One of the first girl-group sensations, they evolved from the Casinyets ("Can't Sing Yet"), a female quintet formed while the members attended Inkster High School in Michigan. In 1961, they entered a singing contest in which the top three acts were offered auditions with Motown Records. Although they finished fourth, the Casinyets' teacher arranged for the group to join the three winning acts in Detroit. Motown was impressed with their singing, but told them that the group needed some original material. When the Casinyets signed with Motown, Berry Gordy changed the group's name to the Marvelettes.
Wanda Young replaced Georgia Dobbins in 1961. She eventually shared lead singing duties with Gladys Horton.
In 1962, Cowart left the group due to constant teasing about a silly comment that she made on Dick Clark's show American Bandstand - she said that that Inkster was "a suburb of Detroit." Motown reported that her departure was caused by a nervous breakdown. The group continued as a quartet.
See your Spotify stats (with number of plays and minutes listened) and discover new music.
Music data, artist images, album covers, and song previews are provided by Spotify. Spotify is a trademark of Spotify AB.