Tonight! (album)

1981 studio album by Four Tops

Tonight! is a 1981 studio album by American soul music vocal group Four Tops, released by Casablanca Records. This was the first album the group recorded for this label followed a short period of commercial a decline in the 1970s, as well as a failed experiment at recording with former Motown associates Holland–Dozier–Holland.^[2] This release resulted in much higher chart performance than Four Tops had experienced in several years and the hit single "When She Was My Girl".^[1]

Reception

A brief review of this album for Billboard recommended this album to retailers on the strength of "When She Was My Girl" and Levi Stubbs' vocals.^[3] Editors at AllMusic Guide scored this release 2.5 out of five stars, with reviewer Richie Unterberger noting the commercial and critical decline of the band in the 1970s and criticizing this album as, "fairly faceless early-'80s R&B... due much more to the material and arrangements than the singing" with production that is "lush in a very dated way".^[1] The 1992 edition of The Rolling Stone Album Guide rated this release three out of five stars.^[4]

Track listing

1. "When She Was My Girl" (Marc Blatte, Laurence B. Gottlieb) – 3:21
2. "Don't Walk Away" (Jerry Knight) – 4:07
3. "Tonight I'm Gonna Love You All Over" (Rick Anthony Ferguson, Michael Dewayne Williams) – 4:36
4. "Who's Right, Who's Wrong" (Kenneth Clark Loggins, Richard James Page) – 5:10
5. "Let Me Set You Free" (Sandy Linzer, David Wolfert) – 4:23
6. "From a Distance" (Henry Gaffney) – 4:06
7. "Something to Remember" (Linzer) – 4:48
8. "All I Do" (Morris Ervan Broadnax, Clarence Paul, Stevie Wonder) – 3:38
9. "I'll Never Ever Leave Again" (Bill Allen, Fred Bridges, Earl Klugh, George Martin, Lawrence Payton) – 3:58

Personnel

Four Tops

• Renaldo Benson – baritone vocals
• Abdul Fakir – tenor vocals
• Lawrence Payton – tenor vocals, vocal arrangement
• Levi Stubbs – lead and baritone vocals

Additional personnel

• Montxo Algora – artwork
• Crusher Bennett – percussion
• Ron Carter – string bass
• Richard Crooks – percussion
• Henry Davis – bass guitar on "From a Distance"
• Nathan East – bass guitar
• Dennis Ferrante – engineering at RCA Recording Studios, New York City, New York, United States
• David Friedman – vibraphone, orchestra bells
• Linda Gerrity – production coordination
• Brad Gliderman – assistant engineering at Cherokee Recording Studios, Los Angeles, California, United States
• Bob Heimall – design
• Greg Heisler – photography
• Neil Jason – bass guitar on "All I Do"
• Kashif – synthesizer, synthesizer solo on "All I Do"
• Charles Koppelman – executive production
• George Marge – flute, oboe
• Greg Mathieson  – piano on "Something to Remember", rhythm arrangement on "Something to Remember"
• Bill Meyers – piano, rhythm arrangement
• Jeff Porcaro – drums
• Greg Poiree – nylon string guitar on "I'll Never Ever Leave Again"
• Seldon Powell – flute
• Larry Rebhun – assistant engineering at Cherokee Recording Studios, Los Angeles, California, United States
• Carlos Rios – guitar
• Elliott Rossoff – concertmaster
• Tom Saviano – saxophone solo
• Al Schmidt – engineering at Cherokee Recording Studios, Los Angeles, California, United States
• Ralph Schuckett – organ, synthesizer, acoustic piano on "When She Was My Girl" and "I'll Never Ever Leave Again", synthesizer solo on "Something to Remember"
• Joe Shepley – flugelhorn
• Lou Soloff – flugelhorn
• Neil Stubenhaus – bass guitar
• Ed Walsh – synthesizer
• David Williams – guitar
• David Wolfert – guitar, synthesizer, orchestra bells, rhythm arrangement on "Let Me Set You Free" and "From a Distance", production

Chart performance

Tonight! peaked at 37 on the Billboard 200 and reached fifth on the R&B charts.^[5]

See also

• List of 1981 albums

References

1. Unterberger, Richie. "The Four Tops – Tonight!". AllMusic Guide. Retrieved May 10, 2023.
2. Williams, Jean (January 28, 1977). "4 Tops Reborn: Group Seeks New Life; Trying Holland–Dozier–Holland's Skills". General News. Billboard. Vol. 90, no. 4. p. 97. ISSN 0006-2510.
3. "Pop". Top Album Picks. Billboard. Vol. 93, no. 36. September 12, 1981. p. 74. ISSN 0006-2510.
4. DeCurtis, Anthony; George-Warren, Holly; Henke, James, eds. (1992). The Rolling Stone Album Guide: Completely New Reviews : Every Essential Album, Every Essential Artist. Random House. p. 260. ISBN 9780679737292.
5. "US Albums". AllMusic Guide. Archived from the original on November 30, 2012. Retrieved June 23, 2016.

External links

• Tonight! at Discogs (list of releases)
• Tonight! at MusicBrainz (list of releases)