Motown night in store

They will be joined on the bill by kings of 70s disco Tavares and 60s girl band The Crystals for the show on March 16 next year.

The Four Tops were one of the original bands who helped define the sound of Motown Records.

Notable for having a baritone as lead singer, in Levi Stubbs, instead of a tenor, The Four Tops hit the charts with a string of hits composed by Holland-Dozier-Holland, including Reach Out (I’ll Be There), Bernadette, I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch) and Standing in the Shadows of Love.

Formed in 1953, The Four Tops kept their original line-up until the death of Lawrence Payton in 1997. The current line-up includes original founder member Abdul ‘Duke’ Fakir, and Payton’s son Roquel.

Formed in Detroit in 1960, The Temptations signed to Motown the following year, but didn’t score a major hit until they recorded Smokey Robinson’s My Girl in 1965, which became their first number one.

That success was the start of a succession of hit records throughout the 60s and into the 70s, including Get Ready, Ain’t Too Proud To Beg, Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me), Papa Was a Rollin’ Stone and I’m Gonna Make You Love Me (with Diana Ross).

Original member Otis Williams is still in the band, which has sold tens of millions of albums through the years.

The Tavares brothers started performing together when the youngest was just nine, going on to become one of the most sucessful R&B and disco bands of the 70s. Their hits include It Only Takes a Minute, More Than a Woman, for the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack, and Heaven Must Be Missing An Angel.

The line-up is completed by one of the defining girl bands of the 1960s, The Crystals. The New York band scored a series of hits, produced by Phil Spector, including Da Doo Ron Ron, He’s a Rebel and Then He Kissed Me.

Tickets for The Four Tops and The Temptations cost £40, and are on sale from www. motorpointarena.co.uk or 0114 256 5656.