A Baby Boomer's Tribute to The Four Tops

This blog post is dedicated to Levi Stubbs--former lead singer of The Four Tops. Levi passed away this morning at the age of 72. Published reports say he died peacefully in his sleep.

Stubbs was born in Detroit on June 6 1936 into a family with a strong musical tradition. The soul singer Jackie Wilson was a cousin, and his brother Joe Stubbs sang with the Detroit R&B group the Falcons.

Between 1964 and 1968 the Tops enjoyed 12 Top 20 American hits, including I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honeybunch), It's The Same Old Song and Bernadette. This is one of my favorites by the group. Tell me yours in this special tribute:

***A special note*** this video was shot in 1966---

My Baby Boomer Love

You can't have a Baby Boomer Girlfriends Week without showcasing something by The Supremes.

Diana Ross, Mary Wells and Flo Ballard were the envy of every little girl in my neighborhood. We wanted to be like them and we all thought we could sing! I recently wrote a blog about my "Supremes" experience.

Of all of the hit songs they recorded, this was one of my top two favorites. What was your favorite Supremes song?

Don't Mess with Baby Boomer Bill

The first song the Marvelettes ever sang went to number one on the Top 100 Billboard chart in 1961. That was Please Mr. Postman. They went on to have a string of hits until the late 60s. This song ended up at number 7 on the charts.

Looking back, it's amazing to see that these women didn't have to shake their butts to get attention. I guess they just had glamour and natural singing talent so they didn't need other distractions.

I wonder if this is one of Hillary's favorite songs?

It's Baby Boomer Girlfriends Week

It's Baby Boomer girlfriends week here on my baby boomer jams blog. I'm starting out with one of the most successful Motown groups of the 60s. During their nine-year run on the charts from 1963 to 1972, Martha and the Vandellas had over twenty-six hits. Ten of those songs reached the top ten of the Billboard R&B singles chart. Twelve of the Vandellas' songs hit the Top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100.

In 2004, Rolling Stone Magazine ranked Martha and the Vandellas #96 on their list of The Immortals: 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.

I might also add our very own Jaisun McMillian, of Boomer Diva Nation, used to perform with the group---although she wasn't on this recording.

I'm Your Vehicle Baby Boomer Baby

When I first heard this song I thought it was sung by Blood, Sweat & Tears. Many called the Ides of March a "knock-off group" for BS&T and that's why their one-hit wonder ended up being a huge success.

Apparenty the song is based on a true story where the lead singer of the group (Jim Peterik) fell for a girl and after 6 months of dating, the girl dumped him. A few months later he got a call from her asking him for a lift. He didn’t even hesitate in offering the lift and this continued for a long time. Even though he knew she was using him, he didn’t mind being her Vehicle.

Baby Boomers Enjoy Montego Bay

This was the only song that became a top 10 hit for Bobby Bloom. When I saw Bloom, I always wondered if it was really his voice. Remember Milli Vanilli?

Anyway, Bloom was killed in an accidental shooting a year after this song became popular (1971).

Baby Boomer One Hit Wonders

OK, this is the week we're going to jam to those songs that made us baby boomers move and groove in the 1960s and 70s. BUT, for the group, it was their one and only big hit.

This is the first song I remember that had sound effects. It was pretty cool.

So now you tell me how many one-hit wonders you remember.