Reach Out I'll Be There
Encyclopedia
"Reach Out I'll Be There" (also formatted as "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. It was the number one song on the R&B charts for two weeks, and on the Billboard Hot 100
for two weeks, from September 24, 1966 to October 15. It replaced "Cherish" by The Association
, and was itself replaced by "96 Tears" by Question Mark & the Mysterians. Rolling Stone
later ranked this version #206 on their list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time
. This version is also currently ranked as the 36th best song of all time, as well as the #3 song of 1966
, in an aggregation of critics' lists at acclaimedmusic.net.
The track also reached #1 in the UK Singles Chart
, becoming Motown's second UK chart-topper after The Supremes
hit #1 with "Baby Love
" in late 1964.
Lead singer Levi Stubbs delivers many of the lines in the song in a tone that straddles the line between singing and shouting, like he did in 1965's "I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)
".
This song differs markedly from the Four Tops' earlier efforts, due to the highly-contrasting shifts between minor and major, and also major and augmented chords. These contrasting tonal shades form the hook
for which the song is so well known. The Four Tops would rely on this formula for several subsequent releases.
The song is featured prominently in the final scene and the closing credits of the 1975 motion picture Cooley High
, a coming-of-age
film starring Glynn Turman
and Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs
.
PWL
remixed the song in 1988. The remix was done by Phil Harding & Ian Curnow. The 12" Remix runs 6:05 and the Radio Edit runs 3:10.
Covers
Only weeks after the original release, Jamaican soul singer Derrick Harriott
recorded and released a version of this pop soul hit on his own Crystal label in Kingston, Jamaica (reissued on Gaz Mayall's Top Ska Tunes, Trojan 2004).
Petula Clark
recorded a version for her 1967 album Colour My World.
Gene Pierson
released a version in 1970 (Single, Festival)
Merrilee Rush
recorded a psychedelic version of the song in 1968. Titled simply "Reach Out", the single on the AGP label only made it to #79 on Billboard's Hot 100 in December, 1968.
There were three Italian language
versions, made by local artists Peppino Di Capri
and Rita Pavone
, and - most of all - by the same Four Tops, with the title Gira gira ( Turn around, turn around).
British singer Jackie Trent
hit the UK singles chart with her cover version, entitled I'll Be There, in April 1969. The song peaked at #38, spending four weeks in the UK Top 50.
Diana Ross
scored a Top 40 remake of the Four Tops' classic taking it to number twenty-nine on the Hot 100 in 1971. It was the second release from Ross' third solo album, Surrender
, in just a year. Ross' version was produced by Nickolas Ashford & Valerie Simpson
, and was built around the same thematic basis that made Ross' 1970 remake of Marvin Gaye
& Tammi Terrell
's "Ain't No Mountain High Enough
" a success.
Gloria Gaynor
performed a disco
version in 1975.
Claude François
recorded a version in French that was titled "J'attendrai" ("I'll Be Waiting"). The song has no relation to the 1939 French song also named "J'attendrai
".
Famed drummer
/producer
/singer Narada Michael Walden
performed a version of the tune on his 1983 album Looking at You, Looking at Me, and it became a moderate R&B hit.
Punk rock
band Snuff
released a version of the song on their covers album Flibbidydibbidydob
.
Elton John
's 1989 single "Healing Hands
" was directly inspired by this song. Its chorus starts with the line "And reach out / for her healing hands".
Michael Bolton
covered this song from his 1992 compilation album Timeless: The Classics.
The song inspired the 2003 film I'll Be There featuring Charlotte Church
.
Michael McDonald
also recorded a version for his album, Motown Two (2004), the follow-up to his album Motown (2003). His version reached #12 on Billboards Adult Contemporary chart.
Bill Cosby
recorded a humorous interpretation of the song for his album Bill Cosby Sings Hooray for the Salvation Army Band!
: I'll be there/But first I have to take out the trash/I'll be there/But then there's the potatoes have to be mashed!
