The Lewis Sisters

Sisters Helen and Kay Lewis had cut a slew of niche and novelty records with a classical bent, but they came to Motown’s West Coast office in Los Angeles as songwriters and backing vocalists, rather than artists in their own right. The siblings' first song was published and recorded in 1952 and they previously recorded on Liberty, Verve, and World Pacific Records. LA producer Hal Davis liked the ladies’ voices a lot, and so they ended up with an artist contract too; billed, bafflingly, as The Singing School Teachers (even though neither of them were actually teachers), aka The Soul Teasers. Their 2 Motown singles failed to inspire much interest, despite the direct involvement of Motown president Berry Gordy Jr. and the rare privilege of seeing release in Europe. Thereafter, Helen and Kay stuck to songwriting, penning several excellent songs for more established Motown acts. The siblings wrote Just Walk In My Shoes for Gladys Knight & the Pips, Baby, Baby (not to be confused with Ooo, Baby Baby) for the Miracles, and Mr. Soul Brother for Blinky (aka Sandra Williams) which was unreleased but redone later by Christine Adams on Cyclone Records. Marvin Gaye's This Love Starved Heart Of Mine, released after his untimely demise and after the Sisters left Motown, became popular in Britain.