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Shop Around

{{Short description|1960 song recorded by the Miracles}}

{{Infobox song

| name = Shop Around

| image = Shop around by the miracles US single side-A variant A.png

| alt = side-A label

| caption = Side A of the US single

| type = single

| artist = the Miracles

| album = Hi... We're the Miracles

| B-side = Who's Lovin' You

| released = {{start date|1960|09|27}}

| recorded = 1960

| studio = Hitsville USA (Studio A)

| genre =

  • Soul
  • R&B{{cite book|last= Breihan|first= Tom|chapter= The Supremes - "Where Did Our Love Go|date= November 15, 2022|title= The Number Ones: Twenty Chart-Topping Hits That Reveal the History of Pop Music|publisher=Hachette Book Group|location= New York|page= 52}}
  • pop{{cite web|first= Tom |last= Breihan |title= The Number Ones: Lawrence Welk's "Calcutta"|website= Stereogum |date= March 19, 2018 |url= https://www.stereogum.com/1987643/the-number-ones-lawrence-welks-calcutta/columns/the-number-ones/|quote= ...the Miracles came close to #1 with “Shop Around,” an absolutely perfect pop song...|accessdate= June 8, 2023}}

| length =

  • 3:04 (Detroit version)
  • {{Duration|2:50}} (national hit version)

| label = Tamla

| writer =

| producer = Berry Gordy

| prev_title = Way Over There

| prev_year = 1960

| next_title = Who's Lovin' You

| next_year = 1960

| misc = {{External music video|header=Official audio|type=song|{{YouTube|eE36-7_pwI0|"Shop Around"}}}}

}}

"Shop Around" is a song originally recorded by the Miracles on Motown Records' Tamla subsidiary label. It was written by Miracles lead singer Smokey Robinson and Motown Records founder Berry Gordy. It became a smash hit in 1960 when originally recorded by the Miracles, reaching number one on the Billboard R&B chart, number one on the Cashbox Top 100 Pop Chart, and number two on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. It was the Miracles' first million-selling hit record, and the first million-selling hit for the Motown Record Corporation.

The single was a multiple award winner for the Miracles, having been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2006, inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as one of the 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll, and honored by Rolling Stone as number 500 in their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, dropping it five spots from number 495 in the 2004 version.

The Miracles original version

{{More citations|section|date=May 2023}}

=Background=

The original version of "Shop Around" by the Miracles (credited as "The Miracles featuring Bill 'Smokey' Robinson"), was released in 1960 on Motown's Tamla label, catalog number T 54034.{{Cite web|url=https://www.45cat.com/record/t54034|title=45cat - The Miracles - Shop Around / Who's Lovin You - Tamla - USA - T-54034}} The song, written by Smokey Robinson and Berry Gordy, depicts a mother giving her now-grown son advice about how to find a woman worthy of being a girlfriend or wife ("My mama told me/'you better shop around'").{{Gilliland |url=https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc19780/m1/ |title=Show 25 – The Soul Reformation: Phase two, the Motown story. [Part 4]}} The original version of the song had a strong blues influence, and was released in the local area of Detroit, Michigan, before Gordy decided that the song needed to be re-recorded to achieve wider commercial appeal. At 3:00 one morning, the Miracles (Robinson, Claudette Rogers Robinson, Bobby Rogers, Ronnie White, and Pete Moore) recorded a new, more pop music version of the song that became a major national hit.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MgldDgAAQBAJ&dq=%22Shop+Around%22+robinson+miracles+3+a.m.&pg=RA1-PT3 |title=America's Songs III: Rock! |first=Bruce |last=Pollock |year=2017 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=9781317269632}} The original record label credits Robinson as the writer, with Berry Gordy as producer. On the American Top 40 program of July 4, 1987, Casey Kasem reported that Gordy had previously rejected 100 songs by Robinson as "garbage" before accepting the 101st, "Shop Around", as "a hit".

The single was the first Motown record to be released in the UK, on Decca Records' London label. The subsequent EP release, coupled the "Shop Around" single with its follow-up, "Ain't It Baby". The two singles and the EP were the only Motown releases on the London label.

=Reception=

"Shop Around" was a big hit for the Miracles, becoming the group's first number-one hit on the Billboard R&B singles chart, spending eight weeks at the top, and also hitting number two on the Billboard Hot 100, behind "Calcutta" by Lawrence Welk.{{cite book |title=Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942–2004|last=Whitburn |first=Joel |author-link=Joel Whitburn |year=2004 |publisher=Record Research |page=404}}{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/charts/hot-100/1961-02-20|title=The Hot 100 Chart|magazine=Billboard }} "Shop Around" also reached number one on the Cashbox magazine Top 100 pop chart, and is also noted for being the first million-selling record for the Miracles and for the Motown Record Corporation, as well as a 2006 Grammy Hall of Fame inductee. The B-side to "Shop Around", "Who's Lovin' You", also had a plethora of covers, including a version by the Jackson 5 in 1969.

