Four Tops
Encyclopedia
The Four Tops are an American vocal quartet
, whose repertoire has included doo-wop
, jazz
, soul music
, R&B
, disco
, adult contemporary
, hard rock
, and showtunes
. Founded in Detroit, Michigan
as The Four Aims, lead singer Levi Stubbs
(born Levi Stubbles, a cousin of Jackie Wilson
and brother of The Falcons
' Joe Stubbs), and groupmates Abdul "Duke" Fakir, Renaldo "Obie" Benson and Lawrence Payton
remained together for over four decades, having gone from 1953 until 1997 without a single change in personnel.
Among a number of groups who helped define the Motown Sound of the 1960s, including The Miracles
, The Marvelettes
, Martha and the Vandellas
, The Temptations
, and The Supremes
, the Four Tops were notable for having Stubbs, a baritone
, as their lead singer; most groups of the time were fronted by a tenor
. The group was the main male vocal group for the songwriting
and production
team of Holland-Dozier-Holland
, who crafted a stream of hit singles, including two Billboard Hot 100
number-one hits: "I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)
" and "Reach Out I'll Be There
". After Holland-Dozier-Holland left Motown in 1967, the Four Tops were assigned to a number of producers, primarily Frank Wilson
. When Motown left Detroit in 1972 to move to Los Angeles, California
, the Tops stayed in Detroit and moved over to ABC Records
, where they continued to have charting singles into the late-1970s. Since the 1980s, the Four Tops have recorded for, at various times, Motown, Casablanca Records
and Arista Records
. Today, save for Indestructible (owned by Sony Music Entertainment
), Universal Music Group
controls the rights to their entire post-1963 catalog (through various mergers and acquisitions), as well as their 1956 single, "Could It Be You".
A change of line-up was finally forced upon the group when Lawrence Payton died on June 20, 1997. The band initially continued as a three-piece under the name The Tops, before Theo Peoples
(formerly of The Temptations
) was recruited as the new fourth member. Peoples eventually took over the role of lead singer when Stubbs suffered a stroke in 2000 with his position assumed by Ronnie McNeir
. On July 1, 2005, Benson died of lung cancer
with Payton's son Roquel Payton replacing him. Levi Stubbs died on October 17, 2008. Fakir, McNeir, Payton, and Harold "Spike" Bonhart, who replaced Peoples in 2011, are still performing together as the Four Tops. Fakir is now the only surviving founding member of the original group.
. At the insistence of their friends, Pershing High students Levi Stubbs
and Abdul "Duke" Fakir performed with Renaldo "Obie" Benson and Lawrence Payton
from Northern High at a local birthday party. The quartet decided to remain together, and christened themselves The Four Aims. With the help of Payton's songwriter cousin Roquel Davis
, The Aims signed to Chess Records
in 1956, changing their name to Four Tops to avoid confusion with The Ames Brothers.
Over the next seven years, The Tops endured unsuccessful tenures at Chess, Red Top, Riverside Records
and Columbia Records
. Without any hit records to their name, The Tops toured frequently, developing a polished stage presence and an experienced supper club act. In 1963, Berry Gordy, Jr., who had worked with Roquel Davis as a songwriter in the late-1950s, convinced The Tops to join the roster of his growing Motown record company.
standards for the company's Workshop label. In addition, they filled in time by singing backup on Motown singles such as The Supremes
' "Run, Run, Run
." The Tops also did backing vocals for the group who is known as the equivalent to The Four Tops (Like The Supremes
are known as the equivalent to The Temptations
), Martha Reeves & The Vandellas
on their 1966 hit "My Baby Loves Me".
In 1964, Motown's main songwriting/production team of Holland-Dozier-Holland
created a complete instrumental track without any idea of what to do with it. They decided to craft the song as a more mainstream pop song for the Four Tops, and proceeded to create "Baby I Need Your Loving
" from the lyric-less instrumental track. Upon its mid-1964 release, "Baby I Need Your Loving" made it to #11 on the United States Billboard pop charts. However, the song proved to be much more popular on trend-setting radio stations in key U.S. markets; Baby I Need Your Loving was a strong top 10 hit on both WMCA
in New York, and WKNR in Detroit—stations watched by radio people all over the country because these stations broke new artists and songs. After the single's success The Tops were pulled away from their jazz material and began recording more material in the vein of "Baby I Need Your Loving."
The first follow-up single, "Without the One You Love (Life's Not Worth While)", missed both the pop and R&B Top 40 charts by only thirty positions. "Ask the Lonely", released early in 1965, was a Top 30 pop hit and a Top Ten R&B hit, and the from there, the Tops' fortunes began to improve.
", "Something About You", "Shake Me, Wake Me (When It's Over)", and "Loving You is Sweeter Than Ever". Four Tops records often represented the epitome of the Motown Sound: simple distinctive melodies and rhymes, call-and-response lyrics, and the musical contributions of The Funk Brothers
. Holland-Dozier-Holland wrote most of Levi Stubbs' vocals in a tenor range, near the top of his range, in order to get a sense of strained urgency in his gospel
preacher
-inspired leads. In addition, H-D-H used additional background vocals from female background vocalists The Andantes
on many of these songs, to add a high end to the low-voiced harmony of The Tops, with "Loving You Is Sweeter Than Ever" being one of the few exceptions .....
August 1966 brought the release of the Four Tops' all-time biggest hit, and one of the most popular Motown songs ever: "Reach Out I'll Be There
", which hit #1 on the U.S. pop charts and soon became The Tops' signature song. It was almost immediately followed by the similar sounding "Standing in the Shadows of Love
"; its depictions of heartbreak reflected the polar opposite of the optimism expressed in "Reach Out". It was another Top 10 hit for the Tops.
The Top 10 U.S. hit "Bernadette
" centered around a man's all-consuming obsession with his lover, continued the Four Tops' successful run into April 1967, followed by the Top 20 hits "7-Rooms of Gloom
", and "You Keep Running Away". By now, The Tops were the most successful male Motown act in the United Kingdom (in the United States, they were second to The Temptations
), and began experimenting with more mainstream pop hits. They scored hits with their versions of Tim Hardin
's "If I Were A Carpenter" in late 1967 (mid-1968 in the U.S.) and the Left Banke's "Walk Away Renée" in early 1968. These singles and the original "I'm In a Different World" were their last hits produced by Holland-Dozier-Holland, who left Motown in 1967 after disputes with Berry Gordy over royalties and ownership of company shares.
, Norman Whitfield
, and Johnny Bristol, without significant chart success.
Their first major hit in a long time came in the form of 1970's "It's All in the Game", a pop Top 30/R&B Top Ten hit produced by Frank Wilson
. Wilson and The Tops began working on a number of innovative tracks and albums together, echoing Whitfield's psychedelic soul
work with The Temptations. Their 1970 album Still Waters Run Deep was an early ancestor to the concept album
. It also served as an inspiration for Marvin Gaye
's 1971 classic album What's Going On
, the title track of which
was co-written by The Tops' Obie Benson.
In addition to their own albums, The Tops were paired with The Supremes, who had just replaced lead singer Diana Ross
with Jean Terrell
, for a series of albums billed under the joint title "The Magnificent Seven": The Magnificent Seven in 1970, and The Return of the Magnificent Seven and Dynamite! in 1971. While the albums themselves did not do well on the charts, The Magnificent Seven featured a Top 20 version of Ike
& Tina Turner
's "River Deep - Mountain High
", produced by Ashford & Simpson
.
The 1971 single "A Simple Game" featured backing vocals from members of The Moody Blues
. The song did not fare well on the U.S. charts, but reached #3 on the UK charts.
and The Marvelettes
were being slowly shoved aside to focus on newer acts such as Michael Jackson
and The Jackson 5
, Rare Earth
, and the now-solo Diana Ross
. In addition, the company was slowly moving many of its operations from Detroit to Los Angeles, California
, where Berry Gordy planned to break into the motion picture and television
industries. In 1972, it was announced that the entire company would move to Los Angeles, and that all its artists had to move as well. Many of the older Motown acts, already neglected by the label, opted to stay in Detroit, including The Funk Brothers
backing band, Martha Reeves
, and the Four Tops.
