A Baby Boomer's Tribute to The Four Tops

This blog post is dedicated to Levi Stubbs--former lead singer of The Four Tops. Levi passed away this morning at the age of 72. Published reports say he died peacefully in his sleep.

Stubbs was born in Detroit on June 6 1936 into a family with a strong musical tradition. The soul singer Jackie Wilson was a cousin, and his brother Joe Stubbs sang with the Detroit R&B group the Falcons.

Between 1964 and 1968 the Tops enjoyed 12 Top 20 American hits, including I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honeybunch), It's The Same Old Song and Bernadette. This is one of my favorites by the group. Tell me yours in this special tribute:

***A special note*** this video was shot in 1966---

My Baby Boomer Love

You can't have a Baby Boomer Girlfriends Week without showcasing something by The Supremes.

Diana Ross, Mary Wells and Flo Ballard were the envy of every little girl in my neighborhood. We wanted to be like them and we all thought we could sing! I recently wrote a blog about my "Supremes" experience.

Of all of the hit songs they recorded, this was one of my top two favorites. What was your favorite Supremes song?

It's Baby Boomer Girlfriends Week

It's Baby Boomer girlfriends week here on my baby boomer jams blog. I'm starting out with one of the most successful Motown groups of the 60s. During their nine-year run on the charts from 1963 to 1972, Martha and the Vandellas had over twenty-six hits. Ten of those songs reached the top ten of the Billboard R&B singles chart. Twelve of the Vandellas' songs hit the Top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100.

In 2004, Rolling Stone Magazine ranked Martha and the Vandellas #96 on their list of The Immortals: 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.

I might also add our very own Jaisun McMillian, of Boomer Diva Nation, used to perform with the group---although she wasn't on this recording.

I'm Your Vehicle Baby Boomer Baby

When I first heard this song I thought it was sung by Blood, Sweat & Tears. Many called the Ides of March a "knock-off group" for BS&T and that's why their one-hit wonder ended up being a huge success.

Apparenty the song is based on a true story where the lead singer of the group (Jim Peterik) fell for a girl and after 6 months of dating, the girl dumped him. A few months later he got a call from her asking him for a lift. He didn’t even hesitate in offering the lift and this continued for a long time. Even though he knew she was using him, he didn’t mind being her Vehicle.

Baby Boomers Enjoy Montego Bay

This was the only song that became a top 10 hit for Bobby Bloom. When I saw Bloom, I always wondered if it was really his voice. Remember Milli Vanilli?

Anyway, Bloom was killed in an accidental shooting a year after this song became popular (1971).

Baby Boomer One Hit Wonders

OK, this is the week we're going to jam to those songs that made us baby boomers move and groove in the 1960s and 70s. BUT, for the group, it was their one and only big hit.

This is the first song I remember that had sound effects. It was pretty cool.

So now you tell me how many one-hit wonders you remember.

With a Little Help from my Baby Boomer Friends

This song was written for and sung by Beatles drummer Ringo Starr in 1967. I always wondered what they were talking about when they said, "I get high with a little help from my friends." I would imagine some fellow baby boomers know since Woodstock was just around the corner.

OK, so come on and sing along:

All Aboard The Baby Boomer Beatles Train

My tribute to the Beatles continues this week with another one of my favorite songs by them. This song was also sung by the Carpenters in the 1970s.

Baby Boomer Beatles Week

Now that I've recovered from the shock of the deaths of Isaac Hayes and Bernie Mac, I'm back with my favorite baby boomer jams.

This week is dedicated to The Beatles. Ever since I saw them on the Ed Sullivan Show back in 1964 (I think), I was a fan. What I admired and respected about the group from Liverpool is they never hid the fact that their music was greatly influenced by the Rhythm and Blues music they heard in the United States. Many white artists in this country stole the music originally made by black artists, claimed it as their own and went on to make millions.

The Beatles are forever etched in music history. The songs I post this week are in no particular order of how I like them, although this song ranks in my favorite top three.

What is your favorite Beatles song?

Baby Boomer Issac Hayes

I came home from my mother-in-law's birthday party today and learned that Isaac Hayes had passed away.

I was going to dedicate this week to Baby Boomer Beatles jams, however, in the wake of the death of a music icon like Hayes, I am dedicating this week to him and his music. He was known as the "Black Moses."

Isaac Hayes had teamed up with the late Bernie Mac and Samuel L. Jackson for the movie "Soul Men" due out in November of this year. Bernie Mac died one day before Hayes.

Here's the song that made Hayes a cross-over sensation:

Baby Boomer Soldier Boy

No matter how old this song gets, it will always be a favorite of the men and women who have loved ones serving in the military.

Solider Boy by sung the Shirelles and became a number one song for them in 1962. The Shirelles were the first major female vocal group of the rock and roll era. OK, so I was only five-year-old when the song came out but it's one of those "oldies but goodies" romance jams that grew up with me.

If you have someone in the military you would like to dedicate this to, please list his/her name here:

Baby Boomer Beatles Romance

What baby boomer female didn't like the Beatles growing up? As a matter of fact, I'm going to devote an entire week to my favorite Beatles tunes, giving every baby boomer a chance to take a trip down Penny Lane---no I mean Memory Lane.

OK...so here is my favorite Beatles Romance Song. The cool thing about some songs is, even as a baby boomer woman, I love them just as much now as I did back then.

As a matter of fact, I could place this over and over and over again, which I'm already doing! :)

Baby Boomer Romance Week

To this day, this song remains on my all-time greatest hits list. Granted, I was only seven-years-old when the song became a hit but I think the reason I liked it so much is because my parents played it a lot and I heard it played on the radio quite a bit.

What I didn't know was the members of the group were from Akron, OH---which is not to far from where I grew up in Canton. That may explain the popularity of the song. The lead singer was Ruby Nash who went on to work for AT&T to earn a real living.

This song was the only hit for the group.