Four Tops

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, and groupmates Abdul "Duke" Fakir, Renaldo "Obie" Benson and Lawrence Payton remained together for over four decades, having gone 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 around the world during the 1960s. They were notable for having Stubbs, a baritone, as their lead singer, whereas most male/mixed vocal groups of the time were fronted by a tenor.

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 on 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. After Holland-Dozier-Holland left Motown in 1967, the Four Tops were assigned to a number of producers, primarily Frank Wilson, but generally with less success.

Four Tops (album)

Four Tops is the 1965 self-titled debut album by The Four Tops. The album was written and produced by the Motown's main writing/producing team Holland-Dozier-Holland. Four Tops includes the singles "Baby I Need Your Loving" and "Ask the Lonely".

Track listing

Personnel

Performance

Baby I

"Baby I" is a song recorded by American singer Ariana Grande for her debut studio album, Yours Truly (2013). It was written by Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds, Antonio Dixon and Patrick "J. Que" Smith and produced by the first two. The song was released by Republic Records on July 22, 2013, as the second single from the album.

Background and release

In an interview with Complex, Grande reveals that "Baby I" was originally written by Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds for Beyoncé. Grande also stated that it was actually Mac Miller who picked "Baby I" to be the second single for her album.

Grande opined that "Baby I" was more "sophisticated" and "mature" and showed off her musicality and vocals more than her previous hit single "The Way", which was part of what made her excited to release the song. She was revealing snippets of the song days before its release. The single was released to the digital retailer iTunes on July 22, 2013.

Composition

"Baby I" is an uptempo pop and R&B song that runs for a duration of three minutes and seventeen seconds. "Baby I" is set in common time at a tempo of 102 BPM in the key of C♯ major, and D Major after the bridge. It was written and produced by Babyface, Tony Dixon and j.Que. A writer from Rap-Up describes the track as a "summertime record" which features Grande's "big vocals" over a "breezy beat". Several critics noted the '90s R&B music influence demonstrated in "Baby I", which will also be musically present on the rest of her album, Yours Truly. Additionally, '70s disco energy is also present in the song, with PopCrush describing it as "Mariah Carey gone retro".

Baby and I

Baby and I (Hangul: 아기와 나; RR: Agiwa Na) is a 2008 South Korean film about a rebellious 18-year-old high school senior who ends up caring for a baby with a note, claiming he is the baby's father.

Plot