It's a Shame (The Spinners song)

"It's a Shame" is a song co-written by Stevie Wonder, Syreeta Wright and Lee Garrett and produced by Wonder as a single for the Spinners on Motown's V.I.P. Records label. The single became the Detroit-reared group's biggest single on the Motown Records label since they had signed with the company in 1964 and also their biggest hit in a decade.

The Spinner's line-up include original members Pervis Jackson, Henry Fambrough, Billy Henderson and Bobby Smith and lead vocalist G. C. Cameron. The quintet recorded the single in 1970.

The song, which is about a man who complains about a lover's "messin' around" on him, became a huge hit for the group peaking at number 14 on the Billboard Hot 100 the week of October 17, 1970 and number 3 on the R&B singles chart,Billboard Hot 100, Week of October 17, 1970 – Billboard.com. Retrieved December 7, 2024. making it one of their biggest hits to date. The song was the first song Wonder produced by himself for another act.

Beverly Dewitt Yancey, the father of hip-hop producer J Dilla, claims to have ghost-written the song and sold it to Motown, but the song's attributed writers dispute this.

Chart performance Weekly charts +Weekly chart performance for "It's a Shame"Chart (1970)PeakpositionCanada RPM36UK Singles Chart20US Billboard Hot 10014US Cashbox Top 10015US Billboard Hot Soul Singles4

Year-end charts +Year-end chart performance for "It's a Shame"Chart (1970)RankUS Billboard Hot 10076US R&B (Billboard)13US Cashbox Top 10087

Certifications

Personnel Lead vocals by G. C. Cameron Background vocals by Bobby Smith, Pervis Jackson, Henry Fambrough and Billy Henderson Instrumentation by Stevie Wonder and the Funk Brothers Arranged by Paul Riser

References