The Butlers got to Guyden Records in 1963 when they saw a newspaper article that said that Jamie/Guyden was looking for talent. Organized at Germantown High School, the Butlers consisted of lead singer Frankie Beverly, first tenor John Fitch, bass Joe Collings, baritone T. Conway and second tenor Sonny Nicholson. They cut their own songs, “Lovable Girl” and “When I Grow Older” (Guyden 2081) with Jamie in-house producers Johnny Madara and Dave White. Frankie Beverly and the Butlers also worked with Philadelphia labels Cameo-Parkway and Kenny Gamble’s Neptune Records. Their breakthrough came after they changed their name to Maze, Frankie Butler moved to San Francisco and Marvin Gaye made them an opening act for his road tour. Signed to Capitol in the mid-70s, they had their first hits with the album, Maze featuring Frankie Beverly, which produced hit singles like "Lady of Magic," “While I'm Alone," and "Happy Feelin's,” followed by albums, Golden Time of Day, Inspiration (1979) and Joy and Pain (1980). Maze developed an international following through British DeeJay Robbie Vincent and sold out eight nights at the Hammersmith Odeon in May 1985. After several personnel changes, Maze consisted of Frankie Beverly, bass guitarist Robin Duhe, keyboardist Carl Wheeler, and percussionist McKinley "Bug" Williams.
The group released Can't Stop the Love in March 1985, which featured the group's first number one R&B hit "Back In Stride". The Top 5 follow-up, "Too Many Games", was part of that recording.
Maze signed with Warner Bros. in 1989 and had more hits, with a culminating tribute album in 2009 called "Silky Soul Music: An All Star Tribute to Maze Featuring Frankie Beverly."