Boyz II Men
covered this song during a live medley on UK reality talent show The X Factor
in October 2007.
Clare Teal
also covered this song on her 2007 album Paradisi Carousel.
Chris Farlowe
recorded a cover of the song.
Meat Puppets
were known to cover this song live in the early 1980s.
The Human League
did an instrumental version of this song which was released on a demo
compact cassette
.
Serbia
n 1980s group, Oktobar 1864
, covered this song in Serbian
and had a hit with it.
Efrat Gosh
covered this song in 2007 alongside local Israeli group Red Band.
Richie Kotzen
covered this song from his 1994 studio album Mother Head's Family Reunion
.
R. Stevie Moore
recorded this song as a medley with George Harrison
's "My Sweet Lord
" on his 2003 album Report Card.
's "Action".
The song is also sampled in Tech-Trance DJ/Producer Sander van Doorn
's 2010 single, "Reach Out".
Michael Jackson alludes to the song in The Jackson 5
song "I'll Be There", singing "just look over your shoulders, honey."
Four Tops
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...
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. It was the number one song on the R&B charts for two weeks, and on the 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...
for two weeks, from September 24, 1966 to October 15. It replaced "Cherish" by The Association
The Association
The Association is a pop music band from California in the folk rock or soft rock genre. During the 1960s, they had numerous hits at or near the top of the Billboard charts and were the lead-off band at 1967's Monterey Pop Festival...
, and was itself replaced by "96 Tears" by Question Mark & the Mysterians. Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
later ranked this version #206 on their list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time
The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time
"The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" was the cover story of a special issue of Rolling Stone, issue number 963, published December 9, 2004, a year after the magazine published its list of "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time"....
. This version is also currently ranked as the 36th best song of all time, as well as the #3 song of 1966
1966 in music
-Events:*January 3 – Hullabaloo shows promotional videos of The Beatles songs "Day Tripper" and "We Can Work it Out".*January 8 – Shindig! airs for the last time on ABC, with musical guests the Kinks and the Who...
, in an aggregation of critics' lists at acclaimedmusic.net.
The track also reached #1 in the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
, becoming Motown's second UK chart-topper after 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...
hit #1 with "Baby Love
Baby Love
"Baby Love" is a 1964 song recorded by The Supremes for the Motown label.Written and produced by Motown's main production team Holland–Dozier–Holland ,...
" in late 1964.
Lead singer Levi Stubbs delivers many of the lines in the song in a tone that straddles the line between singing and shouting, like he did in 1965's "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...
".
This song differs markedly from the Four Tops' earlier efforts, due to the highly-contrasting shifts between minor and major, and also major and augmented chords. These contrasting tonal shades form the hook
Hook (music)
A hook is a musical idea, often a short riff, passage, or phrase, that is used in popular music to make a song appealing and to "catch the ear of the listener". The term generally applies to popular music, especially rock music, hip hop, dance music, and pop. In these genres, the hook is often...
for which the song is so well known. The Four Tops would rely on this formula for several subsequent releases.
The song is featured prominently in the final scene and the closing credits of the 1975 motion picture Cooley High
Cooley High
Cooley High is a 1975 American film based upon the real high school located on the near north side of Chicago produced and released by American International Pictures and written by Eric Monte...
, a coming-of-age
Coming of age
Coming of age is a young person's transition from childhood to adulthood. The age at which this transition takes place varies in society, as does the nature of the transition. It can be a simple legal convention or can be part of a ritual, as practiced by many societies...
film starring Glynn Turman
Glynn Turman
Glynn Russell Turman is an American stage, television, and film actor as well as a writer, director, and producer. He is perhaps best known for his roles as high school student Leroy "Preach" Jackson in the 1975 coming-of-age film Cooley High, math professor and retired Army colonel Bradford...
and Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs
Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs
Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs is an American actor and singer. He has appeared in a number of films and television programs, including Claudine , Cooley High , Roots , Welcome Back, Kotter , Bangers and Mash , and The Jacksons: An American Dream .Lawrence's name, at least as shown in the credits of Welcome...