The Tops departed Motown for ABC-Dunhill, where they were assigned to songwriter-producers Dennis Lambert and Brian Potter, with The Tops' own Lawrence Payton also serving as a producer and arranger. "Keeper of the Castle" was their first pop Top 10 hit since "Bernadette" in 1967; follow-ups such as "Ain't No Woman (Like the One I've Got)"-- (another top 10 pop hit) -- the Top 20 "Are You Man Enough" (from the movie "Shaft In Africa"), "Sweet Understanding Love," "Midnight Flower," and "One Chain Don't Make No Prison" all hit the R&B Top 10 between 1972 and 1974. Two ABC/Dunhill singles, 1974's "I Just Can't Get You Out Of My Mind" and 1975's "Seven Lonely Nights" have become popular tunes in the southeast Beach/Shag Club Dance circuit. By the release of "Catfish" in 1976, the hits had dried up again, and the group disappeared into obscurity in the late-1970s, though scoring another hit in the UK; "Don't walk away" in 1980. Scoring a deal with Casablanca Records
in 1980, the Four Tops made a comeback in 1981 with the #1 R&B hit "When She Was My Girl
", which just missed the Billboard Pop Top 10, peaking at # 11. But, once again , "When She Was My Girl
" has also become a classic on the southeast Beach/Shag Club circuit
Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever
. One of the highlights of the show was a battle-of-the-bands between The Tops and The Temptations, patterned after similar competitions Berry Gordy had staged during the 1960s. Levi Stubbs and Temptation Otis Williams
decided the Temptations/Tops battle would be a good one to take on the road, and both groups began a semi-regular joint tour; as of 2007, the two groups continue to play dates together.
The first of The Tops' albums under their new Motown contract was Back Where I Belong. A whole side of the album was produced by Holland-Dozier-Holland, including the R&B Top 40 single "I Just Can't Walk Away." Only one more Top album would be released by Motown, 1985's Magic. 1986's Hot Nights was canceled, as the group and the label began to quarrel on matters of marketing and musical direction. In 1987, the Four Tops decided to leave Motown again, this time for Arista Records
, buying back several masters they had recorded for Hot Nights. It's not clear how many songs from Hot Nights were used for Indestructible. The 2001 box set Fourever only names Indestructible itself. Other songs that were intended for Hot Nights and appear on Fourever are the title track (released as a single), Red Hot Love and The Four Of Us (previously released outside the USA on a CD single of Loco in Acapulco
).
The title track of 1988's Indestructible was the group's final Top 40 hit, reaching No. 35. It was also featured in the 1988 science-fiction cop film, Alien Nation.
. The Arista contract provided a unique opportunity to pair the group's popular lead singer Levi Stubbs with fellow Arista artist, legendary R&B vocalist Aretha Franklin
, who was at the height of her own 1980s hit streak. This pairing resulted in the song "If Ever A Love There Was," which became a popular R&B and Adult Contemporary hit, as well as being featured on the soundtrack of the motion picture "I'm Gonna Get You Sucka."
In December 1988, The Tops had been scheduled to board Pan Am Flight 103
to return to the U.S. for Christmas after completing their European tour. However, they were late getting out of a recording session and overslept, causing them to miss the ill-fated flight which crashed in Lockerbie
, Scotland, after a terrorist bomb was detonated onboard.
In addition to their own recordings, the Four Tops also worked in the fields of television
and motion pictures. The group as a whole performed a song for the 1982 film Grease 2
, and Levi Stubbs performed the vocals for the man-eating plant Audrey II in the 1986 musical film
Little Shop of Horrors
; and the voice of the evil Mother Brain on the Nintendo
-based NBC
Saturday morning cartoon
Captain N: The Game Master
from 1989 to 1991.
called The Tops. In 1998 they recruited former Temptation Theo Peoples
to join the act to restore the group to a quartet. By the turn of the century, Stubbs had become ill from cancer
; Ronnie McNair was recruited to fill in the Lawrence Payton position, and Peoples stepped into Stubbs' shoes as lead singer (Stubbs died on October 17, 2008, at his home in Detroit).
The group was featured in several television specials during this time, including Motown 45, and several by PBS
, including a 50th anniversary concert dedicated to the group (available on DVD). The concert turned out to be bittersweet; it featured a brief appearance of the wheelchair-bound Levi Stubbs, and a memorial to Lawrence Payton, announced by Obie Benson. Benson appeared on one more PBS special and died on July 1, 2005, from lung cancer
. The final PBS special, titled Motown: The Early Years, featured a message of Benson's passing following the credits. Lawrence Payton's son Roquel (real name Lawrence Payton, Jr.) replaced Benson as the new bass (Roquel could be seen in the pledge break interviews of Motown: The Early Years). Theo Peoples left the group recently as well and was replaced by Spike Deleon.
The group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
in 1990, and into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame
in 1999. In 2004, Rolling Stone Magazine ranked them #79 on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. In 2005, The Four Tops were inducted into the Michigan Rock and Roll Legends Hall of Fame. In 2009, the group's first big hit, "Baby I Need Your Loving", was voted a Legendary Michigan Song.
After similar releases in the Motown "Definitive DVD" series on The Miracles
, The Temptations
, The Supremes
, and Marvin Gaye
, The Four Tops' Motown Definitive DVD, "Reach Out," was finally released on November 11, 2008.
The Four Tops received The Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award as part of the 51st Annual Grammy Awards. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7796316.stm
http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/content_display/industry/e3i8a7ba6d185c56a446161930513310294
Speaking in January 2010 to noted UK soul writer Pete Lewis of the award-winning Blues & Soul
, Fakir confirmed plans for the current "new" Four Tops line-up to release a new album while revealing his personal feelings about the current line-up: "To me the new group is like an extension of the family, because we've all been very close for so many years... Which makes it easier for ME, because I truly miss Lawrence, 'Obie' AND Levi - I'd be lying if I said I didn't - and not one of them could EVER be replaced. But, you know, these new guys do perform well enough for the people to still enjoy the shows and still enjoy the music. So for me it kinda makes it bittersweet. Because, at the end of the day, the legacy is still going on, and I'm very pleased it that it IS!"
The Four Tops sang the National Anthem before the start of game 5 for the 2011 ALCS between the Texas Rangers & Detroit Tigers on October 13, 2011 in Detroit, MI. When singing the last line of "The Star Spangled Banner", "...and the home of the brave", they quickly sang the words "Ain't No country Like the One I Got", before singing the last word, "brave".
ABC
releases:
Casablanca
releases:
Motown releases:
Arista
releases:
Quartet
In music, a quartet is a method of instrumentation , used to perform a musical composition, and consisting of four parts.-Western art music:...
, whose repertoire has included doo-wop
Doo-wop
The name Doo-wop is given to a style of vocal-based rhythm and blues music that developed in African American communities in the 1940s and achieved mainstream popularity in the 1950s and early 1960s. It emerged from New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Baltimore, Newark, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and...
, jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
, soul music
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
, R&B
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
, disco
Disco
Disco is a genre of dance music. Disco acts charted high during the mid-1970s, and the genre's popularity peaked during the late 1970s. It had its roots in clubs that catered to African American, gay, psychedelic, and other communities in New York City and Philadelphia during the late 1960s and...
, adult contemporary
Adult contemporary music
Adult contemporary music is a broad style of popular music that ranges from lush 1950s and 1960s vocal music to predominantly ballad-heavy music with varying degrees of rock influence, as well as a radio format that plays such music....
, hard rock
Hard rock
Hard rock is a loosely defined genre of rock music which has its earliest roots in mid-1960s garage rock, blues rock and psychedelic rock...
, and showtunes
Showtunes
Showtunes is the result of collaboration between Stephin Merritt with Chen Shi-zheng on three pieces of musical theatre; Orphan of Zhao , Peach Blossom Fan , and My Life as a Fairy Tale . Select tracks from these are featured on this album...
. Founded in Detroit, Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
as The Four Aims, lead singer Levi Stubbs
Levi Stubbs
Levi Stubbles , better known by the stage name Levi Stubbs, was an American baritone singer, best known as the lead vocalist of the Motown R&B group Four Tops...
(born Levi Stubbles, a cousin of Jackie Wilson
Jackie Wilson
Jack Leroy "Jackie" Wilson, Jr. was an American singer and performer. Known as "Mr. Excitement", Wilson was important in the transition of rhythm and blues into soul. He was known as a master showman, and as one of the most dynamic singers and performers in R&B and rock history...
and brother of The Falcons
The Falcons
The Falcons were an American rhythm and blues vocal group, some of whose members went on to be influential in soul music.The Falcons formed in 1955 in Detroit, Michigan on the Mercury Records imprint. After personnel changes in 1956, The Falcons had hits for the Lupine Records label with the...
