The Temptations & The Four Tops

See two of the most iconic Motown groups of all time—The Temptations with founding member Otis Williams, and The Four Tops—as they perform their top hits including “My Girl,” “Just My Imagination,” “Papa Was a Rolling Stone,” “I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch),” “Ain't Too Proud to Beg,” “Baby, I Need Your Loving,” and many more.

The Temptations, often referred to as American music royalty, are world-renowned superstars of entertainment, revered for their phenomenal catalog of music and prolific career. They are one of the most iconic, bestselling brands in the entertainment world today. While the group has evolved over the years, founding member Dr. Otis Williams has continued to lead the group and carry the torch forward for the next generation of Temptations’ fans. Their concerts include fan favorites such as “My Girl,” “Just My Imagination (Running Away with Me),” “Ain’t Too Proud to Beg,” and “Papa Was a Rollin’ Stone." They were also ranked #1 in Billboard magazine’s most recent list of the Greatest R&B/Hip-Hop Artists of All Time. The Temptations are the recipients of numerous awards and honors, and have been the subject of a smash hit Broadway musical, Ain’t Too Proud: The Life and Times of The Temptations. The Temptations’ heritage, influence, and contributions to not only American culture and African American communities but also to the global music landscape are monumental.

The Four Tops, originally called the Four Aims, made their first single for Chess in 1956, and spent seven years on the road and in nightclubs, singing pop, blues, Broadway, but mostly jazz—four-part harmony jazz. When Motown’s Berry Gordy Jr. found out they had hustled a national Tonight Show appearance, he signed them without an audition to be the marquee act for the company’s Workshop Jazz label. Their first Motown hit, “Baby I Need Your Loving” in 1964, made them stars and their '60s track record on the label is indispensable to any retrospective of the decade. Their songs, soulful and bittersweet, were across-the-board successes. When Motown left Detroit in 1972 to move to Los Angeles, the steadfast Tops decided to stay at home, and with another label. They kept up a string of hits with ABC-Dunhill for the next few years, until the groups move to Casablanca Records in 1980. Smokey Robinson remembers: “They were the best in my neighborhood in Detroit when I was growing up (and) the Four Tops will always be one of the biggest and the best groups ever. Their music is forever."

Co-presented with The Bowery Presents