Those inclined to bash the music of the 1970s as silly, escapist nonsense can only do so by ignoring the vitality of soul in the early part of the decade. As late as 1972, old-school soul records were charting regularly and riding high: that summer, “I’ll Take You There” by the Staple Singers hit Number One and “I Gotcha” by Joe Tex reached Number Two. A year earlier, one of the deepest soul records ever to chart just missed the Top 10: “She’s Not Just Another Woman” by the 8th Day. The lyrics are down-home and real, delivered in a soul shout that owes more than a little to gospel music. There’s scarcely anything pop about it; nevertheless, it reached Number 11 on the Hot 100 during the week of July 3, 1971, right up there with Hamilton Joe Frank and Reynolds, the Carpenters, and Donny freakin’ Osmond.
But the 8th Day didn’t exist. The Invictus/Hot Wax label, run by ex-Motown writer/producers Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier, and Eddie Holland, often cut tracks with whatever singers and musicians were at hand on a given day and decided later how to release them. “She’s Not Just Another Woman” was cut by members of 100 Proof Aged in Soul. When “Somebody’s Been Sleeping” became a hit for them late in 1970. Invictus didn’t want a second release by the same group to undercut its sales, so they released “She’s Not Just Another Woman” under the name of the 8th Day. When a version of the 8th Day was assembled to go on tour, 100 Proof lead singer Steve Mancha, who had sung “She’s Not Just Another Woman,” joined, but performed under a different name, apparently to preserve the illusion that the two groups were separate.
Given the influence of powerful moguls like Berry Gordy and Holland/Dozier/Holland at the labels they founded, its a wonder this kind of thing didn’t happen more often.
“Somebody’s Been Sleeping”/100 Proof Aged in Soul
“She’s Not Just Another Woman”/8th Day (get ‘em both on this box set, which may be more Invictus soul than you need; find a less-expensive out-of-print compilation here)
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I have an album by a pop group called “The Eighth Day” on Kapp Records. No date on the album but I’m guessing I got it around 1968. No relation, of course, to the group mentioned in this blog.
that group was a group my sister was in ,,in l968,,,id really love to have that copy if you read this reply