100 Greatest Songs of the 60’s #83 Four Tops – I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch)

Released: 1965

What’s in a name change? the Four Tops – Renaldo Benson, Lawrence Payton, Abdul Fakir and Levi Stubbs – met at high school and in the beginning were known as the Four Aims, before signing to the Chess label prompted a rethink, although not immediately any hits.

If you wanted those, there was a new label on the scene, run by a guy called Berry Gordy out of unfashionable, working class Detroit. By 1963 the quartet had struck up a relationship with them and been taken under the wing of their ace songwriting gurus Eddie and Brian Holland and Lamont Dozier. As was the case for many other acts inside the tent, some magic then happened.

After knocking on the door with the likes of Baby I Need Your Loving and Ask The Lonely, the quartet were still looking for the big number when Brian Holland bought a pining love song to them with a slightly daffy chorus. After a couple of vocal takes legend had it that Levi Stubbs was unhappy with his work, only to be promised by Holland that he’d get a chance to rework the song again in a session the day after – except, there was no session. Maybe the only question left is would I Can’t Help Myself have been a Billboard chart topper if it had been released by the Four Aims? Thankfully, we’ll never have to figure it out.