 After winning the university's annual freshman talent contest, they played at fraternity parties as well as a weekend gig at the Black Forest Inn, one of a few clubs in Tuskegee that catered to college students.They performed cover tunes and some original songs with their first singer, James Ingram (not the famous solo artist).Ingram, older than the rest of the band, left to serve in Vietnam, and was later replaced by Walter "Clyde" Orange, who wrote or co-wrote many of their hits.