*Clarence Burke Sr., an ex-Chicago detective who managed his kids, the soul group The Five Stairsteps, died July 16, one day before his 91st birthday.
His children— Clarence Jr., Keni, James, Dennis and sister Alohe – recalled their early music career and some of their father’s wild moments in a candid interview with the Chicago Sun-Times.
The Five Stairsteps are best known for their 1970 Stan Vincent song “O-o-h Child,” which played Aug. 18 after Jill Biden’s speech at the Democratic National Convention.
The song has also been featured in movies including “Boyz n the Hood,” “Crooklyn,” “Guardians of the Galaxy” and “Shark Tale.”
READ MORE: Joe Cobb, the ‘Voice’ of ‘Soul Train’ Says Viacom Owes Him Millions in Royalties [VIDEO]
Here’s more from the Chicago Sun-Times:
Once, after a show in Pittsburgh, “My brothers and sister come off the stage, and they all had some kind of substance on their jackets,” said Keni Burke, who didn’t play that night because he was sick. Clarence Burke Jr. “said, ‘Dad, there was this guy in the audience, and he was spitting on us.’
“My dad said, ‘Point him out.’ The next thing you know, the guy was flying across the room with a backhand left. Then, he got him again with a righthand slap. Before he could get a third one, the guy took off running.”
Keni Burke wondered why his 265-pound dad — who once hit a would-be assailant so hard that he fell into a mailbox, knocking it out of the ground — used a slap instead of a punch.
His father told him, “Because, son, I wanted him to feel it. I didn’t want to knock him out.”
“He was always thinking,” his son said.
“My dad was a policeman and his discipline was from the old school,” his son Keni said on July 17. “Love, respect, and family was everything. That is how he treated everyone he knew.”
Despite the horrors he saw as a detective, “It never came home with him,” his son said. “He was the kindest, sweetest guy. We’d all climb up on the bed with him, all of us, just jumping on him and playing.”
Clarence Burke Sr. died following a seizure in an Atlanta area hospital. His death, first reported by writer Dave Hoekstra, came after surgery.
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