Five Special

Side A - Two Of A Kind (previously unissued)

Side B1 - Stone Chain Reaction (previously unissued)

Side B2 - (Let’s Stop Making) Small Talk

Catalogue # SJ566

Posted in: Release Listings

Release Date: Monday 26th October 2026

Five Special were a five-man all from Detroit harmony vocal group formed during 1973, three people from outside of the group members were partially responsible for its formation. It all started with a local choreographer, Kenneth Blake, who introduced Mike Pattillo then singing with a group “The Explosions” and Steve Harris from the group “Trouble”. Both unhappy with their then situations they decided to unite to form their own group. Following several months of futile searching, a fantastic singer Zeke Stanley then singing with the group “Deep Velvet” was mentioned to them. After several fruitless attempts to contact Zeke directly, fate intervened when the three of them found themselves a local dance one evening. With Zeke now in place with Mike and Steve the sound the threesome created was fantastic but they all agreed a five-man group with five potential lead singers was the way forward.

It was around this time that Mike Pattillo’s lifelong neighbour, Ron Banks (of ‘The Dramatics’) introduced the guys to Charles “Chuck” Underwood. Chuck had been involved in the music business from the early 60’s as a show promotor, one of many acts he promoted was The Dramatics. Chuck had known the group from their earliest days promoting them on the first record “Bingo/Somewhere” released in 1965 on Ed Wingate’s label of the same name but under the miscredited artist name of ‘The Dynamics’. Chuck’s relationship continued throughout the group’s darkest hour, the Algiers Motel Incident (made famous by the 2017 film ‘Detroit’) and onward to their time with Stax/Volt Records with him acting as their Road Manager. Just after the success of The Dramatics first album “What You See Is What You Get” for Volt Records William “Wee Gee” Howard and Elbert “Al” Wilkins left the group it was at this point that Chuck alongside the then remaining Dramatics members, Ron Banks, Larry “Squirrel” Demps and Willie Ford brought a nightclub which they named ‘Club Zodiac, The Home Of The Dramatics’. Club Zodiac would provide a platform for many of the local Detroit acts to perform, the likes of Chapter 8, The Exportations, Enchantment, amongst many others appeared there. Into 1973 and Chuck headed a consortium of prominent business men who had the audacious plan of buying out the Dramatics contracts from Groovesville Music and placing them on their own label. Groovesville supremo Don Davis flatly refused their offer. Undeterred Chuck pressed ahead with the formation of T.E.A.I Record Corporation (T.E.A.I being an abbreviation for “Tellin’ Everybody About It”), with Dramatics founder Ron Banks joining the label in an executive role only. This young and aspiring record company had sprung in to production during 1974 with their initial release on a local Detroit songstress Renee Williams “Special To Me/Are You My Brother”, followed by the labels second release ‘The Gaslight’ “Just Because Of You/It’s Just Like Magic” (later picked up for National distribution by Polydor).

Under the auspice of Chuck Underwood Mike, Steve and Zeke were introduced to the lead singer of a Southwest Detroit group the “Innovations” by the name of Greg Finley, who joined them. Now a four- man group the quest for a fifth member continued. After months of fruitless interviews and auditions through newspaper advertisements and recommendations and eventually feeling like they had worked their way through half the available entertainers in the city of Detroit, Ron Banks decide it was time for his younger brother to embark on a professional career. Bryan then singing by himself had honed his skills in many local Talent shows. Ron had previously resisted pushing Bryan forward due to him being only 16 years old and still at school, but after many rehearsals the full and dynamic sound of these five young men was deemed justifiable for Bryan to join the group. A further year of daily rehearsals in each other’s respective basements and ‘Club Zodiac’ followed before Bryan graduated from school. Still nameless at this time it was Steve Harris that came up with the group’s name ‘Five Special’ stating that these five young men were “very special and unique entertainers, with each member being a complete show in himself” with Bryan on lead the group sometimes sounded like “The Dramatics” with Mike on lead they sometimes sounded like “The Temptations” high comparisons indeed.

Five Special’s first T.E.A.I recording was the 1976 joyously uplifting dance track “The More I Get To Know You” a Jimmy Roach and Marcella Henderson composition featuring Bryan on lead vocals, released as a part I and part II, deemed to be a more disc-jockey friendly practice at the time. The record was a popular with radio stations throughout the Detroit metropolis and local sales proved healthy, Chuck Underwood went on to precure a deal with Polygram who picked the tracks up for release on their nationally distributed Mercury label. A second Five Special release followed in 1977, the Jimmy Roach penned mellifluous “(Let’s Stop Making) Small Talk” with Bryan again on lead, backed with the Ron Banks/Paul Clark penned psychedelic soul styled “Oh, Oh (Look What We’ve Done)” with Greg Finley and Zeke Stanley exchanging tenor and baritone parts throughout. Both releases were later felt by Chuck Underwood to have not been given the full weight of promotion by the major label that they deserved.

