Wanda Young of The Marvelettes Has Died (Unpublished)
Wanda Young, one the founding ladies of The Marvelettes, died at 78-years-old.
The cause of death is still unknown.
The Marvelettes were one of Motown's first ever girl groups in the 60s. You would assume other Motown artists like The Supremes, Smokey Robinson and Stevie Wonder would've notched Motown's first number one single. Little do many know, it was The Marvelette's “Please Mr. Postman” that really put Motown on the map. “Please Mr. Postman” reached number one on Billboard's Hot 100 pop and R&B charts in 1961. It even got the attention of The Beatles to replicate the song, which launched it into another stratosphere.
The Marvelettes - Please Mr. Postman
The Beatles - Please Mister Postman
The news of Wanda's death was confirmed by former labelmate and member of The Miracles, Claudette Robinson.
Motown shared the same sentiments in a statement on Twitter.
The Marvelettes originally consisted of five Inkster High School classmates, and went by the name of The Casinyets (the can't sing yets). Gladys Horton, Katherine Anderson, Georgeanna Tillman, Juanita Cowart and Georgia Dobbins were the original five.
Georgia Dobbins was replaced by Wanda Young right before they signed their deal with Motown. Originally lead singer Gladys Horton was to be replaced because she needed to take care of an ill family member. Little known fact, Georgia was the only member of the group to have writing credits on “Please Mr. Postman”.
Wanda, who was a nursing student and former Inkster High student, auditioned in front of Motown record producers Brian Holland and Robert Bateman. From there, Motown label head Berry Gordy signed them and gave them the new band name, The Marvelettes. The producers of the Motown sound knew that they could sing. Smokey Robinson took notice as well.
“[Wanda Young] had this little voice that was sexy to me, a little country kind of sexy voice. I knew if I could get a song for her, it would be a smash,” said Robinson.
Smokey used Wanda's voice as the lead in the recordings of hit songs like “Don’t Mess With Bill”, “The Hunter Gets Captured By The Game” and "My Baby Must Be a Magician".
The Marvelettes - My Baby Must Be a Magician
By 1970 the group dissolved after releasing their final studio album together, The Return of The Marvelettes. The album was supposed to be the launching pad for Wanda's solo career, as she was the only original Marvelette left. Wanda and some Marvelettes continued to appear on tracks together later on in the 1980s.
Once UK producer Ian Levine formed his Motorcity Label, Gladys Horton and Wanda re-formed the Marvelettes with two new female singers. The Marvelettes…Now! was released in 1990 and featured re-recorded versions of all of their hits. In her later years, Wanda spent her time in the suburbs of Detroit.
TV One did a great job highlighting the greatness of The Marvelettes in their music-documentary series, Unsung.
Check out The Marvelettes episode below.
TV One's Unsung - The Marvelettes
Rest in peace to a great and founder of the Motown sound.
For more news, head to classixphilly.com.
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