"Shop Around" inspired an answer record, "Don't Let Him Shop Around" by Debbie Dean, which charted at number 92 on the Hot 100 in February 1961 and was Dean's only chart entry. Smokey Robinson later recorded a sequel song for his 1987 album One Heartbeat, entitled "It's Time to Stop Shopping Around".

=Awards and accolades=

  • The Motown Record Corporation's first million-selling hit record{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6gbQHxb_P0QC&dq=Motown+million+hit+record+%22shop+around%22&pg=RA1-PA315 |last=Finkelman |first=Paul |title=Encyclopedia of African American History, 1896 to the Present: O-T |year=2009 |publisher=Oxford University Press |page=315|isbn=978-0-19-516779-5 }}
  • Inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2006
  • The Motown Record Corporation's first Billboard number-one R&B hit: It held that position on the Billboard R&B Chart for eight consecutive weeks.{{cite web|url=http://rockhall.com/inductees/the-miracles/ |title=Inductee explorer | Rock & Roll Hall of Fame |website=Rockhall.com |access-date=2016-09-26}}
  • Ranked as number 500 on Rolling Stone{{'}}s list of "Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time".{{cite web|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/6596340/shop_around/1|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090904235930/http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/6596340/shop_around/1|url-status=dead|archive-date=September 4, 2009|title=The RS 500 Greatest Songs of All Time|publisher=Rolling Stone|access-date=2008-06-19}}
  • Reached number one on the Cashbox magazine pop chart
  • The first Motown Records song to reach the top five on the Billboard pop chart
  • Honored by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as one of the "500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll".

=Personnel=

The Miracles

Additional personnelThe Complete Motown Singles Vol. 1: 1959–1961 [liner notes]. New York: Hip-O Select/Motown/Universal Records

  • Berry Gordy – piano, writer, producer
  • The Funk Brothers – other instrumentation
  • Joe Hunter – keyboards{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2007/feb/06/guardianobituaries.pop|title = Obituary: Joe Hunter| newspaper=The Guardian |date = 6 February 2007 | last1=Laing | first1=Dave }}
  • James Jamerson – bass{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WV5HlgC6HU4C|title = Standing in the Shadows of Motown: The Life and Music of Legendary Bassist James Jamerson|isbn = 9780881888829|last1 = Jamerson|first1 = James|year = 1989| publisher=Hal Leonard Corporation }}
  • Benny Benjamin – drums
  • Ron Wakefield – tenor saxophone
  • Mike Terry – baritone saxophoneThornton, Jason H. 'The Andrew "Mike" Terry Story', There's That Beat! The Rare Soul Magazine, Issue 4, 2007, UK

=Chart performance=

{{col-begin}}

{{col-2}}

==Weekly charts==

class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"

|+Weekly chart performance for "Shop Around"

!scope="col"|Chart (1960–1961)

!scope="col"|Peak
position

scope="row"|Canada (CHUM){{Cite web|url=http://chumtribute.com/61-01-30-chart.jpg|title=CHUM Tribute Charts, January 30, 1961}}

| style="text-align:center;"|11

scope="row"|US Billboard Hot 100

| style="text-align:center;"|2

scope="row"|US Billboard R&B

| style="text-align:center;"|1

scope="row"|US Cash Box Top 100{{cite web|url=http://cashboxmagazine.com/archives/60s_files/1961YESP.html |title=Top 100 Year End Charts: 1961 |work=Cashbox Magazine |access-date=2016-03-12 }}

| style="text-align:center;"|1

{{col-2}}

==Year-end charts==

class="wikitable plainrowheaders"

|+Year-end chart performance for "Shop Around"

!scope="col"|Chart (1961)

