Gladys Knight & the Pips are ranked as the ninth most successful act in The Billboard Top 40 Book of R & B and Hip-Hop Hits ( 2005 ).

Pips are small but easily countable items.

Curtis Mayfield wrote and produced the film's score and soundtrack, the vocals for which are performed by Gladys Knight & the Pips.

Many episodes are direct rewrites of the original stories by Arthur Conan Doyle — such as " The Empty House ", " The Speckled Band ", " The Five Orange Pips ", " The Red-Headed League ", and " The Engineer's Thumb " — while others are drastically different from the stories on which they are supposed to be based.

( Others are " The Five Orange Pips " and The Hound of the Baskervilles, though in both those cases Providence exacts vengeance on the villains.

Among them are Günther Blumentritt ( a former German general ), James M. Gavin ( an American general ), Frederick Morgan ( Deputy Chief of Staff at SHAEF ), John Howard ( who led the airborne assault on the Pegasus Bridge ), Lord Lovat ( who commanded the 1st Special Service Brigade ), Philippe Kieffer ( who led his men in the assault on Ouistreham ), Pierre Koenig ( who commanded the Free French Forces in the invasion ), Max Pemsel ( a German general ), Werner Pluskat ( the major who was the first German officer to see the invasion fleet ), Josef " Pips " Priller ( the hot-headed pilot ) and Lucie Rommel ( widow of Erwin Rommel ).

Among his most notable compositions are " The End of Our Road " by Gladys Knight & the Pips and Marvin Gaye, and a trilogy of hits for the Temptations: " You're My Everything ", " I Wish It Would Rain ", and " I Could Never Love Another ( After Loving You )".

Among the Motown songs Benjamin performed the drum tracks for are early hits such as " Money ( That's What I Want )" by Barrett Strong and " Do You Love Me " by The Contours ; as well as later hits such as " Get Ready " by The Temptations, " Uptight ( Everything's Alright )" by Stevie Wonder, " I Heard It Through the Grapevine " by Gladys Knight & the Pips and " Going To A Go-Go " by The Miracles.

The longest-lived incarnation of the act featured Gladys Knight on lead vocals, with The Pips, who included her brother Merald " Bubba " Knight and their cousins Edward Patten and William Guest, as backup singers.

Typically, most of the act's recordings featured Knight's contralto on lead vocals and the three male members of the group, usually referred to as " The Pips " by themselves, providing characteristic background vocals.

The Pips toured on their own for two years, until Knight returned to the act in 1964 in order to support her two children.

Gladys Knight & the Pips ' debut LP on Buddah, Imagination, was certified as a gold record.

The following year, the group got their own hour-long musical variety television program, The Gladys Knight & the Pips Show, which ran for four episodes on NBC as a summer-season replacement.

In 1977, the Pips ( minus Gladys ) appeared on comedian Richard Pryor's TV special that aired on NBC.

The Pips had appeared on Rogers ' television show with the First Edition several times in the early 1970s.

In 1987, Knight and the Pips released their final album, All Our Love, on MCA Records which was also certified gold.

Gladys Knight & the Pips embarked on their final tour in 1988 and disbanded upon its conclusion, as Gladys Knight decided she wanted to pursue a solo career.

Knight and the Pips perform aboard the aircraft carrier USS Ranger on November 1, 1981.

Knight and the Pips continued to have hits until the late 1970s, when they were forced to record separately due to legal issues, resulting in Knight's first solo LP recordings -- Miss Gladys Knight ( 1978 ) on Buddah and Gladys Knight ( 1979 ) on Columbia Records.

While still with The Pips, Knight joined with Dionne Warwick, Stevie Wonder, and Elton John on the 1986 AIDS benefit single, " That's What Friends Are For " which won a Grammy for Best Pop Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal.

She retired from the road to raise the child while The Pips toured on their own.

A fifth label, Soul, featured Jr. Walker & the All Stars, Jimmy Ruffin, Shorty Long, The Originals, and Gladys Knight & the Pips ( who had found success before joining Motown, as ' The Pips ' on Vee-Jay ).

He was a successful songwriter ; one of his most famous compositions is " Every Beat of My Heart ", first recorded by The Royals in 1952 on Federal Records but which became a hit for Gladys Knight and the Pips then just ' Pips ' in 1961.

During this time, he wrote and produced two songs on the Gladys Knight & the Pips record I Feel a Song, and in October 1974 performed in concert together with James Brown, Etta James, and B.

Claudine soundtrack was released on the group's record label, Buddah Records, and the film's theme song, " On & On ", was a # 5 hit for Knight and the Pips on the Billboard Pop Singles Chart in 1974.

