‘Reach Out I’ll Be There’: The Four Tops Reach The World

Udiscovermusic ^ | August 18, 2025 | Paul Sexton

[nickcarraway]

Reach Out I'll Be There

[Fiji Hill]

My favorite song by the Four Tops:

Could It Be You? (1956)

[ComputerGuy]

I remember that day only too well.
That was was the day my boots hit the ground.

[PGalt]

Fabulous tune. GREAT time in Motown. The Four Tops were part of those best days.

[nickcarraway]

That was before Berry Gordy was writing songs for Jackie Wilson, let alone started Motown. Nice doo wop song, but they really thrived with Holland-Dozier-Holland songs.

[RitchieAprile]

I was blessed to be around when Baby I Need Your Lovin charted.. Best Motown song ever...

[AppyPappy]

One of the Four Tops was actually Sri Lankan.

[Fiji Hill]

Written by Brian and Eddie Holland and Lamont Dozier

Besides cp-writing a boatload of hits, Eddie Holland and Lamont Dozier also waxed some discs of their own.

Let's Talk it Over--Lamont Anthony [Dozier] (1960)

Jamie--Eddie Holland (1962)

[AppyPappy]

Bangladeshi but anyway

[nickcarraway]

Abdul Fakir was born in Detroit, but his father was from Bangladesh, his mother was black.

[Fiji Hill]

My favorite Motown song is a Holland-Dozier-Holland opus, but it only "bubbled under" the Billboard Hot 100 for a week before dropping off. It should have made the Top 10, if not #1.

Love's Gone Bad--Chris Clark (1966)

[nickcarraway]

I had only heard the version of that by The Underdogs, a garage rock band.

Great track. It sounds to me like that's Jimmy Jamerson on bass, and probably Benny Benjamin on drums.

I would take Chris Clark any day over Dusty Springfield. Go ahead, flame me.

Would Holland-Dozier-Holland even be the same without Jimmy Jamerson?

[Getready]

I always thought that “Just ask the Lonely” was great also. “Seven Rooms of Gloom” was very good also
IMHO

[nickcarraway]

Shake Me, Wake Me and Bernadette.

[nickcarraway]

The Underdogs-Love's Gone Bad 1967

The zythum section is Motown inspired. Apparently their last album was on Motown, but not sure if this song was part of it.

[RummyChick]

The lead singer of the Four Tops said a Detroit-area hospital restrained him and ordered a psychological exam after refusing to believe that he was part of the Motown music group.

Alexander Morris, who is Black, filed a lawsuit Monday against Ascension Macomb-Oakland hospital in Warren, alleging racial discrimination and other misconduct during an April 2023 visit for chest pain and breathing problems.

https://www.theguardian.com/music/article/2024/jun/11/four-tops-alexander-morris-hospital

[PGalt]

Yes, another fabulous song. It was a great time to be a teenager. Got my drivers license in ‘66...was in Detroit a lot...Pistons...Tigers...Red Wings. I had a girlfriend in Detroit. The music of that time was the best...Motown, Beach Boys, Beatles Stones, British invasion. I went to Wayne State University in Detroit. Very fond memories during that time.

[cyclotic]

I didn’t know him well but Levi Stubb Jr. was a high school classmate.

[Fiji Hill]

This Motown opus was quickly pulled off the market following threats of legal action by a group recording for Capital Records. This is a cool disc, so why were they so angry?

Give Me a Kiss--The Hornets (1964)

[nickcarraway]

Okay, I never heard of that. So, for anyone else. Give Me a Kiss is a parody/answer song of the Beatles, I Want to Hold Your Hand, with very similar music. Certainly the worst Motown song I've ever heard. Worse than the original.