8th Day

In the closing years of the 1960s, Lamont Dozier along with Eddie and Brian Holland placed numerous ensembles on their roster of imprints—Invictus, Hot Wax, and Music Merchant—many of which had been hastily assembled from available talent rather than formed organically. Once those companies collapsed, the acts likewise dissolved, having shared neither personal bonds nor lasting connections. Consequently, compositions issued through Gold Forever Music, among them the hits “Want Ads,” “Give Me Just a Little More Time,” “Somebody’s Been Sleeping in My Bed,” “Westbound #9,” and “She’s Not Just Another Woman,” rarely appear in live sets today.

During autumn 1970 the collective known as 100 Proof reached the pop charts with “Somebody’s Been Sleeping in My Bed,” fronted by Steve Mancha, born Clyde Wilson. The track marked their follow-up to the R&B-charting debut “Too Many Cooks Spoil the Soup,” yet it climbed to number eight on the pop listings and achieved million-selling status. Hot Wax promptly issued an accompanying album. Radio programmers had already begun spinning “She’s Not Just Another Woman” from that LP, prompting HDH to issue the same recording—again led by Mancha—on Invictus under the fresh moniker 8th Day so as not to stall 100 Proof’s momentum.

The release climbed steadily and secured substantial airplay, although no functioning group existed behind the name. While the subsequent 8th Day single “You Got to Crawl Before You Walk” continued its ascent, HDH recruited Melvin Davis, a prior solo artist on Invictus, together with Antonio “Tony” Newsome, Lyman Woodard, Larry Hutchison, Ron Bykowski, and three female vocalists to give the project a tangible lineup. Later releases by this configuration never matched the impact of the initial hit, on which none of the new members had performed.

Davis found the environment at Invictus and Hot Wax stifling, remarking that “there was no place to jam or exchange ideas.” He also sought greater creative scope and chafed against the regimented methods employed by HDH. He continues to reside in Detroit, where he has composed such works as “I Don’t Wanna Lose You” for Johnny Taylor and “Love Bug Got a Bear Hug.” Bykowski subsequently performed and recorded with Parliament/Funkadelic.