.
PWL
PWL
Pete Waterman Entertainment is the production company one-time pop and dance record label owned by pop mogul Pete Waterman. The label, originally PWL, is most famous for being the home of hit record producers Stock Aitken Waterman....
remixed the song in 1988. The remix was done by Phil Harding & Ian Curnow. The 12" Remix runs 6:05 and the Radio Edit runs 3:10.
CoversCover versionIn popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
Only weeks after the original release, Jamaican soul singer Derrick HarriottDerrick Harriott
Derrick Harriott is a singer and record producer. He has produced recordings by Big Youth, Chariot Riders, The Chosen Few, Dennis Brown, The Ethiopians, Keith & Tex, The Kingstonians, Rudy Mills, Scotty, Sly & Revolutionaries, and Winston McAnuff.-Biography:As a student at Excelsior High School,...
recorded and released a version of this pop soul hit on his own Crystal label in Kingston, Jamaica (reissued on Gaz Mayall's Top Ska Tunes, Trojan 2004).
Petula Clark
Petula Clark
Petula Clark, CBE is an English singer, actress, and composer whose career has spanned seven decades.Clark's professional career began as an entertainer on BBC Radio during World War II...
recorded a version for her 1967 album Colour My World.
Gene Pierson
Gene Pierson
Gene Pierson is an Australian record producer, music publisher, label owner, entrepreneur and former recording artist and entertainment manager....
released a version in 1970 (Single, Festival)
Merrilee Rush
Merrilee Rush
-Career:As a girl, Merrilee studied classical piano for 10 years. In 1960, Rush auditioned for a band, directed by her first husband, that played sock hops. Next, she was part of Merrilee and Her Men, doing covers of male pop hits. Then she joined a Seattle rhythm and blues group called Tiny Tony...
recorded a psychedelic version of the song in 1968. Titled simply "Reach Out", the single on the AGP label only made it to #79 on Billboard's Hot 100 in December, 1968.
There were three Italian language
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
versions, made by local artists Peppino Di Capri
Peppino di Capri
Peppino di Capri is an Italian popular music singer, songwriter and pianist. His international hits are: "St...
and Rita Pavone
Rita Pavone
Rita Pavone is an Italian ballad and rock singer who enjoyed success through the 1960s. Pavone is also an actress.-Singing career:...
, and - most of all - by the same Four Tops, with the title Gira gira ( Turn around, turn around).
British singer Jackie Trent
Jackie Trent
Jackie Trent is an English singer, songwriter, and actress.-Career:Trent's first stage appearance was as a ten-year-old ingenue in the pantomime Babes In The Wood, but her primary interest was a career in pop music...
hit the UK singles chart with her cover version, entitled I'll Be There, in April 1969. The song peaked at #38, spending four weeks in the UK Top 50.
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...
scored a Top 40 remake of the Four Tops' classic taking it to number twenty-nine on the Hot 100 in 1971. It was the second release from Ross' third solo album, Surrender
Surrender (Diana Ross album)
Surrender was a 1971 album by singer Diana Ross, her third solo LP for the Motown label.Ross' previous album, Everything is Everything, failed to generate interest due to Motown's rush and hurried efforts to further Ross' solo career, and did not chart as highly as expected. Surrender, however, was...
, in just a year. Ross' version was produced by Nickolas Ashford & Valerie Simpson
Ashford & Simpson
Nickolas Ashford , and Valerie Simpson , were a husband and wife songwriting/production team and recording artists....
, and was built around the same thematic basis that made Ross' 1970 remake of 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....
& Tammi Terrell
Tammi Terrell
Thomasina Winifred Montgomery, known as Tammi Terrell was an American singer-songwriter most notable for her association with Motown and her duets with Marvin Gaye. As a teenager she recorded for the Scepter–Wand, Try Me and Checker record labels. She signed with Motown in April 1965 and enjoyed...
