RIP Levi Stubbs

File this under You Can Take The Girl Out Of Michigan, But You Can't Take Michigan Out Of The Girl.

My parents came of age during the 1960s (yeah, I know that dates me). Basically what this means is that my sisters and I grew up listening to their music. Every family vacation, every road trip, it was the music of the 1960s. The Beatles, The Beach Boys, and Motown. Which is why this Gen-X-er knows who Levi Stubbs is, and why I'm really frickin' depressed today.

For the rest of you, Mr. Stubbs was the lead singer of The Four Tops, one of the premiere groups to come out of Detroit, Michigan and one of Motown's biggest acts. As great as Marvin Gaye was (and he was great), Stubbs had a powerful, raw voice that could cut through steel. On that score, nobody on Motown's roster could touch him (my apologies to Smokey, Stevie and Marvin - but y'all know I'm right). He'd been ill the last few years, and while I'm relieved he's no longer in pain, the thought of that voice now silenced is enough to drive a stake through my heart.