Motown scores its first No 1

The US postal service might not seem like the most romantic of subjects for a pop record, but Motown could inject magic into any situation. The Marvelettes's debut single, Please Mr Postman – later covered by the Beatles and the Carpenters – described the high anxiety that comes with any teen love affair and gave Motown its first US No 1, only a year after Berry Gordy had merged his Tamla and Motown labels and changed the group's name from the Marvels to the Marvelettes. It was no fluke – during the next decade the Detroit label scored dozens of top 10 hits, thanks to the likes of Smokey Robinson, the Supremes and Marvin Gaye. And while the Marvelettes never reached No 1 again, they notched up two further US top 10 hits (Playboy and Don't Mess With Bill in 1962 and 66 respectively), though neither captured the trials of adolescence quite like the fervent Please Me Postman.