The Topics
Band members Related acts
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line up 1 (1965) as The Uniteds - Wesley "Bobby" Adams (RIP) -- vocals - Vaughan Curtis -- vocals - Gerald Jones.-- vocals - Ronnie McCoy -- vocals
line up 2 (1965-66) as The Cymbals - Wesley Adams "Bobby" (RIP) -- vocals - Vaughan Curtis -- vocals - Ronnie McCoy -- vocals
line up 3 (1966) as The Topics - Wesley Adams "Bobby" (RIP) -- vocals - Vaughan Curtis -- vocals - Ronnie McCoy -- vocals
line up 4 (1966) as The Topics - Wesley Adams "Bobby" (RIP) -- vocals - Vaughan Curtis -- vocals - Ronnie McCoy -- vocals NEW - Charles "Charlie" Stodghill (RIP) -- vocals
line up 5 (1966) as The Topics - Wesley Adams "Bobby" (RIP)-- vocals - Vaughan Curtis -- vocals - Ronnie McCoy -- vocals NEW - Robert Lewis (RIP) -- vocals (replaced Charles Stodghill)
line up 46(1972) - Wesley Adams "Bobby" (RIP) -- vocals - Vaughan Curtis -- vocals - Ronnie McCoy -- vocals NEW - Yvonne McCoy -- vocals NEW - Robert Radcliffe -- vocals
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- Ronald McCoy (solo efforts) - The Persuaders (Charles Stodghill) - The Ringling Brothers (Robert Lewis) - Triple Threat (Ronald McCoy and Yvonne McCoy)
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Genre: soul Rating: **** (4 stars) Title: Giving Up Company: P-Vine Catalog: PKP-7130 Country/State: Newark, New Jersey Grade (cover/record): NM/NM Comments: Japanese reissue Available: 1 Catalog ID: -- Price: $50.00
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Two things about The Topics: 1.) Their biography and discographies are a lengthy and confusing mess. 2.) Led by front man Ronald McCoy, they epitomize the concept of persistence. In spite of never making it big and decades spent enduring some of the most flagrant abuses the music industry can subject artists to, McCoy and company never gave up the dream of becoming stars.
Newark, New Jersey's The Topics track their roots back to 1964 when John Wesley Adams, Vaughan Curtis and Ronald McCoy started performing as a street corner group. With the addition of Gerald Jones, as The Uniteds, by January 1965 they'd recorded a couple of demos for Chess Records, but were dropped by the label; their recordings shelved.
The trio captured the attention of Abner Spector's Philadelphia-based Tuff Records, but nothing was recorded. Under the moniker The Cymbals the signed with Joe Evan's Carnival Records. Evans demanded the group drop The Cymbals moniker (using it to promote another group he'd signed - :ee Williams & the Cymbals) and as The Topics they made their debut with a 1966 single:
- 1966's "She's So Fine" b/w "I Don't Have To Cry" (Carnival catalog number CAR 520)
Over the next twelve years the group underwent a never ending string of personnel changes (according to McCoy, at least thirty people came and went), releasing a series of seven singles across seven mostly small labels. They also signed with Atlantic and Lloyd Price's TSG, but, their demos were shelved.
- 1967's "Hey Girl (Where Are You Going?) "b/w "If Love Comes Knockin'" (Chadwick catalog number CH-102) - 1972's "All Good Things Must End" b/w "Try A Little Love" (Heavy Duty catalog number HD 3) - 1973's "Booking Up Baby" b/w "Giving Up" (Mercury catalog number 73447) - 1974's "Please, Take This Heart Of Mine" b/w "All Good Things Must End" (Brothers III catalog number BT 100) CREDITED TO THE TROPICS - 1976's "God and You" b/w "God and You" (Noodle catalog TC-1120) - 1977's "Women's Liberation" b/w "I'll Understand" (Castle catalog number C.A. 1002) - 1978's "Choice of a Million Girls" b/w "Man" (Token catalog number 007A/008B)
How The Topics ended up on Lloyd Price's TSG label is a mystery to me. The original TSG release of "Giving Up" (ironic album title) was a compilation pulling together a mixture of earlier singles and unreleased tracks. Like many tax scam releases, there was little biographical or performance information provided and the sleeve listing didn't even get the track listing right. As an example the song "Booking Up Baby" wasn't even reflected in the track listing. Speaking of track listing, here's the track listing for the 1976 pressing:
"Giving
Up" track listing: 1.) God And You (Ronald Millender) - 3:34 2.) Got To Get You Back (Ronald McCoy) - 3:24 3.) Wichita Lineman (Jimmy. Webb) - 3:38 4.) At Last It's Over (Ronald McCoy) - 2:46 5.) All Good Things Can't Last (Ronald McCoy - Wesley Adams) - 3:04
