“Motown really did feel like a big family back then. We all hung out, partied, played golf, held BBQs, appeared on one another’s records. Those were amazing times.”
Duke Fakir
Introduction
The Four Tops sum up the spirit of Motown music. The hair, suits and the sleek dance moves. Originally formed as the Four Aims in 1953, they embody the Detroit sound, a union of sounds that feed off each other’s brilliance. Up-tempo music that gets you on your feet and makes you want to dance. One of the most commercially successful quartets that the USA has ever produced. A group that signed, sealed and delivered the Motown label. An eclectic mixture of soul, R&B, disco, jazz and show tunes.
The original four of Levi Stubbs, Abdul Fakir, Renaldo Benson and Lawrence Payton stayed together until 1997 with various members until the present. With groups like the Miracles, the Mavellettes, Martha and the Vandellas, the Temptations and the Supremes, they helped firmly establish the Motown sound. This is feel-good music in abundance. Levi Stubbs was the voice of the group, providing a booming voice that hit all the right notes and put a microphone into cruise control. A unique baritone, accompanied by a wall of tenors.
With songs beautifully crafted by the songwriting production team of Holland-Dozier-Holland, a team that produced a string of hits for the Motown label. The Four Tops produced hits such as “I Can’t Help Myself”, “Reach Out I’ll Be There”, “Baby I Need Your Loving”, “Ask The Lonely”, “Ain’t No Woman”, When She Was My Girl”, “Seven Rooms Of Gloom” and “Loco in Acapulco”. A career that spanned from black and white to colour and brought so many dancefloors to life.
The Birth
Meeting at high school in Detroit, the four first performed at a local birthday party and that performance would light up the night. The clicking fingers, clapping hands and swaying hips that was the ultimate smooching music for lovers of all ages. A genre of music that evolved to suit the decade. With the help of Lawrence Payton’s cousin, Roquel Davis, the quartet were signed to Chess Records in 1956 and changed their group name from the Four Aims to the Four Tops to avoid confusion with another group of the time, the Ames Brothers.
However, it wasn’t all plain sailing as the group failed to notch up any hits on either Chess Records, Red Top, Riverside Records or Columbia Records. Yet it didn’t stop them from touring and refining their act. They became known as a club act, supporting Billy Eckstine. It wasn’t until 1963 when Berry Gordy Jr. persuaded them to sign to Motown Records. They started up as backing singers, accompanying the Supremes on “Run, Run, Run” in 1964 and Martha and the Vandellas on “My Baby Loves Me” in 1966. A chance instrumental track in 1964 with no direction provided their first big break. The classic track “Baby I Need Your Loving” fitted their style like a glove and it quickly reached number 11 in the charts. It would be followed by a string of hits such as “It’s the Same Old Song”, “Something About You”, “Shake Me, Wake Me (When’s It’s Over)” and “Loving You Is Sweeter Than Ever”. Their first number 1 came in 1966 with “Reach Out I’ll Be There”. A number 1 in the USA and the UK. A song that became the Four Tops’ signature tune. Another hit was “Standing in the Shadows of Love”. “Bernadette” was also another hit in 1967. A song about a man’s consuming love for his lover.
The Four Tops soon became the most successful Motown act in the UK and second only to the Temptations in the USA. In the late 1960s, the act started to dabble with pop music and produced hits like “If I Were a Carpenter” in 1967 and Walk Away Renée” in 1968. They left Motown in 1967 after disputes with Berry Gordy Jr.
The Later Years
Despite splitting from Motown Records, the group still worked with a number of Motown songwriters including Ivy Jo Hunter, Nickolas Ashford and Valerie Simpson, Norman Whitfield and Johnny Bristol. However, they brought no chart success. They had to wait until 1970 with “It’s All in the Game” for their next chart hit. They started working with Frank Wilson and their 1970 album “Still Waters Run Deep” is thought to have inspired Marvyn Gaye’s classic 1971 album “What’s Going On”. They teamed up with the Supremes after Diana Ross left and was replaced by Jean Terrell, recording three albums with them. “The Magnificent 7”, “Return of the Magnificent 7” and “Dynamite!”.
The four returned to Motown in 1983 and recorded a number of television specials and appeared at Live Aid. Hits in this period included “Back Where I Belong” and “I Just Can’t Walk Away”. Their last hits came in 1988 with “Indestructible” and the 1989 hit “Loco in Acapulco” in 1989, a song penned by Phil Collins and former Motown composer Lamont Dozier. The group narrowly escaped death in December 1988 when they were scheduled to fly on the Pan Am 103 flight but missed it as their Top of the Tops appearance overran. The group continues to this day in different formats despite the deaths of Lawrence Payton in 1997, Levi Stubbs in 1998 and Renaldo Benson in 2005. Duke Fakir died in July 2024. A group that has received an accolade of awards and remains one of the definitive voices of the Motown era.
