's Horton who sings lead on Playboy, Beechwood 45789, Don't Mess With Bill and The Hunter Gets Captured By His Game. Another source [[Hortons death announcment) says that Wanda Young was the lead singer on Don't Mess With Bill, The Hunter Gets Captured and My Baby Must Be A Magician.

I know I can get a straight answer here so, set me straight and thank.

[reese]

Gladys:
PLEASE MR. POSTMAN
TWISTIN' POSTMAN
PLAYBOY
BEECHWOOD 45789
SOMEDAY, SOMEWAY
STRANGE I KNOW
MY DADDY KNOWS BEST
AS LONG AS I KNOW HE'S MINE
HE'S A GOOD GUY
TOO MANY FISH IN THE SEA

Gladys/Wanda:
LOCKING UP MY HEART

Wanda:
FOREVER
YOU'RE MY REMEDY
I'LL KEEP HOLDING ON
DANGER HEARTBREAK DEAD AHEAD
DON'T MESS WITH BILL
YOU'RE THE ONE
THE HUNTER GETS CAPTURED BY THE GAME
WHEN YOU'RE YOUNG AND IN LOVE
MY BABY MUST BE A MAGICIAN
HERE I AM BABY
DESTINATION: ANYWHERE
THAT'S HOW HEARTACHES ARE MADE
MARIONETTE
A BREATH TAKING GUY

Ann:
I'M GONNA HOLD ON LONG AS I CAN

[westgrandboulevard]

reese

Wouldn't that also be Gladys/Wanda on 'As long as I know he's mine' - Wanda takes over towards the end - ?

[reese]

reese

Wouldn't that also be Gladys/Wanda on 'As long as I know he's mine' - Wanda takes over towards the end - ?

I forgot that one. :-)

I guess I didn't think of it as the same as LOCKING UP MY HEART, where she sang the chorus and took over at the end.

[mr_june]

Thank you very much for clearing this up for me. Now I know which face to put with which song.

[Methuselah2]

On the topic of co-leads--such as The Marvelettes--and even tri-leads--such as The Temptations--I have to wonder if that wasn't all by direction of their producers. It always struck me as an interesting thing for a group to do or allow or possibly encourage on their single releases but, in all likelihood, it probably had nothing to do with any decision made by the group's members.

With The DMF Supremes, perhaps their five consecutive No. 1 singles made it a risky thing to initiate into what was a remarkably successful formula. But there were some missed opportunites, I thought; one being: LOVE IS HERE AND NOW YOU'RE GONE--wouldn't it have been a lovely touch to have had each of them take one of the three spoken interludes in the piece? It would have been a small concession but an interesting and extremely pleasing one. Maybe Flo's identifiable "I need you, I need you" in BABY LOVE is as close as it ever got.

I always enjoyed the interchange of Gladys & Wanda, as well as Eddie, David, & Paul. In the same way that I was touched by Levi Stubbs' decision not to separate his name from The Four Tops. That, to me, was a truly rare and remarkable moment in Motown history.

[BayouMotownMan]

What was an even riskier move was that in mid-stream the lead singers were changed within the Marvelettes. Gladys did leads on the early hits. When Smokey took over the majority of their productions in 1966, he preferred Wanda. Gladys had few leads from 1966 until she left in 1967. The change did result in a resurgence for the Marvelettes, as their popularity declined markedly after the Supremes took off in late 1963

[tamlaUK]

Did Katherine ever record any leads?

[copley]

No, Kat says that she never sang lead.

[midnightman]

Of the members of the Marvelettes who sung lead:
Gladys Horton [[main lead singer during the early years)
Wanda Rogers [[sung some leads during the Gladys-led period pre-1965)
Georgeanna Tillman [[sung on one song that I forgot the name to, she had a deep alto in her voice)
Ann Bogan [[later years)

I don't think Juanita and Katherine sang any leads.

[franjoy56]

On the topic of co-leads--such as The Marvelettes--and even tri-leads--such as The Temptations--I have to wonder if that wasn't all by direction of their producers. It always struck me as an interesting thing for a group to do or allow or possibly encourage on their single releases but, in all likelihood, it probably had nothing to do with any decision made by the group's members.

With The DMF Supremes, perhaps their five consecutive No. 1 singles made it a risky thing to initiate into what was a remarkably successful formula. But there were some missed opportunites, I thought; one being: LOVE IS HERE AND NOW YOU'RE GONE--wouldn't it have been a lovely touch to have had each of them take one of the three spoken interludes in the piece? It would have been a small concession but an interesting and extremely pleasing one. Maybe Flo's identifiable "I need you, I need you" in BABY LOVE is as close as it ever got.

I always enjoyed the interchange of Gladys & Wanda, as well as Eddie, David, & Paul. In the same way that I was touched by Levi Stubbs' decision not to separate his name from The Four Tops. That, to me, was a truly rare and remarkable moment in Motown history.

Well the Supremes had more interchangeable interaction in their songs, what about "You Keep Me Hangin' On" where Flo comes in at the bridge for a mini lead, "Come See About Me" & Long Gone Lover" yes it would have been great to have let the girls each have a verse to sing on Love Is Here, but if you listen closely toward the end you hear Flo and Mary in seperate parts, Flo love is here,,,Mary now your gone.

but the leads between Wanda and Gladys were the ultimate in girl group versatility in the Marvelettes records.

[daviddesper]

Who sang lead on their version of "He Was Really Sayin Something?"

[sophisticated_soul]

Who sang lead on their version of "He Was Really Sayin Something?"

Gladys Horton.

On the pink album Gladys and Wanda each had six leads.

[westgrandboulevard]

...and not forgetting that Gladys and Wanda also share lead on one track from that album : "Keep Off, No Trespassing"...:)

[captainjames]

On the Marvelettes Live on Stage LP who is singing lead on "So Long Baby" ?

[reese]

On the Marvelettes Live on Stage LP who is singing lead on "So Long Baby" ?

Wanda does the lead.

[sophisticated_soul]

...and not forgetting that Gladys and Wanda also share lead on one track from that album : "Keep Off, No Trespassing"...:)

It's mostly Gladys though.:)

[westgrandboulevard]

I expect Gladys said something very similar, to Wanda....LOL:)

[sophisticated_soul]

LOL! Possibly, possibly. It does work well for the song though.

[markdtiller]

Get the boxsets - liner notes list leads for all songs

[sophisticated_soul]

Get the boxsets - liner notes list leads for all songs

That's where I got my info. As if someone named Sophisticated Soul wouldn't have them.:)
They're wonderful!!
PS: Forever More only list Gladys as the lead on "Keep Off".

[westgrandboulevard]

Unless I missed the info, the liner notes for first set 'Forever' doesn't appear to list the leads....

[sophisticated_soul]

Unless I missed the info, the liner notes for first set 'Forever' doesn't appear to list the leads....

That's correct. They did not list the leads on Forever only Forever More.

[smark21]

Didn’t Katherine sing lead at the talent show at Inkster High?

[midnightman]

Didn’t Katherine sing lead at the talent show at Inkster High?

I think so. In the article about the passing of Gladys, it was stated Katherine was actually the original lead singer [[alongside Georgia Dobbins, I think) but Berry decided not to try her in lead vocals because he preferred Gladys'.