(side 2) 1.) Giving Up (Van McCoy) - 2.) Moving On Down The Line NOT LISTED 3.) Booking Up Baby (C. Gumba) - 2:52 4.) You've Got The Power (Ronald McCoy) - 2:49 5.) You're Love Comes Slower Than Never 6.) Please Take This Heart Of Mine (Ronald McCoy) - 2:52
The
original TSG package is hen's teeth rare routinely going for $2,500- $4,000
among soul aficionados. Given the album's rarity and high asking
prices it shouldn't have come as a surprise reissue labels would appear on
the scene. In this case avid Japanese collectors Yasufumi Higurashi
and Akira Koch's P-Vine Records acquired rights to the LP (and several other
TSG releases). What makes this reissue package interesting, or
baffling is the fact it reflected a different s
"Giving Up" track listing: 1.) You've Got The Power (Ronald McCoy) - 2:49 rating: **** stars With Curtis and McCoy sharing lead vocals "You've Got the Power" was a classic slice of 'early '70s soul with a social activist message. Imagine a more frenetic version of prime Curtis Mayfield and the Impressions and you'll get a feel for the performance. I love this timepiece stuff ... 2.) Have You Ever (B. Clark - G. Gill) - 3.) Please Take This Heart of Mine (Ronald McCoy) - 2:52 rating: *** stars Taking a page out of Berry Gordy Jr.'s marketing manual, "Please Take This Heart of Mine" found The Topics taking a stab at a big, heavily orchestrated, middle-of-the-road ballad. The song wasn't bad, but surrounded by waves of instrumentation, they sounded like they were holding on for dear life. The song was originally released as the "B" side of their 1976 "All Good Things Must End" 45 (Brothers III catalog number BT 100). The album version featured heavier orchestration that found on the single. 4.) At Last It's Over (Ronald McCoy) - 2:46 rating: **** stars The album's standout performance, the bouncy "At Last It's Over" had a great melody, wonderful chorus (the harmonies reminded me of an early Jackson Five arrangement), fantastic McCoy lead vocal. and nice set of "screw you" lyrics.
(side
2) Written and arranged by Van McCoy, the mid-tempo "Got To Get You Back" sported one of the album's catchiest melodies with a great, yearning lead vocal from McCoy. It would have made a nice single.. 2.) Wichita Lineman (Jimmy Webb) - 3:38 rating: ** stars 3.) Rainy Night In Georgia (Tony Joe White) rating: ** stars The track listing shows these as separate performances, but they're actually performed as a two part suite. Don't like the Glen Campbell and Brooks Benton original versions, so the remake didn't do anything for me. 4.) God And You (Ronald Millender) - 3:34 rating: **** stars This one was previously released as a 1976 single on the small New York City Noodle label, The label mistakenly credited the song to "The Tropics". "God and You" featured Yvonne and Ronald McCoy on lead vocals. A sweet ballad blending Gospel and soul influences, it was certainly an atypical performance, but stood as one of the album's highlights. (YouTube has a clip of the song where someone wrote in claiming the lead vocals were provided by his late mother Janie Jones.)
© Scott R. Blackerby July 2026
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of songs than found on the original LP. Whereas the original album
featured eleven performances, the reissue included eight songs.
Missing in action were the 1972 single "All
Good Things Can't Last",
the 1973 single "Booking Up Baby" and the "B" side
"Giving Up", "Moving On Down the Line" and "You're
Love Comes Slower Than Never ". Not included on the original album was
"Have You Ever". So what about the material? Well, as
a big fan of '60s and ;70s soul vocal groups it should appeal to anyone who
likes soul groups like The Chi-Lites, The Impressions and The O'Jays.
The P-Vine reissue offered up a mixture of Ronald McCoy penned originals
rounded out by a mixture of four cover tunes.
Musically it featured a standard mix of big ballads ("Please
Take This Heart of Mine"
and "Wichita Lineman"/"Rainy Night In Georgia") and more
up-tempo dance tunes ("You've Got The Power" and "At Last
It's Over"). The arrangements were occasionally a bit on the
intrusive side (their "Wichita
Lineman/Rainy Night In Georgia" suite). While McCoy may not have
been as instantly recognizable as a Levi Stubbs, or Teddy Pendergrass, he
had a great voice, capable of handling everything thrown at him. Then
wife Yvonne McCoy was great on
"God and You". Elsewhere
the different line-ups spotlighted on the album were all strong vocalists
who were also excellent harmony singers.