Do You Love Me

This was written by Motown president Berry Gordy, who wrote it for The Temptations, but they failed to arrive for the recording session. At the same time but in a different Motown studio, The Contours arrived to record "It Must Be Love," but Gordy had other ideas - he asked them to cut "Do You Love Me" instead. The song became one of Motown's first hits, its sexy sound standing out among the much more tame offerings on the charts, which were dominated by artists like Neil Sedaka and The Four Seasons. As for The Temptations, it was another two years before they finally had their hit ("The Way You Do The Things You Do"), but when they did, they became the premier male act on the Motown roster.

Joe Billingslea of The Contours told Mojo magazine February 2009 the story of this song: "We had just left the record hop and we turned at the studio. The doors were always open in those days. Berry was down there at the piano and he said 'I want you to try this song I'm writing.' He told us how he wanted the backgrounds to go and we sang it. 'Try it again, I didn't quite like it,' he said. After about the third time he said, 'That's not right. I think I'll give it to The Temptations instead.' I told him not to. We did it again and he said, 'That's exactly how I want it. Come in tomorrow morning, we're going to record it.' So we did. I didn't like the song. It reminded me of 'Twist And Shout.' I said: 'This song ain't gonna do nothin', man.' That same week it was released and the following week it made the charts. I turned around and said: I love that song! Did I change my opinion? Of course! We realized later that The Temptations could never have sung that song because it wasn't suited to them but Berry had motivated us to sing it the way he wanted it."

This song peaked in popularity just as Motown launched their first "Motortown Revue" tour to showcase their acts. The Countours were stars of the show, igniting crowds with "Do You Love Me." Lower on the bill were some other Motown acts that had yet to hit, including Marvin Gaye, Little Stevie Wonder, and The Supremes.