<P> Stevie Wonder (who was discovered by Miracles member Ronnie White) and his producer Hank Cosby wrote the music for the song, and Cosby produced the instrumental track recording . Wonder brought the instrumental track to the 1966 Motown Christmas party because he could not come up with a lyric to fit the instrumental . Wonder wanted to see what Robinson could come up with for the track . Robinson, who remarked that the song's distinctive calliope motif "sounded like a circus," provided lyrics that reflected his vision and sang lead vocal . In the song, his character, sad because a woman has left him, compares himself to the characters in the opera Pagliacci, comedians / clowns who hide their hurt and anger behind empty smiles . He had used this comparison before: the line "just like Pagliacci did / I'll try to keep my sadness hid" appears in the song "My Smile Is Just A Frown (Turned Upside Down)," which he had written in 1964 for Motown artist Carolyn Crawford . The record is one of the few hit pop singles to feature the bassoon, which was played by Charles R. Sirard . </P> <P> "The Tears of a Clown" was an album track on 1967's Make It Happen but was not released as a single . "The Tears of a Clown" on the monaural version of Make It Happen contains an alternate lead vocal . By 1969, Robinson had become tired of constantly touring with the Miracles, and wanted to remain home in Detroit, Michigan, with his wife Claudette and their two children, Berry and Tamla (both named after aspects of the Motown corporation). Robinson informed his groupmates Pete Moore, Bobby Rogers, and best friend Ronald White that he would be retiring from the act to concentrate on his duties as vice-president of Motown Records . </P> <P> In 1970, to capitalize on the Miracles' success there, and due to a lack of new material from the group, Motown Britain selected "The Tears of a Clown" from the group's catalog for single release . The single became a #1 hit in the UK seven weeks after its July release . </P> <P> This newfound popularity prompted Motown to release the song as a single in the United States, using a new mix of the song made in February 1970 (whereas the UK release had used the original 1967 stereo mix from the Make It Happen LP), where it became a #1 hit on both the pop and R&B charts within two months of its release . Despite the fact that the Miracles had been one of Motown's premier acts in the early and mid-1960s and its first successful group act, "The Tears of a Clown" was their first and only #1 hit while Smokey Robinson was lead singer . (The Miracles hit #1 again several years later with the smash hit "Love Machine", but by that time Smokey had long since left the group, replaced by Billy Griffin . "Shop Around" had hit #1 on the Cash Box Pop Chart, but only #2 on Billboard's .) </P>

Smokey robinson and the miracles the tears of a clown