's "Ain't No Mountain High Enough
Ain't No Mountain High Enough
"Ain't No Mountain High Enough" is an R&B/soul song written by Nickolas Ashford & Valerie Simpson in 1966 for the Tamla Motown label. The composition was first successful as a 1967 hit single recorded by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell, becoming a hit again in 1970 when recorded by former Supremes...
" a success.
Gloria Gaynor
Gloria Gaynor
Gloria Gaynor is an American singer, best known for the disco era hits; "I Will Survive" , "Never Can Say Goodbye" , "Let Me Know " and "I Am What I Am" .-Early career:Gaynor was a singer with the Soul...
performed 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...
version in 1975.
Claude François
Claude François
Claude François was a French pop singer, songwriter and dancer. He wrote "Comme d'habitude," the original version of "My Way."-Early life:...
recorded a version in French that was titled "J'attendrai" ("I'll Be Waiting"). The song has no relation to the 1939 French song also named "J'attendrai
J'attendrai
"J'attendrai" is a French popular song recorded by Rina Ketty in 1938. It is a translation of the Italian song "Tornerai" composed by Dino Olivieri and Nino Rastelli in 1933; the French lyrics were written by Louis Potérat...
".
Famed drummer
Drummer
A drummer is a musician who is capable of playing drums, which includes but is not limited to a drum kit and accessory based hardware which includes an assortment of pedals and standing support mechanisms, marching percussion and/or any musical instrument that is struck within the context of a...
/producer
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...
/singer Narada Michael Walden
Narada Michael Walden
Narada Michael Walden is an American producer, drummer, singer, and songwriter. He was given the name Narada by guru Sri Chinmoy in the early 1970s and his musical career spans three decades, in which he was awarded several gold, platinum and multi-platinum awards...
performed a version of the tune on his 1983 album Looking at You, Looking at Me, and it became a moderate R&B hit.
Punk rock
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
band Snuff
Snuff (band)
Snuff are a British punk rock band formed in Hendon in 1986. Their name reportedly came about after a long discussion about names ended up with one of them claiming "That's Enough", which was then shortened to Snuff...
released a version of the song on their covers album Flibbidydibbidydob
Flibbidydibbidydob
Flibbidydibbidydob is an EP of cover versions, including commercial jingles and a TV theme, by English punk rock band, Snuff. It was originally released in 1990, but was re-released in August, 1996 on Fat Wreck Chords.-Track listing:...
.
Elton John
Elton John
Sir Elton Hercules John, CBE, Hon DMus is an English rock singer-songwriter, composer, pianist and occasional actor...
's 1989 single "Healing Hands
Healing Hands (song)
"Healing Hands" was the final hit single of the 1980s for British pop-star Elton John, written by Elton John and Bernie Taupin and recorded on his million-selling 1989 album Sleeping with the Past. The single was released during the late-summer of 1989, and was a top-twenty hit in the US...
" was directly inspired by this song. Its chorus starts with the line "And reach out / for her healing hands".
Michael Bolton
Michael Bolton
Michael Bolton is an American singer and songwriter. Bolton originally performed in the hard rock and heavy metal genres from the mid 1970s to the mid 1980s, both on his early solo albums and those recorded as the frontman of the band Blackjack...
covered this song from his 1992 compilation album Timeless: The Classics.
The song inspired the 2003 film I'll Be There featuring Charlotte Church
Charlotte Church
Charlotte Maria Church is a Welsh singer-songwriter, actress and television presenter. She rose to fame in childhood as a classical singer before branching into pop music in 2005. By 2007, she had sold more than 10 million records worldwide including over 5 million in the United States...
.
Michael McDonald
Michael McDonald (singer)
Michael McDonald is a five-time Grammy Award winning American singer and songwriter. McDonald is known for a soulful baritone singing style and a multi-octave range. He began his career singing back-up vocals with Steely Dan...
also recorded a version for his album, Motown Two (2004), the follow-up to his album Motown (2003). His version reached #12 on Billboards Adult Contemporary chart.
