Pictured: Motown Records vice president Esther Gordy Edwards chats with Motown artist Smokey Robinson in 1967 in Detroit, Michigan
Motown Records officially opened its Detroit offices in winter of 1959, and it wouldn’t be long before the Black-owned-and-run studio would be churning out popular soul singles that climbed the Billboard charts.
Motown’s first #1 single—"Please Mr. Postman” by the teen girl group The Marvelettes—made it to the top of the charts in 1961, just a year after the studio released its first million-selling hit song, “Shop Around,” by The Miracles. Reaching popularity at the height of the civil rights movement, Motown became a major player in connecting people across racial divides through music that appealed to the masses.
Motown: The Complete No. 1s Motown's Biggest Hits.