THE SPINNERS: Motown Legends, Influential Hitmakers And Leaders Of The Smooth Soul Sound Of Philadelphia Are 4x Nominees For 2023 Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame
DATE: MARCH 2, 2023
FROM: LYNDIE WENNER/MARCEE RONDAN
THE SPINNERS
MOTOWN LEGENDS, INFLUENTIAL HITMAKERS
AND LEADERS OF THE SMOOTH SOUL SOUND OF PHILADELPHIA
ARE 4x NOMINEES FOR
2023 ROCK & ROLL HALL OF FAME
Left to right: Jessie Peck, Ronnie Moss, CJ Jefferson, and Marvin Taylor
Photo Credit: NAOE
6x Grammy-nominated THE SPINNERS are nominated for a fourth time for induction into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame. This recognition comes as the influential R&B vocal group, formed in 1954 in suburban Detroit, celebrate a 60+ decade career which has included consistent touring and massive hits–among them “I’ll Be Around,” “It’s A Shame,” “Could It Be I’m Falling in Love,” “The Rubberband Man” and “Then Came You.” The latter song is their 1974 collaboration with Dionne Warwick that topped the pop charts at #1 and was nominated for a Grammy for “Best Pop Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group.” With their awe-inspiring vocal range and harmonic abilities on songs that elegantly merged smooth Philly soul with glistening pop, THE SPINNERS have left a big mark on the musical world.
2023 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees will be announced in May, with the induction ceremony taking place this fall. The top five artists selected through fan voting will be tallied along with the ballots from the Rock Hall’s international voting body to determine the Class of 2023. Fans can vote online every day through April 28 at: https://vote.rockhall.com/en/
“It’s a pleasure being selected by this,” founding member Henry Fambrough told Billboard last month in a feature (2/1/23). “We’ve been in this position over years and years, but we just haven’t won anything yet. But it’s a pleasure being selected like this. When you’re nominated like that, at least someone is thinking about you. You’re not sitting at home not hearing anything–you know what I’m saying?”
THE SPINNERS have remained an actively touring group for decades, performing their beloved hits to audiences of all ages, and released a new album in 2021, Round the Block and Back Again. Their current line-up–Jessie Peck, Ronnie Moss, CJ Jefferson, and Marvin Taylor–is presently on the road performing shows with the O’Jays, Earl Young and the Trammps, the Commodores and Average White Band (AWB). See the tour dates below.
Their first single “That’s What Girls Are Made For” peaked at No. 27 on the Billboard Hot 100 pop chart in 1961. Then, after almost a decade with Motown, THE SPINNERS signed to Atlantic Records in 1973. Label exec, Ahmet Ertegun’s instincts paired the group with Philadelphia’s Gamble & Huff Mighty Three Music partner and producer/songwriter Thom Bell. This musical partnership led to a string of six consecutive Top 40 pop albums, three of which went to No. 1 on the R&B chart. Between 1972 and 1980, the group landed 11 songs in the Top 20, with songs “I’ll Be Around,” “Could It Be I’m Falling in Love,” “The Rubberband Man,” “It’s A Shame” and many more. In 1974, “Then Came You”–a collaboration with Dionne Warwick–topped the pop charts at #1 and was nominated for a Grammy for “Best Pop Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group.” “Working My Way Back to You” and the medley “Cupid/I’ve Been Loving You a Long Time” both charted in the Top 10, continuing the group’s longtime chart successes. They contributed two songs and made an appearance in the film The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh (music by Thom Bell). They performed the title track to the 1987 hit film Spaceball, and in 1983, the group guest starred as themselves on the smash TV sitcom “Laverne and Shirley.” The group also received a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1976 and the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 1999. THE SPINNERS continue to record music and their cultural impact extends into movies and TV.
