Levi Stubbs
What's WRONG? At CLUB DEAD, The bell tolls for
Levi Stubbs of The Four Tops, soul singer and voice of the carnivorous Audrey II in "Little Shop of Horrors" Stubbs died at home following a long string of illnesses, cancer and a stroke. He was 72.
Some cities evoke certain reactions. Dodge City? The wild west. Dallas? Oil. Nashville? Twanging guitars. Philadelphia? High Society
Detroit? Motown (yeah, cars, but with gas prices....)
The unpretentious building bears the designation "Hitsville USA." It's a museum now; hey, truth be told, it was a museum then.
Motown...Marvin, Aretha, Smokey, and the Four Tops. They lasted over forty years with all the original members who broke as the Four Aims in 1953. After a name change to avoid confusion with the Ames Brothers, they soared to the pinnacle of stardom. More to the point, they stayed there. At the forefront of the band was Levi Stubbs, a Detroit native and posessor of a singing voice that could stop you in your tracks.
“Levi was the greatest interpreter of songs I've ever heard,” said Motown guru Berry Gordy. “Levi's voice exploded in the room and went straight for our hearts." The band churned out hit after hit through the sixties and seventies..."Baby, I Need Your Loving," "Bernadette," "Standing in the Shadows of Love," "Are You Man Enough?," "Ain't No Woman Like The One I Got." 45 hit singles in all, the last in 1988 ("Indestructible.")
Along the way, there were side trips into acting, most notably in the 1986 movie adaptation of the musical "Little Shop of Horrors." Stubbs lent his voice to Audrey II, the alien blood-sucking plant that brought fame to Rick Moranis and the other residents of Skid Row (the place, not the band) I confess to sometimes wanting to slip "Mean Green Mother From Outer Space" into the 80s at 8:00. (Of course I also want to judge the biggest gazangos contest at South Beach, so pay that no mind). CAUTION: Adult language
The Four Tops were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990. In 1997, original member Lawrence Payton died of liver cancer. Obie Benson passed away from lung cancer in 2005. Levi Stubbs' death leaves Abdul “Duke” Fakir as the only surviving member of the band.
Stubbs stopped performing in 2000 due to his health. He would, on occassion, make cameo appearances at concerts by Motown artists. That's our loss. but when they bring the stacks and stcks of wax...he'll sing on into infinity.
Then again, screw him, he's dead. Let's go look for crocodiles.
StevenK
