In 1954, at a high school party in Detroit, Stubbs, Fakir, Benson and Payton were urged by partygoers to provide some impromptu entertainment. The synergy was obvious, immediate and strong. The quartet decided to start performing, and called themselves The Four Aims (Aiming for the Top). The group’s popularity grew as they performed at small clubs all over Detroit, honing their act while singing jazz and standards. So as not to be confused with the Ames Brothers, The Four Aims changed the name of their group to the Four Tops and recorded their first single, “Kiss Me Baby,” with Chess Records in 1956.
Gaining popularity for their pure harmonies and polished performances, the Four Tops booked bigger and better venues, with headliners like Billy Eckstein. “Mr. B,” as they called him, served as a mentor to the Four Tops during their early years. Between 1958 and 1962, the group recorded songs for the Red Top, Columbia and Riverside labels. The star-making Motown label was just a heartbeat away.
Barry Gordy’s Motown label signed the Four Tops in 1964 to its “Workshop” (jazz) division. But the group’s act proved pop-worthy, and Gordy put them together with the songwriting and production team of Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier and Eddie Holland (Holland Dozier and Holland, or HDH), which proved to be a chart-topping combination. Between 1964 and 1967, HDH and the Four Tops produced most of the group’s early hits: “Baby I Need Your Loving,” “I Can’t Help Myself,” “It’s the Same Old Song,” “Bernadette” and many others. By the time the Four Tops joined Motown Records, the four singers had been performing together for 10 years.
Already seasoned performers, there were no bumps on the road to superstardom. The group remained hit-makers for Motown until the label moved to Los Angeles in 1972. The Four Tops signed to the ABC/Dunhill Records label after their exodus from Motown. At ABC/Dunhill, they ran up the charts with “Are You Man Enough” (Soundtrack, “Shaft in Africa”). The Four Tops continued to create chart-busters with “Keeper of the Castle,” their 18th album. Despite their separation from HDH, they continued to create great albums while at ABC/Dunhill with Brian Potter and Dennis Lambert.
