The Tears of a Clown
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Added "(two weeks)"
{{Infobox Single |
| Name = The Tears of a Clown
| Artist = [[The Miracles|Smokey Robinson & the Miracles]]
| from Album = [[Make It Happen (Miracles album)|Make It Happen]] (''aka'' The Tears of a Clown)
| B-side = "Promise Me"
| Cover = Tearsofaclown45.jpg
| Format = [[Single (music)|7" single]]
| Released = September 1970 (UK) <br /> [[September 24]], [[1970]] (US)
| Recorded = [[Hitsville USA]] (Studio A); 1966 - 1967
| Genre = [[Pop music|Pop]]/[[Soul music|soul]]
| Length = 2:57
| Label = [[Motown|Tamla]]<br><small>T 54199</small>
| Writer = [[Stevie Wonder]] <br /> [[Hank Cosby]] <br /> [[Smokey Robinson]]
| Producer = Hank Cosby <br /> Smokey Robinson
| Chart position = <nowiki></nowiki>
*<nowiki>#</nowiki>1 <small>([[Billboard Hot 100|US Pop Singles]])</small>
*<nowiki>#</nowiki>1 <small>([[Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs|US R&B Singles]])</small>
*<nowiki>#</nowiki>1 <small>([[UK Singles Chart|UK Singles]])</small>
| Reviews = <nowiki></nowiki>
| Last single = "Who's Gonna Take the Blame" <br />(1970)
| This single = "The Tears of a Clown"<br />(1970)
| Next single = "I Don't Blame You at All"<br />(1971)
}}
'''"The Tears of a Clown"''' is a 1967 song by [[The Miracles|Smokey Robinson & the Miracles]] for the Tamla ([[Motown]]) label, originally released on the 1967 album ''[[Make It Happen (Miracles album)|Make It Happen]]''. The song was re-released in the [[United Kingdom]] as a single in September 1970, where it became a number-one hit on the [[UK singles chart]]. Subsequently, Motown released "The Tears of a Clown" as a single in the [[United States]] as well, where it quickly became a number-one hit on the [[Billboard Hot 100]] and [[Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs|Black Singles Chart]]. This song is an international multi-million seller and a 2002 [[Grammy Hall of Fame]] inductee. The single's success caused Miracles lead singer/producer/songwriter [[Smokey Robinson]], who had announced plans to leave the act, to stay with the group until 1972.
==History==
===Origins===
[[Stevie Wonder]] and his producer [[Hank Cosby]] wrote the music for the song, and Cosby produced the instrumental track recording. Wonder gave Smokey Robinson the instrumental track as a [[Christmas]] present at the 1966 Motown Christmas party. Robinson, who remarked that the song's distinctive [[calliope (music)|calliope]] motif "sounded like a circus", provided lyrics that reflected his vision and sang lead vocal. In the song, Robinson's character, hurt by a lover who left him, compares himself to the characters in the [[opera]] ''[[Pagliacci]]'', comedians/clowns who hide their hurt and anger behind empty smiles. Robinson had used the ''Pagliacci'' comparison before: the line "just like Pagliacci did/I'll try to keep my sadness hid" also appears in the song "My Smile Is Just A Frown (Turned Upside Down)", which Robinson wrote in 1964 for Motown artist [[Carolyn Crawford]].
Issued as an album track on the ''[[Make It Happen (Miracles album)|Make It Happen]]'' LP, "The Tears of a Clown" was not released as a single. By 1969, Robinson had tired of endlessly touring with the Miracles, and wanted to remain home in [[Detroit, Michigan]] with his wife [[Claudette Rogers Robinson|Claudette]] and their two children, Berry and Tamla (both named after aspects of the Motown corporation). Robinson informed his bandmates [[Pete Moore]], [[Bobby Rogers]], and best friend [[Ronald White]] that he would be retiring from the act to concentrate on his duties as [[vice-president]] of Motown Records.
In the meantime, Motown's British offices were clamoring for a new hit single from the Miracles, who were very popular in the [[United Kingdom]]. With no new material available from the group, which was now planning to break up, Motown searched through their back catalog and happened upon "The Tears of a Clown". A new mix of the song was made in February 1970 for the single release, and "The Tears of a Clown" became a number-one hit in the UK after its September release.
===Commercial success===
This newfound popularity prompted Motown to release the song as a single in the United States, where it became a number-one hit on both the pop and [[rhythm and blues|R&B]] charts within two months of its release. Despite the fact that The Miracles had been one of Motown's premier acts in the early and mid-1960s and its first successful group act, "The Tears of a Clown" was their first and only #1 hit while Smokey Robinson was lead singer. (The Miracles hit number one again several years later with the smash hit "[[Love Machine (The Miracles song)|Love Machine]]", but by that time Smokey had long since left the group, replaced by [[Billy Griffin]].)
