Formed in 1954 (when they were initially known as The Four Aims), The Four Tops toiled in the shadows for the first decade of their career, singing supper club standards and providing backing vocals for Billy Eckstine. Even recording sessions for Chess, Riverside and Columbia failed to yield any hits. It wasn’t until 1963, when Motown supremo Berry Gordy saw their performance on the Tonight TV show that the Four Tops’ fortunes changed for good. The next day, Gordy had no hesitation in signing the group to Motown.
Two years later, the quartet was sitting on top of both the US R&B and pop charts with the Holland-Dozier-Holland-penned I Can’t Help Myself. An avalanche of memorable hits followed for the label, of course, and most of them can be heard on Reach Out, a superlative 80-minute DVD documentary which tells the group’s story via archival footage and new interviews (including one with sole-surviving original member Duke Fakir). Unlike most music documentaries, this one doesn’t intersperse snippets of songs but actually includes complete performances – in this case, the Tops can be seen performing a staggering 22 songs. It all adds up to a magical Motown feast for the eyes and ears.
