7 Rooms of Gloom

"7 Rooms of Gloom" is a song originally recorded by the Motown Records vocal quartet the Four Tops. It was released as a single in 1967 on the Motown label and reached #14 on the Billboard Hot 100,^[1] and was a Top 10 R&B Hit, charting at #10. It was also a hit in the UK, their seventh, staying for nine weeks in the UK singles chart and reaching #12^[2] and in the Netherlands where it made #23 in the Dutch Top 40.^[3]

B-side"I'll Turn to Stone"

ReleasedMay 2, 1967

RecordedHitsville U.S.A. (Studio A); 1967

GenreSoul, pop

Quick facts Single by Four Tops, from the album Reach Out ...

"7 Rooms of Gloom"
Single by Four Tops
from the album Reach Out
B-side	"I'll Turn to Stone"
Released	May 2, 1967
Recorded	Hitsville U.S.A. (Studio A); 1967
Genre	Soul, pop
Length	2:46
Label	Motown
Songwriter	Holland–Dozier–Holland
Producers	Brian Holland Lamont Dozier
Four Tops singles chronology
"Bernadette" (1967) "7 Rooms of Gloom" (1967) "You Keep Running Away" (1967)

Close

Described as "throbbing with dread over a racing minor key dominated arrangement"^[4] it was written by Holland–Dozier–Holland. The single's B-side was "I'll Turn to Stone"^[5] also written by Holland-Dozier-Holland with R. Dean Taylor.^[6] That song made a separate chart entry, and peaked at #76 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #50 on the R&B Charts.

Cash Box called it a "thumping, fast-moving, blues-oriented rocker" that is a "real powerhouse."^[7] Record World called it "Top notch wailing from the Detroit group."^[8]

The song begins with Levi Stubbs doing a spoken recitation, which gets repeated twice with alterations.