{{use list-defined references|date=May 2023}} {{use mdy dates|date=May 2023}} {{Infobox album | name = At the Top | type = studio | artist = Four Tops | cover = Four Tops - At the Top.jpg | alt = A photo of the band waving from in a hot air balloon | released = {{Start date|1978}} | recorded = | studio = Sigma Sound, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US | genre = Soul music<ref name="amg" /> | length = {{Duration|m=37|s=06}} | language = English | label = ABC | producer = *Bruce Gray *Norman Harris *Ron Tyson | prev_title = The Show Must Go On | prev_year = 1977 | next_title = Tonight! | next_year = 1981 | misc = }}
'''''At the Top''''' is the eighteenth studio album by American soul music vocal group, Four Tops, released by ABC Records. The album was the last the group recorded for ABC and was followed by a brief hiatus from recording. Four Tops had experienced a decline in their album sales in the 1970s and also had difficulty booking touring dates, so they initially planned to team up with former Motown associates Holland–Dozier–Holland, but they instead recorded this album with Philadelphia soul producer Norman Harris at his Sigma Sound Studios.<ref name="bb19780128" />
==Reception== Editors at AllMusic Guide scored this release three out of five stars, with reviewer Andrew Hamilton characterizing release as "a quality Four Tops album", but "the songs, productions, and singing deserved a better fate", with "lightweight promotion" from ABC.<ref name="amg" /> The 1992 edition of ''The'' Rolling Stone ''Album Guide'' rated this release two out of five stars.<ref name="rs" />
==Track listing== #"H.E.L.P." (Norman Harris and Ron Tyson) – 5:55 #"Bits and Pieces" (Bruce Gray, Leroy Green, and Harris) – 4:10 #"Seclusion" (Harris and Tyson) – 4:28 #"Put It on the News" (Harris and Tyson) – 4:21 #"This House" (Harris and Tyson) – 4:41 #"Just in Time" (Harris and Tyson) – 3:47 #"Inside a Brokenhearted Man" (Jerry Akines, John Bellman, Victor Drayton, and Buddy Turner) – 3:26 #"When Your Dreams Take Wings and Fly" (Gray, Green, and Harris) – 6:18
==Personnel== '''Four Tops''' *Renaldo Benson – bass vocals *Abdul Fakir – first tenor vocals *Lawrence Payton – second tenor vocals *Levi Stubbs – lead baritone vocals
'''Additional personnel''' *Keith Benson – drums *Caryle J. Blackwell – production assistance, coordination *Bruce Bluestein – assistant engineering *George "Go-Madd" Bussey – arrangement *Dirk Devlin – engineering *Don Renaldo & His Swinging Strings & Horns – strings, horns *Bill Dorman – assistant engineering *Jack Faith – arrangement *Richard Germinaro – art direction, artwork *Bruce Gray – keyboards, production *Norman Harris – guitar, arrangement, production *Carlton Kent – keyboards *Stuart Kusher – art direction, artwork *Leon Mitchell – arrangement *Earl Miller – photography *Edward Moore – guitar *Tom Nikosey – lettering *Carl Paruolo – engineering *Darrell Rogers – assistant engineering *Rocky Schnaars – assistant engineering *Henri Smith – percussion *Jeffrey Stewart – assistant engineering *Michael Tarsia – assistant engineering *T. J. Tindall – guitar *Ron Tyson – production *Larry Washington – percussion *James Williams – bass guitar
==Chart performance== ''At the Top'' peaked at 73 on the R&B charts.<ref name="amgchart" />
==See also== *List of 1978 albums
==References== {{Reflist|refs= <ref name="amg">{{Cite web |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/at-the-top-mw0000841048 |language=en-US |last=Hamilton |first=Andrew |publisher=AllMusic Guide |accessdate=2023-05-10 |title=The Four Tops – At the Top}}</ref> <ref name="amgchart">{{cite web |url=http://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-four-tops-mn0000071812/awards |language=en-US |title=US Albums |publisher=AllMusic Guide |access-date=2016-06-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121130053538/http://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-four-tops-mn0000071812/awards |archive-date=2012-11-30}}</ref> <ref name="bb19780128">{{Cite magazine |magazine=Billboard |language=en-US |title=4 Tops Reborn: Group Seeks New Life; Trying Holland–Dozier–Holland's Skills |department=General News |last=Williams |first=Jean |date=1977-01-28 |page=97 |volume=90 |issue=4 |issn=0006-2510}}</ref> <ref name="rs">{{Cite book |page=260 |isbn=9780679737292 |publisher=Random House |title=The Rolling Stone Album Guide: Completely New Reviews : Every Essential Album, Every Essential Artist |year=1992 |editor1-last=DeCurtis |editor1-first=Anthony |editor2-first=Holly |editor2-last=George-Warren |editor3-first=James |editor3-last=Henke}}</ref> }}
==External links== *{{Discogs master}} *{{MBrgID}}
{{Four Tops}} {{Authority control}}
Category:1978 albums Category:ABC Records albums Category:Four Tops albums Category:Albums produced by Norman Harris