' Joe Stubbs), and groupmates Abdul "Duke" Fakir, Renaldo "Obie" Benson and Lawrence Payton
Lawrence Payton
Lawrence Albert Payton was an American tenor, songwriter and record producer for the popular Motown quartet, the Four Tops....
remained together for over four decades, having gone from 1953 until 1997 without a single change in personnel.
Among a number of groups who helped define the Motown Sound of the 1960s, including The Miracles
The Miracles
The Miracles are an American rhythm and blues group from Detroit, Michigan, notable as the first successful group act for Berry Gordy's Motown Record Corporation . Their single "Shop Around" was Motown's first million-selling hit record, and the group went on to become one of Motown's signature...
, The Marvelettes
The Marvelettes
The Marvelettes were an American singing girl group on the Tamla label. Motown's first successful female vocal group, the Marvelettes are most notable for recording the company's first #1 Pop hit, "Please Mr...
, Martha and the Vandellas
Martha and the Vandellas
Martha and the Vandellas were among the most successful groups of the Motown roster during the period 1963–1967...
, The Temptations
The Temptations
The Temptations is an American vocal group having achieved fame as one of the most successful acts to record for Motown Records. The group's repertoire has included, at various times during its five-decade career, R&B, doo-wop, funk, disco, soul, and adult contemporary music.Formed in Detroit,...
, and The Supremes
The Supremes
The Supremes, an American female singing group, were the premier act of Motown Records during the 1960s.Originally founded as The Primettes in Detroit, Michigan, in 1959, The Supremes' repertoire included doo-wop, pop, soul, Broadway show tunes, psychedelic soul, and disco...
, the Four Tops were notable for having Stubbs, a baritone
Baritone
Baritone is a type of male singing voice that lies between the bass and tenor voices. It is the most common male voice. Originally from the Greek , meaning deep sounding, music for this voice is typically written in the range from the second F below middle C to the F above middle C Baritone (or...
, as their lead singer; most groups of the time were fronted by a tenor
Tenor
The tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2...
. The group was the main male vocal group for the songwriting
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
and production
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
team of Holland-Dozier-Holland
Holland-Dozier-Holland
Holland–Dozier–Holland is a songwriting and production team made up of Lamont Dozier and brothers Brian Holland and Edward Holland, Jr. They are considered to be one of the greatest songwriting teams in popular music...
, who crafted a stream of hit singles, including two Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
number-one hits: "I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)
I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)
"I Can't Help Myself " is a 1965 hit song recorded by the Four Tops for the Motown label.Written and produced by Motown's main production team Holland–Dozier–Holland, the song is one of the most well-known Motown tunes of the 1960s...
" and "Reach Out I'll Be There
Reach Out I'll Be There
"Reach Out I'll Be There" is a 1966 hit song recorded by the Four Tops for the Motown label. Written and produced by Motown's main production team Holland–Dozier–Holland, the song is one of the most well-known Motown tunes of the 1960s and is today considered The Tops' signature song...
". After Holland-Dozier-Holland left Motown in 1967, the Four Tops were assigned to a number of producers, primarily Frank Wilson
Frank Wilson (musician)
Frank Wilson is an African American former songwriter and record producer for Motown Records.-Biography:He was born to James Wilson and Samantha Gibbs...
. When Motown left Detroit in 1972 to move to Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
, the Tops stayed in Detroit and moved over to ABC Records
ABC Records
ABC Records was an American record label, founded in New York City in 1955 as ABC-Paramount Records. It originated as the main popular music label operated the Am-Par Record Corporation, the music subsidiary of the American Broadcasting Company . ABC-Paramount Records' first president was Samuel H....
, where they continued to have charting singles into the late-1970s. Since the 1980s, the Four Tops have recorded for, at various times, Motown, Casablanca Records
Casablanca Records
Casablanca Records was an American record label started by Neil Bogart, who partnered with Cecil Holmes, Larry Harris, and Buck Reingold in 1973, and based in Los Angeles. The label was formed after all of them had left Buddah Records and secured financing by Warner Bros. Records to start the venture...
and Arista Records
Arista Records
Arista was an American record label. It was a wholly owned subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment and operated under the RCA Music Group. The label was founded in 1974 by Clive Davis, who formerly worked for CBS Records...
. Today, save for Indestructible (owned by Sony Music Entertainment
Sony Music Entertainment
Sony Music Entertainment ' is the second-largest global recorded music company of the "big four" record companies and is controlled by Sony Corporation of America, the United States subsidiary of Japan's Sony Corporation....
), Universal Music Group
Universal Music Group
Universal Music Group is an American music group, the largest of the "big four" record companies by its commanding market share and its multitude of global operations...
controls the rights to their entire post-1963 catalog (through various mergers and acquisitions), as well as their 1956 single, "Could It Be You".
A change of line-up was finally forced upon the group when Lawrence Payton died on June 20, 1997. The band initially continued as a three-piece under the name The Tops, before Theo Peoples
Theo Peoples
Theo Peoples is an African-American R&B/soul singer. The son of a preacher, he was discovered by Ron Tyson and tapped to replace Richard Street in the long-lived Motown group The Temptations in 1992.His first recordings with the group were released in the box set Emperors of Soul where he sang lead...
(formerly of The Temptations
The Temptations
The Temptations is an American vocal group having achieved fame as one of the most successful acts to record for Motown Records. The group's repertoire has included, at various times during its five-decade career, R&B, doo-wop, funk, disco, soul, and adult contemporary music.Formed in Detroit,...
) was recruited as the new fourth member. Peoples eventually took over the role of lead singer when Stubbs suffered a stroke in 2000 with his position assumed by Ronnie McNeir
Ronnie McNeir
Ronnie McNeir is an American singer and songwriter born Lewis Ronald McNeir on December 14, 1951 in Camden, Alabama. As a solo artist, he recorded for the De-to, RCA, Prodigal, Motown, Capitol, Expansion and Motor City labels, recording his first song when he was seventeen...
. On July 1, 2005, Benson died of lung cancer
Lung cancer
Lung cancer is a disease characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. If left untreated, this growth can spread beyond the lung in a process called metastasis into nearby tissue and, eventually, into other parts of the body. Most cancers that start in lung, known as primary...
with Payton's son Roquel Payton replacing him. Levi Stubbs died on October 17, 2008. Fakir, McNeir, Payton, and Harold "Spike" Bonhart, who replaced Peoples in 2011, are still performing together as the Four Tops. Fakir is now the only surviving founding member of the original group.
Early years
All four members of the group began their careers together while they were high school students in DetroitDetroit, Michigan
Detroit is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people. As the seat of Wayne County, the city of Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and serves as a major port on the Detroit River...
. At the insistence of their friends, Pershing High students Levi Stubbs
Levi Stubbs
Levi Stubbles , better known by the stage name Levi Stubbs, was an American baritone singer, best known as the lead vocalist of the Motown R&B group Four Tops...
and Abdul "Duke" Fakir performed with Renaldo "Obie" Benson and Lawrence Payton
Lawrence Payton
Lawrence Albert Payton was an American tenor, songwriter and record producer for the popular Motown quartet, the Four Tops....
from Northern High at a local birthday party. The quartet decided to remain together, and christened themselves The Four Aims. With the help of Payton's songwriter cousin Roquel Davis
Roquel Billy Davis
Roquel "Billy" Davis of Detroit was an American songwriter, record producer, and singer. Davis is best known as a songwriter for a number of soul musicians label, and as a writer/producer of commercial jingles, mostly for Coca-Cola...
, The Aims signed to Chess Records
Chess Records
Chess Records was an American record label based in Chicago, Illinois. It specialized in blues, R&B, soul, gospel music, early rock and roll, and occasional jazz releases....
in 1956, changing their name to Four Tops to avoid confusion with The Ames Brothers.
Over the next seven years, The Tops endured unsuccessful tenures at Chess, Red Top, Riverside Records
Riverside Records
Riverside Records was a United States record label specializing in jazz. Founded by Orrin Keepnews and Bill Grauer under his firm Bill Grauer Productions, Inc. in 1953, the label was a major presence in the jazz record industry for a decade...
and Columbia Records
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
. Without any hit records to their name, The Tops toured frequently, developing a polished stage presence and an experienced supper club act. In 1963, Berry Gordy, Jr., who had worked with Roquel Davis as a songwriter in the late-1950s, convinced The Tops to join the roster of his growing Motown record company.
