Song #169: "The Tears Of A Clown"--Smokey Robinson and The Miracles (1967)

It wasn't released as a single until three years after it made its debut, but today's song, a collaboration of Smokey Robinson, Stevie Wonder and Hank Cosby, first arrived on the scene on the 1967 album, "Make It Happen".

How it took the braintrust three years to figure out they had gold on their hands is beyond me, but I'm thankful someone did. To me, it is the masterpiece of Robinson's career and will sound just as good in 50 years, in 2067, than it did when it debuted the same year I did.