It's the Same Old Song

"It's the Same Old Song"
Single by Four Tops
from the album Four Tops' Second Album
B-side "Baby I Need Your Lovin'" (Netherlands); "Your Love Is Amazing" (selected countries, namely in the West German, American and Australian markets); "I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch)" (on one copy in the UK)[1]
Released July 9, 1965
Format 7" single
Recorded Hitsville U.S.A. (Studio A); July 8, 1965
Genre Soul, pop
Length 2:46
Label Motown
Songwriter(s) Holland–Dozier–Holland
Producer(s) Brian Holland
Lamont Dozier
Four Tops singles chronology
"I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)"
(1965)		 "It's the Same Old Song"
(1965)		 "Something About You"
(1965)

"I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)"
(1965)		 "It's the Same Old Song"
(1965)		 "Something About You"
(1965)

"It's the Same Old Song" is a 1965 hit single recorded by the Four Tops for the Motown label.[2] Written and produced by Motown's main production team Holland–Dozier–Holland, the song is today one of The Tops' signature songs, and was notably created—from initial concept to commercial release—in 24 hours. It reached number 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #2 on the Billboard R&B Singles chart.[3] It also reached number 34 in the UK.[4]

Writing and recording

With the recent release of a previously unreleased version of "It's the Same Old Song" recorded by the Supremes, the truth of the events on how the song came together for the Four Tops is put into question. Holland-Dozier-Holland originally wrote and cut a track of "It's the Same Old Song" for the Supremes in May 1965 before the Four Tops' version. This first version would remain unreleased until 2017. A second version was cut in a very similar style to the Four Tops' version would be released in 1967 on The Supremes Sing Holland-Dozier-Holland.

After "I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch)" hit #1 in June 1965, The Four Tops' former label, Columbia Records, wanting to cash in on the group's success, re-released the Tops' 1960 Columbia single "Ain't That Love". Berry Gordy ordered that a new Four Tops single had to be released within a day's time.[5]

At 3:00 PM that afternoon, the Holland brothers and Lamont Dozier wrote "It's the Same Old Song". Four Tops tenor Abdul "Duke" Fakir recalled:

The engineering team worked around the clock perfecting the single's mix and making hand-cut vinyl records so that Berry Gordy's sister Esther in the Artist Development department could critique them and select the best ones for single release. By 3 P.M. the next day, 1500 copies of "It's the Same Old Song" had been delivered to radio DJs across the country, and the song eventually made it to number five on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and number two on the R&B chart.

"It's the Same Old Song" is very similar in melody and chord progressions to "I Can't Help Myself", which in turn is even more similar in melody and chord progressions to "Where Did Our Love Go" by the Supremes, who covered "It's the Same Old Song" in 1967. Critic Maury Dean disputes that there is much in common with "I Can't Help Myself", saying that it is "a dynamic NEW treatment, with just a hint of Benny Benjamin's thundering drums echoing" "I Can't Help Myself".[7]

Allmusic critic Ron Wynn calls "It's the Same Old Song" "a tidy little number" with "one of the greatest lyrical hooks -- and titles -- ever."[8] Fellow critic Steve Leggett calls it "wise beyond its era."[9]

Pop music writers and bloggers have noted the similarity of the song's main instrumental riff with the marimba riff in the Rolling Stones song "Under My Thumb" which was first released almost a year later, on April 15, 1966, as part of their album Aftermath.[10][11]

Personnel

Charts

Cover versions

Uses

Notes

  1. ↑ "It's the Same Old Song The Four Tops - 45cat Search". Retrieved 3 October 2014.
  2. ↑ Gilliland, John (1969). "Show 25 - The Soul Reformation: Phase two, the Motown story. [Part 4]" (audio). Pop Chronicles. University of North Texas Libraries.
  3. ↑ "Four Tops Awards". Allmusic. Retrieved 2014-03-15.
  4. ↑ "Four Tops charts". officialcharts.com. Retrieved 2014-03-16.
  5. ↑ Bronson, F. (1997). The Billboard Book of Number One Hits. Billboard Books. p. 209. ISBN 0823076415.
  6. ↑ "The Four Tops". Retrieved 3 October 2014.
  7. ↑ Dean, M. (2003). Rock 'n' Roll Gold Rush. Algora. p. 164. ISBN 0875862071.
  8. ↑ Wynn, R. "Second Album". Allmusic. Retrieved 2014-03-15.
  9. ↑ Leggett, S. "The Definitive Collection". Allmusic. Retrieved 2014-03-16.
  10. ↑ Konnikova, Maria (2009-07-30). "Copy Shop". The New Yorker. Retrieved 2016-09-29.
  11. ↑ "Oldie of the week – Under my thumb, or It’s the same old song (Stones or The Four Tops?) – FOO Law and Economics". Foolawecon.wordpress.com. 2009-11-07. Retrieved 2016-09-29.
  12. ↑ Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955-1990 - ISBN 0-89820-089-X
  13. ↑ Cash Box Top 100 Singles, September 11, 1965
  14. ↑ Musicoutfitters.com
  15. ↑ Cash Box Year-End Charts: Top 100 Pop Singles, December 25, 1965
  16. ↑ "KC & the Sunshine Band - Chart history". Billboard. Retrieved 2016-09-29.
  17. ↑ Beckett, david (March 27, 2013). "Blood Simple – Director's Cut (2013) DVD". Film 365.

References

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.