Joining Motown
During their early Motown years, the Four Tops recorded jazzJazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
standards for the company's Workshop label. In addition, they filled in time by singing backup on Motown singles such as The Supremes
The Supremes
The Supremes, an American female singing group, were the premier act of Motown Records during the 1960s.Originally founded as The Primettes in Detroit, Michigan, in 1959, The Supremes' repertoire included doo-wop, pop, soul, Broadway show tunes, psychedelic soul, and disco...
' "Run, Run, Run
Run, Run, Run (The Supremes song)
"Run, Run, Run" is a 1964 song written by Holland–Dozier–Holland and released as a single by Motown singing group The Supremes. After a couple of years of unsuccessful singles, the Supremes had finally broken through with a Top 40 single in December 1963 with "When the Lovelight Starts Shining...
." The Tops also did backing vocals for the group who is known as the equivalent to The Four Tops (Like The Supremes
The Supremes
The Supremes, an American female singing group, were the premier act of Motown Records during the 1960s.Originally founded as The Primettes in Detroit, Michigan, in 1959, The Supremes' repertoire included doo-wop, pop, soul, Broadway show tunes, psychedelic soul, and disco...
are known as the equivalent to The Temptations
The Temptations
The Temptations is an American vocal group having achieved fame as one of the most successful acts to record for Motown Records. The group's repertoire has included, at various times during its five-decade career, R&B, doo-wop, funk, disco, soul, and adult contemporary music.Formed in Detroit,...
), Martha Reeves & The Vandellas
Martha and the Vandellas
Martha and the Vandellas were among the most successful groups of the Motown roster during the period 1963–1967...
on their 1966 hit "My Baby Loves Me".
In 1964, Motown's main songwriting/production team of Holland-Dozier-Holland
Holland-Dozier-Holland
Holland–Dozier–Holland is a songwriting and production team made up of Lamont Dozier and brothers Brian Holland and Edward Holland, Jr. They are considered to be one of the greatest songwriting teams in popular music...
created a complete instrumental track without any idea of what to do with it. They decided to craft the song as a more mainstream pop song for the Four Tops, and proceeded to create "Baby I Need Your Loving
Baby I Need Your Loving
"Baby I Need Your Loving" is a 1964 hit single recorded by the Four Tops for the Motown label. Written and produced by Motown's main production team Holland–Dozier–Holland, the song was the group's first Motown single and their first pop Top 20 hit, making it to number eleven on the Billboard Hot...
" from the lyric-less instrumental track. Upon its mid-1964 release, "Baby I Need Your Loving" made it to #11 on the United States Billboard pop charts. However, the song proved to be much more popular on trend-setting radio stations in key U.S. markets; Baby I Need Your Loving was a strong top 10 hit on both WMCA
WMCA
WMCA, 570 AM, is a radio station in New York City, most known for its "Good Guys" Top 40 era in the 1960s. It is currently owned by Salem Communications and plays a Christian radio format...
in New York, and WKNR in Detroit—stations watched by radio people all over the country because these stations broke new artists and songs. After the single's success The Tops were pulled away from their jazz material and began recording more material in the vein of "Baby I Need Your Loving."
The first follow-up single, "Without the One You Love (Life's Not Worth While)", missed both the pop and R&B Top 40 charts by only thirty positions. "Ask the Lonely", released early in 1965, was a Top 30 pop hit and a Top Ten R&B hit, and the from there, the Tops' fortunes began to improve.
Success
After scoring their first #1 hit, the often-recorded and revived "I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch)" in June 1965, the Four Tops began a long series of successful hit singles. Among the first wave of these hits were the Top 10 "It's the Same Old SongIt's the Same Old Song
"It's the Same Old Song" is a 1965 hit single recorded by the Four Tops for the Motown label. Written and produced by Motown's main production team Holland–Dozier–Holland, the song is today one of The Tops' signature songs, and was notably created—from initial concept to commercial...
", "Something About You", "Shake Me, Wake Me (When It's Over)", and "Loving You is Sweeter Than Ever". Four Tops records often represented the epitome of the Motown Sound: simple distinctive melodies and rhymes, call-and-response lyrics, and the musical contributions of The Funk Brothers
The Funk Brothers
The Funk Brothers was the nickname of Detroit, Michigan, session musicians who performed the backing to most Motown Records recordings from 1959 until the company moved to Los Angeles in 1972...
. Holland-Dozier-Holland wrote most of Levi Stubbs' vocals in a tenor range, near the top of his range, in order to get a sense of strained urgency in his gospel
Gospel music
Gospel music is music that is written to express either personal, spiritual or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music....
preacher
Preacher
Preacher is a term for someone who preaches sermons or gives homilies. A preacher is distinct from a theologian by focusing on the communication rather than the development of doctrine. Others see preaching and theology as being intertwined...
-inspired leads. In addition, H-D-H used additional background vocals from female background vocalists The Andantes
The Andantes
The Andantes were a prolific female sessions group for the Motown record label during the 1960s. Composed of Jackie Hicks, Marlene Barrow, and Louvain Demps, the group sang background vocals on numerous Motown recordings, including songs by Martha Reeves & the Vandellas, The Temptations, Stevie...
on many of these songs, to add a high end to the low-voiced harmony of The Tops, with "Loving You Is Sweeter Than Ever" being one of the few exceptions .....
August 1966 brought the release of the Four Tops' all-time biggest hit, and one of the most popular Motown songs ever: "Reach Out I'll Be There
Reach Out I'll Be There
"Reach Out I'll Be There" is a 1966 hit song recorded by the Four Tops for the Motown label. Written and produced by Motown's main production team Holland–Dozier–Holland, the song is one of the most well-known Motown tunes of the 1960s and is today considered The Tops' signature song...
", which hit #1 on the U.S. pop charts and soon became The Tops' signature song. It was almost immediately followed by the similar sounding "Standing in the Shadows of Love
Standing in the Shadows of Love
"Standing in the Shadows of Love" is a 1966 hit single recorded by the Four Tops for the Motown label. Written and produced by Motown's main production team Holland–Dozier–Holland, the song is one of the most well-known Motown tunes of the 1960s...
"; its depictions of heartbreak reflected the polar opposite of the optimism expressed in "Reach Out". It was another Top 10 hit for the Tops.
Bernadette (song)
"Bernadette" is a 1967 hit song recorded by the Four Tops for the Motown label. Written and produced by Motown's main production team, Holland–Dozier–Holland, the song is one of the most well-known Motown tunes of the 1960s...
" centered around a man's all-consuming obsession with his lover, continued the Four Tops' successful run into April 1967, followed by the Top 20 hits "7-Rooms of Gloom
7-Rooms of Gloom
"7-Rooms of Gloom" is a 1967 hit song recorded by the Four Tops for the Motown label. Written and produced by Motown's main production team Holland–Dozier–Holland, the song is notable for matching lead singer Levi Stubbs' lamentations of heartache with a dramatic, Gothic-inspired musical arrangement...
", and "You Keep Running Away". By now, The Tops were the most successful male Motown act in the United Kingdom (in the United States, they were second to The Temptations
The Temptations
The Temptations is an American vocal group having achieved fame as one of the most successful acts to record for Motown Records. The group's repertoire has included, at various times during its five-decade career, R&B, doo-wop, funk, disco, soul, and adult contemporary music.Formed in Detroit,...
), and began experimenting with more mainstream pop hits. They scored hits with their versions of Tim Hardin
Tim Hardin
James Timothy "Tim" Hardin was an American folk musician and composer. He wrote the Top 40 hits "If I Were a Carpenter", covered by, among others, Joan Baez, Bobby Darin, Johnny Cash, Ramblin' Jack Elliot, and Robert Plant, and "Reason to Believe", covered by many, including Rod Stewart, as well...
's "If I Were A Carpenter" in late 1967 (mid-1968 in the U.S.) and the Left Banke's "Walk Away Renée" in early 1968. These singles and the original "I'm In a Different World" were their last hits produced by Holland-Dozier-Holland, who left Motown in 1967 after disputes with Berry Gordy over royalties and ownership of company shares.