After securing the national distribution deal with Phonogram Chuck had begun work on a Five Special album project a further three songs to the already issued ones were completed with a further two believed to never have been started (we live in hope a rogue master tape may one day be discovered). The three unissued songs are “You Got To Be The One I Love” wrote and produced by Ron Banks and Chuck Underwood, with arrangements by Johnny Allen with interchanging leads from Bryan and Steve. The same producers/writers and arranger are present on the psychedelic soul “Stone Chain Reaction” with interchanging leads from Greg Finley and Zeke Stanley. The third and final song is the oh so soulful “Two Of A Kind” written and produced by Ron Banks with Johnny Allen again aiding and abetting as the arranger with lead vocal being provided by Steve Harris. Sometime during late 1977, Zeke Stanley was killed in a drive by shooting, the group continued as a vocal quartet while the search for a suitable replacement was found. During the late 1970’s Detroit schools were experiencing high levels of truancy with one of the main reasons being the lack of suitable footwear for many of the impoverished family’s children during the harsh winter months! Chuck Underwood, Ron Banks, Francis Mills and the Reverend Jim Holley of the Litte Rock Baptiste Church (then situated in the East side of Detroit) came up with a plan to raise money for these poorly shod children at Christmas. Abely assisted by local news reporter Bill Johnson of Radio WJR (a 24-hour news station) and celebrated Olympic gold medallist sprinter Wilma Rudolph (the first American woman to win 3 gold medals at the same Olympics, Rome 1960). After Wilma’s sporting career finished she became a leading civil and woman’s rights activist. Their plan involved holding a Celebrity Basketball Game with the Dean Henry Faggin’s help at the University of Detroit with entertainment prior to and after the game being provided by local aspiring talent. It was here that Steve Boyd came to the attention of Ron Banks with him going on to fill the void left by the tragic loss of Zeke Stanley. As for the shoe appeal enough money was successfully raised to provide 20,000 pairs of shoes for the underprivileged children, no mean feat indeed. T.E.A.I Records would eventually close its doors when Chuck Underwood temporarily retired from the music business through serious ill health although that would not be the end of Chuck or the T.E.A.I Records story. The original four members of Five Special now with the addition of Steve Boyd continued to work with Ron Banks. Ron took the group to the Elektra label who released three excellent albums on them. Firstly the 1979 self-titled ‘Five Special’ which featured the groups most successful single release “Why Leave Us Alone” which reached number 9 on the R&B charts. Their second album entitled “Special Edition” came in 1980 and their third and last album “Track’n” in 1981 before the group eventually broke up.

Post Five Special, Mike Pattillo went onto become a member of Dennis Edwards Temptations Revue with whom he still performs with to the present day, both Steve Harris and Greg Findley also spent time as members of Edward’s Temptations Revue. Steve Harris’s current whereabouts are unknown. Greg Finley after quitting the Temp’s Revue also quit secular music to concentrate on performing gospel music. Steve Boyd later had spells with George Clinton’s ever-changing P-Funk family. He also replaced Larry “Squirrel” Demps for a time after Demps left The Dramatics to concentrate on a teaching career. Boyd would later suffered permanent eye-sight problems following a innocuous visit to his Mother’s House during which a stray bullet entered the property through a window and struck him on the side of the head. Bryan Banks later quit the music business altogether to become a devoted family man.

Through Soul Junction’s on- going working relationship with Chuck Underwood, two, three track seven-inch singles containing both Five Special’s issued and unissued material have or are about to be released. Firstly, catalogue number SJ565 leading with for the very first time with the previously unreleased 5:50 minute full version of the acclaimed modern soul dance anthem “The More I Get To Know You” which has been received with great aplomb, backed with the previously unissued “You Got To Be The One That I Love” and the released Mercury 45 version of “Oh, Oh (Look What We’ve Done)” with interchanging leads between Greg and Zeke. We do have a unissued version which only features a solo lead singer and therefore lacks the punch of the issued version. Three songs, three different styles all of the highest quality.

For our second release on Five Special catalogue number SJ566 we have chosen to lead with the gorgeous unissued “Two OF A Kind” backed with another unissued psychedelic soul track the punchy “Stone Chain Reaction” coupled with the released mid 1970’s sweet soul masterpiece from the pen of Jimmy Roach “(Let’s Stop Making) Small Talk” another quality three track release from Soul Junction.



Words by: David Welding.

With acknowledgements to: Charles “Chuck” Underwood & Jimmy Roach.