Mojo - The Music Magazine

How Detroit rock’s Sun-Pat-smeared madman stoked the traps for Levi Stubbs et al. As told to Phil Alexander…

“I played behind The Four Tops once. I was a pick up drummer in this High School Band. I backed up the Four Tops for a half-hour set. They would come through the 13 Club at the Pony Tail where The Iguanas were playing, as a lot of people would, with one guy who could play who would then tell you whether they needed a bass player or a drummer or whatever. I can still see it now. I was sitting there, from my drums to their bottoms there was about four feet, and I got the back view of their choreography. The Tops did those movements, around Abdul Fakir, the tall guy, where they would really smoothly shift places, and then they would all raise their left instep [laughs giddily]. It was cool, you know.

“The first song we did was Baby, I Need Your Loving, which was a wonderful song. It was the song they were promoting on that tour and there was one other that I’ll probably remember tonight while I’m having a drink!

“I also played behind The Contours at the Ann Arbor Armoury. I like Do You Love Me. When we were touring with The Stooges last year people used to play historical punk tapes before we came on, and I got so sick and tired of hearing London Calling, as good a song as that is, that I made an eight or ten-track tape which ended with Do You Love Me by The Contours. It had Shout by The Isleys, I’ll Be Dogonne by Marvin Gaye and Nightrain by James Brown. I love the fact that on Do You Love Me that at the end of the song there’s nothing for a couple of seconds and then they turn it back up and try and surprise you [kills himself laughing]! That’s really good! A great trick!”

Read the full story of The Contours Do You Love Me by clicking HERE!