On Broadway (Four Tops album)

On Broadway
The band wearing matching vermilion suits and looking up in a night club
Studio album by
Four Tops
ReleasedMarch 1, 1967 (1967-03-01)
StudioLos Angeles
Genre
Length35:24
LanguageEnglish
LabelMotown
ProducerFrank Wilson
Four Tops chronology
Four Tops Live!
(1966) 		On Broadway
(1967) 		Reach Out
(1967)

On Broadway is a 1967 studio album by American soul vocal group Four Tops, mostly covering Broadway show tunes and musical numbers.

Recording and release

Motown founder Berry Gordy had the idea for this album, encouraging his stable of artists to turn toward new audiences for their music,[1] particularly higher class listeners.[2] The band recorded On Broadway with musician Frank Wilson in Los Angeles, with the exception of their covers of "Make Someone Happy" (recorded in 1964) and "Nice 'n' Easy" (recorded in 1963).[3]

Reception

A brief review in Billboard suggests to retailers that this album will be a "sure-fire hit LP" with "smooth performances".[4] Editors at AllMusic Guide scored this album 2.5 out of five stars, with critic Andrew Hamilton considering this album a failed experiment that Motown should have stopped, but calling the cover of "Make Someone Happy" "an endearing rendition".[5] While many reviewers consider this a failed experiment, a 1995 review of pop stars covering musical show tunes notes that this was an innovative release.[6]

Track listing

  1. "Hello Broadway" (Ronald Miller and William O'Malley) – 3:50
  2. "Maria" (Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim) – 2:50
  3. "Climb Ev'ry Mountain" (lyrics: Oscar Hammerstein II, music: Richard Rodgers) – 2:50
  4. "Mame" (Jerry Herman) – 2:38
  5. "I Want to Be with You" (Lee Adams and Charles Strouse) – 2:34
  6. "On the Street Where You Live" (lyrics: Alan Jay Lerner, music: Frederick Loewe) – 2:54
  7. "The Sound of Music" (lyrics: Hammerstein, music: Rodgers) – 2:58
  8. "What Did I Have That I Don't Have" (Lerner and Burton Lane) – 2:16
  9. "For Once in My Life" (Miller and Orlando Murden) – 2:45
  10. "My Way" (lyrics: Paul Anka, Claude François, and Gilles Thibaut, music: Jacques Revaux) – 2:26
  11. "Make Someone Happy" (lyrics: Betty Comden and Adolph Green, music: Jule Styne) – 4:26
  12. "Nice 'n' Easy" (Alan Bergman, Marilyn Keith, and Lew Spence) – 2:57

Personnel

Four Tops

Additional personnel

Chart performance

Although initial sales of this album were strong,[7] On Broadway was not as successful as previous Four Tops albums,[8] reaching 79 on the Billboard 200 and fifteenth on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip Hop Albums chart.[9]

See also

References

  1. ^ Segretto, Mike (July 15, 2022). "The Four Tops: Four Tops Second Album". 33 1/3 Revolutions Per Minute: A Critical Trip Through the Rock LP Era, 1955–1999. Backbeat. p. 68. ISBN 9781493064601.
  2. ^ McEwen, Joe; Miller, Jim (2001). "1: Motown". In Abbott, Kingsley (ed.). Calling Out Around the World: A Motown Reader. Helter Skelter. p. 17. ISBN 9781900924146.
  3. ^ Dahl, Bill (February 28, 2011). Motown: The Golden Years: More Than 100 Rare Photographs. Penguin Publishing Group. ISBN 9781440225574.
  4. ^ "Pop Spotlight". Reviews. Billboard. Vol. 79, no. 12. March 25, 1967. p. 76. ISSN 0006-2510.
  5. ^ Hamilton, Andrew. "The Four Tops – On Broadway". AllMusic Guide. Retrieved May 8, 2023.
  6. ^ Bronson, Fred (June 24, 1995). "Popsters Give Their Regards with Covers of Show Tunes". Broadway. Billboard. Vol. 107, no. 25. p. 42. ISSN 0006-2510.
  7. ^ "New Action Albums". Album Reviews. Billboard. Vol. 79, no. 13. April 1, 1967. p. 40. ISSN 0006-2510.
  8. ^ Betts, Graham (May 2, 2014). "Four Tops". Motown Encyclopedia. AC Publishing. ISBN 9781311441546.
  9. ^ "US Albums". AllMusic Guide. Archived from the original on November 30, 2012. Retrieved June 23, 2016.