Michael and the Messengers originally formed in Minnesota as The Messengers and were re-formed in Milwaukee at Marquette University by the bassist Greg Jeresek.[1] The group had regional hits on USA Records, and mild national success on Motown's Rare Earth label.
The Messengers began in Winona, Minnesota in 1962 as a high school band consisting of Greg Jeresek (aka Greg Jennings) on bass, guitarists Greg Bambenek and Roy Berger, keyboardist Chip Andrews, and drummer Jim Murray.
In 1965, the Milwaukee-based group consisted of Peter Barans (lead guitar), Greg Jeresek (bass), Jesse Roe (keyboards), Jeff Taylor (vocals), and Augie Jurishica (drums). This group released a cover of "In the Midnight Hour" that charted at No. 116, and shortly after signed with Motown Records. They then moved to Detroit where they had a few releases with Motown, including an eponymous album (produced by R. Dean Taylor) and a No. 132 chart single with "Window Shopping", and toured with the Supremes.
When the Messengers signed with Motown they could not promote or release a follow-up to "Midnight Hour" on the USA label, so a new group was formed, and additional singles were released as Michael and the Messengers.[2] This group put out a cover of "Romeo and Juliet" in the style of the Messengers that charted at No. 129, but broke up shortly after.
In 1968, several of the members of the “Motown Messengers” left the group and, while still calling themselves The Messengers, consisted of Michael Morgan, Peter Barnes, Bob Cavallo, and John Hoier. Morgan and Barnes would team up again in 1976 along with Ted Medbury to form the short-lived pop group The Movies.[3]
In 1971, this group of Messengers reached No. 62 in the US charts with "That's the Way a Woman Is".[4] Perhaps due to the simplicity of the lyrics, the single was an even bigger hit in Japan (under the title "Ki ni naru onna no ko" 気になる女の子). This song had a small revival in 2005 in Japan due to its being used in an Otsuka Pharmaceutical's "Amino Supli" sports drink commercial.