The Four Tops - The Singles Plus - 2CD (2000)

The Four Tops' story is one of togetherness and success. These
Motown legends teamed up in high school, spent over four decades
together without a personnel change, and in between became a
top-tier act on a label with no shortage of talent, ranking with The
Temptations and the Supremes as its most consistent hitmakers.

Where many other R&B vocal groups spotlighted a tenor, The Four Tops
were fronted by deep-voiced Levi Stubbs - who had all the grit of a
gospel-trained soul belter - yet the Tops' creamy harmonies, filled
out by Duke Fakir, Obie Benson, and Lawrence Payton, were smooth
enough for Motown's pop-soul productions.

From 1964-1967, the group recorded some of the greatest and most
popular Holland-Dozier-Holland compositions, including "Reach Out,
I'll Be There", "I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch)",
"Standing In The Shadows of Love", "Bernadette", and "Baby I Need
Your Loving". When Motown moved to Los Angeles in the early '70s,
the Tops remained in Detroit and enjoyed a renaissance with the
ABC-Dunhill imprint, highlighted in 1973 by "Ain't No Woman (Like
the One I've Got)," among several additional Top Ten R&B hits.

Through the 80's, they continued to perform and tour, scored the
occasional comeback hit, and were briefly reunited with Motown. Rock
and Roll Hall of Fame inductees in 1990, the group released their
last studio recording in 1995, remained intact until Payton's death
two years later, and continued through the deaths of Benson and
Stubbs the following decade. Fakir continues to lead The Four Tops
as a beloved live act.