"All Night Thing" by The Invisible Man's Band

Song#:  0174
Date:  05/17/1980
Debut:  79
Peak:  45
Weeks:  10
Genre:  R&B, Soul



Pop Bits:  In 1965 a group of five siblings (last name Burke) began a vocal group call The Five Stairsteps. In the late 60s they had some Top 20 R&B hits with most making to the lower rungs of the pop chart. They had their peak in 1970 when their now-classic single, "O-o-h Child" went to #8 and became a gold record. But the hits stopped soon after and the group disbanded. However, four of the Burke's reformed in 1979 as The Invisible Man's Band and released an album that featured this track. Although not a big pop hit, it did return them to the R&B Top 10. A second album didn't generate attention and the group split with the siblings going their own ways. Three of them still work in music while the rest of the family have gone on to their own careers in other fields.

ReduxReview:  Oh crap. Another 6+ minute R&B tune. Yeah, I know this one is more for the dance market, but still, a quality single can get the point across in 3-4 minutes. Here is my view:  wreck up the radio in a short time and leave folks wanting to hear it again. Long songs = boring and repetitive. This song peaked at around the 4 minute mark. If they had cut the long intro and tail end, this would be a solid funky single. Actually, I'm sure they did some edit for the radio but I can't find it. So I'm stuck with this version - and it is too long. However, I'd rate it better than most.

ReduxRating:  5/10

Trivia:  The Burke's story was similar to the Jackson's before they came along. Five siblings from the Chicago area made up the group with a sixth youngster briefly joining later. Plus, there were three more brothers who did not participate in the group. When they began having R&B hits, they garnered the nickname "the first family of soul." Of course the Jackson 5 would soon overshadow the group and become far more successful.

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