First I Look at the Purse
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| "First I Look at the Purse" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by the Contours | ||||
| B-side | "Searching for a Girl" | |||
| Released | 1965 | |||
| Recorded | 1965 | |||
| Studio | Hitsville USA (Studio A) | |||
| Genre | Soul | |||
| Length | 2:41 | |||
| Label | Gordy | |||
| Songwriters | Smokey Robinson, Bobby Rogers | |||
| Producer | Smokey Robinson | |||
| The Contours singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
"First I Look at the Purse" (G7044) is a 1965 song recorded by R&B group the Contours on Motown Records' Gordy label. It was written by Miracles members Smokey Robinson and Bobby Rogers,[1] the authors of the Temptations' first hit single, "The Way You Do the Things You Do".
"First I Look at the Purse" was the last Contours hit featuring original lead Billy Gordon. It also features the renewed line-up of Contours, as several original members had left back in 1964. Shortly after its release, Gordon departed the group, and Motown, due to personal problems. He was replaced with Joe Stubbs, brother of the lead singer of fellow Motown group the Four Tops, Levi Stubbs.
In the early 2000s, the Contours performed the song on the PBS special Motown: The Early Years. It has also appeared in several Contours' Motown "Greatest Hits" CD compilations.
Chart performance
"First I Look at the Purse" reached #57 on the Billboard Hot 100, and the Top 20 on Billboard's Hot Rhythm & Blues Singles chart, peaking at #12.[2]