Visitation for Bobbie Smith, longtime lead singer for the Spinners, will take place from 3-7 p.m. Sunday at Swanson Funeral Home's Northwest Chapel, 14751 W. McNichols in Detroit, (313) 272-9000.
The funeral will be at the St. Stephen AME Church, 6000 John E. Hunter/Stanford Dr., Detroit, with the family hour at 10 a.m., and services at 11 a.m.
Smith, 76, died March 16 in Orlando, Fla., of complications from influenza and pneumonia. The singer was originally from Georgia, but moved to Detroit in 1953, in time for his senior year at Ferndale's Lincoln High School.
There he met up with classmates Billy Henderson and Pervis Jackson, as well as Henry Fambrough, who was a year behind them at Lincoln. Along with C.P. Spencer, they formed a group named the Domingoes and then renamed the Spinners.
Smith was the group's lead voice, prominent on their 1961 hit on Harvey Fuqua and Gwen Gordy's Tri-Phi Records, "That's What Girls are Made For," as well as their Motown hits "Truly Yours" and "I'll Always Love You." When the group moved to Atlantic Records, Bobbie's voice led on such songs as "I'll Be Around," "Could It Be I'm Falling in Love," "Games People Play" and "Then Came You."
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