At age nine, he saw Frankie Lymon who had a profound influence on him and consequently he became known as "Little Frankie".

His first band as leader was The Blenders, a short-lived a cappella doo-wop group. In 1963, he founded The Butlers and recorded for various labels, including: undefined, undefined and undefined. In 1970, Frankie started a new band called Raw Soul. They got their big break when Janis Hunter saw the band and told her fiancé Marvin Gaye about them. Marvin was impressed and they opened for him on his I Want You tour. He persuaded them to change their name and they became Maze.

Maze signed to Capitol Records in 1977.