The secretary who answered Motown's call and became its lead voice

Martha and the Vandellas began in Detroit in 1957, when friends Annette Beard, Rosalind Ashford and Gloria Williams formed a girl group. A local music manager had hired Ashford and Beard to be members of a group he named the Del-Phis, and the trio performed at local clubs, church benefits, YMCA events and school functions. One of their first professional engagements was singing background for singer Mike Hanks. Martha Reeves, a vocalist from Alabama who had sung in the Fascinations and the Sabre-Ettes, joined when one of the four left.

After a first contract with Checker Records and a release on Checkmate, a Chess subsidiary, little happened, and Reeves went back to working as a solo artist called Martha LaVaille. Then a Motown staffer, Mickey Stevenson, saw her sing in a Detroit club and offered her an audition. She turned up on a Tuesday instead of the usual Thursday and was made Stevenson's secretary, eventually responsible for handling Motown's auditions. By 1961 the group, now called the Vels, was recording background vocals for Motown acts, among them Marvin Gaye's first hit, “Stubborn Kind of Fellow”.

The break came by accident. When Mary Wells missed a recording session because of a short illness, the Vels recorded what began as a demo of “I'll Have to Let Him Go”. Motown was impressed by the group and by Martha's lead, and Berry Gordy offered a contract. Williams, figuring show business was too rigorous, left, and Gordy told the trio of Ashford, Beard and Reeves that they needed a new name. He gave them the Vandellas.

What followed was a run of hits: “Heat Wave” and “Quicksand” in 1963, “Dancing in the Street” in 1964, “Nowhere to Run” in 1965, “I'm Ready for Love” in 1966, and “Jimmy Mack” and “Honey Chile” in 1967. Six of their songs reached the top ten of the Billboard Hot 100, and two went to number one on the R&B chart. Motown turned people who came in to sing backing parts into the main attraction.