Standing On The Top

Album: Reunion (1982)
Charted: 53 66
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • "Standing On The Top" was written by Rick James, who also sang on the track with The Temptations. James used The Temptations as backup singers on his 1981 hit "Super Freak," and this was his contribution to the Reunion album, which featured both David Ruffin and Eddie Kendricks and had songs produced by Motown mainstays Smokey Robinson and Barrett Strong.
  • As Rick James explained in a 1983 interview with Musician magazine, he didn't appreciate the work ethic of the legendary vocal group. Said James: "I worked with the Temps once and I gave them all vocal lines. I went out and sang the vocal parts of 'Standing On The Top' and they took the stuff home (a cassette with Rick singing the vocals) and a couple of them came back the next day and didn't know anything. They hadn't even listened to the tune. And I was very upset. I had to give them a long speech about how this was their careers and I'm already rich and I don't need this aggravation. I get very hurt when people don't give me a hundred percent. They've sold over eighty million records and in their minds they're really big stars; they thought they could just come in the next day and knock it out, but it didn't go that way. I demand what I want, not what they want. They ended up giving me what I wanted."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Todd Rundgren

Todd RundgrenSongwriter Interviews

Todd Rundgren explains why he avoids "Hello It's Me," and what it was like producing Meat Loaf's Bat Out of Hell album.

Band Names

Band NamesFact or Fiction

Was "Pearl" Eddie Vedder's grandmother, and did she really make a hallucinogenic jam? Did Journey have a contest to name the group? And what does KISS stand for anyway?

Janet Jackson

Janet JacksonFact or Fiction

Was Janet secretly married at 18? Did she gain 60 pounds for a movie role that went to Mariah Carey? See what you know about Ms. Jackson.

Mike Scott of The Waterboys

Mike Scott of The WaterboysSongwriter Interviews

The stories behind "Whole Of The Moon" and "Red Army Blues," and why rock music has "outlived its era of innovation."

Justin Timberlake

Justin TimberlakeFact or Fiction

Was Justin the first to be Punk'd by Ashton Kutcher? Did Britney really blame him for her meltdown? Did his bandmates think he was gay?

Kelly Keagy of Night Ranger

Kelly Keagy of Night RangerSongwriter Interviews

Kelly Keagy of Night Ranger tells the "Sister Christian" story and explains why he started sweating when he saw it in Boogie Nights.