The Fantastic Four (band)
The Fantastic Four , also called Fantastic Four , was an American R&B and soul band from Detroit that had their greatest success in 1967 with The Whole World Is a Stage .
Band history
The band was formed in 1965 by James Epps, Ralph and Joseph Pruitt and Wallace Childs. After a short time, Ralph Pruitt and Wallace Childs left the Fantastic Four and were replaced by Cleveland Horne and Ernest Newsome. The first single , The Whole World Is a Stage , released by Ric-Tic Records , became the band's biggest hit. The song peaked at number 6 on the Billboard R&B chart and number 63 on the pop charts . The follow-up single You Gave Me Something (And Everything's Alright) made it to number 12 on the R&B and number 55 on the pop charts. As Long as I Live (I Live for You) , To Share Your Love , Goddess of Love and I've Got to Have You are other singles published by Ric-Tic that made it into the R&B hit list until 1968.
After Ric-Tic was bought by Motown in 1968 , I Love You Madly was another Fantastic Four song in the R&B charts and reached number 12. By 1973 the band released various other singles, but remained largely unsuccessful. It wasn't until I'm Falling in Love (I Feel Good All Over) that the group had another small hit in early 1974 (R&B number 77).
During the disco era , several successful singles and albums appeared on Westbound Records. The album Alvin Stone: The Birth and Death of a Gangster climbed to number 33 on the R&B and number 99 on the pop charts, making it the only one of the band to make it into the charts. The corresponding title track was similarly successful at number 24 on the R&B and number 74 of the pop charts. Hideaway and the Medley Night People / Lies Divided by Jive from the album Night People rose in 1976 at number 15 on the Billboard dance charts. I Got to Have Your Love , There's Fire Down Below and Disco Pool Blues from the album Got to Have Your Love came in 1977 to number 2. The last chart hit of the Fantastic Four is BYOF (Bring Your Own Funk) from the album of the same name. The track peaked at number 77 on the US R&B charts and became the band's only chart hit in the UK , where it peaked at number 62.
The band was still active, but did not release the next single until 1989, Working on a Building of Love . The associated album Back in Circulation , which was published by Motorcity, was released in 1992. On April 13, 2000, Cleveland Horne died of a heart attack . 15 years later, The Lost Motown Album was released on Kent Records .
Discography
Studio albums
| year | Title music label |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, music label , placements, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 UK
|
 US
|
R&B
|
|||
| 1975 | Alvin Stone: The Birth and Death of a Gangster Westbound / 20th Century 201 |
- |
US99 (16 weeks) US |
R&B33 (13 weeks) R&B |
First published: May 1975
Producer: Al Kent |
More albums
- 1976: Night People (Westbound 226)
- 1977: Got to Have Your Love (Westbound 306)
- 1978: BYOF (Bring Your Own Funk) (Westbound 6108)
- 1992: Back in Circulation (Motorcity 76)
- 2015: The Lost Motown Album ( Kent Soul 434) 1
Compilations
- 1968: Best of the Fantastic Four ( Soul 717)
- 2006: The Very Best of the Fantastic Four (Motor City Music)
Singles
| year | Title album |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | [↑]: treated together with the previous entry; [←]: placed in both charts |
|||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
UK
|
US
|
R&B
|
Dance
|
||||
| 1967 | The Whole World Is a Stage Best of the Fantastic Four |
- |
US63 (9 weeks) US |
R&B6 (15 weeks) R&B |
- |
First published: January 1967
Authors: Ronnie Savoy, Albert Hamilton, Eddie Wingate |
|
| You Gave Me Something (And Everything's Alright) Best of the Fantastic Four |
- |
