Motown’s The Marvelettes are one of the key trailblazers for the entire girl group movement, and with the immortal single “Please Mr. Postman,” the Michigan foursome also broke historical ground in 1961 by logging the legendary label’s first ever chart-topper (prompting subsequent smashes such as “Beechwood 4-5789,” “Too Many Fish In The Sea,” “Don’t Mess With Bill” and “The Hunter Gets Captured By The Game”).

Although the group went dormant and many members have since passed away, co-founder and longest consistent contributor Katherine Anderson is bringing The Marvelettes back for “The Ultimate Doo-Wop Show” and beyond.

Chicago Concert Reviews reached the veteran singer in rehearsals prior to the group’s Theatre At The Center appearance alongside The Edsels, The Shades Of Blue, The Spaniels Forever, Willie Rogers (The Soul Stirrers), Stormy Weather and The Blue Suede Orchestra for a full run down on the comeback, serving as the subject of rap and hip-hop samples, all the way back to being covered by The Beatles.

You’ve had a long relationship with the Chicago area. What do you remember most about coming to town?

Katherine Anderson: There were many things that I remember when I came to town. I remember coming to Chicago in a station wagon when it was snowing really bad and it was really cold, and then when we got there, the place where we were working had lost the heat (laughs). Oh I have very fond memories of Chicago (laughs)…I loved to go shop (laughs) ‘cause you know we were down there around there 53rd and something like that around the Regal Theater. I have plenty of shoes from there!

I read online that you retired from the group for a while prior to starting back up again. Is that true?

Anderson: Well, no, I didn’t retire from the group, but the group just fell apart because there were only two of us that were in there- Wanda [Young] and myself. But it is what it is and I retired for several years. Needless to say, I retired long enough to raise my kids and then all of a sudden [a promoter asks] “do you want to start singing [again]?” But I was thinking “oh Lord, I don’t have anybody to sing with,” so the guy said “okay, let me see if I can find somebody for you”…Then after a while, he called me back and said he had three girls who want to [and asked] “how would you like to come to the UK?” “What? Yes, I would like to come to the UK!” and the rest is all history now.

What is current version of The Marvelettes’ show looking like?

Anderson: It’s gonna be fabulous. We didn’t even think it would be that way because I’m from the old school, so you know I’m not thinking like that. But then when we found [our manager] Lisa [McCall] and she began to show us what it could be, than I understood this would be a good thing.

You’re reaching a whole new generation now.

Anderson: Yes, I am. A lot of these kids know the records, they hear them on the radio, but then they don’t know us per se as the group [who sang them].

You’ve got a lot of huge hits. Let’s talk about the chart-topper “Please Mr. Postman.” What do you remember most about recording the song?

Anderson: Well, we had to sing it over and over because we had never sung anything like that…Then when it came out to be number one, I was totally elated.

And this was the very first one for Motown. You’re in the history books!

Anderson: Yeah, I am (laughs). Yes, we are. I’m so glad about that. I’m very proud of the fact that we, The Marvelettes, created number ones for Motown.

What did you think of The Beatles’ version?

Anderson: The highest form of a compliment is when somebody else does your material. And then when I heard The Beatles do it, I knew that we had overcame because we didn’t think anything about The Beatles doing it until they did it. I’m so proud of that and I’m really happy about that. But you know, over the years, “Please Mr. Postman” has been done over a hundred times! You know that you’ve overcome any time somebody else does your records. So when they said they did it over a hundred times, I’m saying “oh my goodness, little ole’ us from Inkster, Michigan. How about that?”

Did you realize you were blazing the trail for so many girl groups that followed and basically starting this movement?

Anderson: You know what, as I think about it now, a lot of girls have followed us without me knowing it. When you’re 16 or 17, you never would think about that. But when you’re my age now, which is 76, and you begin to think about it. You think “oh wow, so many girl groups traveled under the same banner that we did” and that’s a good thing.

The rap and hip-hop community has also sampled the group a lot. Did you ever see that coming?

Anderson: No, but I’ve heard a lot of them have done that and I’ve said “oh my goodness, that’s ‘Please Mr. Postman!’” It’s really shocked me because we have been sampled all through the years.

Do you continue listening to what’s on the charts today or do you prefer the older music?

Anderson: I prefer the older music because I can’t understand the new music (laughs). I just can’t understand it. I really do like some of it, but then again, there’s some of it I don’t like.

In your opinion, could there ever be anything else like Motown again?

Anderson: I don’t know. Maybe there will be, but not necessarily like Motown because Motown is the only one. The first and the only.

What can your fans expect from The Marvelettes from here on out?

Anderson: The only thing I can say is “great things” because we are working very, very hard to put on a show bigger than what we used to do back in the day in the ‘60s. We’re trying very, very hard to do a wonderful show. I have these three girls with me and they are phenomenal. We’re hoping we’re able to be as big as Beyoncé- haha! Beyoncé or Alicia Keys.

Well those artists owe you a lot of gratitude because if it wasn’t for you, they might not be where they are today.

Anderson: Well, you know what, I think that’s quite a compliment you’ve given me and thank you so much!

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The Marvelettes performance as part of “The Ultimate Doo-Wop Show” at the Theatre At The Center on Apr. 5 is postponed. For additional details, visit TheatreAtTheCenter.com.