#38: Doggone Right by Smokey Robinson & the Miracles

City: Fredericton, NB
Radio Station: CFNB
Peak Month: August 1969
Peak Position in Fredericton: #6
Peak position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #32
YouTube: “Doggone Right”
Lyrics: “Doggone Right”

William “Smokey” Robinson Jr. was born in Detroit in 1940. An uncle gave him the nickname “Smokey Joe” when he was a child. From the age of five he became acquainted with Aretha Franklin, who lived a few doors from his home in the Belmont neighborhood. In 1955 he formed a doo-wop group named the Five Chimes and renamed them the Matadors in 1957. Later that year they changed their name again to the Miracles. The other members of the Miracles were Robert Edward “Bobby” Rogers, who was born in 1940 in Detroit in the same hospital as Robinson. Bobby Rogers joined the Five Chimes in 1956. Born in 1942, Claudette Annette Rogers was from New Orleans and joined the Miracles in 1957. Ronald Anthony “Ronnie” White co-founded the Five Chimes with Smokey Robinson. Warren Thomas “Pete” Moore was born in Detroit in 1938 and was an original member of the Five Chimes. Moore and Robinson met at a musical event in public school in Detroit. Marv Tarplin was born in Atlanta in 1941. He became the Miracles guitarist in 1959 after the group had a dismal reception at the Apollo Theatre in Harlem in 1959. With a guitarist backing the five singers, they were headed for stardom.

The Miracles first single release was on the End label titled “Got A Job” about a guy who gets a job at a grocery store. This was an answer song to the #1 hits by The Silhouettes in February 1958 titled “Get A Job”. The song was co-written by Berry Gordy Jr., Smokey Robinson and Tyran Carlo. It climbed to #10 in Oakland, California, on KWBR “The Rhythm & Blues Capital of the West.” The Miracles released another single with End Records before signing with Chess Records where they released three more singles before signing with a new local Detroit company in 1959.

Berry Gordy met Smokey Robinson and it was Robinson who suggested that Berry found a record label which Gordy named Tamla on January 12, 1959. The first hit for the new record company was “Money (That’s What I Want)” by Barrett Strong. The song went to #2 on the Billboard R&B charts in 1960. Meanwhile, The Miracles charted their first single on the Billboard Hot 100 named “Bad Girl”. The song stalled at #93. But it climbed into the Top Ten in Pittsburgh (PA) and San Bernardino (CA). The next hit for what Berry Gordy incorporated as Motown (taken from Motor and Town in homage to Detroit’s main industry), was “Shop Around” by The Miracles. The single climbed to #1 on the Cashbox Record chart and the Billboard R&B chart. It stalled at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 behind Lawrence Welk’s “Calcutta”. The song became Motown’s first million selling record.

In 1961-62 The Miracles struggled to get another hit record. They released two albums and five singles, but nothing seemed to click with record buyers. But that changed with the release of “You Really Got A Hold On Me” in the winter of 1962-63. The single became The Miracles second #1 hit on the Billboard R&B chart and climbed to #8 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song would later receive the Grammy Hall of Fame Award in 1998. In the summer of 1963, The Miracles released “Mickey’s Monkey” which climbed to #3 on the R&B charts and #8 on the Billboard Hot 100. Their next six single releases in 1964 were eclipsed by other Motown recording acts and the British Invasion.

In 1965 The Miracles were back in the Top Ten on the R&B charts and the Top 20 on the Billboard Hot 100. Of the next eight released starting with “Ooo Baby Baby”, six of these reached the Top 20 on the Billboard Hot 100 and six of these made the Top Ten on the R&B chart. The string of hits included “Tracks Of My Tears” (#16 Hot 100/#2 R&B), “My Girl Has Gone” (#14 Hot 100/#3 R&B), “Going To A Go-Go” (#11 Hot 100/#2 R&B) and “(Come ‘Round Here) I’m The One You Need” (#17 Hot 100/#4 R&B).

The last of these eight single releases that cracked the Top 20 was “”The Love I Saw In You Was Just A Mirage”. It was also the first single to bill the group as Smokey Robinson And The Miracles.

Smokey Robinson And The Miracles followed up with “More Love”, which climbed to #5 on the Billboard R&B. Their biggest hit in 1967 was “I Second That Emotion” which became their third #1 hit on the Billboard R&B charts, and was their second highest chart position to date after “Shop Around” on the Billboard Hot 100 at #4 in December 1967. For “I Second That Emotion” the group received a Grammy Award nomination in the Best Rhythm & Blues Group Performance, Vocal Or Instrumental category. They lost out to Sam & Dave’s “Soul Man”.