Although Holmes succeeds in obtaining a photograph of the woman, Adler flees, making her one of two women ( along with three other men according to The Five Orange Pips ) to beat Holmes.

The company moved all of its operations to Los Angeles in June 1972, with a number of artists, among them Martha Reeves, The Four Tops, Gladys Knight & the Pips, and Motown's Funk Brothers studio band, either staying behind in Detroit or leaving the company for other reasons.

" Following the success of his first two hits, he found it hard to maintain an identity, as most of his songs were later covered by other Motown artists, most prominently " Everybody Needs Love ," a hit when covered by Gladys Knight & The Pips, " Maria ( You Were The Only One )," a hit for Michael Jackson and " If You Let Me ," a minor hit for Eddie Kendricks.

It was their sound, according to Mary Wilson ( of The Supremes ) that backed The Temptations, The Supremes, The Miracles, the Four Tops, Gladys Knight & the Pips, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, Mary Wells, amongst other noteworthy bands during their tenure from 1959 to 1973.

He found a songwriting collaborator in lyricist Barrett Strong, the performer on Motown's first hit record, " Money ( That's What I Want )", and wrote material for The Temptations and other Motown artists such as Marvin Gaye and Gladys Knight & the Pips, both of whom recorded Whitfield-produced hit versions of the Whitfield / Strong composition " I Heard It Through the Grapevine ".

The Persuaders also recorded the original soul versions of songs later covered by other artists, most notably: " Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me " ( from their Atlantic / Atco album of the same name ), made a major hit by Gladys Knight & the Pips ; " Some Guys Have All The Luck ", covered by Robert Palmer, Rod Stewart and by Maxi Priest ; and " Thin Line Between Love and Hate ", covered by H-Town, later by reggae group, Black Slate.

They have shared the stage with other performers such as The Jacksons, Lionel Richie, The Commodores, Marvin Gaye, Gladys Knight and the Pips, Natalie Cole, The Temptations, The Four Tops, The Spinners, Earth, Wind & Fire, New Edition, The Stylistics, Mick Jagger and others.

After working as a freelance choreographer for The Miracles, Atkins was hired by Berry Gordy to work as a Motown choreographer in 1964, and set about developing the routines that would later become the trademark moves of other Motown acts like The Supremes, The Temptations ( Atkins was also featured in the video for their hit single " Lady Soul "), The Four Tops, Gladys Knight & The Pips and others.

Gladys Knight & the Pips joined the Motown roster in 1966, and, although regarded as a second-string act, scored several hit singles, including " I Heard It Through the Grapevine ", ( recorded later by Marvin Gaye ), " Friendship Train " ( 1969 ), " If I Were Your Woman " ( 1970 ), " I Don't Want To Do Wrong " ( 1971 ), the Grammy Award winning " Neither One of Us ( Wants to Be the First to Say Goodbye )" ( 1972 ), and " Daddy Could Swear ( I Declare )" ( 1973 ).

In the episode, a mobile phone receives messages with Greenwich Pips, with their numbers decreasing with each message, and Sherlock believes the five pips mean that he will be required to solve five riddles to prevent five bombs from exploding.

Producer Norman Whitfield recorded four versions of the song with various artists for potential single release ; Knight and the Pips ' version was the only one that Motown chief Berry Gordy did not veto.

* 1976: The Best of Gladys Knight & the Pips ( US # 36 ; UK # 6 )

* " The Five Orange Pips " ( probably ; see below )

* Alphabet Juice: The Energies, Gists, and Spirits of Letters, Words, and Combinations Thereof: Their Roots, Bones, Innards, Piths, Pips, and Secret Parts, Tinctures, Tonics, and Essences ; With Examples of Their Usage Foul and Savory ( 2008 ).

Together, Strong and Whitfield wrote some of the most successful and critically acclaimed soul songs ever to be released by Motown, including " I Heard It Through the Grapevine " by both Marvin Gaye and Gladys Knight & the Pips ; " War " by Edwin Starr ; " Smiling Faces Sometimes " by The Undisputed Truth ; and the long line of " psychedelic soul " records by The Temptations, including " Cloud Nine ", " I Can't Get Next to You ", " Psychedelic Shack ", " Ball of Confusion ( That's What the World Is Today )", and " Papa Was a Rollin ' Stone ", amongst others.

The hits from the album include the title track, originally a hit for Gladys Knight & the Pips in 1971 ; a three-week # 1 R & B hit, " I Feel Good All Over " ( a song her label mate Patti LaBelle did not wish to cover ); and " You're Puttin ' a Rush on Me ", to name a few of the songs released.

After Smith's hit, the song was later covered by Gladys Knight and the Pips and Elvis Presley ; both versions achieved more modest chart success.