The Temptations, often referred to as “American Music Royalty,” are world-renowned superstars of entertainment, revered for their phenomenal catalog of music, and prolific career. Named the “#1 R&B/Hip Hop Artists of All Time” and one of the “125 Greatest of All Time Artists” by Billboard Magazine, as well as one of the “100 Greatest Artists of All Time” by Rolling Stone Magazine, the group is truly a beloved “National Treasure.”
The Temptations are currently the subject of the smash hit Broadway musical, “Ain’t Too Proud,” which opened on March 21, 2019. The musical won the Tony Award for Best Choreography at the 73rd Tony Awards at Radio City Music Hall in New York City on June 10, 2019 and has captivated thousands of theater-goers during sold-out performances.
The Temptations, throughout the group’s evolution, have produced 53 Billboard Hot 100 Hit singles, including four that became No. 1 Pop singles: “My Girl,” “I Can’t Get Next To You,” “Just My Imagination,” and “Papa Was a Rollin’ Stone.” Additionally, they released 43 Top 10 R&B hit singles, 14 of which were No. 1 R&B hits, including timeless classics such as: “Ain’t Too Proud to Beg,” “Beauty Is Only Skin Deep,” “I Wish It Would Rain,” and songs influenced by their funk and psychedelic soul sound including: “Happy People,” and “Shakey Ground.” The group also has 16 No. 1 R&B Albums.
The Temptations are the recipients of numerous awards and honors. They have won four GRAMMY Awards, including being honored with the Recording Academy’s Lifetime Achievement GRAMMY Award in 2013. The Temptations were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989. Blockbuster No. 1 hits “Just My Imagination,” “Papa was a Rollin’ Stone,” and “My Girl” are among the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s “500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll.”
The Four Tops, originally called the Four Aims, made their first single for Chess Records in 1956, and spent seven years on the road and in nightclubs, singing pop, blues, Broadway, but mostly jazz—four-part harmony jazz. When Motown’s Berry Gordy Jr. found out they had hustled a national Tonight Show appearance, he signed them without an audition to be the marquee act for the company’s Workshop Jazz label. That proved short-lived, and Stubbs’ powerhouse baritone lead and the exquisite harmonies of Fakir, Benson, and Payton started making one smash after another with the writing-producing trio Holland-Dozier-Holland.
Their first Motown hit, “Baby I Need Your Loving” in 1964, made them stars and their sixties track record on the label is indispensable to any retrospective of the decade. Their songs, soulful and bittersweet, were across-the-board successes. “I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch),” a No. 1 R&B and Pop smash in 1965, is one of Motown’s longest-running chart toppers; it was quickly followed by a longtime favorite, “It’s The Same Old Song”. Their commercial peak was highlighted by a romantic trilogy: No. 1 “Reach Out I’ll Be There,” “Standing In The Shadows Of Love” and “Bernadette” —an extraordinary run of instant classics. Other Tops hits from the decade included: “Ask The Lonely,” “Shake Me, Wake Me (When It’s Over),” “Something About You,” “You Keep Running Away,” “7-Rooms Of Gloom” and their covers of “Walk Away Renee” and “If I Were A Carpenter.”
In 1990, with 24 Top 40 pop hits to their credit, the Four Tops were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame. For Rolling Stone’s 2004 article “The Immortals – The Greatest Artists Of All Time,” Smokey Robinson remembered: “They were the best in my neighborhood in Detroit when I was growing up (and) the Four Tops will always be one of the biggest and the best groups ever. Their music is forever.”
The historic, nonprofit Florida Theatre is sponsored by Community First Credit Union. For a complete list of upcoming events or to buy tickets visit the Florida Theatre’s official website.
“The Temptations &
°°°°The Four Tops”
DATE: Fri., Jan. 22, 2021
TIME: 8 p.m.
TICKETS: $87.50, $67.50 and $47.50
LOCATION: The Florida Theatre
128 East Forsyth Street.
Jacksonville, FL 32202
(904) 355-2787
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