"COME CLOSER TO ME"

The Mad Lads were from Memphis, Tennessee, and were comprised of John Gary Williams, Julius Green, William Brown and Robert Phillips. Although not one of the premier Stax Records acts, this quartet enjoyed seven R&B hits between 1965 and 1969. After changing their name from the Emeralds, their first single, "The Sidewalk Surf", flopped, but the group placed three singles in the R&B Top 20 in 1965-66, the best-known being "I Want Someone". Their first hit, "Don’t Want To Shop Around", was curiously anachronistic, owing more to doo-wop than southern soul. Later releases, including the perky "Sugar Sugar", were more typical, but the group was increasingly obscured by its more successful counterparts. In 1966, Williams and Brown were drafted and replaced by Sam Nelson and Quincy Clifton Billops Jnr.

Their '66 LP, Mad Lads in Action, features some classic soul tracks like "Come Closer to Me." There's also a killer drum break on their version of "Get Out of My Life, Woman."