Song:The Whole World Is A Stage
Album:Beg Scream & Shout: The Big 'Ol Box of '60s Soul
The Fantastic Four had their biggest success with the top ten R & B hit The Whole World Is A Stage in 1967. Though their 60s recordings are owned by Motown, they're not really a Motown group and their recordings have not been treated well by Motown. But they were from Detroit led by "Sweet" James Epps along with brothers Ralph and Joseph Pruitt and Wallace Childs. Ralph Pruitt and Childs left and were replaced by Cleveland Horne and Ernest Newsome. They signed with Golden World Records and recorded for their Ric-Tic label in 1967. Ed Wingate started Golden World in 1962 and it appears that he signed acts that Motown didn't want. Their biggest hit was probably the 1964 hit Just Like Romeo & Juliet by The Reflections. Wingate also discovered Edwin Starr. The Whole World Is A Stage was The Fantastic Four's first single and it reached #6 on the R & B Singles chart. You Gave Me Something reached #12 on the R & B Singles chart. Then Motown bought Golden World mainly to get Edwin Starr but also to acquire Golden World's recording studio. The Fantastic Four were bigger than Starr at the time but Motown didn't do much with them. The Fantastic Four returned in the 70s with some disco hits on Westbound and continued to record occasionally until both Cleveland Horne and James Epps died in 2000. Motown did release a Fantastic Four comp years ago but it's out of print and the only place you can get The Whole World Is A Stage is on Rhino's 6CD box set Beg Scream & Shout. You would think the song would turn up on Motown various artists comps but it hasn't. Too bad because it's a pretty good song. Here's a video of The Whole World Is A Stage by The Fantastic Four.
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