The Ultimate Collection (Four Tops album)

Last updated
The Ultimate Collection
Ultimatefourtops.jpg
Compilation album by
ReleasedOctober 7, 1997
Recorded1964–1972
Genre Pop, soul
Length72:32
Label Motown
Producer Harry Weinger
The Four Tops chronology
Christmas Here with You
(1995)
The Ultimate Collection
(1997)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svg [1]

The Ultimate Collection is a compact disc by The Four Tops, released on Motown Records, catalogue 314530825-2, in October 1997. It is a collection of singles comprising many of the group's greatest hits, with liner notes written by Stu Hackel.

Contents

Content

The disc contains all but three of the Top 40 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 enjoyed by the Four Tops and released on the Motown Records imprint. Four of the tracks included were b-sides — "I Got A Feeling," "If You Don't Want My Love," "I'll Turn to Stone," and "Sad Souvenirs" — "I Got A Feeling" being the flip to "Bernadette," and "Sad Souvenirs" the flip to "I Can't Help Myself." "A Simple Game" was recorded in collaboration with The Moody Blues, and hit #3 on the UK Singles Chart. Every iconic song by the group is present, and five of the tracks were in the top ten on the chart, with "I Can't Help Myself" and "Reach Out I'll Be There" both going to #1. The disc was part of an "Ultimate Collection" series issued that year by Motown for many of their top-selling classic artists.

Starting in the late 1960s and early 1970s, standard industry practice shifted to a focus on album sales, where a single became less a separate entity and more simply an advertisement for an LP, and a lead single would be pulled off an album as a promotional tool. Prior to this, singles were concentrated upon as a profitable commodity, especially for smaller record labels, and albums were often built around already successful singles. Since Motown fixated on the hit single until the very end of its stay in Detroit, single versions of songs often featured different mixes than versions that would be later placed on albums. Singles were usually mixed "punchier" and "hotter" to sound better on car radios receiving AM broadcast. [2] The single versions are the ones appearing here.

Personnel

Track listing

Singles chart peak positions from Billboard charts; no R&B chart existed from November 30, 1963, through January 23, 1965. Track with The Moody Blues marked with an asterisk. All tracks written by Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier, and Edward Holland, Jr., except where noted.

TrackCatalogueRelease Date Pop Chart R&B Chart Song TitleWriter(s)Time
1.Motown 10988/18/66#1#1"Reach Out I'll Be There"2:59
2.Motown 110211/28/66#6#2"Standing in the Shadows of Love"2:36
3.Motown 11042/16/67#4#3"Bernadette"3:00
4.Motown 10731/5/65#24#9"Ask the Lonely" William "Mickey" Stevenson and Ivy Jo Hunter 2:45
5.Motown 10627/10/64#11"Baby I Need Your Loving"2:44
6.Motown 106911/64#43"Without the One You Love (Life's Not Worth While)"2:53
7.Motown 10817/9/65#5#2"It's the Same Old Song"2:45
8.Motown 10965/9/66#45#12"Loving You Is Sweeter Than Ever" Stevie Wonder, Hunter2:45
9.Motown 10764/23/65#1#1"I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch)"2:43
10.Motown 108410/21/65#19#9"Something About You"2:48
11.Motown 1104b2/16/67"I Got a Feeling"2:59
12.Motown 113210/68#51#23"I'm in a Different World"3:05
13.Motown 11191/18/68#14#15"Walk Away Renée" Michael Brown, Bob Calilli, Tony Sansome 2:43
14.Motown 11474/10/69#53"What Is a Man" Johnny Bristol and Doris McNeil 2:33
15.Motown 11961/4/72#90#34"A Simple Game" * Mike Pinder 2:56
16.Motown 11708/70#11#4"Still Water (Love)" Frank Wilson and Smokey Robinson 3:11
17.Motown 12108/72#53#8"(It's the Way) Nature Planned It" Pam Sawyer, Wilson3:18
18.Motown 11644/70#24#6"It's All in the Game" Charles G. Dawes and Carl Sigman 2:50
19.Motown 11139/67#19#7"You Keep Running Away"2:48
20.Motown 1113b9/67"If You Don't Want My Love"3:27
21.Motown 11105/4/67#14#10"7-Rooms of Gloom"2:53
22.Motown 1110b5/4/67"I'll Turn to Stone"Holland–Dozier–Holland, R. Dean Taylor 2:33
23.Motown 10902/2/66#18#5"Shake Me, Wake Me (When It's Over)"2:41
24.Motown 1076b4/23/65"Sad Souvenirs"Stevenson and Hunter2:39
25.Motown 11276/27/68#49#31"Yesterday's Dreams"Sawyer, Vernon Bullock, Jack Goga, Hunter2:56

Certifications

RegionCertification Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI) [3] Gold100,000

Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

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References

  1. Allmusic review
  2. George, Nelson. Where Did Our Love Go? The Rise and Fall of the Motown Sound. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1985. ISBN   0-312-86698-4, pp. 113–114.
  3. "British album certifications – Four Tops – The Ultimate Collection". British Phonographic Industry . Retrieved April 1, 2022.