After winning first prize in a talent contest at the Regal Theater, the Five Stairsteps received recording contract offers. A close neighbor and family friend was Fred Cash of the Impressions, who introduced the group to Curtis Mayfield. They signed to Mayfield's Windy City imprint, which was distributed by the Philadelphia-based Cameo Parkway record label, their first single was Fowler's ballad "You Waited Too Long" backed by "Don't Waste Your Time", a Mayfield song. "You Waited Too Long" peaked at number 16 on "Billboard"s R&B chart in spring of 1966. Around the end of 1967, Cameo Parkway folded and Windy City switched to Buddah Records through former Cameo Parkway executive Neil Bogart, who joined the new label as co-president. The group's second album, "Family Portrait" (complete with a montage of Burke family photos), was recorded and produced in Chicago by Clarence Jr. With the addition of their three-year-old brother, the group became the Five Stairsteps & Cubie. "Family Portrait" yielded two hit singles, "Something's Missing" and a cover of Jimmy Charles and the Revellettes' hit "A Million to One". The group often toured with the Impressions. After signing with Buddah, the group was once again known as the Five Stairsteps.