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7 Rooms of Gloom
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Wikipedia article
"'7 Rooms of Gloom'" is a song recorded by the Motown Records vocal quartet the Four Tops. It was released as a single in 1967 on the Motown label and reached #14 on the 'Billboard' Hot 100, and was a Top 10 R&B Hit, charting at #10. It was also a hit in the UK, their seventh, staying for nine weeks in the UK Singles Charts and reaching #12 and in the Netherlands where it made #23 in the Dutch Top 40.
Described as "throbbing with dread over a racing minor key dominated arrangement" it was written by HollandDozierHolland. The single's B-side was "I'll Turn to Stone" also written by Holland-Dozier-Holland with R Dean Taylor. That song made a separate chart entry, and peaked at #76 on the 'Billboard' Hot 100 and #50 on the R&B Charts.
'Cash Box' called it a "thumping, fast-moving, blues-oriented rocker" that is a "real powerhouse."
The song begins with Levi Stubb's doing a spoken recitation, which gets repeated twice with alterations.
The Four Tops strongly disliked the song, and they don't perform it live either.
Personnel
* Levi Stubbs lead vocals
* Abdul "Duke" Fakir background vocals
* Renaldo "Obie" Benson background vocals
* Lawrence Payton background vocals
* Jackie Hicks background vocals
* Marlene Barrow background vocals
* Louvain Demps background vocals
* Funk Brothers instrumentation
References
Category:1966 songs
Category:1967 singles
Category:Four Tops songs
Category:Songs written by HollandDozierHolland
Category:Song recordings produced by Brian Holland
Category:Song recordings produced by Lamont Dozier
Category:Motown singles
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