Late Motown period
Without H-D-H, the quality of the Four Tops' output, like that of most of Motown, began to decline, and hits became less frequent. The group worked with a wide array of Motown producers during the late-1960s, including Ivy Hunter, Nickolas Ashford & Valerie SimpsonAshford & Simpson
Nickolas Ashford , and Valerie Simpson , were a husband and wife songwriting/production team and recording artists....
, Norman Whitfield
Norman Whitfield
Norman Jesse Whitfield was an American songwriter and producer, best known for his work with Berry Gordy's Motown label during the 1960s...
, and Johnny Bristol, without significant chart success.
Their first major hit in a long time came in the form of 1970's "It's All in the Game", a pop Top 30/R&B Top Ten hit produced by Frank Wilson
Frank Wilson (musician)
Frank Wilson is an African American former songwriter and record producer for Motown Records.-Biography:He was born to James Wilson and Samantha Gibbs...
. Wilson and The Tops began working on a number of innovative tracks and albums together, echoing Whitfield's psychedelic soul
Psychedelic soul
Psychedelic soul, sometimes called black rock, is a sub-genre of soul music, which mixes the characteristics of soul with psychedelic rock...
work with The Temptations. Their 1970 album Still Waters Run Deep was an early ancestor to the concept album
Concept album
In music, a concept album is an album that is "unified by a theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, narrative, or lyrical." Commonly, concept albums tend to incorporate preconceived musical or lyrical ideas rather than being improvised or composed in the studio, with all songs contributing...
. It also served as an inspiration for Marvin Gaye
Marvin Gaye
Marvin Pentz Gay, Jr. , better known by his stage name Marvin Gaye, was an American singer-songwriter and musician with a three-octave vocal range....
's 1971 classic album What's Going On
What's Going On
What's Going On is the eleventh studio album by soul musician Marvin Gaye, released May 21, 1971, on the Motown-subsidiary label Tamla Records...
, the title track of which
What's Going On (song)
"What's Going On" is a song written by Renaldo "Obie" Benson, Al Cleveland, and Marvin Gaye. It was the title track of Gaye's groundbreaking 1971 Motown album What's Going On, and it became a crossover hit single that reached #2 on the pop charts and #1 on the R&B charts...
was co-written by The Tops' Obie Benson.
In addition to their own albums, The Tops were paired with The Supremes, who had just replaced lead singer Diana Ross
Diana Ross
Diana Ernestine Earle Ross is an American singer, record producer, and actress. Ross was lead singer of the Motown group The Supremes during the 1960s. After leaving the group in 1970, Ross began a solo career that included successful ventures into film and Broadway...
with Jean Terrell
Jean Terrell
Jean Terrell is an American R&B and jazz singer. She replaced Diana Ross as the lead singer of The Supremes in January 1970.-Early life and career:...
, for a series of albums billed under the joint title "The Magnificent Seven": The Magnificent Seven in 1970, and The Return of the Magnificent Seven and Dynamite! in 1971. While the albums themselves did not do well on the charts, The Magnificent Seven featured a Top 20 version of Ike
Ike Turner
Isaac Wister Turner was an American musician, bandleader, songwriter, arranger, talent scout, and record producer. In a career that lasted more than half a century, his repertoire included blues, soul, rock, and funk...
& Tina Turner
Tina Turner
Tina Turner is an American singer and actress whose career has spanned more than 50 years. She has won numerous awards and her achievements in the rock music genre have led many to call her the "Queen of Rock 'n' Roll".Turner started out her music career with husband Ike Turner as a member of the...
's "River Deep - Mountain High
River Deep - Mountain High
"River Deep – Mountain High" is a 1966 single by Ike & Tina Turner. Considered by producer Phil Spector to be his best work, the single was successful in Europe, peaking at #3 in the United Kingdom, though it flopped on its original release in the United States...
", produced by Ashford & Simpson
Ashford & Simpson
Nickolas Ashford , and Valerie Simpson , were a husband and wife songwriting/production team and recording artists....
.
The 1971 single "A Simple Game" featured backing vocals from members of The Moody Blues
The Moody Blues
The Moody Blues are an English rock band. Among their innovations was a fusion with classical music, most notably in their 1967 album Days of Future Passed....
. The song did not fare well on the U.S. charts, but reached #3 on the UK charts.
ABC Records and Casablanca Records
The Motown company began to change in a number of ways during the early 1970s. Older acts such as Martha and the VandellasMartha and the Vandellas
Martha and the Vandellas were among the most successful groups of the Motown roster during the period 1963–1967...
and The Marvelettes
The Marvelettes
The Marvelettes were an American singing girl group on the Tamla label. Motown's first successful female vocal group, the Marvelettes are most notable for recording the company's first #1 Pop hit, "Please Mr...
were being slowly shoved aside to focus on newer acts such as Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. Referred to as the King of Pop, or by his initials MJ, Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records...
and The Jackson 5
The Jackson 5
The Jackson 5 , later known as The Jacksons, were an American popular music family group from Gary, Indiana...
, Rare Earth
Rare Earth (band)
Rare Earth is an American rock band affiliated with Motown's Rare Earth record label , who prospered in 1970-1972. Although not the first white band signed to Motown, Rare Earth was the first big hit-making act signed by Motown that consisted only of white members...
, and the now-solo Diana Ross
Diana Ross
Diana Ernestine Earle Ross is an American singer, record producer, and actress. Ross was lead singer of the Motown group The Supremes during the 1960s. After leaving the group in 1970, Ross began a solo career that included successful ventures into film and Broadway...
. In addition, the company was slowly moving many of its operations from Detroit to Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
, where Berry Gordy planned to break into the motion picture and television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
industries. In 1972, it was announced that the entire company would move to Los Angeles, and that all its artists had to move as well. Many of the older Motown acts, already neglected by the label, opted to stay in Detroit, including The Funk Brothers
The Funk Brothers
The Funk Brothers was the nickname of Detroit, Michigan, session musicians who performed the backing to most Motown Records recordings from 1959 until the company moved to Los Angeles in 1972...
backing band, Martha Reeves
Martha Reeves
Martha Rose Reeves is an American R&B and Pop singer and former politician, and was the lead singer of the Motown girl group Martha and the Vandellas. During her tenure with The Vandellas, they scored over a dozen hit singles, including "Jimmy Mack", "Dancing in the Street" and "Nowhere to Run"...
, and the Four Tops.
The Tops departed Motown for ABC-Dunhill, where they were assigned to songwriter-producers Dennis Lambert and Brian Potter, with The Tops' own Lawrence Payton also serving as a producer and arranger. "Keeper of the Castle" was their first pop Top 10 hit since "Bernadette" in 1967; follow-ups such as "Ain't No Woman (Like the One I've Got)"-- (another top 10 pop hit) -- the Top 20 "Are You Man Enough" (from the movie "Shaft In Africa"), "Sweet Understanding Love," "Midnight Flower," and "One Chain Don't Make No Prison" all hit the R&B Top 10 between 1972 and 1974. Two ABC/Dunhill singles, 1974's "I Just Can't Get You Out Of My Mind" and 1975's "Seven Lonely Nights" have become popular tunes in the southeast Beach/Shag Club Dance circuit. By the release of "Catfish" in 1976, the hits had dried up again, and the group disappeared into obscurity in the late-1970s, though scoring another hit in the UK; "Don't walk away" in 1980. Scoring a deal with Casablanca Records
Casablanca Records
Casablanca Records was an American record label started by Neil Bogart, who partnered with Cecil Holmes, Larry Harris, and Buck Reingold in 1973, and based in Los Angeles. The label was formed after all of them had left Buddah Records and secured financing by Warner Bros. Records to start the venture...
in 1980, the Four Tops made a comeback in 1981 with the #1 R&B hit "When She Was My Girl
When She Was My Girl
"When She Was My Girl" is a 1981 single released by American vocal group the Four Tops. The song, their first release off Casablanca Records, helped to return the former signature Motown act to the American pop Top 40 charts, peaking at number eleven on the pop charts and reaching number one on the...
", which just missed the Billboard Pop Top 10, peaking at # 11. But, once again , "When She Was My Girl
When She Was My Girl
"When She Was My Girl" is a 1981 single released by American vocal group the Four Tops. The song, their first release off Casablanca Records, helped to return the former signature Motown act to the American pop Top 40 charts, peaking at number eleven on the pop charts and reaching number one on the...