!scope="col"|Rank

scope="row"|US Billboard Hot 100

{{Cite magazine

|date=January 6, 1962

|title=Chart Toppers: Hot 100 for 1961

|magazine=Billboard

|volume=74

|issue=1

|issn=0006-2510

|page=33

}}

| style="text-align:center;"|24

scope="row"|US Cash Box

| style="text-align:center;"|25

{{col-end}}

Captain & Tennille version

{{Infobox song

| name = Shop Around

| cover = Shop Around - Captain & Tennille.jpg

| alt =

| type = single

| artist = Captain & Tennille

| album = Song of Joy

| B-side = Butterscotch Castle

| released = 1976

| recorded =

| studio =

| genre = Pop

| length = {{Duration|m=3|s=29}}

| label = A&M

| writer =

| producer = Daryl Dragon, Toni Tennille

| prev_title = Lonely Night (Angel Face)

| prev_year = 1976

| next_title = Muskrat Love

| next_year = 1976

}}

=Background=

In 1976, the American pop music duo Captain & Tennille released their version of "Shop Around" for their second studio album, Song of Joy, issued on the A&M Records label. Toni Tennille changed the lyrics slightly so that they were sung from a woman's perspective. The "Shop Around" single was produced by the duo and featured the song "Butterscotch Castle" as its B-side. The single first entered the US Billboard Hot 100 chart on May 1, 1976, at number 62.{{cite magazine |url=https://www.billboard.com/charts/hot-100/1976-04-30 |title=The Hot 100 – week of May 1, 1976 |magazine=Billboard |access-date=September 3, 2021}}

=Reception=

Released as the second single of Captain & Tennille from the Song of Joy album, their version of "Shop Around" was a success. The single reached number 4 in Canada on the RPM singles chart and peaked at number 4 on the US Hot 100 chart on July 9, 1976.{{cite magazine |url=https://www.billboard.com/artist/captain-tennille/chart-history/hsi/ |title=Chart History: Captain & Tennille – Hot 100 |magazine=Billboard |access-date=September 3, 2021}} While not out-charting The Miracles' original, their version became a gold record, and also topped the Billboard easy listening chart for one week in 1976.{{cite book |title= Top Adult Contemporary: 1961–2001|last=Whitburn |first=Joel |author-link=Joel Whitburn |year=2002 |publisher=Record Research |page=45}}

=Chart performance=

{{col-begin|width=65%}}

{{col-2}}

==Weekly charts==

class="wikitable sortable"
align="left"|Chart (1976)

!align="left"|Peak
position

Australia (KMR)

| style="text-align:center;"|37

Canada RPM Top Singles{{cite web|url=http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/films-videos-sound-recordings/rpm/Pages/image.aspx?Image=nlc008388.4167a&URLjpg=http%3a%2f%2fwww.collectionscanada.gc.ca%2fobj%2f028020%2ff4%2fnlc008388.4167a.gif&Ecopy=nlc008388.4167a|title=Item Display – RPM – Library and Archives Canada |website=Collectionscanada.gc.ca |date=1976-07-03 |access-date=2018-08-02}}

| style="text-align:center;"|4

Canada RPM Adult Contemporary{{cite web|url=https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/films-videos-sound-recordings/rpm/Pages/image.aspx?Image=nlc008388.4149&URLjpg=http%3a%2f%2fwww.collectionscanada.gc.ca%2fobj%2f028020%2ff4%2fnlc008388.4149.gif&Ecopy=nlc008388.4149|title=Item Display – RPM – Library and Archives Canada |website=Collectionscanada.gc.ca |date=1976-06-19 |access-date=2018-07-09}}

| style="text-align:center;"|1

New Zealand (RIANZ){{Cite web|url=https://nztop40.co.nz/|title=The Official New Zealand Music Chart|website=THE OFFICIAL NZ MUSIC CHART}}

| style="text-align:center;"|32

align="left"|U.S. Billboard Hot 100Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955–2002, {{ISBN|978-0898201550}}

| style="text-align:center;"|4

align="left"|U.S. Billboard Adult Contemporary

| style="text-align:center;"|1

align="left"|U.S. Cash Box Top 100{{cite web|url=http://cashboxmagazine.com/archives/70s_files/19760626.html |title=Top 100 1976-06-26 |work=Cashbox Magazine |access-date=2016-07-26 }}

| style="text-align:center;"|6

{{col-2}}

==Year-end charts==

class="wikitable sortable"
align="left"|Chart (1976)

