Edwin Starr

Edwin Starr secured his place among soul immortals through the ferocious protest anthem "War," a single so potent that it alone would have cemented his reputation. He first gained attention under the alias "Agent Double-O-Soul," and after his move to Motown he stood out as one of the label’s most forceful and unpolished voices, clearly shaped by James Brown and the Stax school of raw delivery. Although nothing else quite replicated the impact of "War," he notched multiple Top Ten R&B entries across the late 1960s and early 1970s while enjoying a short-lived resurgence once disco took hold.

Born Charles Hatcher in Nashville, TN, on January 21, 1942—his cousin being the deep soul singer and songwriter Roger Hatcher—he spent his formative years in Cleveland. While still in high school he assembled the doo wop quintet the FutureTones, which captured several local talent contests and cut a lone single for a modest imprint. Military service interrupted that progress when he was drafted in 1960. Upon his return in 1962 he attempted to revive the group without success, instead joining Bill Doggett’s ensemble as featured vocalist in 1963. Two years later he composed the espionage-flavored "Agent Double-O-Soul," left Doggett, signed with Ric Tic Records, and relocated to Detroit. The track climbed to the R&B Top Ten before the year ended and came within a notch of the pop Top 20. Capitalizing on its theme, Starr performed in a spy outfit complete with toy pistol, yet demonstrated broader range by reaching the Top Ten again the following year with "Stop Her on Sight (S.O.S.)."

Berry Gordy soon acquired Ric Tic and its roster, regarding Starr as its standout acquisition. After protracted contract talks, the singer reemerged in 1969 with "25 Miles," his strongest showing to date, which placed in the Top Ten on both the pop and R&B charts. The next release, "I'm Still a Struggling Man," fared less well and left him temporarily overlooked. Returning to the studio with Norman Whitfield, the producer who had been reshaping the Temptations in a psychedelic soul vein, Starr was handed a forceful anti-war number originally written for the Temps’ Psychedelic Shack album. Motown declined to issue it as a single by the group, so Whitfield rerecorded the track with Starr, yielding what stands as perhaps the most incendiary release in the label’s history. The song shot to number one on the pop charts in 1970, its refrain—driven by Starr’s raspy growl—still echoing as a cultural shorthand today.

Its successor, "Stop the War Now," leaned too obviously on the same formula yet still reached the R&B Top Five, and Starr followed with another notable entry, "Funky Music Sho' Nuff Turns Me On." In 1974 he supplied the soundtrack for the blaxploitation picture Hell Up in Harlem, a sequel to the James Brown-scored Black Caesar (Brown having been the initial choice for the follow-up). Sparse promotion suggested his Motown tenure was winding down; he charted once more in 1975 with "Pain" before closing his association with "Who's Right or Wrong." Subsequent albums appeared on smaller imprints, among them Free to Be Myself on Granite in 1975 and Afternoon Sunshine on GTO in 1977. Signing with 20th Century in 1978, he briefly adopted a disco persona and scored his most substantial successes in some time via the 1979 singles "Contact" and "H.A.P.P.Y. Radio," his final outing for the company arriving in 1980.

During the 1980s Starr relocated to the U.K., where he recorded a Marvin Gaye tribute album for Streetwave and several singles for Hippodrome between 1985 and 1986. His involvement in the Ferry Aid charity effort secured a Virgin contract and a session with Stock, Aitken & Waterman, yet he ultimately rejected their polished dance-pop approach and spent 1989–1991 on Ian Levine’s Motorcity imprint, which specialized in Motown alumni. He later contributed guest vocals to dance reworkings of earlier material by Utah Saints ("Funky Music") and Three Amigos ("25 Miles"), though new recordings remained scarce until his death in 2003.