" has also become a classic on the southeast Beach/Shag Club circuit
Return to Motown
By 1983, The Tops had rejoined Motown, and were featured on the company's television specialTelevision special
A television special is a television program which interrupts or temporarily replaces programming normally scheduled for a given time slot. Sometimes, however, the term is given to a telecast of a theatrical film, such as The Wizard of Oz or The Ten Commandments, which is not part of a regular...
Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever
Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever
Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever is a 1983 television special produced by Suzanne de Passe for Motown Records, to commemorate Motown's twenty-fifth year of existence. Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever is a 1983 television special produced by Suzanne de Passe for Motown Records, to...
. One of the highlights of the show was a battle-of-the-bands between The Tops and The Temptations, patterned after similar competitions Berry Gordy had staged during the 1960s. Levi Stubbs and Temptation Otis Williams
Otis Williams
Otis Williams is an American baritone singer. Nicknamed "Big Daddy", he has also acted as a sporadic songwriter and record producer. Williams co-founded the Motown vocal group The Temptations in early 1960 as The Elgins, a group in which he continues to perform...
decided the Temptations/Tops battle would be a good one to take on the road, and both groups began a semi-regular joint tour; as of 2007, the two groups continue to play dates together.
The first of The Tops' albums under their new Motown contract was Back Where I Belong. A whole side of the album was produced by Holland-Dozier-Holland, including the R&B Top 40 single "I Just Can't Walk Away." Only one more Top album would be released by Motown, 1985's Magic. 1986's Hot Nights was canceled, as the group and the label began to quarrel on matters of marketing and musical direction. In 1987, the Four Tops decided to leave Motown again, this time for Arista Records
Arista Records
Arista was an American record label. It was a wholly owned subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment and operated under the RCA Music Group. The label was founded in 1974 by Clive Davis, who formerly worked for CBS Records...
, buying back several masters they had recorded for Hot Nights. It's not clear how many songs from Hot Nights were used for Indestructible. The 2001 box set Fourever only names Indestructible itself. Other songs that were intended for Hot Nights and appear on Fourever are the title track (released as a single), Red Hot Love and The Four Of Us (previously released outside the USA on a CD single of Loco in Acapulco
Loco in Acapulco
"Loco in Acapulco" was a 1988 hit song by The Four Tops. It was written by Phil Collins and Lamont Dozier , for the film Buster that also starred Phil Collins in the title role...
).
The title track of 1988's Indestructible was the group's final Top 40 hit, reaching No. 35. It was also featured in the 1988 science-fiction cop film, Alien Nation.
Alien Nation (film)
Alien Nation is a 1988 American science fiction film directed by Graham Baker and produced by Gale Anne Hurd, Richard Kobritz and Bill Borden. The storyline was based on a screenplay written by Rockne S. O'Bannon. It stars James Caan, Mandy Patinkin, Terence Stamp, and Kevyn Major Howard...
. The Arista contract provided a unique opportunity to pair the group's popular lead singer Levi Stubbs with fellow Arista artist, legendary R&B vocalist Aretha Franklin
Aretha Franklin
Aretha Louise Franklin is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Although known for her soul recordings and referred to as The Queen of Soul, Franklin is also adept at jazz, blues, R&B, gospel music, and rock. Rolling Stone magazine ranked her atop its list of The Greatest Singers of All...
, who was at the height of her own 1980s hit streak. This pairing resulted in the song "If Ever A Love There Was," which became a popular R&B and Adult Contemporary hit, as well as being featured on the soundtrack of the motion picture "I'm Gonna Get You Sucka."
In December 1988, The Tops had been scheduled to board Pan Am Flight 103
Pan Am Flight 103
Pan Am Flight 103 was Pan American World Airways' third daily scheduled transatlantic flight from London Heathrow Airport to New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport...
to return to the U.S. for Christmas after completing their European tour. However, they were late getting out of a recording session and overslept, causing them to miss the ill-fated flight which crashed in Lockerbie
Lockerbie
Lockerbie is a town in the Dumfries and Galloway region of south-western Scotland. It lies approximately from Glasgow, and from the English border. It had a population of 4,009 at the 2001 census...
, Scotland, after a terrorist bomb was detonated onboard.
In addition to their own recordings, the Four Tops also worked in the fields of television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
and motion pictures. The group as a whole performed a song for the 1982 film Grease 2
Grease 2
Grease 2 is a 1982 American musical film and sequel to Grease, which is based upon the musical of the same name by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey. Grease 2 was produced by Allan Carr and Robert Stigwood, and directed and choreographed by Patricia Birch, who also choreographed the first film...
, and Levi Stubbs performed the vocals for the man-eating plant Audrey II in the 1986 musical film
Musical film
The musical film is a film genre in which songs sung by the characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, though in some cases they serve merely as breaks in the storyline, often as elaborate...
Little Shop of Horrors
Little Shop of Horrors (1986 film)
Little Shop of Horrors is a 1986 American comedy musical film adaptation of the off-Broadway musical comedy of the same name by composer Alan Menken and writer Howard Ashman, about a nerdy florist shop worker who raises a vicious plant that feeds on human blood...
; and the voice of the evil Mother Brain on the Nintendo
Nintendo Entertainment System
The Nintendo Entertainment System is an 8-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America during 1985, in Europe during 1986 and Australia in 1987...
-based NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
Saturday morning cartoon
Saturday morning cartoon
A Saturday morning cartoon is the colloquial term for the animated television programming that has typically been scheduled on Saturday mornings on the major American television networks from the 1960s to the present; the genre's peak in popularity mostly ended in the 1990s while the popularity of...
Captain N: The Game Master
Captain N: The Game Master
Captain N: The Game Master was an American animated television series that aired on television from 1989 to 1991 as part of the Saturday morning cartoon lineup on NBC. The show incorporated elements from many of the most popular Nintendo games of the time...
from 1989 to 1991.
Later years
Since the late-1980s, the Four Tops have focused on touring and live performances, only recording one album, 1995's Christmas Here With You, released on Motown. On June 20, 1997, 59-year-old Lawrence Payton died as a result of liver cancer, after singing for 44 years with the Four Tops who, unlike many Motown groups, never had a single lineup change until then. At first, Levi Stubbs, Obie Benson, and Duke Fakir toured as a trioTrio (music)
Trio is generally used in any of the following ways:* A group of three musicians playing the same or different musical instrument.* The performance of a piece of music by three people.* The contrasting section of a piece in ternary form...
called The Tops. In 1998 they recruited former Temptation Theo Peoples
Theo Peoples
Theo Peoples is an African-American R&B/soul singer. The son of a preacher, he was discovered by Ron Tyson and tapped to replace Richard Street in the long-lived Motown group The Temptations in 1992.His first recordings with the group were released in the box set Emperors of Soul where he sang lead...
to join the act to restore the group to a quartet. By the turn of the century, Stubbs had become ill from cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
; Ronnie McNair was recruited to fill in the Lawrence Payton position, and Peoples stepped into Stubbs' shoes as lead singer (Stubbs died on October 17, 2008, at his home in Detroit).
The group was featured in several television specials during this time, including Motown 45, and several by PBS
Public Broadcasting Service
The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....
, including a 50th anniversary concert dedicated to the group (available on DVD). The concert turned out to be bittersweet; it featured a brief appearance of the wheelchair-bound Levi Stubbs, and a memorial to Lawrence Payton, announced by Obie Benson. Benson appeared on one more PBS special and died on July 1, 2005, from lung cancer
Lung cancer
Lung cancer is a disease characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. If left untreated, this growth can spread beyond the lung in a process called metastasis into nearby tissue and, eventually, into other parts of the body. Most cancers that start in lung, known as primary...
. The final PBS special, titled Motown: The Early Years, featured a message of Benson's passing following the credits. Lawrence Payton's son Roquel (real name Lawrence Payton, Jr.) replaced Benson as the new bass (Roquel could be seen in the pledge break interviews of Motown: The Early Years). Theo Peoples left the group recently as well and was replaced by Spike Deleon.
The group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is a museum located on the shore of Lake Erie in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It is dedicated to archiving the history of some of the best-known and most influential artists, producers, engineers and others who have, in some major way,...
in 1990, and into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame
Vocal Group Hall of Fame
The Vocal Group Hall of Fame was organized to honor outstanding vocal groups throughout the world. It is headquartered in Sharon, Pennsylvania, United States. It includes a theater and a museum....
in 1999. In 2004, Rolling Stone Magazine ranked them #79 on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. In 2005, The Four Tops were inducted into the Michigan Rock and Roll Legends Hall of Fame. In 2009, the group's first big hit, "Baby I Need Your Loving", was voted a Legendary Michigan Song.
