Robbed Hit of the Week 6/4/12 - The Temptations' "Standing On The Top"....
from the album Reunion (1982)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #66
This weeks "Robbed Hit" is by the venerable stalwarts of 60's Motown soul, the Temptations. Along with the Four Tops and the Supremes, they formed the trinity of group vocal groups in that decade, and dominated the pop chart despite the British Invasion. As the 70's rolled in, the Temptations' music became the most experimental of the three, and songs like "Psychedelic Shack" and "Papa Was A Rolling Stone" are classic in R&B music. However, by this point, the group had become fractured, as they lost three main players, first gruff-voiced David Ruffin was canned for drug use, then Paul Williams left from sickness, then finally falsetto Eddie Kendricks departed for a solo career in 1971.
By the start of the 80's, the Tempts were on a different label and going through lead singers like Larry King goes through wives. At this point even the solo careers of the members that left were at a stand-still, so Motown head Berry Gordy arranged for the group to be resigned to Motown, and former lead Dennis Edwards came back as a regular member. After two LPs and a Christmas album, the Temptations reunited with Ruffin and Kendricks for the Reunion album and following tour. The first single from the album was "Standing On The Top", which featured Rick James, who is member Melvin Franklin's cousin. The group had backed James on his biggest hit, "Super Freak", and he returned the favor on "Standing On The Top"...
While the song made the top-10 on the R&B chart, and really fit the post-disco niche of the times, the single stalled in the lower half of the pop chart. While the album went top-40 pop and #2 R&B, and the tour was financially successful, tensions within the band the Ruffin's continued blowing off shows disintegrated the reunited band.
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