There is something charming about this version, as if it's coming through on an AM station in the dead of night...
"Please Mr. Postman" was Tamla Records first number one hit in 1961.
Motown gave the Marvels the star treatment. Gordy renamed the group the Marvelettes and had "Please Mr. Postman" re-written for them and released as their first single in the summer of 1961 on the Tamla imprint with Gladys Horton singing lead. The song took fourteen weeks to hit the #1 position on the Pop chart, a record for its time. The song also held at #1 on the Billboard R&B chart for seven consecutive weeks. It was the first of two million-selling gold certified 45's for the group. An album also called Please Mr. Postman was rush released to capitalize on the girls initial success but neither it or subsequent four albums charted.
The Marvelettes faced stiff competition by 1964 with the rise of the Supremes and Martha and the Vandellas; the group turned down "Where Did Our Love Go" which went on to become the Supremes first number one hit. That, and health problems in the group seemed to seal their fate. Although they preformed throughout the 60's and had a few more hits along the way, the group was essentially done by 1970.
Inkster native Gladys Horton left the group in 1967. She passed away yesterday at the age of 66 in a nursing home in LA due to complications from a stroke. RIP - and thank you for the music.