After similar releases in the Motown "Definitive DVD" series on The Miracles
The Miracles
The Miracles are an American rhythm and blues group from Detroit, Michigan, notable as the first successful group act for Berry Gordy's Motown Record Corporation . Their single "Shop Around" was Motown's first million-selling hit record, and the group went on to become one of Motown's signature...
, The Temptations
The Temptations
The Temptations is an American vocal group having achieved fame as one of the most successful acts to record for Motown Records. The group's repertoire has included, at various times during its five-decade career, R&B, doo-wop, funk, disco, soul, and adult contemporary music.Formed in Detroit,...
, The Supremes
The Supremes
The Supremes, an American female singing group, were the premier act of Motown Records during the 1960s.Originally founded as The Primettes in Detroit, Michigan, in 1959, The Supremes' repertoire included doo-wop, pop, soul, Broadway show tunes, psychedelic soul, and disco...
, and Marvin Gaye
Marvin Gaye
Marvin Pentz Gay, Jr. , better known by his stage name Marvin Gaye, was an American singer-songwriter and musician with a three-octave vocal range....
, The Four Tops' Motown Definitive DVD, "Reach Out," was finally released on November 11, 2008.
The Four Tops received The Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award as part of the 51st Annual Grammy Awards. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7796316.stm
http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/content_display/industry/e3i8a7ba6d185c56a446161930513310294
Speaking in January 2010 to noted UK soul writer Pete Lewis of the award-winning Blues & Soul
Blues & Soul
Blues & Soul is a British music magazine covering black music. Genres covered include soul, R&B, jazz, hip hop, reggae and world music. It was first published in 1966 and is known for first using the term Northern Soul....
, Fakir confirmed plans for the current "new" Four Tops line-up to release a new album while revealing his personal feelings about the current line-up: "To me the new group is like an extension of the family, because we've all been very close for so many years... Which makes it easier for ME, because I truly miss Lawrence, 'Obie' AND Levi - I'd be lying if I said I didn't - and not one of them could EVER be replaced. But, you know, these new guys do perform well enough for the people to still enjoy the shows and still enjoy the music. So for me it kinda makes it bittersweet. Because, at the end of the day, the legacy is still going on, and I'm very pleased it that it IS!"
The Four Tops sang the National Anthem before the start of game 5 for the 2011 ALCS between the Texas Rangers & Detroit Tigers on October 13, 2011 in Detroit, MI. When singing the last line of "The Star Spangled Banner", "...and the home of the brave", they quickly sang the words "Ain't No country Like the One I Got", before singing the last word, "brave".
Billboard Hot 100 US and UK singles
The following singles reached the top thirty of the singles charts.| Year | Song title | US Top | US RnB | US AC | UK Top |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1964: | "Baby I Need Your Loving Baby I Need Your Loving "Baby I Need Your Loving" is a 1964 hit single recorded by the Four Tops for the Motown label. Written and produced by Motown's main production team Holland–Dozier–Holland, the song was the group's first Motown single and their first pop Top 20 hit, making it to number eleven on the Billboard Hot... " |
11 | - | - | - |
| 1965: | "Ask the Lonely Ask the Lonely "Ask the Lonely" is a soul/pop ballad recorded by Motown singing group the Four Tops. Released as the group's third single, the single became the group's second successful single ever since signing to Motown in 1963. Released in 1965, the song rose to number 24 pop and number 9 R&B... " |
24 | 9 | - | - |
| 1965: | "I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch) I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch) "I Can't Help Myself " is a 1965 hit song recorded by the Four Tops for the Motown label.Written and produced by Motown's main production team Holland–Dozier–Holland, the song is one of the most well-known Motown tunes of the 1960s... " |
1 | 1 | - | 10 |
| 1965: | "It's the Same Old Song It's the Same Old Song "It's the Same Old Song" is a 1965 hit single recorded by the Four Tops for the Motown label. Written and produced by Motown's main production team Holland–Dozier–Holland, the song is today one of The Tops' signature songs, and was notably created—from initial concept to commercial... " |
5 | 2 | - | 34 |
| 1965: | "Something About You" | 19 | 9 | - | - |
| 1966: | "Shake Me, Wake Me (When It's Over) Shake Me, Wake Me (When It's Over) "Shake Me, Wake Me " is a 1966 hit single written and produced by Holland–Dozier–Holland and released as a single by the Four Tops on the Motown label.... " |
18 | 5 | - | - |
| 1966: | "Loving You Is Sweeter Than Ever Loving You Is Sweeter Than Ever "Loving You Is Sweeter Than Ever" is a 1966 song by the Four Tops, on the Motown label. It was written by Ivy Jo Hunter and Stevie Wonder, and has since been covered by Chuck Jackson, The Tremeloes, The Band, Eric Clapton, Elton John, Marvin Gaye, Diana Ross & The Supremes, Bryan Ferry, Nick Kamen,... " |
45 | 12 | - | 21 |
| 1966: | "Reach Out I'll Be There Reach Out I'll Be There "Reach Out I'll Be There" is a 1966 hit song recorded by the Four Tops for the Motown label. Written and produced by Motown's main production team Holland–Dozier–Holland, the song is one of the most well-known Motown tunes of the 1960s and is today considered The Tops' signature song... " |
1 | 1 | - | 1 |
| 1966: | "Standing in the Shadows of Love Standing in the Shadows of Love "Standing in the Shadows of Love" is a 1966 hit single recorded by the Four Tops for the Motown label. Written and produced by Motown's main production team Holland–Dozier–Holland, the song is one of the most well-known Motown tunes of the 1960s... " |
6 | 2 | - | 6 |
| 1967: | "Bernadette Bernadette (song) "Bernadette" is a 1967 hit song recorded by the Four Tops for the Motown label. Written and produced by Motown's main production team, Holland–Dozier–Holland, the song is one of the most well-known Motown tunes of the 1960s... " |
4 | 3 | - | 8 |
| 1967: | "7-Rooms of Gloom 7-Rooms of Gloom "7-Rooms of Gloom" is a 1967 hit song recorded by the Four Tops for the Motown label. Written and produced by Motown's main production team Holland–Dozier–Holland, the song is notable for matching lead singer Levi Stubbs' lamentations of heartache with a dramatic, Gothic-inspired musical arrangement... " |
14 | 10 | - | 12 |
| 1967: | "You Keep Running Away" | 19 | 7 | - | 26 |
| 1967: | "If I Were a Carpenter" | 20 | 17 | - | 7 |
| 1968: | "Walk Away Renée Walk Away Renee "Walk Away Renée" is a song made popular by the band The Left Banke in 1966 , composed by the group's then 16-year-old keyboard player Michael Brown and Tony Sansone... " |
14 | 15 | - | 3 |
| 1968: | "Yesterday's Dreams Yesterday's Dreams "Yesterday's Dreams" is a 1968 single recorded by The Four Tops for the Motown label. The single was one of the first the group released after the departure of Holland-Dozier-Holland, who had handled the majority of the Four Tops recordings prior to 1968. Released off the album of the same name,... " |
49 | 31 | - | 23 |
| 1968: | "I'm In a Different World I'm In a Different World "I'm In a Different World" is a song written and produced by Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier and R Dean Taylor. It's noted as the final recording they did for The Four Tops before leaving the label due to royalty disputes with Motown. The label issued the song in 1968 as the follow-up single to... " |
51 | 23 | - | 27 |
| 1969: | "What is a Man" | 53 | - | - | 16 |
| 1969: | "Do What You Gotta Do" | - | - | - | 11 |
| 1969: | "Don't Let Him Take Your Love From Me" | 45 | 25 | - | - |
