Katherine Anderson of the Marvelettes RIP

Very sorry to hear that the last surviving original member of the Marvelettes, Katherine Anderson Schaffner, has died at the age of 79. The group had one of Motown's earliest major hits, 'Please Mr Postman', and other big hits including 'Beechwood 4-5789', 'Playboy', 'Locking Up My Heart', 'As Long As I Know He's Mine', 'You're My Remedy', 'Too Many Fish In the Sea', 'Danger Heartbreak Dead Ahead', 'Don't Mess With Bill' and 'My Baby Must Be A Magician'. Formed in 1960 in Inkster, Michigan, the Marvelettes' early hits were written by the likes of Smokey Robinson and Marvin Gaye as well as Holland, Dozier and Holland, and, despite being slightly over shadowed by the Supremes, continued to make fantastic records throughout the sixties. Original lead singer Gladys Horton died in 2011 and she and Katherine fought to get back ownership of the group's name when other copycat groups emerged. When I went to the Detroit A Go-Go festival in 2019 Katherine was the only original member of the group still performing. I wrote at the time: 'Next came the Marvelettes, with one original member, Katherine Anderson Schaffner seated on a throne and three younger members dressed in long green gowns. I enjoyed them a lot and their versions of 'Please Mr Postman', 'I'll Keep On Holding On', an acapella version of 'Locking Up My Heart' (a personal favourite) and 'Your Love Can Save Me' were a delight.' Afterwards I had a chance to chat to Katherine at the St Regis Hotel and she and the others were delightful (see photos below).