Top 10 Four Tops Songs

Photo: Ron Kroon / Anefo, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

Our Top 10 Four Tops songs look back at one of the most successful and dearly loved musical groups in classic rock history. With a catalog of twenty-four studio albums, fifty-nine singles, multiple number-one hits, and dozens of top 40 singles, The Four Tops helped shape the soundtrack to so many lives growing up in the second half of the twentieth century. The linkage between Doo-Wop, Motown, Soul, Pop, and Rock and Roll is clear to those who hear it, those who helped fuel it, and those who hear it. The Four Tops stood at the crossroads of it all.

The origins of The Four Tops date back to their high school days in the mid-1950s. The four members of the group originally called their quartet the Four Aims before eventually changing the name to the Four Tops when they signed with Chess Records in 1956. Rock and roll history is filled with many classic groups that underwent multiple lineup changes throughout their careers. The Four Tops were a unique exception to that. All four original members stayed together as a group during their forty-year run from 1956 to 1997. The Four Tops were Levi Stubbs, Abdul “Duke” Fakir, Renaldo “Obie” Benson, and Lawrence Payton.

In 1964, The Four Tops released their first single for Motown Records entitled “Baby I Need Your Lovin.” The songs were written by the Motown hit-making songwriter team of Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier, and Edward Holland Jr. The song became a huge hit and helped launch the career of one of the most successful Motown groups of all time. When one thinks of the classic Motown years, groups like The Temptations, The Supremes, Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, The Jackson 5, Stevie Wonder, and The Four Tops are the first to come to mind.

Our Top 10 Four Tops songs list presents the group’s biggest hits. It’s as simple as that. Of course, many will be left off the list because we are only picking ten, but we think this Four Tops songs list offers all the classics from the 60s and 70s that must be presented, while also covering some later hits from the 80s.

# 10 – Indestructible

We open our Four Tops songs with a track that is probably the least recognizable on this list. Nonetheless, “Indestructible” is a great song. The song was released as a single in 1988. It’s the last Four Tops song to chart on the Billboard Hot 100. It’s also a product of its time, as the sounds of 1980s production techniques, heavily drenched in keyboards, surround the song’s arrangement. However, as always, it’s the vocals that dominate the song, and almost forty years after they had first formed, the four original members’ vocals still sounded just as good as they did on all those classic Motown hits.

One of the most interesting and glorious aspects of the Four Tops’ long career is that all four original members stayed together. You have to be friends to do that. You have to get along. The “Indestructible” video is a great showcase of that friendship. Their bond is very clear at the start of the video. Its looks very genuine…. just like their music.

# 9 – Are You Man Enough?

Continuing with our top 10 Four Tops songs, we turn to a song that was included on the soundtrack to the motion picture Shaft in Africa. The song was also released on the Four Tops album Main Street People. An album that stands as one of the most underrated records of their career. The song “Are You Man Enough” was released on ABC Records. It’s a powerful recording that drifted away from their usual sweeter-sounding, soulful melodies, in a manner similar to the Temptations’ early 1970s period.

# 8 – When She Was My Girl

The Four Tops’ song “When She Was My Girl” was released on the album Tonight! in 1981. The song was released as the album’s first single. It became a big hit for the group, peaking at number eleven on the Billboard Hot 100. “When She Was My Girl” would become the band’s last top 20 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 of their career. The song also hit number one on the Billboard R&B Charts. Not many groups could claim to reach the Billboard top 20 in three consecutive decades. The Four Tops could.

# 7 – Ain’t No Woman (Like the One I’ve Got)

The classic Four Tops single “Ain’t No Woman (Like the One I’ve Got)” was released in 1973 on ABC Records. The song would become the group’s most successful non-Motown Records single. “Ain’t No Woman (Like the One I’ve Got)” hit number four on the Billboard Hot 100. It would be the last single the band ever released to break the Billboard Top 10. Interestingly, it was also the first Four Tops song to reach the top 10 since “Bernadette” in 1967. The song had originally been recorded by Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds.

# 6 – Bernadette

And speaking of the single “Bernadette.” This great song remains one of those Four Tops songs that many people may have forgotten, but as soon as they hear it, they say, “Oh yeah,” It’s just one of those great forgotten songs that stand as one of the reasons we compose these lists in order to revitalize those memories for some and introduce great music to others.

# 5 – Standing In The Shadows Of Love

As we enter the second half of this top 10 Four Tops songs, we present the band’s biggest hits of their career, all from their classic Motown years. Up first is the great Four Tops song “Standing In The Shadows of Love.” The song was released in 1966. “Standing in the Shadows of Love” hit number six on the Billboard Hot 100. It hit number two on the Billboard R&B Charts. The song was written by the legendary songwriting team of Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier, and Edward Holland Jr.

# 4 – It’s the Same Old Song

The Four Tops’ song “It’s The Same Old Song” stands as one of the band’s earliest hits. The song was released on the group’s second album, simply titled The Four Tops Second Album. The album was released in 1965. “It’s The Same Old Song” was released as the album’s second single. The song became the band’s second top 10 hit, peaking at number five on the Billboard Hot 100. The song was written by Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier, and Edward Holland Jr. Some music fans and critics have argued that the Rolling Stones stole parts of the Four Tops song for their hit “Under My Thumb,” which was released a year later.

# 3 – Baby I Need Your Loving

The Four Tops’ single “Baby I Need Your Loving” was the song that started it all for the band on their way to commercial success and legendary status. “Baby I Need Your Loving” was the group’s first major-label single release on Motown Records. The song just missed the Billboard Top 10, peaking at number 11 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1965. It would become the group’s first Gold Record.

# 2 – I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)

The classic Four Tops single “I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)” was released on the group’s second album. It became the Four Tops’ first number-one single, topping both the Billboard Top 100 and the Billboard R&B Charts. This is one of the most addictive melodies and lyrics of the Motown era and a defining moment in 196s music. The lyric “Sugar pie, honey bunch” became ingrained in pop culture. If “Baby I Need You Loving” shone the light on the Four Tops, the single “I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)” became the light that shines all over Motown Records and the music that would follow.

# 1 – Reach Out I’ll Be There

We close out our Top 10 Four Tops songs list with a track that we believe was the greatest Four Tops song of all time. The song “Reach Out I’ll Be There” was released on the group’s fourth album entitled Reach Out. The album was released in 1967. The song “Reach Out I’ll Be There” hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100 as well as number one on the Billboard R&B Charts. The song was written by the grand Motown songwriting team of Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier, and Edward Holland Jr.