In the 1980s, Motown contemporaries The Four Tops and The Temptations began touring together. Now, 40 years later, they’re bringing their co-headlining tour to Huber Heights.
The performance is Thursday, Aug. 7 at the Rose Music Center.
Growing up, Payton Jr. was wherever the music was: at parties, at the first Motown recording studio “Hitsville U.S.A.” at 2648 West Grand Blvd., buying 50-cent hamburgers at Cunningham’s Drug — all by his father’s side. He described his younger, curious self like Linus from “Peanuts.”
“I wouldn’t let him go nowhere without me, especially if this music was being played,” Payton Jr. said. “I was always there.”
Lawrence Payton died in 1997. In 2005, his son, a confident vocalist in his own right, was handpicked by then-surviving members Levi Stubbs, Abdul “Duke” Fakir, and Renaldo “Obie” Benson to join the group.
With the 2024 passing of Abdul “Duke” Fakir — the last surviving original member — Payton Jr. now carries the legacy forward as part of the next generation of The Four Tops.
“You could never live up to those shoes,” Payton Jr. said. “They sang all of those great records in the time that we needed to hear those kinds of messages. They set a trend. It’s easy to follow a trend, hard for the trendsetters. But it’s a wonderful thing to be able to carry the legacy.”
With The Four Tops, The Temptations, and many of the other Motown groups focusing on vocals over instruments, I asked what it was about the quartet formation that perfected the format.
“If you have one guy singing lead, you’ll still have three to hold down the harmony,” Payton Jr. said. “That’s the beauty of a quartet. Knowing you’re going to have that one-three-five in the back, and that lead gives you that fourth note. It’s just like magic.”
Rooted in the 1960s, the Motown Sound still retains a modern, nearly timeless quality. But before that sound, nothing existed quite like it. It took pop music into an entirely different direction.
“During that particular time,” Payton Jr. said, “we were going through things, like the Civil Rights Movement, where the races were interacting more than they ever had. We integrated, and this music brought us together in a way that we couldn’t deny each other. That’s why it’s really so special.”
The messaging of the songs was about love, about discovery. A generation of musicians created something new, inspired by the genre-bending music they were fed, and transformed it into a sound that was universal and inclusive. But transcending more than the sound itself, the messaging is what helps this music survive.
The Four Tops is currently in the studio, cutting new tracks. Payton Jr. likens it to making a big pot of gumbo, with each member adding something to the mix.
The Temptations and The Four Tops play around 50 shows a year together. Payton Jr. said performing alongside each other maintains that friendly competition from the Motown years.
“It keeps us honest. It’s a beautiful thing. I wouldn’t trade it for the world.”
HOW TO GO
What: The Temptations and The Four Tops
When: 7 p.m., Aug. 7
Where: Rose Music Center, 6800 Executive Blvd., Huber Heights
Cost: $38.50-$72.50
Tickets: rosemusiccenter.com
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