The Four Tops – Something About You
The Four Tops
Listen/Download – The Four Tops – Something About You
Greetings all.
If the world blew up on Tuesday, it wouldn’t be reflected in this piece, since it’s being written (and assembled) on Monday morning on account of the fact that I’m DJ-ing on Monday night and I have a calendar full of responsibilities on Tuesday to attend to (starting at 7:00AM), so I won’t be in the mood, or any kind of condition to do this on Tuesday proper.
Did that make any sense?
Maybe not, since if the world blew up on Tuesday, no one – aside from the great spirit of the interwebs – would be reading in, so if all (or most) of us are here, just disregard that opening paragraph and continue moving forward (in this piece, as well as life in general…good rule of thumb, that.).
The tune I bring you today is one of my all-time favorite bits of Motown-iana by one of that storied label’s greatest groups the Four Tops.
I would be lying if I didn’t admit that I have been remiss in covering the greatness of the Four Tops here at Funky16Corners.
I last posted one of their records (‘Shake Me Wake Me’) back in 2008 to commemorate the passing of the mighty Levi Stubbs, and even then I was re-posting the song from its initial appearance in 2006 (time does fly, doesn’t it??).
That said, at the time Mr Stubbs slipped this mortal coil, I made it a point to say that I considered him the greatest male singer in the Motown stable (including Marvin Gaye and Eddie Kendricks), and surmised that if he had been given the chance, he could have had a serious solo career.
Whether that chapter in history remained unwritten because of his loyalty to the group, or via the label politics that seemed so prevalent at Motown, I do not know.
There is however no denying the greatness of the Four Tops.
Though I don’t know how their chart success lines up against other Motown groups, or other musical outfits in general, I do know that a cursory glance at their undeniably amazing string of hits in 1965 and 1966 verily boggles the mind.
(Discography listing borrowed from Soulful Kinda Music)
Motown 1073 – Ask The Lonely / Where Did You Go – 1965
Motown 1076 – I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch) / Sad Souvenirs – 1965
Motown 1081 – It’s The Same Old Song / Your Love Is Amazing – 1965
Motown 1084 – Something About You / Darling, I Hum Our Song – 1965
Motown 1090 – Shake Me, Wake Me (When It’s Over) / Just As Long As You Need Me – 1966
Motown 1096 – Loving You Is Sweeter Than Ever / I Like Everything About You – 1966
Motown 1098 – Reach Out I’ll Be There / Until You Love Someone – 1966
Motown 1102 – Standing In The Shadows Of Love / Since You’ve Been Gone – 1966
Right there in the middle of the pack, is today’s selection ‘Something About You’.
Strange as this may seem, I first knew this song by a vaguely new wavey cover by Dave Edmunds from 1984. Though his version didn’t chart here in the US, the video was a staple of the early years of MTV.
It was only a few years later, after picking up an old Greatest Hits LP that I realized that the song was a Four Tops original.
The song is yet another testament to the greatness of the pens of Holland, Dozier and Holland, and the record is a work of storming, dance floor genius.
Though ‘Something About You’ was a Top 40 hit in 1965, it was never (at least not in the New York area) a staple of Oldies radio, a format which pretty much killed Motown for me for a long time. The endless repetition of a select few Motown hits all but ruined them for me, and stopped me from digging deeper into the label’s catalog until I was much further into the game.
That situation has since been remedied, but even now I still have to force myself to get Motown stuff digimatized for inclusion on the blog, so strong is the temptation to take it for granted.
The production on ‘Something About You’ is dense and explosive, with layers of guitars, vibes, drums (listen close for what’s either a kick drum or tom tom going fast and furious behind the chorus) and saxes, all piled on a propulsive tempo, which despite all of this power, never obscures the Tops voices.
Though ‘Shake Me Wake Me’ will always be my fave Tops tune, ‘Something About You’ runs a very close second.
I hope you dig it, and I’ll be back on Friday (hopefully recovered and blogging in something close to real time).
Peace
Larry
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Themocracy
Ask The Lonely is (in my humble opionion) the greatest record ever released on Motown.
wow, I was just going to post almost exactly the same as Bill above, except to say greatest Tops record. Motown entirely? Dunno.
Longtime reader of your blog..at least some of the posts anyway…first time commenter.
Of the songs which was a hit for the Four Tops but is still lesser known than the main ones such as “Sugarpie Honeybunch,” this is a favorite along with “Shake Me Wake Me” and I think “You Keep Running Away” would be included in that personal grouping as well. Cool blog. 🙂 And I look forward to finding more music.