Gladys Horton, one of the original members of the Marvelettes, has passed away at a nursing home in Sherman Oaks, CA where she was being cared for after a stroke. She was 66.
Horton and Georgia Dobbins formed a group while in an Inkster, MI high school called the Casinyets (for "Can't Sing Yets") who went on to change their name to the Marvels. They won a chance to audition for the new Motown Records in a high school talent contest and performed a song Dobbins had rewritten from an old blues tune called Please Mr. Postman.
The audition got them hired, but Dobbins left the group and was replaced by Wanda Young who became the second lead singer to Horton. They were renamed the Marvelettes and Please Mr. Postman was released as their first single with Horton on lead. It went to number 1 on both the Pop and R&B charts, the first for the new company.
The group became a staple on the Motown touring revues and went on to such hits as Playboy, Beachwood 4-5789, Too Many Fish in the Sea, Don't Mess With Bill and The Hunter Gets Captured By the Game.
Horton left the group in 1967 to get married and was replaced by Anne Bogan. She partially retired from music to care for a handicapped son but did some appearances as Gladys Horton of the Marvelettes. In 2006, she performed on the PBS special My Music Salute to Early Motown with two background singers.
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