Today’s classic Motown song of the day comes from one of Motown’s top composers and performers. It’s “The Tears of a Clown” by Smokey Robinson and the Miracles. This one was initially released on the Miracles’ 1967 album, Make It Happen, but not released as a single. Motown released it as a single in England in 1970, where it rose all the way to #1. Based on that success, the label remixed it and released it in the U.S. in September of 1970; it hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, Cash Box Top 100, and Billboard R&B Singles charts.
“The Tears of a Clown” was written by Smokey Robinson, Hank Cosby, and some kid who used to hang around the studio named Stevie Wonder. Stevie and Hank wrote the music and gave it to Smokey to add the words. Smokey thought the music, with its calliope-like motif, “sounded like a circus,” and that inspired the title and the lyrics.
The song’s protagonist compares himself to the lead character in the opera Pagliacci, a clown who hides his hurt and anger behind the empty smile of his clown make up. That line, “just like Pagliacci did, I’ll try to keep my sadness hid” was actually Smokey ripping himself off; he’d originally written it in the 1964 song “My Smile Is Just A Frown (Turned Upside Down)” for Motown artist Carolyn Crawford. I guess it’s okay to plagiarize yourself.
In the classic Motown era there were two primary songwriters/songwriting teams that were responsible for the bulk of the label’s big hits. The first was the team of Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier, and Eddie Holland (otherwise known as H-D-H), who churned out hard-driving yet heartbreaking hits for the Supremes, the Four Tops, and the Temptations. The second was the man born William Robinson Jr., although everybody knew him as Smokey. This terrific songwriter wrote songs not just for himself and his group the Miracles, but also for al the classic Motown acts. His list of hit songs includes:
- For himself, both solo and with the Miracles: “Bad Girl,” “Shop Around,” “You’ve Really Got a Hold on Me,” “Ooh Baby Baby,” “The Tracks of My Tears,” “Going to a Go-Go,” “More Love,” “I Second That Emotion,” “The Tears of a Clown,” “Cruisin’,” and “Being with You”
- For Mary Wells: “The One Who Really Loves You,” “You Beat Me to the Punch,” “Two Lovers,” “My Guy”
- For Marvin Gaye: “I’ll Be Doggone” and “Ain’t That Peculiar”
- For the Marvelettes: “Don’t Mess with Bill,” “The Hunter Gets Captured by the Game,” and “My Baby Must Be a Magician”
- For the Four Tops: “Still Water (Love)”
- For the Supremes: “The Composer” and “Floy Joy”
- For the Temptations: “The Way You Do the Things You Do,” “It’s Growing,” “My Girl,” “My Baby,” “Don’t Look Back,” “Get Ready”
Smokey Robinson formed the Miracles, then known as the Five Chimes, back in 1955 with Warren “Pete” Moore, Ronnie White, Clarence Dawson, and James Grice. When the latter two members left, replaced by cousins Sonny and Bobby Rogers, the group changed their name to the Matadors. Sonny left the group in 1957, replaced by his sister Claudette Rogers. They subsequently changed their name to the Miracles and Smokey and Claudette got married.
The Miracles signed with Berry Gordy’s Motown Records in 1958 and had their first big hit in 1960 with “Shop Around,” Motown’s first million-copy seller. They continued as a group until 1978, even after Smokey left for a solo career in 1972. All total, the group notched 26 Top 40 hits with seven reaching the Top 10 and one (“The Tears of a Clown”) reaching number one. On his own, Smokey had four top ten hits: “Cruisin'” (1979), “Being With You” (1980), “Just to See Her” (1987), and “One Heartbeat” (1987).
In addition to being a songwriter, producer, and performer, Smokey Robinson was also a vice-president at Motown until its sale to MCA in 1988. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987 and was awarded the Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for his lifetime contributions to popular music. He’s still alive today, aged 83.
