Five Stairsteps & Cubie - Love's Happening

The Chicago group was dubbed 'First Family of Soul' because of their successful five-year chart run; the moniker was later passed on to the Jackson 5. Initially a teenage five-member brothers and sister vocal group made up of the offspring of Betty and Clarence Burke, the Five Stairsteps (named by Mrs. Burke who thought her kids looked like stair steps when lined up according to their age) featured lead singer Clarence Jr., Alohe, James, Dennis, and 13-year-old Kenneth ("Keni"). Most of the members attended Harlan High School. Clarence Sr. was a detective for the Chicago Police Department. He backed the group on bass guitar, managed them, and co-wrote songs with Clarence Jr. and Gregory Fowler.

After winning first prize in a talent contest at the Regal Theater, the Five Stairsteps were beset with recording contract offers. A close neighbor and family friend was Fred Cash of The Impressions, who introduced the group to Curtis Mayfield. Signed to Mayfield's Windy City imprint, which was distributed by the Philadelphia based Cameo Parkway record label, their first single was Gregory Fowler's penned ballad "You Waited Too Long" b/w "Don't Waste Your Time," a Mayfield song. A double-sided hit in Chicago, the A-side, "You Waited Too Long," charted number 16 in the Billboard R&B chart in spring of 1966. Around the end of 1967, Cameo-Parkway folded and Windy C switched to Buddah Records through former Cameo-Parkway executive Neil Bogart, who joined the new label as co-president. The group's second album, Family Portrait (complete with a montage of Burke family photos), was recorded and produced in Chicago by Clarence Jr. With the addition of their three-year-old brother, the group became the Five Stairsteps & Cubie. Family Portrait yielded two hit singles, "Something's Missing" and a cover of Jimmy Charles and the Revelletts' hit "A Million to One." The group often toured with the Impressions. After signing with Buddah Records, the group was once again known as the Five Stairsteps.

In the spring of 1970, the group released their biggest hit, "O-o-h Child" (written by Stan Vincent), which hit number 14 R&B and number eight on the Billboard Hot 100. This disc sold over one million copies, and received a gold disc awarded by the R.I.A.A. on August 1970. The falsetto bridge and ending ad-libs of the song are sung by the Stairsteps' cousin, Charles "Chaz" Simmons. The flip side of the single, a cover of Lennon/McCartney's "Dear Prudence," charted at number 49 R&B. The following year, the group resurfaced as the Stairsteps with two charting Buddah singles: "Didn't It Look So Easy" and "I Love You-Stop."

Words c/o http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Stairsteps

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Five
• Stairsteps
• Cubie
• Stair
• Steps
• Love's
• Loves
• Happening

[basementrecords100]

Can you please upload The Impressions version?

[lbouling]

Still listening to one of the best songs ever made! I feel young again!

[TheARLENE1]

@grapesfirst90 So smooth and sexy voice!

[grapesfirst90]

AWESOME! Thax for posting this treasure! The Five Stairsteps were definitely THE First Family of Soul!

[joeholl3333]

Thanku for posting this goes back to my junior high school days.( yes everything was made of rock back then!)

[colsnake331]

By the Stairsteps or The Impressions?

[M6i56]

Great song by the fabulous five stairsteps. This song would have made a nice music video back in the day. Curtis Mayfield wrote and produced this song.

[wufwufwufwuf]

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[gmdforlife14]

do you have the song i made a mistake

[gmdforlife14]

doyouhavethesongimadeamistakes­