The “Golden Hits Of The 70s” 

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ONE HUNDRED PROOF AGED IN SOUL

“SOMEBODY’S BEEN SLEEPING”

(Greg Perry, General Johnson, Angelo Bond)

Hot Wax 7004

No. 8   November 14, 1970

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Clyde Wilson was born in Walhall, South Carolina, on Christmas morning, 1945. By 1954, he and his family

were living in Detroit. Clyde, along with Wilbert Jack­son, were signed by Harvey Fuqua to his HPC label as

the Two Friends.  Fuqua, former lead singer of the Moonglows, would later give the Spinners the opportu­

nity to record their debut disk, and would also be the main force behind New Birth, Sylvester, and the

NITE­ LITERS.  Unfortunately for Clyde and Wilbert, Fuqua’s magic did not work well for them: “Just Too

Much to Hope For” was a flop.

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Years later, Don Davis invited Clyde to record for his Wheelsville/Groovesville/Groove City labels. Davis

suggested that Clyde become “Steve Mancha.” Clyde acquiesced, and shortly after, the Mancha man made

the R & B charts with “I Don’t Wanna Lose You” (R&B: #34, 1966) and “Don’t Make Me a Story Teller”

(R&B: #34, 1967).

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When Clyde’s contract ran out, the Motor City souls at Holland-Dozier-Holland’s newly established Hot

Wax/Invictus complex enticed Clyde to join a Four Tops-ish unit to be called Aged in Soul; second press­ings

of their debut read: One Hundred Proof Aged in Soul. The original line-up included Clyde, Eddie Holi­day

(a.k.a. Eddie Anderson), and Joe Stubbs (brother of the Four Tops’ Levi Stubbs, and a veteran of THE FAL­

CONS and THE CONTOURS).  Before disagreements and mutiny set in, the Aged in Soul singers recorded

“Too Many Cooks (Spoil the Soup)” (#94; R&B: #28, 1969) but hit the big time with “Somebody’s Been

Sleep­ing”–written in part by General Johnson, who wrote “Patches” for Clarence Carter and was the lead

vocalist with both the Showmen and the Chairmen of the Board.  Two other raunchy recordings clicked

with pop/rock listeners: “One Man’s Leftovers (Is Another Man’s Feast)” (#96; R&B: #37, 1971) and

“Driveway” (R&B: #33, 1971).  Soul fans went for “90 Day Freeze (on Her Love)” (R&B: #34, 1971) and

“Everything Good Is Bad” (#45; R&B: #15, 1972).

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It was just as the “Sleeping” single topped out that the original group folded. Clyde then reformed the group

with guitarist Ron Byowski, percussionist Dave Case, drummer Darnell Hagen, and bassist Don Hatch­er.

Both “90 Day Freeze” (R&B: #34, 1971) and “Every­ thing Good Is Bad” (#45/15, 1972) sold quite well, but

successive 45s failed to even chart. In 1973, the group’s name was shelved, and Steve Mancha returned to

being Clyde Wilson, a gospel singer and producer for Heavy Faith Records.