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. 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'"). 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. 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. "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, • 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. • Ranked as number 500 on
Rolling Stones list of "
Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time". • 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 •
Smokey Robinson – lead vocals, writer •
Marv Tarplin – guitar •
Claudette Rogers Robinson – background vocals •
Pete Moore – background vocals •
Ronnie White – background vocals •
Bobby Rogers – background vocals
Additional personnel •
Berry Gordy – piano, writer, producer •
The Funk Brothers – other instrumentation •
Joe Hunter – keyboards •
James Jamerson – bass •
Benny Benjamin – drums • Ron Wakefield – tenor saxophone •
Mike Terry – baritone saxophone
Chart performance Weekly charts Year-end charts ==Captain & Tennille version==