I was watching the 70’s on TV and a song was playing in the background. “ooohhh child things are gonna get easier, ooohhh, child things wil be brighter…” anyone know who sings it?
I think that’s “Ooh, Child” by a group called “Five Stairsteps”. Correct me if I’m wrong.
a quick search on http://www.allmusic.com reveals the following info:
The title of the song is, I believe, “Ooh, Child” since a search under this title revealed 38 hits. It would appear that the song was written by Stan Vincent and recorded by numerous groups, though the first big hit with it came in 1970 by The Five Stairsteps, which was the groups sole gold record, and topped out at #8 on the Billboard top 100. The same group also recorded the classic soul standard “Ooh Baby Baby” and took it to #16 in 1964.
It was also recorded by The Spinners (“Could it Be I’m Falling In Love”) in 1972. An earlier version was recorded by jazz vocalist Nina Simone in 1967 on a rock/soul covers album that was panned by the critics. Simone performed several other songs that fell on deaf ears before they became famous; including “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood” later performed and made famous by The Animals. Other versions include one in 1977 by Joni Mitchell wanabe Valerie Carter, and a rap version by the duo Nice and Smooth in 1997.
The two most popular versions were by The Five Stairsteps, most likely the source of the version in the TV show, and by The Spinners, which didn’t chart as high, but regularly appears on Spinners greatest hits albums.
Hope that was thorough enough for you…