Joe Billingslea
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Hamtramck, Michigan, U.S.
Joe Billingslea | |
|---|---|
 Billingslea in 2009 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Joseph Billingslea, Jr. |
| Born | November 14, 1937 Hamtramck, Michigan, U.S. |
| Genres | R&B |
| Occupation(s) | Singer, performer |
| Years active | 1958-1964, 1971-present |
| Labels | Motown |
Joseph Billingslea, Jr. (born November 14, 1937) is an American singer and performer. He is most noted for being the lead singer and the founder of the R&B band the Contours in 1959. The Contours are best known for the 1962 hit single, "Do You Love Me".
Joseph Billingslea, Jr. was born on November 14, 1937, in Hamtramck, Michigan. Before his first birthday, his parents moved to Detroit where he was raised. He sang with the boys' choir while attending Chadsey High School where he graduated in 1954. After graduation, he enlisted in the United States Air Force. While stationed in the Maine, Billingslea formed a vocal group with four other airmen called the "Revere Tone Five". After receiving an honorable discharge following his four-year stint, he returned to Detroit in 1958.[1]
Career
Upon his return from the air force in 1958, Billingslea was invited by an old high school friend, Billy Gordon, to join his singing group, the Majestics. In 1958, the group disbanded, so Billingslea and Gordon decided to form a new vocal group. Billingslea placed a want-ad in the local newspaper looking for singers. Billy Hoggs responded to the ad and became the group's third member. At Hoggs' recommendation, his friend Billy Rollins, became the fourth member of a group they named the Blenders. Within weeks, Rollins was replaced with another friend of Hoggs, Leroy Fair. In 1959, Hubert Johnson was added, making the group a quintet. At Billingslea's suggestion, the group renamed itself the Contours.[2]
That same year, the group signed a recording contract with Motown. The group released two records in 1960 and 1961 but got their big break in 1962 when the single "Do You Love Me" was recorded on Motown's newest label, Gordy. Within two weeks of its release, the song was at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100, taking the #1 spot on the R&B charts and #3 on the pop charts. It remained on the charts for five months. The song was the Gordy label's first million-seller, and it still holds the record as Motown's fastest rising hit of all time.
In 1963, Billingslea and the group charted another hit, sending "Shake Sherry" to the #21 position on the R&B charts (#43 pop). In 1964, they released "Can You Do It" which reached #41 on the R&B charts. Still in 1964, they recorded a ballad entitled "That Day When She Needed Me".[3] Billingslea, along with Hoggs, Johnson and fellow Contours member Sylvester Potts, departed from Motown in 1964. The group had creative differences with Motown and left.[4]