The Contours "Do You Love Me" 1962

When the band hit the first note of their smash hit, "Do You Love Me" the crowd went crazy. In the midst of the excitement, I suddenly flashed back in my mind to the first time I had heard the song. I was in Berry Gordy Jr.s' office at Tamla Motown in Detroit, a very impressive structure with a huge sign reading: "Hitsville U.S.A.". This is where it all began...the song...the group...the band...the session...the sound...and then, the record....
Berry laid a lot of good sounds on me that hot july afternoon, but a dozen songs later, the first was still the best.A new group with a new sound! "Berry, the Contours have got themselves a smash hit", were my exact words. And I didn't leave the office until I had a copy securely in my possession. - liner notes by Paul DrewThe first LP released on Gordy Records is also the Contours' first and only regular album release on Motown; a later collection also titled Do You Love Me was a greatest-hits compilation. This is worth a few bucks if you can find a copy. Three cuts were released on the Motown label before they were switched to Gordy ("The Stretch," "Funny," and "Whole Lotta Woman"); all stiffed. On Gordy, the group enjoyed their biggest hit the first time out in "Do You Love Me." "You Better Get In Line," a slick dance number, died as the flipside of "Shake Sherrie." A lively "You Must Be Love" has Billy Gordon swapping leads with Joe Billingslea. "Shake Sherrie" has a looping beat, a wandering baritone sax, and incredulous vocals from Gordon, Billingslea, Sylvester Potts, Billy Hogg, and Hubert Johnson. The rest suffer from a lack of identity; neither the group nor Motown had defined their sound when these were cut. ~ Andrew Hamilton, All Music Guidetraxfromwax:
1. Do You Love Me 2. Just a Little Misunderstanding 3. Shake Sherrie 4. Can You Do It 5. Don't Let Her Be Your Baby 6. First I Look at the Purse 7. Whole Lotta Woman 8. Can You Jerk Like Me? 9. It's So Hard Being a Loser 10. You Get Ugly