The Contours - First I Look At The Purse video

This is our 1989 remake of The Contours classic Motown single, "First I Look At The Purse". The Contours were one of the earliest Motown groups, coming hot on the heels of The Miracles and The Satintones. Founded by Joe Billingslea and joined soon after by Sylvester Potts, the group has endured for nearly fifty years, with their fiftieth anniversary coming up in 2009. Until recently Joe and Sylvester have been the mainstay of the group, with others changing lineup over the years, especially the lead singers, including Billy Gordon, Joe Stubbs, Dennis Edwards, and Daryl Nunlee, but always Joe Billingslea and Sylvester remained, which is why I find it so painful to learn that now they've gone their separate ways. and are running separate groups. Their first record on Motown was "Whole Lot Of Woman" in 1959, and in the early 1960s, they stole those old Motortown Revues at The Apollo Theatre in New York, with their spins and backdrops, something later adapted and adopted by the Northern Soul scene. Their biggest hit was "Do You Love Me", which was an even bigger hit in 1987 when it was featured in the Patrick Swayze film, "Dirty Dancing". But having said that, it was always for those joyous, stomping, mid Sixties classics, that England, and in particular the Northern Soul scene, hero worshipped the group - 'Just A Little Misunderstanding", "It's So Hard Being A Loser", and "Baby Hit And Run" in particular. But it was the success of "Dirty Dancing", which gave the Contours an ...