Music: The Perpetual Miracle of Smokey

A soul master eases through 40 with old gifts and new hits

The voice works its way every place, any time. Over a car radio at high noon in the Mojave. On a cassette recorder during a long day at the beach. No matter how early the hour or how bright the glare. When Smokey Robinson comes on, the shades are drawn and lights go down all over the world.

He made his first big hit, Shop Around, when he was 20. It launched Robinson, the group he helped form, the Miracles, and the upstart...

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