Soccer Dad

Levi stubbs

I have a CD with the greatest hits of the Four Tops and another with the greatest hits of the Temptations. Every once in a while, I try to think who was better?

Usually my conclusion is that while the Temptations best songs were better than the best of the Four Tops, overall the Four Tops were better. (If you wish, feel free to debate in the comments.)

Nothing will convince me that "My Girl" by the Temptations isn't the greatest pop song ever. However most of the songs of the Four Tops, I could listen to again and again. That applies to fewer of the Temptations songs. And while the Temptations had better harmonies, Levi Stubbs's distinctive voice made the Four Tops songs soulful.

Stubbs also had a speaking (actually singing) part in a movie about twenty years ago.

Stubbs died two weeks ago but was buried on Monday in Detroit.

For a few hours on Monday afternoon, some of the Motown family was reunited in grief, remembrance and song at the funeral of Levi Stubbs, lead singer of the Four Tops. Mr. Stubbs, 72, died Oct. 17 at his home here, eight years after he stopped performing with the group, which had more than 40 top hits on the Billboard charts over the years, including "Standing in the Shadows of Love" and "Baby, I Need Your Loving."

His funeral attracted a full house at Greater Grace Temple, the same church where memorial services were held in 2005 for the civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks. While Mrs. Parks was eulogized by political figures like Senator Barack Obama and former President Bill Clinton, Mr. Stubbs's funeral drew notables mainly from the music world.

This is a great story:

The Tops -- who included Lawrence Payton and Renaldo Benson as well as Mr. Stubbs and Mr. Fakir -- could not afford to pay for the four matching white flannel suits they had ordered from Hot Sam's, a Detroit haberdasher.

"We didn't have quite the money to pay for those four suits," said Mr. Fakir, known as Duke, who was nattily dressed for the funeral in a gray suit, white shirt and white tie. "But for some reason, he trusted us to bring back the balance, and we did."