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The Four Tops are an American vocal quartet from Detroit, Michigan who helped to define the city’s Motown sound of the 1960s. The group’s repertoire has included soul music, R&B, disco, adult contemporary, doo-wop, jazz, and show tunes. Founded as the Four Aims, lead singer Levi Stubbs, Abdul “Duke“ Fakir, Renaldo “Obie“ Benson and Lawrence Payton remained together for over four decades, performing from 1953 until 1997 without a change in personnel. The Four Tops were among a number of groups, including the Miracles, the Marvelettes, Martha and the Vandellas, the Temptations, and the Supremes, who established the Motown Sound heard around the world during the 1960s. They were notable for having Stubbs, a baritone, as their lead singer, whereas most other male and mixed vocal groups of the time were fronted by tenors. The group was the main male vocal group for the highly successful songwriting and production team of Holland–Dozier–Holland, who crafted a stream of hit singles for Motown. These included two Billboard Hot 100 number-one hits for the Tops: “I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)“ in 1965 and “Reach Out I’ll Be There“ in 1966. The group continued to have chart singles into the 1970s, including the million-seller “Ain’t No Woman“ (1973). The group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990 and into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 1999. In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked them #79 on its list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. “A Simple Game“ is a 1968 song by the English rock band the Moody Blues. Written and sung by Mike Pinder, it was released as a non-album B-side to “Ride My See-Saw“, a track from the album In Search of the Lost Chord. The song was produced by Tony Clarke and arranged by Arthur Greenslade. The track was covered by The Four Tops, and their version was issued as a single in the United States in January 1972, reaching #90 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song had already been issued as a single in Britain in September 1971, having reached #3 in the UK and #14 in Ireland. In the Netherlands the single reached no. 15 in the Top 40 on 21 November 1971. This is an exclusive performance from Dutch tv in the AVRO program ’De Mounties Show’ broadcast on 13 November 1971. Lyrics: As time goes by You will see That we’re going to be free You and me, we’ll touch the sky Can’t you see in your mind’s eye That we are one, we’re all the same And life is just a simple game Watch our great music videos ❯ More TopPop? Subscribe here ❯ More info on Wikipedia ❯ Broadcast date: 1971-11-13 This is to let you know that the video recording of the video clip was originally recorded by AVROTROS Broadcasting. AVROTROS Broadcasting hereby warrants and represents that it is the sole and exclusive owner of the physical film and/or videotape footage in this video clip. The performance of the artist(s) in the clip was filmed and recorded with the written consent of the artist(s) and their representatives. AVROTROS is a Dutch radio and television broadcaster, founded in 2014 from a merger of AVRO and TROS. From January 1st, 2014 the name of the merged broadcaster was used in joint programmes. AVRO was founded in 1923 as the Netherlands first public broadcaster. TROS started broadcasting in 1964. Toppop was a weekly AVRO pop program that was aired between 1970 and 1988. AVROTROS Broadcasting PO Box 2 1200 JA Hilversum The Netherlands TopPop was the first regular dedicated pop music TV show in the Dutch language area. Dutch broadcaster AVRO aired the programme weekly, from 1970 to 1988. Presenter Ad Visser hosted the show for its first fifteen years. World famous music artists performed on TopPop: ABBA, 10CC, Bee Gees, The Jacksons with Michael Jackson, David Bowie, Earth & Fire, Queen, Golden Earring, Boney M, KC & The Sunshine Band, Chic, Donna Summer and many many more.
