‘We carried pistols to defend ourselves’: the Four Tops and the Temptations on six decades of soul
Duke Fakir, the last surviving founding member of the Four Tops, is reminiscing on the halcyon days of Detroit’s seminal soul music label as it made its mark on the 1960s. “Motown really did feel like a big family back then,” he says. “We all hung out, partied, played golf, held BBQs, appeared on one another’s records. Those were amazing times.”
The Temptations’ Otis Williams agrees: “Motown was no happenstance. God brought that up to start. Detroit, Michigan, was known for the big three – General Motors, Ford and Chrysler. Now the city’s going to be known as the Big Four because Motown has made a similar impact to those automobile manufacturers.”
From their respective 1964 debut hits, the Temptations’ The Way You Do the Things You
