The Four Tops

They were Motown’s mature group—veterans of the R&B circuit, schooled in jazz harmony and hard times—yet they were destined for Berry Gordy’s family company. Renaldo “Obie” Benson, Abdul “Duke” Fakir, Lawrence Payton, and Levi Stubbs, all from Detroit, joined Motown in 1963 and within a year had smash after smash, starting with “Baby I Need Your Loving,” and they would continue singing together until Payton passed away in 1997, the longest-running streak of harmony, onstage and off, in pop music history. Among their Motown classics: “I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch),” “It’s The Same Old Song,” “Reach Out I’ll Be There,” “Standing In The Shadows Of Love,” “Bernadette,” “Walk Away Renee,” “Still Water (Love)” and many more. The Tops left Motown in 1967 but flourished at other labels, with hits that included “Keeper of the Castle,” “Ain’t No Woman (Like the One I’ve Got),” “When She Was My Girl,” and the immortal “I Believe in You And Me.” More than one of the best-loved groups Motown ever produced, the Four Tops remain a soul and pop Rock of Gibraltar. Times changed but you could always count on the Four Tops.