Wanda Young was born on August 9 1943 in Inkster, Michigan. She attended Inkster High School. She had planned to become a nurse, but then her classmate Georgia Dobbins left the local girl group The Marvels. Wanda Young was asked to audition and as a result took Miss Dobbins's place in the group. It was not long after Motown signed The Marvels that they were renamed The Marvelettes.
The Marvelettes gave Motown their first no. 1 hit when "Please Mr. Postman" topped the Billboard Hot 100 in 1961. The Marvelettes would follow the success of "Please Mr. Postman" with such hits as "Playboy," "Beechwood 4-5789," "Too Many Fish in the Sea," and "I'll Keep Holding On." Wanda Young took over lead vocals from Gladys Horton in 1965 and sang lead on their hits "Don't Mess with Bill," "The Hunter Gets Captured by the Game, and "My Baby Must Be a Magician." As the Sixties progressed, The Marvelettes would have fewer and fewer hits. The group disbanded in 1970. Wanda Young then recorded a solo album produced by Smokey Robinson which Motown released as The Return of The Marvelettes, even though no other Marvelettes appeared on the album.
It was in 1989 that Gladys Horton was offered a contract by Motorcity Records to record a new album as The Marvelettes. Wanda Young was the only Marvelette that Miss Horton interested in the project. the album, The Marvelettes Now!, featured both Gladys Horton and Wanda Young.
Wanda Young was a very talented singer. No less than Smokey Robinson wrote of her in his liner notes for The Marvelettes' compilation album Deliver: the Singles (1961-1971), "“Wanda had this little voice that was sexy to me, a little country kind of voice...I knew if I could get a song to her, it would be a smash." Miss Young's vocals were certainly bewitching and enriched The Marvelettes' records. While they may not be the be the best known girl group today, they remain one of the best.
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