The Contours

The Contours

The Contours are an American rhythm and blues vocal group from Detroit, United States, active from 1959 to 1968. They are among the early Motown acts and are best known for the 1962 hit “Do You Love Me”, a million-selling single that reaches number two on the charts and becomes a major hit again in 1988.

Formation and Motown signing

The group begins in Detroit in 1959 as The Blenders, founded by Billy Gordon, Billy Hoggs, Joe Billingslea and Billy Rollins. They soon add Leroy Fair in place of Rollins, along with bass singer Hubert Johnson and guitarist Huey Davis. After an initial rejection by Berry Gordy’s Motown Records, Johnson asks his cousin Jackie Wilson to help arrange a second audition. The group performs the same material and is then signed to Motown.

Early singles and lineup changes

The Contours’ first singles, “Whole Lotta Woman” and “The Stretch”, do not succeed commercially, and the group faces the possibility of being dropped. Around this period, Leroy Fair is replaced by Sylvester Potts. In 1962, Gordy has the group record “Do You Love Me”, which was originally intended for The Temptations. Billy Gordon’s shouted lead vocal helps make the recording a major Motown hit.

In 1964, Billy Hoggs, Joe Billingslea, Hubert Johnson and Sylvester Potts leave. Berry Gordy brings in Council Gay, Jerry Green and Alvin English to back Billy Gordon, reducing the group to a quartet. Within a year, Sylvester Potts returns, replacing Alvin English, while Billy Gordon departs. Gordon is then replaced by Joe Stubbs, brother of Four Tops singer Levi Stubbs, and Stubbs is later replaced by Dennis Edwards.

Later Motown years and split

During the mid-1960s, the Contours record several songs that receive R&B radio play, including “First I Look At The Purse” and “Just a Little Misunderstanding”. Even so, they remain secondary to other major Motown male groups such as The Temptations, The Four Tops and The Miracles. Their Motown contract ends in 1967, and the group disbands.

Reformations and legacy

After the original group ends, Joe Billingslea reforms the Contours several times. He first revives the group in 1971 with Council Gay, Arthur Hinson, Martin Upshire and C. Autry Hatcher. By 1987, the lineup includes Billingslea, Hinson, Darell Nunlee, Charles Davis and Motown-era member Sylvester Potts. That same year, “Do You Love Me” appears prominently in the film Dirty Dancing, which renews interest in the recording and in the group’s touring activity.

The Contours are inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989. Their work is associated with doo-wop, Motown, rhythm and blues and soul, and they are also described as a 1960s soul group.