The Spinners are an American rhythm and blues vocal group that formed in Detroit, Michigan, in 1954. They enjoyed a string of hit singles and albums during the 1960s and 1970s. The group continues to tour, with Henry Fambrough as the only original member.
The group is also listed as the Detroit Spinners and the Motown Spinners, due to their 1960s recordings with the Motown label. These other names were used in the UK to avoid confusion with a British folk group also called The Spinners.[1] In 2015, they were nominated for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
After their chart career ended, the Spinners continued touring for decades. They are big draws on the oldies and nostalgia concert circuits, playing the music that made them famous.
In their boxed set, The Chrome Collection, the Spinners were lauded by David Bowie and Elvis Costello. They were inducted into The Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 1999. On July 27, 2006, the Spinners performed on the Late Show with David Letterman.
G.C. Cameron, rejoined the group as lead vocalist from 2000 to 2002 (replacing John Edwards, who left due to a stroke that left him wheelchair-bound), but he left them in 2003 to join The Temptations. Frank Washington, formerly of The Futures and The Delfonics, joined for a few years, before being replaced by Charlton Washington (no relation).
In 2004, original member Billy Henderson was dismissed from the group after suing the group’s corporation and business manager to obtain financial records. He was replaced by Harold “Spike” Bonhart. Henderson died due to complications from diabetes on February 2, 2007, at the age of 67. Another early member, C. P. Spencer, had already died from a heart attack on October 20, 2004;[13][14] and another, George Dixon, died in 1994.[15]
Original member Pervis Jackson, who was still touring as a member of the group, died from cancer on August 18, 2008.[16] The group continued for a short time as a quartet before Jessie Robert Peck,(born in Queens, New York, December 17, 1968) was recruited as the group’s new bass vocalist in February 2009. In 2009, Bonhart left the Spinners and was replaced by vocalist Marvin Taylor. The group lost another member from their early days, when Edgar “Chico” Edwards died on December 3, 2011.[17]
The Spinners were put into the limelight again in 2003 when an Elton John track was re-issued featuring them on backing vocals. In 1977, the Spinners had recorded two versions of “Are You Ready for Love” at the Philadelphia studios. One had all of the Spinners, the other with only lead singer Philippé Wynne on backing vocals. Elton John was not happy with the mixes and sat on the tapes for a year before asking for them to be remixed so they would sound easier on the ear.[citation needed] Finally, in 1979, the Wynne version was released as a single, but it only made it to number 42 in the UK. The track was then remixed by Ashley Beedle from Xpress-2 in 2003 after becoming a fixture in the Balearic nightcl