The Marvelettes' debut album from 1961 was the sixth release on Motown and the first big success for the company after the Miracles. Released too early to picture four African American schoolmates on the cover (which did not become customary before late 1962), Please Mr. Postman was released on the wave of the popular success of the album's title track, the first Motown number-one single and one of the first recorded by an all girl group. Despite their early success, the group was eclipsed in popularity by long-term opponents the Supremes, with whom they shared an intense rivalry that caused the girls' mental breakdowns and illnesses of all kinds, until their definitive disbanding. The Marvelettes were Motown's first successful girl group as well as the most underrated: while the Supremes and the Vandellas have been in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame since the late 80's, the Marvelettes' nomination for induction just arrived in 2012.