DUKE FAKIR, R.I.P.

With the death of Duke Fakir, the last surviving member of the original The Four Tops, last week, the music world lost not just a classic performer, but it signals that it’s getting close to the end of a legendary musical era. More sorrowful than that, though, is that we now mourn a lovely person.

Duke Fakir.

I’m happy to say that I knew Duke, if only for a few days. But, boy, did he make an impression on me.

For those of you who don’t know, I once opened for The Temptations and The Four Tops! Surprising, I know. You may be thinking, “As what???” Heck, I’m still asking myself that!!!

The very quick story, as background for my little tribute to Duke here, is that the guy who booked the talent for a theater in Beverly Hills called me when I was doing my TV show, and asked if I’d like to open for Aretha Franklin! Thinking it must be a joke, since I was not a stand-up comedian, I inquired if they, by any chance, had the Temptations coming up there. He checked the schedule and said, “Yes! I have them with The Four Tops! Would you like to open for them, too?” I could not believe that he actually had that pair of iconic groups, and together, to boot. And that he was offering for me to open for them!

Of course, I accepted the gig because I could not give up the opportunity to meet these childhood idols of mine, and I wanted my fellow fan of theirs, Mr. X, to get to do so, as well. I also wanted to be able to give free tix to this glorious show to over three dozen of my friends, and I wanted my ex-boyfriend to have the once-in-a-lifetime thrill of announcing me with his beautiful deep voice. It was a win for all of us, even though I knew I would be sacrificing my pride because I had no idea what I was doing on that stage!

The marquee with all of our names on it! Photo by Mr. X, to whom I’m forever grateful for taking it! None of us thought to take pix of me with the guys, but thank goodness I have this image!

There’s so much more to the story, but this is neither the time nor place. I’m just explaining the situation so I can tell you just how nice Duke Fakir was to me. All those performers were pretty supportive, but Duke was by far the nicest of all.

I wound-up doing four shows with them, and Duke seemed to always be there for me. He perpetually had a smile on his face and offered me compliments about what I was doing. Having never done stand-up before, this was absolutely the wrong venue for me, but seeing Duke there actually made it easier.

I stood in the wings for each performance to get to watch their show up-close and personal. What a wonderful experience that was! It was actually worth the embarrassment of how bad I was! The best part was that during one of the Tops’ songs, when they would stop dancing for a second in the middle and sort-of point-out at the audience, Duke always pointed to me in the wings, and gave me a big smile. I was in heaven, and that image has given me that same feeling ever since then. It was like our little secret, and I adored him for that.

The Four Tops in their younger days. I hope they’re now entertaining everyone in heaven.

I saw the Tops again a few years later. They were performing at one of the major venues in town, at a time when I was having vocal cord issues. I was so frustrated to not be able to sing along with the group and the audience. I cried through a lot of the show.

But I cheered-up after it when I went backstage. Even though I could not really even speak then, Duke remembered me right away, and ran right over to greet me.

I always assumed that we would run into each other again, but, sadly, it was not to be. I still thank him for the kind memories which mean a lot to me.

And now my heart goes out to Duke’s family and friends and especially his fans around the world, one of whom I am, of course.

R.I.P., Duke Fakir.