DAILY DIRT: Let’s welcome the Four Tops to the top of the mountain

Daily Dirt for Sunday, May 11, 2025

At times overshadowed by the Temptations, the Four Tops are extremely deserving of this honor … Welcome to today’s three thoughts that make up Vol. 1,280 of The Daily Dirt.

1. With apologies to the Beatles, this week has been a long and winding road.

But we’ve reached the end of the journey to christen The Daily Dirt’s No. 1 American band/group of the 1960s. The envelope, please …

No. 1: The Four Tops

The decision was not easy, not by a longshot, but my heart felt the Four Tops were the most deserving of being named the top American group/band of the 1960s.

Not only were the Four Tops one of the most commercially successful pop music groups of the decade, they helped to elevate Motown Records to international fame. The group successfully combined such genres as soul, rhythm and blues, adult contemporary, doo-wop, jazz, show tunes (and even early disco) into their story of success.

One of the intangibles that I always felt made the Four Tops just a little more special than, say, their chief rivals at the time, the Temptations, was that lead singer Levi Stubbs and backing vocalists Abdul “Duke” Fakir, Renaldo “Obie” Benson and Lawrence Payton remained together for more than decades. They performed as one until 1997 without a change in personnel. Those four have all passed on, but oh the memories they left with us.

The Four Tops were one one of the principal groups that helped establish the “Motown sound” with their pop friendly soul and R&B sound. Longtime front man Stubbs and his familiar baritone — and “cry” in his voice — stood out in a field of Motown groups that featured countless tenors as lead singers.

Stubbs and the group stood out for another reason, too. At the height of their popularity in the late 1960s and early 1970s, Motown wanted to rebrand the group as “Levi Stubbs and the Four Tops” (as it had several other of its major acts at the time). Stubbs, however, balked at the notion, emphasizing no single member of the Four Tops was more important than the other. I always admired that.

Among the major honors earned by the group are memberships in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Vocal Group Hall of Fame, Hollywood Walk of Fame, Grammy Hall of Fame and National Rhythm and Blues Hall of Fame. And in 2010, Rolling Stone magazine ranked the Four Tops No. 79 on its list of the “100 Greatest Artists of All Time”.

My three favorite Four Tops songs? How about the following:

“I can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)”: This was the song that hooked me on the Four Tops” sound, way back in 1965.

“It’s The Same Old Song”: This was the follow-up to “I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)”. Has any group ever had a more successful one-two punch of songs? 

“Reach Out I’ll Be There”: This was one of the first four .45s I bought in the fall of 1966, along with “Good Vibrations” by the Beach Boys, “Open Up Your Door” from Richard and the Young Lions and “Devil With A Blue Dress/Good Golly Miss Molly” by Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels.

To be honest, I also have to include the following with an asterisk:

“Walk Away Renee” (1967)

“If I Were A Carpenter” (1967)

“Bernadette” (1967)

“Something About You” (1965)

“Baby I Need Your Loving” (1964)

Thanks for being part of the fun and discussion this week. There’s a good chance we’ll be doing this again real soon. How do the 1970s sound?

2. Did you know (Part 359)

• That the Four Tops were originally known as the Four Aims.
• That humans and giraffes have the same number of neckbones.
• That Prince Charles has a car fueled by wine.
• That newborns do not shed tears until they are 1 to 3 years old.
• That dogs can smell cancer.

3. Things that should have different names:

Jet skis: Should be “boatercycles”.

Astronomers: Should be skyintists.

Raisins: Should be “dead grapes”.

Birthing contractions: Should be “birthquakes”.

Dentures: Should be “substitooths”.

Tears: Should be “sad water”.

Steve Thought O’ The Day – Even at a young age, I thought so much of the Four Tops’ music I named a puppy after one of their songs — “Bernadette”.

Steve Eighinger writes daily for Muddy River News. He tried to form a singing group called “The Four Bottoms”.