1. Tomorrow May Never Come

2. Like A Good Man Should

3. I've Got To Find Myself A Brand New Baby

4. Pay Them No Mind

5. We Belong Together

6. Just Can't Get You Out Of My Mind

7. Since I Been Gone

8. Ain't No Price On Happiness

9. He'll Never Love You Like I Do

10. Smile, We Can Have Each Other

11. There's No One Like You

12. I Don't Want To Lose You

13. Just As Long As We Have Love with Dionne Warwick

14. Four Hands In The Fire

15. Now That We're Together

16. I Found Love (When I Found You)

17. I'm Tired Of Giving

18. Once You Fall In Love

19. One, One, Two, Two, Boogie Woogie Avenue (Home Of The Boogie, House Of The Funk)

20. I'm Takin' You Back

Track 18 from From Here To Eternally (1979)

The Spinners, sometimes known as The Detroit Spinners or The Motown Spinners, formed in 1954, but they took a while to hit their stride. The group debuted in 1961 and spent their first decade on Motown and its associated sublabels. They released many singles but only two albums in that time, including "Like A Good Man Should," written by Smokey Robinson on their debut. The Spinners' biggest hit of their Motown era was the Stevie Wonder-penned "It's A Shame." Then Aretha Franklin lured the group to Atlantic, and they abandoned an unfinished third Motown album that Stevie Wonder was producing, which is one of those what-if projects that I wish had been completed. 

Despite being from Michigan, The Spinners, ultimately became associated with Philly Soul after recording a series of albums with producer Thom Bell at Sigma Sound Studios, spawning a string of gold albums and crossover pop hits. Bell passed away in December 2022, and he produced every album from Spinners to From Here To Eternally. The Spinners' only #1 on the Hot 100 was 1974's "Then Came You" with Dionne Warwick, and a year later they worked together again on "Just As Long As We Have Love," which features uncredited Warwick vocals. The Spinners have released half a dozen albums since the '70s, but some of them aren't on streaming services. And their last major hit was on 1980's Love Trippin' so that seemed like a good place to end the playlist. 

 

The Spinners, like many classic soul groups of the '70s, have become popular with hip hop producers over the years. "I'm Tired Of Giving" was sampled on the classic Mobb Deep deep cut "Up North Trip." "I Don't Want To Lose You" was sampled on Monica's hit "Until It's Gone." "We Belong Together" was sampled by Rakim, Freeway, and The Game. "I Found Love (When I Found You)" was sampled by Musiq Soulchild, Blxst, and Quasimoto. "Since I Been Gone" and "Smile, We Have Each Other" were sampled by Madlib. "Ain't No Price On Happiness" was sampled by MF Doom and Todd Edwards. And "He'll Never Love You Like I Do" was sampled by Teyana Taylor and Kanye West.