Over the next few years Smokey Robinson And The Miracles struggled to repeat their successes from the 1965-67 chart run. They released “Baby Baby Don’t Cry” in early 1969. Later that year they released “Doggone Right”.

“Doggone Right” was cowritten by group mates Smokey Robinson and Marv Tarplin, and Motown songwriter Al Cleveland. The latter was born in Pittsburgh (PA), in 1930. He cowrote “I Second That Emotion”, “Baby, Baby Don’t Cry”, “Yester Love”, “Special Occasion”, “Here I Go Again” and “Point It Out” for Smokey Robinson and the Miracles. In 1971, he also penned the number-one R&B hit “What’s Going On” for Marvin Gaye, which was later also a Top 20 hit for Cyndi Lauper. His compositions have also been recorded by Bobby Taylor and the Vancouvers, Gene Pitney, Chuck Jackson, Aretha Franklin, Dionne Warwick, David Ruffin, the Marvelettes, and Diana Ross & the Supremes. Al Cleveland died in 1996 at the age of 66 of heart disease.

The lyrics to “Doggone Right” describe a guy who is head over heels in love with his sweetheart. If anyone asks if he’s the luckiest man alive he’ll tell them “doggone right.” As a word, doggone emerged in the British and American cultures in the late 1840s. Initially, it was a variant of “gone to the dogs,” and connoted annoyance or frustration. Over time, it has also become a word that can also indicate surprise, or in the case of “Doggone Right” admiration for someone (or something).

“Doggone Right” peaked at #2 in Battle Creek (MI), #5 in Akron (OH), Clarksville (TN), and Charlottesville (VA), #6 in Kalamazoo (MI), #7 in Jackson (MI), Fredericton (NB), and Arlington (VA), #9 in Cleveland, and #11 in New Orleans.

Smokey Robinson and The Miracles had a final #1 hit in 1970 titled “Tears Of A Clown” on both the Billboard pop and R&B charts in the USA.

In addition to the hits they wrote for themselves, members of the Miracles also wrote hit songs for other Motown recording acts. Smokey Robinson and Pete Moore co-wrote “It’s Growing” and “Since I Lost My Baby” for The Temptations and “Ain’t That Peculiar” and “I’ll Be Doggone” for Marvin Gaye. Smokey Robinson and Bobby Rogers co-wrote “The Way You Do The Things You Do” for The Temptations. Warren Moore co-wrote “Since I Lost My Baby” with Smokey Robinson. He later wrote The Miracles final hit from 1976 titled “Love Machine”. Robinson and Ronale White co-wrote “My Girl” as a tribute to Claudette Rogers Robinson, who married Smokey in 1959. They divorced in 1986.

Smokey Robinson went solo in 1972. In 1975 he had a #1 R&B hit titled “Baby That’s Backatcha”. He had a #1 hit in 1979 titled “Cruisin’”. He received his second Grammy Award nomination, this time as a solo artist, in the category Best R&B Vocal Performance – Male. However, Robinson lost out to Michael Jackson’s “Don’t Stop Til You Get Enough”.

And in 1981 he had a #1 hit called “Being With You”. In 1988, Robinson won a Grammy Award for “Just To See Her” in the Best Male R&B Vocal Performance category. In 1991, Smokey Robinson received another Grammy Award nomination in the same category for “We’ve Saved The Best For Last”. However, he lost out to Bobby Brown and his recording of “Every Little Step”. He received another Grammy Award nomination in 2000 for his album Intimate, In the Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance category.

The Miracles continued to perform with Billy Griffin as lead singer until they split in 1978. They reformed in 1980 until 1983, when they disbanded for another ten years. But in 1993 they began to do reunion tours with Sydney Justin as lead singer along with Ronnie White, Bobby Rogers and Claudette Robinson. In 1995 Ronnie White lost a battle with leukemia.

Marv Tarplin remained as guitarist with The Miracles until 2008. The current lineup of The Miracles consists of Sydney Justin, Kerry Justin, Cordell Conway, and Eric Swindell. Smokey Robinson continues to tour. Smokey Robinson also has a radio channel which he hosts on Serious XM Radio. He released his 24th solo studio album, What the World Needs Now Is Love, in 2025.

October 4, 2025
Ray McGinnis

References:
“Smokey Robinson biography,” Smokey Robinson.com.
“The Love I Saw In You Was Just A Mirage” American Gigolo excerpt, 1980.
Lyrics to “Got A Job” by The Miracles, 1958.
About the Miracles, The Miracles Music.com.
“Al Cleveland,” prebook.com.

CFNB 550-AM Fredericton (NB) Top 15 | August 9, 1969