A smooth pop/R&B group, the Five Stairsteps were the forerunner of such family acts as THE SYLVERS and THE JACKSON FIVE. The Burke family vocalists included Clarence, Jr. (16, lead), Alohe (17, contralto), James (15, first tenor), Kenneth (13, second tenor), and Dennis (14, baritone). All attended Harlan High School in Chicago but were signing together before that. They had been encouraged and tutored by their police officer dad, Clarence Burke, Sr., while their mom, Betty Burke, had coached them on their harmonies.
They were named during rehearsal after their mother noticed that when they sat on the couch in order of size they looked like stairsteps. In 1966 the group entered a talent show at the renowned Regal Theatre and won. Proud Papa Burke was boasting of his group’s prowess to old associate Fred Cash in a food store when he discovered Fred was a member of THE IMPRESSIONS. Cash agreed to set up an audition with Impressions producer/lead singer Curtis Mayfield and the result was that Curtis took them to his newly formed Windy C label distributed by Philadelphia’s Cameo Records. Curtis began producing for the act, and in the spring of 1966 they had their first single and hit,
“You Waited Too Long” (#94 Pop, #16 R&B).“You Waited” initiated a string of ballad charters throughout 1966 and 1967. Six of their seven Windy C releases made both the R&B and Pop hits list,
"Danger She's A Stranger",
"Behind Curtains", and the biggest being
“World of Fantasy” (#49 Pop, #12 R&B) in the summer of 1966.
In 1967 Mayfield established a relationship with Buddah Records of New York and brought them the Five Stairsteps, who now included the youngest member of any group on record. Michael Jackson started his career as an elder statesman compared to two-year-old Cubbie Burke, who first appeared on the December 1967 “Something’s Missing” (#88 Pop, #17 R&B).At the other end of the age scale, Papa Burke began playing bass for the group.In 1970, Stan Vincent took over production and created their biggest hit, the pop ballad
“O-o-h Child” (#8 Pop, #14 R&B).Often biling themselves as “America’s First Family of Soul,” the Five Stairsteps began to diversify into rock and pop, reducing public interest and creating disputes among the members.
Their last hit was
“From Us to You” in 1976 for George Harrison’s Dark Horse label (#102 Pop, #10 R&B). They disbanded soon after. The four boys, with Clarence on lead (minus Cubbie and
..... (Continued in the next column) ====>
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