William "Smokey" Robinson, Jr. (born February 19, 1940) is an American R&B and soul singer and songwriter. Robinson is noted for being one of the primary figures associated with the Motown record label, second only to the company's founder, Berry Gordy. As both a member of Motown group The Miracles and a solo artist, Robinson recorded seventy Top 40 hits for Motown between 1959 and 1990, and also served as the company's Vice President from 1961 to 1988.

Biography

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Early years and formation of the Miracles

Robinson was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, and was nicknamed "Smokey" as a child because of his love of westerns. In 1955, Robinson founded a group he called "The Five Chimes" with his best friend Ronnie White, and Northern High School classmates Pete Moore, Clarence Dawson, and James Grice. By 1957, the group was called "The Matadors" and included cousins Bobby Rogers and Claudette Rogers in place of Dawson and Grice. With Robinson as lead singer, the Matadors began touring the local Detroit venues. In 1958, Robinson met songwriter Berry Gordy, Jr., who co-wrote for them the single "Got a Job," an answer song to The Silhouettes' hit single "Get A Job." The group renamed itself The Miracles, and issued singles on both End Records and Chess Records before Robinson suggested to Berry Gordy that he start a label of his own.

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MUDVAYNE SLAM RADIO WITH THEIR FASTEST-RISING SINGLE YET
Fri, 26 Sep 2008 23:35:02 -0000
"DO WHAT YOU DO" IS #1 MOST ADDED AT ACTIVE ROCK AND #2 MOST ADDED AT MODERN ROCK BAND OPENS UP TICKET SALES AT ALL OUTLETS (Monday, September 29) AND PARTNERS WITH BESTBUY TO ADD A FREE LIVE WEBCAST OF THEIR CONCERT TO FAN CLUB MEMBERS MUDVAYNE--one of the most creative and distinctive bands in the aggressive music world with sales exceeding 5 million units worldwide--have slammed onto the charts with "Do What You Do," the fastest-rising single of their career. Garnering over 75 radio adds out of the box--in the first 36 hours the track became available this week--the song is #1 most added at the Active Rock chart and #2 most added at Modern Rock.  As the band prepare to release THE NEW GAME--their first studio album in three years, due out November 18 via Epic Records--the band is working even harder to get the best possible deal directly to their fans in light of the tough economy by opening up ticket sales of their upcoming tour to all outlets and partnering with Best Buy to add a free live web cast of their concert to fan club members who pre-order the album at bestbuy.com/mudvayne.  "We want fans that cannot afford to see us live or that live outside our tour markets to still get the benefits of our ‘The Album Is The TicketTM' program," says singer Chad Gray, "and by adding the live webcast and releasing ticket sales to the general public, we are now able to offer fans even more value and options for their money in this rough financial time." The concert webcast will be from one of the tour stops (TBA) on the first leg of "The New Game Tour 2008."  Meanwhile, all tickets will be released at all outlets by Monday, September 29th. All current ‘The Album Is The Ticket' members are entitled to a free meet & greet at their selected show. The current dates for "The New Game Tour 2008" are as follows.  Note: All dates subject to change. DATE            CITY                VENUE Tue    10/28        El Paso, TX            El Paso County Coliseum Thu    10/30        Corpus Christi, TX        The Pavilion At Concrete Fri    10/31        Grand Prairie, TX        Nokia Live Sat    11/1        San Antonio, TX        Sunset Station Mon    11/3        Houston, TX            Warehouse Live Wed    11/5        Tulsa, OK            Cain's Ballroom Fri    11/7        Oklahoma City, OK        Bricktown Events Center Sat    11/8        Albuquerque, NM        Albuquerque Convention Center Sun    11/9        Tempe, AZ            The Marquee Theatre Tue    11/11        Hollywood, CA        Palladium Wed    11/12        Las Vegas, NV        The Joint Fri    11/14        San Francisco, CA        The Grand Ballroom Sat    11/15        Portland, OR            Roseland Theatre Mon    11/17        Seattle, WA            Showbox SoDo Wed    11/19        Spokane, WA            The Knitting Factory Concert Hall Fri    11/21        Denver, CO            The Fillmore Auditorium Sat    11/22        Kansas City, MO        Uptown Theatre Mon    11/24        Wichita, KS            The Cotillion Tue    11/25        St Louis, MO            The Pageant Wed    11/26        East Peoria, IL        East Peoria Event Center Fri    11/28        Des Moines, IA        Val Air Ballroom Sat    11/29        Maplewood, MN        The Myth Mon    12/1        Milwaukee, WI            The Eagles Ballroom Tue    12/2        Chicago, IL            The Congress Theater Fri    12/5        Detroit, MI            The Fillmore Detroit Sat    12/6        Grand Rapids, MI        The Orbit Room Mon    12/8        Cincinnati, OH            Bogart's Tue    12/9        Columbus, OH        LC Pavilion Thu    12/11        Baltimore, MD            Rams Head Live! Fri    12/12        Philadelphia, PA        The Electric Factory Sat    12/13        Worcester, MA        The Palladium Tue    12/16        New York, NY            Roseland Ballroom Wed    12/17        Norfolk, VA            The Norva Fri    12/19        Atlanta, GA            Tabernacle Sat    12/20        Lake Buena Vista, FL        House of Blues
You Oughta Know Lenka!
Wed, 17 Sep 2008 00:08:00 -0000
Lenka is VH1's newest You Oughta Know artist! For one week, listen to a preview of Lenka's debut album, Lenka, on VH1's The Leak.
Get Mudvayne's New Single, "Do What You Do"
Tue, 23 Sep 2008 19:03:48 -0000
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