We'll call a halt if we're not Tops!

Nov 9 2007 By Tony Collins, Birmingham Mail

November 15: NIA Academy Tickets, £32.50 & £29.50 plus booking fee, from are available from 0871 945 6000.

THERE is no "sleeping on the job" as far as the Four Tops are concerned! The Motown legends have continued to tour throughout the world 40 years after first bursting onto the music scene in Detroit, USA. But despite only a quarter of the original line-up still performing, the Four Tops refuse to let their super-slick standards slip, especially with a new army of fans in tow.

The band’s founder, Abdul ‘Duke’ Fakir, has never abandoned his Detroit roots. Speaking to me from his home in ‘Motor City USA’, which gave Motown its name, he looked ahead to next Thursday’s Birmingham appearance when they will again be paired with fellow 60s legends The Temptations at the NIA Academy.

"We are a working group and tour year round, pretty much all the time. There’s only one original Temptation and only one original  Top, which is me, but you tend to think it’s more about the music than the line-up. As long as the songs are pretty much what you do on the records, and you are doing a good show and not just collecting a pay day, then people will enjoy it.

"If I ever thought the level of performance was well down on what it was originally, then I would call it a day. I wouldn’t do it if it wasn’t good."

The Temptations, who include founder Otis Williams in their  line-up, have been performing with the The Four Tops since they teamed up for a Motown 25th anniversary concert in 1983.

"It was a nice feeling, and people kept calling for us to do more with them. Now, they won’t let us stop, which is fine.

"People like to see two of the mega groups of Motown. It’s like getting two for one, a bargain for the fans.

"But there’s no sleeping on the job because of the rivalry, which is a bit like family siblings."

The two groups are given equal  status, with the Temptations headlining one night and the Four Tops closing the next. Sadly, the Tops, whose hits include Reach Out (I’ll Be There) and Standing in the Shadows of Love, have lost two of their original line-up who have sadly died. But they will be joined by Roquel Payton, son of original Lawrence Payton, who died ten years ago.

"Their deaths were just devastating, but we are performing as a legacy to them. It’s one of the reasons why we are carrying on."