The Satintones were an American R&B group who recorded together in the late 1950s and early 1960s. They are notable as the first group ever to record for the Motown label.
Overview
The Satintones were an American R&B group who recorded together in the late 1950s and early 1960s. They are notable as the first group ever to record for the Motown label.
The original members were Charles "Chico" Leverett, Sonny Sanders, James Ellis, and Robert Bateman. The group went through a line-up change in 1961, Leverett leaving the group and being replaced by two new members, Vernon Williams and Sammy Mack. They recorded six singles for the Motown label between 1959 and 1961, though they never scored a hit record. The group disbanded at the end of 1961.
Career
When Tamla Records (the precursor of what is now known as "Motown") was founded in January 1959, Sanders and Bateman were working for the label's owner Berry Gordy as backing singers. They tried to form a new vocal group of their own with Brian Holland (later to find fame as part of the Holland-Dozier-Holland songwriting trio) and Sanders' neighbour James Ellis. When Holland was unable to attend rehearsals because of his commitments to the fledgling Motown label, the group instead recruited songwriter Chico Leverett (who recorded a solo single for Motown entitled "Solid Sender" in early 1959) and signed to Motown under the name "the Satintones".
The Satintones were the first group to record a single for Motown, beating out Smokey Robinson's group the Miracles by three months. Their first record, "Going To The Hop" b/w "Motor City", was not a success, although group members later claimed the title of the B-side led to Gordy adopting the name "Motown" a few months later.
