“Bernadette” by The Four Tops

Holland-Dozier-Holland wrote "Bernadette" for the Four Tops in 1967, with Brian Holland and Lamont Dozier producing, and it's Motown at its most feverish: a hard-driving chase with lead singer Levi Stubbs at full throttle. It sits on the album Reach Out and followed "Standing in the Shadows of Love" as a single.

The trick everyone remembers is the false ending, where the band cuts out, the background singers hang on a chord and Stubbs bellows her name before the whole thing roars back and fades. Critic Maury Dean reckoned that shout is what sold the record. It reached number 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and 3 on the R&B chart, and it went back into the UK charts in 1972.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.