Bill Cosby
Bill Cosby
William Henry "Bill" Cosby, Jr. is an American comedian, actor, author, television producer, educator, musician and activist. A veteran stand-up performer, he got his start at various clubs, then landed a starring role in the 1960s action show, I Spy. He later starred in his own series, the...
recorded a humorous interpretation of the song for his album Bill Cosby Sings Hooray for the Salvation Army Band!
Bill Cosby Sings Hooray for the Salvation Army Band!
Bill Cosby Sings Hooray for the Salvation Army Band! is the ninth album by Bill Cosby. This was his second studio album to feature his singing, and features less serious renditions of then-current rock and soul hits...
: I'll be there/But first I have to take out the trash/I'll be there/But then there's the potatoes have to be mashed!
Boyz II Men
Boyz II Men
Boyz II Men is an American R&B vocal group best known for emotional ballads and a cappella harmonies. They are the most successful R&B group of all time, having sold more than albums worldwide. In the 1990s, Boyz II Men found fame on Motown Records as a quartet, but original member Michael McCary...
covered this song during a live medley on UK reality talent show The X Factor
The X Factor (TV series)
The X Factor is a television talent show franchise originating in the United Kingdom, where it was devised as a replacement for Pop Idol. It is a singing competition, now held in various countries, which pits contestants against each other. These contestants are aspiring pop singers drawn from...
in October 2007.
Clare Teal
Clare Teal
Clare Teal is an English jazz singer who has become famous not only for her singing, but also for having signed the biggest ever recording contract by a British jazz singer.-Biography:...
also covered this song on her 2007 album Paradisi Carousel.
Chris Farlowe
Chris Farlowe
Chris Farlowe is an English rock, blues and soul singer. He is best known for his hit single "Out of Time", which rose to #1 in the UK Singles Chart in 1966, and his association with Colosseum and the Thunderbirds.Outside his music career, Farlowe collects war memorabilia.-Career:Inspired by Lonnie...
recorded a cover of the song.
Meat Puppets
Meat Puppets
The Meat Puppets are an American rock band formed in January 1980, in Phoenix, Arizona. The group's original lineup was Curt Kirkwood , his brother Cris Kirkwood , and Derrick Bostrom . The Kirkwood brothers met Bostrom while attending Brophy Prep High School in Phoenix...
were known to cover this song live in the early 1980s.
The Human League
The Human League
The Human League are an English electronic New Wave band formed in Sheffield in 1977. They achieved popularity after a key change in line-up in the early 1980s and have continued recording and performing with moderate commercial success throughout the 1980s up to the present day.The only constant...
did an instrumental version of this song which was released on a demo
Demo (music)
A demo version or demo of a song is one recorded for reference rather than for release. A demo is a way for a musician to approximate their ideas on tape or disc, and provide an example of those ideas to record labels, producers or other artists...
compact cassette
Compact Cassette
The Compact Cassette, often referred to as audio cassette, cassette tape, cassette, or simply tape, is a magnetic tape sound recording format. It was designed originally for dictation, but improvements in fidelity led the Compact Cassette to supplant the Stereo 8-track cartridge and reel-to-reel...
.
Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
n 1980s group, Oktobar 1864
Oktobar 1864
Oktobar 1864 was a Serbian and former Yugoslav rock band.-1984 – 1992:Oktobar 1864 was formed in 1984 in Zemun by Goran Tomanović and have changed several line-ups before they won the Best demo Band Award at the MESAM festival in 1986. Goran Tomanović the first band members over the...
, covered this song in Serbian
Serbian language
Serbian is a form of Serbo-Croatian, a South Slavic language, spoken by Serbs in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Croatia and neighbouring countries....
and had a hit with it.
Efrat Gosh
Efrat Gosh
-Bio:Gosh was born in 1983 and raised as a middle child with a younger and an older brother in Herzliya, Israel. She attended the music department at Alon high school in Ramat Hasharon. She continued her education at the Rimon school of music, focusing on Jazz...
covered this song in 2007 alongside local Israeli group Red Band.
