The Fantastic Four - Best Of The Fantastic Four - LP - Soul (1969) CD - Motown (1993) Rare Soul (FLAC)

This is their material from the Ric Tic label in Detroit. So it,s not their Motown singles. The were formed in Detroit in 1965 by 'Sweet' James Epps (a.k.a James Hanson) Ralph and Joseph Pruitt, and Wallace Toby Childs, Wallace Childs and Ralph Pruitt later leaving the line-up. They were replaced by Cleveland Horne,and Ernest Newsome (ex. The Volumes) Their first single on the Ric-Tic imprint, 'The Whole World Is a Stage,' proved to be the groups only hit song.The melody reached number 6 on the R & B charts in 1967.The follow-up, 'You Gave Me Something (And Everything's Alright)', did make number 12 later the same year.Other releases included 'Girl Have Pity' b/w (I'm Gonna) Live Up To What She Thinks (in 1966), 'Can't Stop Looking For My Baby' b/w 'Just The Lonely' (in 1967), 'Ain't Love Wonderful' b/w 'The Whole World Is A Stage' (in 1967), 'As Long As I Live' b/w 'To Share Your Love' (in 1967), 'As Long As The Feeling Is There' b/w 'Goddess Of Love' (in 1967), 'Man In Love' b/w 'No Love Like Your Love (in 1968), and 'I've Got To Have You' b/w 'Win Or Lose (I've Got To Have You)' (in 1968).When Motown purchased Ric-Tic, they had another Top 20 R & B hit with 'I Love You Madly' b/w 'I Love You Madly instr.', a song reissued from the Ric Tic recordings.The song was released in 1968 and was also issued on the Soul imprint, who also released 'Best Of The Fantastic Four' in 1969.They enjoyed a renaissance during the disco era with a few singles on Westbound Records, amongst them were the songs 'Alvin Stone (The Birth & Death of a Gangster)' and 'I Got to Have Your Love.'An album entitled 'Alvin Stone (The Birth & Death of a Gangster)' was released in 1975.1976 saw the release of 'Night People' on the Westbound Records imprint.Dennis Coffey produced 'B.Y.O.F. (Bring Your Own Funk)' for the same label in 1978.The Fantastic Four have remained active, and released 'Working on a Building of Love' in 1990 for Ian Levine's U.K. based Motorcity label.In 2000, the Fantastic Four lost one of its long-time members, Cleveland Horne, who suffered a heart attack and died on the 13th April 2000.  This to me is a must have fantastic album that oozes pure soul.They should have been superstars but alas not!

AMM 

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