Saturday, February 5, 2011

Did The Four Tops get their name from the food service industry?


The table that inspired a Motown legend.

A couple nights ago, while waiting for a table at one of our favorite Portland pizza places, Dove Vivi, I was struck by a striking revelation: It's possible, and quite likely, that beloved Motown act The Four Tops got their name not from the fact that there were four people in the group, but rather that one of them was a restaurant host familiar with the term "four-top." You see, we were having problems getting seated in the restaurant because there were four people in our group, and we had to wait for a four-top (in restaurant terminology, a table that seats four) to open up. Doesn't it seem obvious now that a similar restaurant experience inspired The Four Tops to take their now-famous name? I think it's time for a Wikipedia update.

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