What Motown group originally recorded the 1961 hit 'Please Mr. Postman'?

The Marvelettes originally recorded the 1961 Motown hit “Please Mr. Postman.”

Tamla, Motown’s label, released the single on August 21, 1961. It was the Marvelettes’ debut single and became the first Motown recording to reach No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song also topped the U.S. R&B chart, establishing the young girl group as an important early Motown act.

The group began as the Marvels, a high-school vocal group from Inkster, Michigan. For their Motown audition, Georgia Dobbins adapted an unfinished song, which was later reshaped by Brian Holland, Robert Bateman, and Freddie Gorman. Motown renamed the group the Marvelettes and signed them to the Tamla division.

Gladys Horton sang lead on the hit, while Marvin Gaye played drums as part of Motown’s studio musicians, the Funk Brothers. The song’s success can cause confusion because it was later covered by the Beatles in 1963 and by other artists, but the original Motown recording belongs to the Marvelettes.