! style="text-align:center;"|Rank

Canada {{cite web |url= http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/rpm/028020-119.01-e.php?&file_num=nlc008388.5173a&type=1&interval=20&PHPSESSID=u9874ano8k0c5b6bkp4r8qrbp3 |title= Top Singles – Volume 26, No. 14 & 15, January 08 1977 |work= RPM |publisher= Library and Archives Canada |access-date= June 13, 2016 |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160319222559/http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/rpm/028020-119.01-e.php?&file_num=nlc008388.5173a&type=1&interval=20&PHPSESSID=u9874ano8k0c5b6bkp4r8qrbp3 |archive-date= March 19, 2016 }}

| style="text-align:center;"|64

U.S. Billboard Top 100 Singles[https://books.google.com/books?id=xCQEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PT43#v=onepage&q&f=false Billboard Top Pop Singles of 1976]

| style="text-align:center;"|63

U.S. Billboard Adult Contemporary

| style="text-align:center;"|37

U.S. Cash Box

| style="text-align:center;"|26

{{col-end}}

=Personnel=

Other versions

"Shop Around" has been covered many times, including versions by:

{{col div}}

  • Mary Wells (1961){{cite book |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LIUDsSwiY_EC&dq=%22Shop+Around%22+%22mary+wells%22&pg=PT305 |chapter=Pair REcords Albums |title=Mary Wells: The Tumultuous Life of Motown's First Superstar |last=Benjaminson |first=Peter |year=2012 |publisher=Chicago Review Press|isbn=978-1-61374-529-8 }}
  • Johnnie Ray (1961){{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BwwLBaH9488C&dq=%22Shop+Around%22+%22johnnie+ray%22&pg=PT117 | isbn=978-0-85712-360-2 | title=1,000 UK Number One Hits | date=26 May 2010 | publisher=Omnibus Press }}
  • Georgie Fame & the Blue Flames (1964){{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LEc_DwAAQBAJ&dq=%22Shop+Around%22+%22georgie+fame%22&pg=PA204 |last=Flory |first=Andrew |title=I Hear a Symphony: Motown and Crossover R&B |year=2017 |publisher=University of Michigan Press |isbn=978-0472-0368-68 |page=204}}
  • Johnny Kidd & the Pirates (1964)
  • Helen Shapiro (1964)
  • Bobby Vee (1965){{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ko6LDgAAQBAJ&dq=%22Shop+Around%22+%22bobby+vee%22&pg=PA100 | isbn=978-1-365-05412-9 | title=The Music of Bobby Vee | date=19 April 2016 | publisher=Lulu.com }}
  • Russ Giguere (1971)
  • The Spinners (1983){{Cite web|url=https://classic.motown.com/story/miracles-shop-around/|title=The Miracles – "Shop Around"}}
  • The Astronauts{{Cite web|url=https://www.discogs.com/release/3053600-The-Astronauts-Astronauts-Orbit-Kampus|title=The Astronauts – Astronauts Orbit Kampus|date=July 4, 1964|via=www.discogs.com}}
  • Don Bryant{{Cite web|url=https://www.45cat.com/record/452143|title=45cat - Don Bryant - Shop Around / I'll Go Crazy - Hi - USA - 45-2143}}
  • The Allusions{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/the-allusions-mw0001709960|title=Allusions – The Allusions Album Reviews, Songs & More | AllMusic|via=www.allmusic.com}}
  • Clarence Reid{{Cite web|url=https://www.funkmysoul.gr/clarence-reid-dancin-with-nobody-but-you-babe/|title=Clarence Reid – 1969 – Dancin' With Nobody But You Babe Free Download|date=April 20, 2009}}
  • Neil Merryweather{{Cite web|url=https://www.45cat.com/record/sp45249|title=45cat - Merryweather And Carey - If I Were You / Shop Around - RCA - USA - SP-45-249}}
  • Lynn Carey{{Cite web|url=https://www.discogs.com/master/476419-Merryweather-Carey-Vacuum-Cleaner|title=Merryweather & Carey – Vacuum Cleaner|date=November 4, 1971|via=www.discogs.com}}
  • Angela Miller

{{col div end}}

See also

References

  • Hits of the Sixties: The Million Sellers by Demitri Coryton & Joseph Murrells, Batsford Ltd., 1990, {{ISBN|978-0713458510}}, (pg 43).

Notes

{{Reflist}}

External links

  • {{YouTube|eE36-7_pwI0|Smokey Robinson & The Miracles – Shop Around (Lyric Video)}}
  • {{YouTube|mVJEJHi3daE|Captain & Tennille – Shop Around}}

{{The Miracles}}

{{The Miracles singles}}

{{Captain & Tennille}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:1960 singles

Category:1960 songs

Category:1976 singles

Category:The Miracles songs

Category:Captain & Tennille songs

Category:Johnnie Ray songs

Category:Madness (band) songs

Category:Grammy Hall of Fame Award recipients

Category:Songs written by Smokey Robinson

Category:Songs written by Berry Gordy

Category:Tamla Records singles

Category:A&M Records singles

Category:Song recordings produced by Berry Gordy