Being with you - Smokey Robinson

Smokey Robinson is a legend. Having recorded several singles with The Mircles ('The tracks of my tears' undoubtedly the most famous one), he retired from touring to focus on raising his two children with his wife Claudette, and on his duties as Motown's vice president, a job he had taken on by the mid-1960s after Esther Gordy Edwards had left the position. However, the success of the group's 'Tears of a clown' made Robinson stay with the group until 1972. His last performance with the group was in July 1972 in Washington, D.C.

After a year of retirement he announced his comeback with a solo album, released in 1973. The Seventies weren't his most successful period, but in 1981 he topped the charts again with 'Being with you', which reached number 1 in the UK singles chart and number 2 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. The sleeve of this German pressing asserts that he reached number 1 in the USA, but that was only on the Cash Box chart. 

My collection: 7" single no. 7276
Found: Marleen Records, Fulda (Germany), 24 July 2024
Tracks: 'Being with you' / 'What's in your life for me'

The tracks of my tears - Smokey Robinson and the Miracles

'The tracks of my tears' is one of those classic Motown tunes. Recorded by Smokey Robinson and the Miracles in 1965, it is actually listed on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 songs that shaped Rock and Roll. But is it Rock and Roll? I'd like to consider it soul music.

The single reached number 9 in the UK singles chart in 1969, whereas it only reached the Dutch Top 40 when it was re-released in 1987, although on that occasion it still only made number 37.

My collection: 7" single no. 1080
Found: HMV, London, October 19, 1989
Cost: 2 pounds
Tracks: 'The tracks of my tears' / 'I second that emotion'