The Fantastic Four (band)

The Fantastic Four
Origin	Detroit, Michigan, United States.
Genres	R&B/pop/soul
Years active	1965–2000
Labels	Ric-Tic, Motown, Soul, Westbound
Past members	James Epps Joseph Pruitt Ernest Newsome Wallace Childs Ralph Pruitt Cleveland Horne

The Fantastic Four (also known as Sweet James and The Fantastic Four) were a Detroit based soul group, formed in 1965. "Sweet" James Epps, brothers Ralph and Joseph Pruitt, and Wallace "Toby" Childs were the original members. Childs and Ralph Pruitt later departed, and were replaced by Cleveland Horne and Ernest Newsome.

Their first single on Ric-Tic, "The Whole World Is a Stage," was their only big hit single, peaking at number 6 on the US Billboard R&B chart in 1967. The next release, "You Gave Me Something (And Everything's Alright)," reached number 12 that same year. Motown eventually purchased Ric-Tic, and they had another Top 20 R&B hit with "I Love You Madly," which came out in 1968 and was also issued on Soul. Before the Motown takeover, The Fantastic Four were the Ric-Tic label's biggest-selling act, outselling Edwin Starr in the USA. Their songs were regularly played on Detroit/Windsor's 50,000 watt powerhouse station, CKLW (The Big 8). They continued to record for Motown, releasing several singles under its Soul subsidiary label, until 1970, when they went into semi-retirement.

Several years later Armen Boladian persuaded them to sign with his Westbound label. There they enjoyed renewed appeal during the disco era, with some singles that were moderately successful, among them "Alvin Stone (The Birth & Death of a Gangster)" and "I Got to Have Your Love." Motown guitarist Dennis Coffey produced "B.Y.O.F. (Bring Your Own Funk)" in 1979, although they didn't have too much success with it. The song did become their only entry in the UK Singles Chart, peaking at #62 in February 1979.

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