US55 (7 weeks) US |
R&B12 (11 weeks) R&B |
- |
First published: May 1967
Authors: Ronnie Savoy, Albert Hamilton, Norma Toney, William Garrett |
||
| As Long as I Live (I Live for You) Best of the Fantastic Four |
- | - |
R&B38 (4 weeks) R&B |
- |
First published: August 1967
Authors: Al Kent, Norma Toney, William Garrett |
||
| To Share Your Love Best of the Fantastic Four |
- |
US68 (5 weeks) US |
R&B30 (5 weeks) R&B |
- |
B-side of As Long as I Live (I Live for You)
Authors: Alfred Braggs, Deadric Malone |
||
| 1968 | Goddess of Love Best of the Fantastic Four |
- | - |
R&B39 (5 weeks) R&B |
- |
First published: December 1967
Authors: Al Kent, Norma Toney |
|
| I've Got to Have You Best of the Fantastic Four |
- | - |
R&B23 (10 weeks) R&B |
- |
First published: April 1968
Authors: Albert Hamilton, William Garrett, Hermon Weems |
||
| I Love You Madly Best of the Fantastic Four |
- |
US56 (9 weeks) US |
R&B12 (12 weeks) R&B |
- |
First published: September 1968
Authors: Mike Hanks, William Garrett |
||
| 1974 | I'm Falling in Love (I Feel Good All Over) | - | - |
R&B77 (8 weeks) R&B |
- |
First published: January 1974
Authors: Albert Hamilton, Norma Toney |
|
| 1975 | Alvin Stone (The Birth and Death of a Gangster) Alvin Stone: The Birth and Death of a Gangster |
- |
US74 (8 weeks) US |
R&B24 (13 weeks) R&B |
- |
First published: July 1975
Authors: Al Kent, Calvin Colbert |
|
| 1976 | Hideaway Night People |
- | - |
R&B56 (12 weeks) R&B |
Dance15 (9 weeks) Dance |
First published: November 1976
as an album track in the dance charts. Author: Albert Hamilton |
|
| Night People / Lies Divided by Jive (Medley) Night People |
- | - | -[Dance: ↑] |
as an album track in the dance charts
Authors: Albert Hamilton, Calvin Colbert, Cleveland Horne, James Epps |
|||
| 1977 | I Got to Have Your Love Got to Have Your Love |
- | - |
R&B30 (16 weeks) R&B |
Dance2 (18 weeks) Dance |
First release: September 1977
as an album track in the dance charts. Authors: Dennis Coffey , James Epps, Lawrence Perry |
|
| There's Fire Down Below Got to Have Your Love |
- | - | -[Dance: ↑] |
as an album track in the dance charts
Authors: Dennis Coffey, Cleveland Horne, James Epps |
|||
| Disco Pool Blues Got to Have Your Love |
- | - | -[Dance: ↑] |
as an album track in the dance charts
Authors: Dennis Coffey, Cleveland Horne, James Epps |
|||
| 1979 | Sexy Lady B. YOF (Bring Your Own Funk) |
- | - |
R&B96 (2 weeks) R&B |
- |
First published: January 1979
Authors: Dennis Coffey, Cleveland Horne, James Epps |
|
| BYOF (Bring Your Own Funk) BYOF (Bring Your Own Funk) |
UK62 (4 weeks) UK |
- |
R&B77 (3 weeks) R&B |
- |
First published: April 1979
Authors: Dennis Coffey, Cleveland Horne, James Epps |
||
gray hatching : no chart data available for this year
More singles
- 1966: Girl Have Pity (released: August)
- 1966: Can't Stop Looking for My Baby (released September)
- 1968: Man in Love (release: March)
- 1969: I Feel Like I'm Falling in Love Again (release: February)
- 1969: Just Another Lonely Night (release: September 23)
- 1970: On the Brighter Side of a Blue World (release: April 23)
- 1973: If You Need Me, Call Me (And I'll Come Running) (Release: June)
- 1976: They Took the Show on the Road (release: September)
- 1978: Mixed Up Moods and Attitudes (release: February)
- 1989: Working on a Building of Love
- 1993: The Whole World Is a Stage / You Gave Me Something
swell
- ↑ a b Chart sources: UK Billboard Hot 100 Billboard 200
- ^ Joel Whitburn : Top R&B Albums 1965–1998, ISBN 0-89820-134-9 .
- ^ Joel Whitburn : Hot R&B Songs 1942–2010: 6th Edition, ISBN 978-0-89820-186-4 .
- ^ Joel Whitburn : Hot Dance / Disco 1974-2003, ISBN 978-0-89820-156-7 .
Web links
- The Fantastic Four at Allmusic (English)
- The Fantastic Four at Discogs (English)
- The Fantastic Four at 45cat.com