7 Rooms of Gloom
| "7 Rooms of Gloom" | |
|---|---|
| Song | |
| B-side | "I'll Turn to Stone" |
"7-Rooms of Gloom" is a song recorded by the Motown Records vocal quartet The Four Tops. It was released as a single in 1967 on the Motown label and reached #14 on the Billboard Hot 100,[1] and was a Top 10 R&B Hit, charting at #10. It was also a hit in the UK, their seventh, staying for nine weeks in the UK Singles Charts and reaching #12[2] and in the Netherlands where it made #23 in the Dutch Top 40.[3]
Described as "throbbing with dread over a racing minor key dominated arrangement"[4] it was written by Holland–Dozier–Holland. The single's B-Side was "I'll Turn to Stone"[5] also written by Holland-Dozier-Holland with R Dean Taylor.[6] That song made a separate chart entry, and peaked at #76 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #50 on the R&B Charts.
The song is noted for the refrain, which is mostly spoken by Levi Stubbs.
The Four Tops strongly disliked the song, and have refused to perform it in concert.
This marked the beginning of the end for the Holland, Dozier Holland team's relations with the Four Tops before they left the following year in 1968 the Motown organization, due to royalty issues with Barry Gordy Jr.
Personnel
- Levi Stubbs - lead vocals
- Abdul "Duke" Fakir - background vocals
- Renaldo "Obie" Benson - background vocals
- Lawrence Payton - background vocals
- Jackie Hicks - background vocals
- Marlene Barrow - background vocals
- Louvain Demps - background vocals
- Funk Brothers - instrumentation
References
- ^ "Four Tops - Awards". Allmusic. Retrieved 14 July 2013.
- ^ "Official Charts - Four Tops". www.officialcharts.com. Retrieved 14 July 2013.
- ^ "The Four Tops - 7 Rooms Of Gloom". www.top40.nl. Retrieved 14 July 2013.
- ^ Dahl, Bill. Motown The Golden Years. Retrieved 14 July 2013.
- ^ "Four Tops – 7-Rooms Of Gloom / I'll Turn To Stone". Discogs. Retrieved 13 July 2013.
- ^ "I'll Turn to Stone". Allmusic. Retrieved 14 July 2013.
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