The 45 single was issued with two different [[b-side]]s. The first pressing had an alternate version of the 1967 Miracles single "The Love I Saw in You was Just a Mirage" included on the flip side of "The Tears of a Clown", while the second included a new Miracles song, "Promise Me". Motown released a ''Tears of a Clown'' LP in 1970 as well, which was essentially a re-packaging of the Miracles' 1967 ''Make It Happen'' LP.
Two years later, Smokey Robinson decided to follow through with his plans to leave the Miracles and retire. Smokey Robinson & the Miracles embarked on a six-month farewell tour, which culminated in a [[July 16]], [[1972]] performance in [[Washington, DC]], where Robinson introduced the Miracles' new lead singer, Billy Griffin.
Today, "The Tears of a Clown" continues to be a popular radio request.
===Cover versions===
A [[ska]]-flavored cover of the song was a hit for the English [[ska]]/ [[New Wave music|New Wave]] band [[The Beat (band)|The Beat]] in 1979.
Covered by the Flying Pickets in 1984 on their album ''Lost Boys''
In late 1993, Australian punk-rock band [[Caligula (band)|Caligula]] had an Australian #25 hit with the song.
The song was later covered by [[La Toya Jackson]] in 1994 for her album ''[[Stop in the Name of Love (La Toya Jackson album)|Stop! In the Name of Love!]]'', and by Eve of Summer in 2007, for their album ''7''.
=== Trivia ===
* The Tears of a Clown features the [[bassoon]] as part of the instrumental arrangement, to provide part of the "reedy calliope" sound.
* In the American sitcom ''[[Malcolm In The Middle]]'', "The Tears of a Clown" is Lois and Hal's "song."
* In The Miracles' Motown "Definitive DVD", released in late 2006, Smokey revealed that their song "The Tears Of A Clown" was the 1st Motown hit ever to reach # 1 in the charts in Britain.
* The song provides the template for the 1987 hit "[[When Smokey Sings]]," by the [[New Wave music|New Wave]] band [[ABC (band)|ABC]] from ABC's album ''[[Alphabet City (album)|Alphabet City]]''.
* A reference to the "Tears Of A Clown" is contained in "[[Spending My Time]]" - one of the most popular songs by the Swedish duo [[Roxette]].
* The [[American Dad]] episode "[[Tears Of A Clooney]]" is a reference to the song.
* In the [[American Dad]] episode entitled "[[Tearjerker]]" an apparantly remixed version of the song is featured shortly.
== Credits ==
* Lead vocals by [[Smokey Robinson]]
* Background vocals by [[Claudette Rogers Robinson]]. [[Pete Moore]], [[Ronnie White]], and [[Bobby Rogers]].
* Guitar by [[Marv Tarplin]]
* Written by [[Stevie Wonder]], [[Hank Cosby]], and William "Smokey" Robinson
* Produced by [[Hank Cosby]] and William "Smokey" Robinson
* Other instrumentation by [[The Funk Brothers]]
{{start box}}
{{succession box
| before = "[[I Think I Love You]]" by [[The Partridge Family]]
| title = [[Billboard Hot 100]] [[List of number-one hits (United States)|number one single]]
| years = [[December 12]], [[1970]] (two weeks)
| after = "[[My Sweet Lord]]" / "[[Isn't It a Pity]]" by [[George Harrison]]
}}
{{succession box
| before = "[[The Wonder of You]] (Live)" by [[Elvis Presley]]
| title = [[List of number-one singles (UK)|UK number one single]]
| years = [[September 8]], [[1970]]
| after = "[[Band of Gold (Freda Payne song)|Band of Gold]]" by [[Freda Payne]]
}}
{{succession box
| before = "[[Super Bad (song)|Super Bad]] (Part 1)" by [[James Brown (musician)|James Brown ]]
| title = [[Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs|Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs]] [[List of number-one R&B hits (United States)|number one single]]
| years = [[December 5]] - [[December 19]], [[1970]]
| after = "[[Stoned Love]]" by [[The Supremes]]
}}
{{end box}}
== See also ==
* [[Hot 100 No. 1 Hits of 1970]]
== External links ==
* [http://www.superseventies.com/sw_tearsofaclown.html "The Tears of a Clown" at ''Superseventies.com'']
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tears of a Clown, The}}
[[Category:1967 songs]]
[[Category:1970 singles]]
[[Category:The Miracles songs]]
[[Category:Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs number-one singles]]
[[Category:Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles]]
[[Category:Number-one singles in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Grammy Hall of Fame Award recipients]]
[[Category:Songs written by The Miracles members]]