Eight Minutes: straight outta chicago’s soul cradle

The Eight Minutes were yet another family based kiddie soul group out of Chicago.  Oh yes, there were a bunch. For those just joining us, let’s recap:

There’s The Five Stairsteps: The Burke Family is of course best known for “Oooh Ooh Child”, but recorded a number of classy Chicago cuts on Curtis Mayfield‘s stable of labels in the sixties (some of which were penned by Mayfield himself)

Of Course, Gary, Indiana gave rise to The Jackson Five a few years later… The first cut was “Big Boy”, cut on Steeltown records well before Motown took notice

By the late sixties/early seventies came a slew of others, including Brighter Side of Darkness (known for “Love Jones”) and The Eight Minutes.  Phew…..

Anyway, the Eight Minutes mainly consisted of the children of two families: the Sudduths and the Goggins, plus Juwanna Glover and Carl Monroe.  They started out in the late sixties  on the Zago/Porter family of labels here in Chicago, releasing a bunch of rare, funky, danceable cuts, including: “Here’s Some Dances” and “Ain’t got Time”.  They put out a couple more singles, both related to Perception Records out of New York, who also released a very rare LP by the group, titled “American Family”.  Even though the group had a very high level of quality in their records, they never really impacted the charts, disbanding soon after the release of their only album.

Eight Minutes Discography:

Jay Pee 100 – Take My Love And Set Me Free (Part 1) / Take My Love And Set Me
Free (Part 2) – 1968
Jay Pee 125 – Oh Yes I Do / Time For A Change –
1968
Jay Pee 130 – Will You Still Be Mine / Here’s Some Dances – 1968
Jay
Pee 200 – Take My Love, Don’t Set Me Free / Let’s Sign A Peace Treaty –
1969
Perception 511 – Next Time He’ll Be Good / I Can’t Wait –
1972
Perception 533 – Looking For A Brand New Game / Find One Who Loves You –
1973