Damn, I hadn’t realized that my last post was 2 months ago. Oops. Well, my life has been pretty busy, and I have spent lots of time playing golf (April and May were very rainy here, which restricted my ability to get on the course and driving range, so I had more time to post), but there are no excuses. One problem I have (sorry if I said this previously) is that I usually think a lot before I post and usually write it out on paper before I enter it here. I also sometimes choose topics that are complex, and I do research and think about as many angles as possible before I post. This can lead to long and word-heavy entries. So I’m going to try to make some of my posts shorter and more off the cuff and mix those in with the weighty ones.
I heard some very sad news last Monday. Abdul “Duke” Fakir, the last living member of the Four Tops, died. He was 88. Here is a recent picture of Duke, courtesy of the LA Times.
Most of those who know me also know that The Four Tops are (maybe were at this point) one of my favorite musical acts, and they are my favorite Motown act (The Temptations are a close second, and there are many others that I like a lot). Most casual music fans probably know “Reach Out (I’ll be There)” and “I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch),” which were the Tops’ 2 biggest hits. But they had about 20 additional hits, and what made them great, IMO, was the consistency they had over the years. I mean they almost never had a bad record (a couple of exceptions were “Mc Arthur Park,” which maybe wasn’t that bad, but I think it’s a bad song and was a mistake to record it, and “Catfish,” which was an attempt at disco and just isn’t up to their high standards). Hell, even when they left Motown in 1972, they immediately had 3 big hits (“Keeper of the Castle,” Ain’t No Woman Like the One I’ve Got,” which became a classic, and “Are You Man Enough”). They had one last hit in late 1979 (When She Was My Girl, which went to #1 on the R&B chart and #11 on the pop chart). Of course, having Levi Stubbs as your lead singer helped quite a bit, but the background singers (Duke, Renaldo “Obie” Benson, and Lawrence Payton) were also consistently excellent, and it didn’t hurt having the Funk Brothers behind them for most of their hits. They were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1990.
In late 2022, I attended a concert featuring the Four Tops and The Temptations (who still had original member Otis Williams performing). It was nostalgic, but it was also a helluva show. The band was terrific, and both groups sounded pretty close to the originals. At age 86, Duke had to sit down a few times during the show, but his voice was still strong. He even did a solo; a modified version of “My Way” which was very touching. I didn’t sit down during the show except for the intermission.
I don’t know if The Four Tops will continue to perform now that Duke is gone. Roquel Payton, son of Lawrence Payton, was part of the group, so there is a link to the past, but I don’t think it would be the same anymore. Anyway, thanks to Duke Fakir for providing me with one great memory, and thanks to The Four Tops for enriching my like and I suspect many others as well. RIP Four Tops.
#Four Tops
#Abdul “Duke” Fakir
#Motown
#The Temptations
Disentangling the mess 