Edwin Starr - Soul Singer '2018 / 2023

Tracks list

Tracklist:

01. It Ain't Fair
02. Red Hot
03. I Need Your Love
04. Grapevine (Part I)
05. Grapevine (Part II)
06. Soul Singer (Extended Version)
07. Eye To Eye Contact
08. Land Of 1000 Dances
09. Missiles (We Don't Want To Die)
10. Missiles (We Don't Want To Die) (Part II)


 moreStarr was born Charles Hatcher in Nashville, TN, on January 21, 1942
(his cousin was deep soul singer and songwriter Roger Hatcher). He grew up in
Cleveland and formed a doo wop quintet called the FutureTones while still in
high school. They won numerous local talent competitions and even recorded a
single for a small label, but Starr was drafted into the military in 1960,
stalling the group's momentum. When he returned in 1962, he tried to get things
going again, but to no avail; instead, he wound up joining Bill Doggett's group
as a featured vocalist in 1963. Two years later, Starr wrote what he felt was a
surefire hit in the spy-themed "Agent Double-O-Soul," and left Doggett's band to
sign with Ric Tic Records and settle in Detroit. "Agent Double-O-Soul" hit the
R&B Top Ten later in 1965, and just missed the pop Top 20. Starr capitalized on
the song's novelty appeal by appearing on-stage in a spy costume complete with
toy gun, but proved he was no one-trick pony by returning to the Top Ten a year
later with "Stop Her on Sight (S.O.S.)."

Motown head Berry Gordy subsequently bought out Ric Tic and took over its artist
roster, with Starr the crown jewel. Contract negotiations took some time, but
Starr rebounded with his biggest hit yet in 1969's "25 Miles," which reached the
Top Ten on both the pop and R&B charts. The follow-up, "I'm Still a Struggling
Man," wasn't as successful, and Starr was something of a forgotten man for
several months. When he returned to the studio, it was with producer Norman
Whitfield, who'd been reinventing the Temptations as a psychedelic soul act.
Whitfield had co-written a strident anti-war protest song, "War," for the Temps'
Psychedelic Shack LP, and in spite of growing demand for a single release,
Motown didn't want the group to take such an aggressive stance. Whitfield recut
"War" with Starr, and the resulting version was arguably the most incendiary
song Motown ever released. It zoomed to the top of the pop charts in 1970, and
its chorus -- powered by Starr's guttural delivery -- remains a catch phrase
even today.

The follow-up single, "Stop the War Now," was blatantly derivative, but made the
R&B Top Five anyway, and Starr went on to land another significant hit with
"Funky Music Sho' Nuff Turns Me On." In 1974, he handled the soundtrack to the
blaxploitation film Hell Up in Harlem, a sequel to the James Brown-scored Black
Caesar (Brown had originally been slated to do the follow-up as well). The lack
of promotion signaled that Starr's days with Motown were likely numbered; he
charted again in 1975 with "Pain," and bade farewell to the label with "Who's
Right or Wrong." He recorded albums for small labels, including 1975's Free to
Be Myself on Granite and 1977's Afternoon Sunshine on GTO, before finding a new
home on 20th Century in 1978. Here he briefly reinvented himself as a disco
singer, scoring his biggest hits in years with 1979's "Contact" and "H.A.P.P.Y.
Radio"; his final release with the label came in 1980.

Starr moved to the U.K. during the '80s, recording a Marvin Gaye tribute album
for Streetwave and a handful of singles for Hippodrome over 1985-1986. His
participation in the Ferry Aid charity project led to a deal with Virgin and a
session with the hot production team of Stock, Aitken & Waterman, but he didn't
take to their high-tech dance-pop style and instead moved to Ian Levine's Motown
revival label Motorcity from 1989-1991. Later he guested on dance remakes of his
past hits by Utah Saints ("Funky Music") and Three Amigos ("25 Miles"), but
otherwise recorded little until his death in 2003. © Steve Huey



Edwin Starr - Soul Singer FLAC.rar - 384.7 MB
Edwin Starr - Soul Singer MP3.rar - 116.3 MB

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