Bernadette

"Bernadette"
Single by Four Tops
from the album Reach Out
B-side	"Something About You"
Released	February 16, 1967
Format	7" single
Recorded	Hitsville U.S.A. (Studio A); 1966
Genre	Soul/pop
Length	3:00
Label	Motown M 1104
Writer(s)	Holland–Dozier–Holland
Producer	Brian Holland Lamont Dozier
Four Tops singles chronology
"Standing in the Shadows of Love" 1966 "Bernadette" 1967 "7-Rooms of Gloom" 1967

For other uses, see Bernadette

"Bernadette" is a 1967 hit song recorded by the Four Tops for the Motown label. Written and produced by Motown's main production team, Holland–Dozier–Holland, the song is one of the most well-known Motown tunes of the 1960s. Depicting a man's excessive desire for and jealousy over his girlfriend, the song reached #4 on the Billboard Hot 100, and was The Four Tops's final Top 10 hit of the 1960s. In 1972, the song "Keeper of the Castle" would return them to the Top 10 charts. "Bernadette" was known for its false ending, when the chorus holds a long cadence note and then Levi Stubbs shouts out the title and goes on with his insecure passions as the song ends in a fade out.

Covers

The song was remade in French and released by Claude François under the same title.^[1]

Personnel

• Lead vocals by Levi Stubbs
• Background vocals by Abdul "Duke" Fakir, Renaldo "Obie" Benson, Lawrence Payton, and The Andantes: Jackie Hicks, Marlene Barrow, and Louvain Demps
• Instrumentation by The Funk Brothers

• Written by Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier, and Edward Holland, Jr.
• Produced by Brian Holland and Lamont Dozier

Pop Culture references to Bernadette

In Madhouse (1990 film) starring John Larroquette and Kirstie Alley, John Larroquette and John Diehl perform a dance to the song in a bar after reminiscing about high school.

It is also included in the soundtrack of Zodiac (film).

In the episode titled "The Vengeance Formulation" of the third season of The Big Bang Theory. The song was performed freestyle by the character Howard Wolowitz (Simon Helberg) in order to win back the affection of his homonymous girlfriend.^[2] In a later episode, the Wolowitz comments that he uses the song as a custom ringtone.

Notes and references

v d e Four Tops Abdul "Duke" Fakir · Ronnie McNeir · Roquel Payton · Harold Bonhart Lawrence Payton · Renaldo "Obie" Benson · Levi Stubbs · Theo Peoples Studio albums Four Tops (1964) · Four Tops' Second Album (1965) · On Top (1966) · Reach Out (1967) · Yesterday's Dreams (1968) · The Four Tops Now! (1969) · Soul Spin (1969) · Still Waters Run Deep (1970) · Changing Times (1970) · Nature Planned It (1972) · Keeper of the Castle (1972) · Main Street People (1973) · Meeting the Minds (1974) · Night Lights Harmony (1975) · Catfish (1976) · The Show Must Go On (1977) · At The Top (1978) · Tonight! (1981) · One More Mountain (1982) · Back Where I Belong (1983) · Magic (1985) · Hot Nights (1986) · Indestructible (1988) Albums with The Supremes The Magnificent 7 (1970) · The Return of the Magnificent Seven (1971) · Dynamite (1971) Other albums Four Tops Live! (1966) · Live & in Concert (1974) · Christmas Here With You (1995) · The Ultimate Collection (1997) · Lost & Found: Breaking Through (1999) Singles (US/UK Top Ten singles) "I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)" (1965) · "It's the Same Old Song" (1965) · "Reach Out I'll Be There" (1966) · "Standing in the Shadows of Love" (1966) · "Bernadette" (1967) · "If I Were a Carpenter" (1967) · "Walk Away Renée" (1968) · "Still Water (Love)" (1970) · "It's All in the Game" (1970) · "River Deep – Mountain High" (1971) · "MacArthur Park" (1971) · "A Simple Game" (1972) · "Keeper of the Castle" (1972) · "Ain't No Woman (Like the One I've Got)" (1973) · "When She Was My Girl" (1981) · "Loco in Acapulco" (1988) Related topics Discography · Members · Holland–Dozier–Holland · The Supremes Book:Four Tops

v d e Four Tops singles discography 1960s 1964: "Baby I Need Your Loving" · "Without the One You Love (Life's not Worth While)" 1965: "Ask the Lonely" · "I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)" · "It's the Same Old Song" · "Something About You" 1966: "Shake Me, Wake Me (When It's Over)" · "Loving You Is Sweeter Than Ever" · "Reach Out I'll Be There" · "Standing in the Shadows of Love" 1967: "Bernadette" · "7-Rooms of Gloom" / "I'll Turn to Stone" · "You Keep Running Away" 1968: "Walk Away Renée" · "If I Were a Carpenter" · "Yesterday's Dreams" · "I'm in a Different World" 1969: "What Is a Man" · "Do What You Gotta Do" · "Don't Let Him Take Your Love from Me" 1970s 1970: "I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)" (re-issue) · "It's All in the Game" · "Still Water (Love)" · "River Deep – Mountain High" (with The Supremes) 1971: "Just Seven Numbers (Can Straighten Out My Life)" · "You Gotta Have Love in Your Heart" (with The Supremes) · "In These Changing Times" · "MacArthur Park (Part II)" 1972: "A Simple Game" · "Bernadette" (re-issue) · "Walk with Me, Talk with Me, Darling" · "(It's the Way) Nature Planned It" · "Keeper of the Castle" 1973: "Ain't No Woman (Like the One I've Got)" · "Are You Man Enough" · "Sweet Understanding Love" 1974: "I Just Can't Get You Out of My Mind" · "One Chain Don't Make No Prison" · "Midnight Flower" 1975: "Seven Lonely Nights" · "We All Gotta Stick Together" 1976: "Catfish" · "I'm Glad You Walked into My Life" 1980s 1981: "When She Was My Girl" · "Don't Walk Away" 1982: "Let Me Set You Free" · "Back to School Again" · "Sad Hearts" · "Tonight I'm Gonna Love You All Over" 1983: "I Believe in You and Me" · "I Just Can't Walk Away" 1985: "Sexy Ways" 1988: "Reach Out I'll Be There" (re-issue) · "If Ever a Love There Was" (with Aretha Franklin) · "Indestructible" 1989: "Loco in Acapulco" Book:Four Tops