| 1970: | "Still Water (Love) Still Water (Love) "Still Water " is a 1970 hit single written by Smokey Robinson and Frank Wilson, who also produced the track for Motown singing group The Four Tops, who took the song to the top ten of the UK pop charts and the top twenty of the US pop chart... " |
11 | 4 | - | 10 |
| 1970: | "It's All In The Game" | 24 | 6 | 39 | 5 |
| 1971: | "River Deep - Mountain High River Deep - Mountain High "River Deep – Mountain High" is a 1966 single by Ike & Tina Turner. Considered by producer Phil Spector to be his best work, the single was successful in Europe, peaking at #3 in the United Kingdom, though it flopped on its original release in the United States... " (The Supremes The Supremes The Supremes, an American female singing group, were the premier act of Motown Records during the 1960s.Originally founded as The Primettes in Detroit, Michigan, in 1959, The Supremes' repertoire included doo-wop, pop, soul, Broadway show tunes, psychedelic soul, and disco... & the Four Tops) |
14 | 7 | - | 11 |
| 1971: | "Just Seven Numbers (Can Straighten Out My Life)" | 40 | 9 | - | 36 |
| 1971: | "You Gotta Have Love in Your Heart You Gotta Have Love in Your Heart "You Gotta Have Love in Your Heart" is a duet single between Motown singing groups The Supremes and the Four Tops, released as a single off their The Return of the Magnificent 7 album in 1971. The single became a modest charter peaking at #55 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart and #41 on the U.S.... " (The Supremes The Supremes The Supremes, an American female singing group, were the premier act of Motown Records during the 1960s.Originally founded as The Primettes in Detroit, Michigan, in 1959, The Supremes' repertoire included doo-wop, pop, soul, Broadway show tunes, psychedelic soul, and disco... & the Four Tops) |
55 | 41 | - | 25 |
| 1971: | "In These Changing Times" | 70 | 28 | - | - |
| 1971: | "MacArthur Park (part 2)" | 38 | 27 | - | - |
| 1972: | "A Simple Game" | 90 | 34 | - | 3 |
| 1972: | "(It's the Way) Nature Planned It" | 53 | 8 | - | - |
| 1972: | "Keeper of the Castle" | 10 | 7 | - | 18 |
| 1973: | "Ain't No Woman (Like the One I've Got) Ain't No Woman (Like the One I've Got) "Ain't No Woman " is a 1973 hit single written by Dennis Lambert and Brian Potter, released as a single by the Four Tops on the ABC/Dunhill record label, from the album Keeper of the Castle.... " |
4 | 2 | 14 | - |
| 1973: | "Are You Man Enough" | 15 | 2 | - | - |
| 1973: | "Sweet Understanding Love" | 33 | 10 | 41 | 29 |
| 1974: | "I Just Can't Get You Out of My Mind" | 62 | 18 | - | - |
| 1974: | "One Chain Don't Make No Prison" | 41 | 3 | - | - |
| 1974: | "Midnight Flower" | 55 | 5 | - | - |
| 1975: | "Seven Lonely Nights" | 71 | 13 | - | - |
| 1975: | "We Gotta All Stick Together" | 97 | 17 | - | - |
| 1976: | "Catfish" | 71 | 7 | - | - |
| 1977: | "Feel Free" | - | 29 | - | - |
| 1981: | "When She Was My Girl When She Was My Girl "When She Was My Girl" is a 1981 single released by American vocal group the Four Tops. The song, their first release off Casablanca Records, helped to return the former signature Motown act to the American pop Top 40 charts, peaking at number eleven on the pop charts and reaching number one on the... " |
11 | 1 | 9 | 3 |
| 1981: | "Don't Walk Away" | - | - | - | 16 |
| 1983: | "I Just Can't Walk Away" | 71 | 36 | 18 | - |
| 1985: | "Sexy Ways" | - | 21 | - | - |
| 1988: | "Reach Out I'll Be There '88" | 11 | |||
| 1988: | "Indestructible" | 35 | 57 | 20 | 55 |
| 1988: | "Loco in Acapulco Loco in Acapulco "Loco in Acapulco" was a 1988 hit song by The Four Tops. It was written by Phil Collins and Lamont Dozier , for the film Buster that also starred Phil Collins in the title role... " |
- | - | - | 7 |
| 1988: | "If Ever a Love There Was" (Aretha Franklin Aretha Franklin Aretha Louise Franklin is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Although known for her soul recordings and referred to as The Queen of Soul, Franklin is also adept at jazz, blues, R&B, gospel music, and rock. Rolling Stone magazine ranked her atop its list of The Greatest Singers of All... & the Four Tops) |
- | 31 | 26 | - |
Albums
Motown releases:- 1964: Four TopsFour Tops (album)Four Tops is the 1964 self-titled debut album by The Four Tops. The album written and produced by the Motown's main writing/producing team Holland-Dozier-Holland...
(UK #2) - 1965: Four Tops' Second AlbumFour Tops' Second AlbumFour Tops' Second Album is a 1965 R&B studio album by vocal quartet the Four Tops. The album, released on the Motown record label, was successful, reaching #3 on Billboard's "Black Albums" chart and #20 on "Pop Albums". The album contained three hit singles...
(US #20) - 1966: Four Tops Live! (US #17; UK #4)
- 1966: On TopOn Top (album)On Top is the third studio album recorded by the Four Tops, issued by Motown Records in July 1966. It reached 32 in the Billboard album chart and #9 in the UK. It contains two singles: "Loving You Is Sweeter Than Ever" and "Shake Me, Wake Me "...
(UK #9) - 1967: Four Tops' HitsThe Four Tops Greatest HitsFour Tops Greatest Hits is the only number one album in the UK for Motown band The Four Tops. It spent one week at the top of the chart in 1968.-Tracklisting:#Baby I Need Your Loving#It's The Same Old Song#Reach Out I'll Be There#Ask The Lonely...
(UK #1) - 1967: Reach Out (US #14; UK #6)
- 1968: Yesterday's Dreams
- 1968: Four Tops' Greatest Hits (UK #1)
- 1969: The Four Tops Now
- 1969: Soul Spin
- 1970: Still Waters Run DeepStill Waters Run Deep (Four Tops album)Still Waters Run Deep is an early concept album released by American vocal group the Four Tops.-Reception:Released in March 1970 on the Motown label...
(US #21) - 1970: Changing Times
- 1970: The Magnificent 7 (with The SupremesThe SupremesThe Supremes, an American female singing group, were the premier act of Motown Records during the 1960s.Originally founded as The Primettes in Detroit, Michigan, in 1959, The Supremes' repertoire included doo-wop, pop, soul, Broadway show tunes, psychedelic soul, and disco...
) - 1971: The Return of the Magnificent Seven (with The Supremes)
- 1971: Dynamite (with the Supremes)
- 1971: Mac Arthur Park
- 1972: Nature Planned It
ABC
ABC Records
ABC Records was an American record label, founded in New York City in 1955 as ABC-Paramount Records. It originated as the main popular music label operated the Am-Par Record Corporation, the music subsidiary of the American Broadcasting Company . ABC-Paramount Records' first president was Samuel H....
releases:
- 1972: Keeper of the CastleKeeper of the CastleKeeper of the Castle is an album by R&B group the Four Tops.-Track listing:All tracks composed by Brian Potter and Dennis Lambert; except where indicated#"Keeper of the Castle"#"Ain't No Woman "#"Put a Little Love Away"...
(US #33) - 1973: Main Street People
- 1974: Meeting the Minds
- 1974: Live & in Concert
- 1975: Night Lights Harmony
- 1976: Catfish
- 1977: The Show Must Go On
- 1978: At The Top
Casablanca
Casablanca Records
Casablanca Records was an American record label started by Neil Bogart, who partnered with Cecil Holmes, Larry Harris, and Buck Reingold in 1973, and based in Los Angeles. The label was formed after all of them had left Buddah Records and secured financing by Warner Bros. Records to start the venture...
releases:
- 1981: Tonight! (US #37)
- 1982: One More Mountain
Motown releases:
- 1983: Back where I belong
- 1985: Magic
- 1986: Hot Nights (unreleased)
- 1999: Lost & Found: Breaking Through
Arista
Arista Records
Arista was an American record label. It was a wholly owned subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment and operated under the RCA Music Group. The label was founded in 1974 by Clive Davis, who formerly worked for CBS Records...
releases:
- 1988: Indestructible
DVDs
- The Four Tops Reach Out: Definitive DVD Motown/Universal (2008)
- The Four Tops: From the Heart: The 50th Anniversary Concert
- The Four Tops: Live at The MGM Grand: 40th Anniversary Special (1996)
- The Four Tops: (semi- documentary /concert rehearsal- recorded live for French TV,1971) 2004.