One Hit Wonder: Edwin Starr

Welcome to Rock and Roll Flashback!  I’m Jumpin’ John, and in this podcast episode I will transport you listeners back to the United States during the year 1970!  Back then, the US was deeply involved in the Vietnam War.  That war was a long, costly, and divisive conflict that pitted the communist government of North Vietnam against South Vietnam and its principal ally, the United States.  More than 3 million people, including over 58,000 Americans, were killed in the Vietnam War.  More than half of the dead were Vietnamese civilians.

Opposition to the war in the United States bitterly divided Americans, and a song that emerged that year would become both a significant hit and one of the most successful protest songs in pop music history.  This is the story of Edwin Starr, and his version of the one hit wonder song entitled "War"!

All podcasts on the Rock and Roll Flashback Podcast are produced by brothers-in-law Bill Price and "Jumpin' John" McDermott. The Podcast Theme Song, "You Essay", was written by John. It was initially recorded by Bill and John on April 1, 2004 with several revisions since then.
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Transcript

Welcome to Rock and Roll Flashback!  I’m Jumpin’ John, and in this podcast episode I will transport you listeners back to the United States during the year 1970!  Back then, the US was deeply involved in the Vietnam War.  That war was a long, costly, and divisive conflict that pitted the communist government of North Vietnam against South Vietnam and its principal ally, the United States.  More than 3 million people, including over 58,000 Americans, were killed in the Vietnam War.  More than half of the dead were Vietnamese civilians.

Opposition to the war in the United States bitterly divided Americans, and a song that emerged that year would become both a significant hit and one of the most successful protest songs in pop music history.  This is the story of Edwin Starr, and his version of the one hit wonder song entitled "War"!

Charles Edwin Hatcher was born in Nashville, Tennessee, on January 21st, 1942.  Growing up in Cleveland, Ohio, fifteen year old Hatcher began his singing career when he formed a five man doo-wop group called the Future Tones.  Then, after three years of military service in the US Army, Hatcher joined the musical group of Bill Doggett.  Doggett's manager, Don Briggs, suggested that Hatcher adopt the name "Edwin Starr" (no relation to Richard Starkey!).  Starr made his solo recording debut in 1965 for the Detroit record company Ric-Tic.  After several minor hits, Edwin stayed with Motown when Berry Gordy bought out Ric-Tic.  In 1969 Starr recorded a song called "Twenty-Five Miles".  The song broke into the Top 10, peaking at #6 in both the Hot 100 and the R&B Charts.  "Twenty-Five Miles" might have been Edwin Starr's only chart success, however, fate would prove otherwise!

In 1969 two of Motown Record’s principal songwriters and frequent collaborators, Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong, wrote an anti-Vietnam War song.  That song, simply called "War", was originally recorded by the Temptations on their Psychedelic Shack album.  Norman Whitfield handled the album's production, and the LP was released on March 6th, 1970.  Very quickly Motown began receiving repeated requests to release "War" as a single.  However, the label feared that America’s conservative war hawks would kill the career of the Temptations, one of the label’s biggest sellers, so they were hesitant about releasing “War” as a single.  However, as requests continued for the song to be released, Motown execs lost their nerve, and a compromise was reached.  "War" would be released as a single, but only if it was re-recorded by a relatively unknown singer who would scarcely hurt Motown's music business if there was a negative reaction.

At that time Edwin Starr was considered to be among Motown's "second-string" acts, certainly in comparison to the popular Temptations.  Edwin heard about the debate of whether or not to release a single of "War", and he volunteered to re-record it.  Even in his relatively junior position, Starr was assertive enough to insist on recording "War" his way.  Edwin said [and I quote] "It was necessary to understand and appreciate the lyrics.  I was given the opportunity to record the song, but I made the stipulation that I must record it with the feeling that I thought was right for it, and I was given that privilege to do so” [end quote].  So on May 15th, 1970 Norman Whitfield re-recorded the song with Edwin Starr as the vocalist. 

Whitfield recreated the song to match Starr's robust soul shout and powerful vocal delivery.  The resulting new single version of "War" was dramatic and intense, depicting the general anger and distaste the anti-war movement felt towards the war in Vietnam.  Unlike the Temptations' original, Starr's "War" was a full-scale Whitfield production.  He used prominent electric guitar lines, clavinets, and a heavily syncopated rhythm accented by a horn section.  For backing vocals he used two Motown groups, the Originals and Whitfield's new act called the Undisputed Truth.  

Backed with the B-side "He Who Picks A Rose", Edwin Starr's version of "War" was released on June 10th, 1970.  There was immediate nationwide acceptance of Starr's energetic and bristling vocal.  The single quickly shot up the charts, reaching #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 on August 29th, 1970.  It held the #1 position on the Billboard Pop Singles chart for three weeks, and reached #3 on the Billboard Hot R&B chart, and climbed to #3 in the UK.  Billboard ranked it as the #5 song of 1970.  It sold over three million copies and was awarded a gold disc.  Starr earned a Grammy nomination in 1971 for "War" for best R&B Male Vocal.  In 1999, Starr's recording of the song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.  The song "War" would appear on both Starr's War & Peace album and his follow-up LP called Involved.  Both albums were produced by Norman Whitfield.  

While Edwin Starr would never again crack Billboard's Hot 100 Top 10, his career did not totally implode from the anti-war song.  Initially, in the early 1970's, he adopted the image of an outspoken liberal orator.  The LP Involved featured another similar song titled "Stop the War Now".  That single peaked at #26 on the Billboard Hot 100.  However, another 1971 single, "Funky Music Sho' 'Nuff Turns Me On", only reached #64 on the Hot 100 chart.  After 1971, Starr's career began to falter, and, citing Motown's reliance on formulas, he departed the label in the mid-1970s. 

Nevertheless, Edwin Starr would continue to record.  In 1974 he recorded the song "Hell Up in Harlem", and in 1979, he had a pair of minor disco hits, "(Eye-to-Eye) Contact" and "H.A.P.P.Y. Radio".  Starr relocated to England, and in 1985 he released the song "It Ain't Fair".  He continued to record singles into the next decade, and over the years he produced and released tracks on a variety of labels.  He also re-recorded several of his hits with the British band Utah Saints.  Starr's new version of "War" in 2003 was his final piece, but it remains unreleased.  He died at the age of 61 on April 2nd, 2003 from a heart attack.  Edwin Starr was posthumously inducted into the inaugural class of the Official Rhythm & Blues Music Hall of Fame at Cleveland State University in August 2013.  He also was inducted into the Michigan Rock and Roll Legends Hall of Fame in 2017. 

More than 50 years after its release, “War” remains Edwin Starr’s signature hit.   Starr's intense vocals had created an anthem for the antiwar movement and a cultural milestone that today continues to resound in movie soundtracks and hip hop music samples.  "War" was not only the most successful and well-known record of Edwin's career, but it is also one of the most popular protest songs ever recorded.  Still sadly relevant today, the song has continued to emphasize the power of its message to future generations. 

 Thank you for listening to another episode of the One Hit Wonders Series on Rock and Roll Flashback!  I'm Jumpin' John McDermott and, at the conclusion of this podcast, I will play Edwin Starr's version of "War".  In the meantime, I leave you with this translated quote of Pope Leo the Fourteenth's May 11th, 2025 address to a St. Peter's Basilica crowd.  The newly selected Pope said [and I quote], “I, too, address the world’s great powers by repeating the ever-present call ‘never again war!’” [end quote].  Until next time, Rock On!