Richie Kotzen
Richie Kotzen
Richie Kotzen is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter.At a young age, Richie Kotzen was taken by music and first began playing piano at the age of five. At the age of seven he was inspired by the band KISS to learn the electric guitar...
covered this song from his 1994 studio album Mother Head's Family Reunion
Mother Head's Family Reunion
Mother Head's Family Reunion is the Richie Kotzen's first post-Poison solo album.-Track listing:-Personnel:*Richie Kotzen – lead vocals, background vocals, guitar, hammond organ, piano, wurlitzer piano, clavinet and bass...
.
R. Stevie Moore
R. Stevie Moore
Robert Steven Moore is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. In addition to having numerous albums released on labels around the world, the prolific Moore has self-released over 400 cassette and CD-R albums since 1968, as well as dozens of home videos, mostly through the R. Stevie Moore...
recorded this song as a medley with George Harrison
George Harrison
George Harrison, MBE was an English musician, guitarist, singer-songwriter, actor and film producer who achieved international fame as lead guitarist of The Beatles. Often referred to as "the quiet Beatle", Harrison became over time an admirer of Indian mysticism, and introduced it to the other...
's "My Sweet Lord
My Sweet Lord
"My Sweet Lord" is a song by former Beatles lead guitarist George Harrison from his UK number one hit triple album All Things Must Pass. The song was written in praise of the Hindu god Krishna...
" on his 2003 album Report Card.
Use in other music
The song's introduction is sampled extensively throughout The FieldThe Field (musician)
Axel Willner, better known by the stage name The Field, is a techno artist based in Stockholm, Sweden.-Background:In 2005, Willner submitted a demo tape the German indie label Kompakt and was subsequently signed. He released his first 12", a demo mixtape of Annie's "Heartbeat" in 2005 as well as a...
's "Action".
The song is also sampled in Tech-Trance DJ/Producer Sander van Doorn
Sander van Doorn
Sander van Doorn Sander van Doorn Sander van Doorn (born Sander Ketelaars [] on February 28, 1979 in Eindhoven, Noord-Brabant, Netherlands is a Dutch tech trance DJ and producer...
's 2010 single, "Reach Out".
Michael Jackson alludes to the song in The Jackson 5
The Jackson 5
The Jackson 5 , later known as The Jacksons, were an American popular music family group from Gary, Indiana...
song "I'll Be There", singing "just look over your shoulders, honey."
Personnel
- Lead vocals by Levi StubbsLevi StubbsLevi 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...
- Background vocals by Abdul "Duke" Fakir, Renaldo "Obie" Benson, Lawrence PaytonLawrence PaytonLawrence Albert Payton was an American tenor, songwriter and record producer for the popular Motown quartet, the Four Tops....
, and The AndantesThe AndantesThe 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...
: Jackie Hicks, Marlene Barrow, and Louvain Demps - Instrumentation by The Funk Brothers
- Written by Brian HollandBrian HollandBrian Holland is an American songwriter and record producer, best known as a member of Holland–Dozier–Holland. That songwriting and production team that was responsible for much of the Motown sound and numerous hit records by artists such as Martha and the Vandellas, The Supremes, The Four Tops,...
, Lamont DozierLamont DozierLamont Herbert Dozier is an American songwriter and record producer, born in Detroit, Michigan. Dozier has either co-written or produced several US Billboard #1 hits.-Career:...
, and Edward Holland, Jr.Edward Holland, Jr.Edward Holland, Jr. is an American singer, songwriter and record producer.... - Produced by Brian HollandBrian HollandBrian Holland is an American songwriter and record producer, best known as a member of Holland–Dozier–Holland. That songwriting and production team that was responsible for much of the Motown sound and numerous hit records by artists such as Martha and the Vandellas, The Supremes, The Four Tops,...
and Lamont DozierLamont DozierLamont Herbert Dozier is an American songwriter and record producer, born in Detroit, Michigan. Dozier has either co-written or produced several US Billboard #1 hits.-Career:...