“It’s the Same Old Song” (The Four Tops)

Today’s classic song of the day sounds a lot like a previous classic song of the day, and it’s on purpose. Today’s song is “It’s the Same Old Song” by the Four Tops, and it was deliberately patterned on their previous hit, “I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch).”

Here’s one version of the story. The Tops had just had a huge hit with “I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch),” which hit #1 in June 1965. Motown chieftain Berry Gordy wanted to rush out a follow up as soon as possible, so songwriter/producers Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier, and Eddie Holland (H-D-H) got together and wrote a similar-sounding follow up the very same day, cheekily titling it “It’s the Same Old Song.”

Except that’s nothing more than an urban legend. The real story is that H-D-H had written “It’s the Same Old Song in May 1965 for the Supremes. Motown had decided not to release that recording (at the time, anyway), but after the success of “I Can’t Help Myself,” label chief Berry Gordy wanted to cash in on that tune’s success and ordered H-D-H to rush out a similar-sounding follow up as soon as possible. Brian, Lamont, and Eddie dusted off “It’s the Same Old Song,” gave it a production designed to sound as much as possible like the Tops’ previous hit (which it did, very much), and got 1500 copies pressed and delivered to DJs the very next day.

In any case, “It’s the Same Old Song” is a strong song on its own. Released in July of 1965, the song hit #5 on the Billboard Hot 100, #6 on the Cash Box Top 100, and #2 on Billboard’s R&B chart. It would be a keeper even if the Tops had never released “I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch).” I love them both.

Which leads us to our daily bonus video of the day, Levi Stubbs and the Four Tops singing a medley of “It’s the Same Old Song” and “I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)” (plus “Something About You”) live on the January 30, 1966, episode of The Ed Sullivan Show. Damn, they were great.