Bristol, Harvey Fuqua, Jerry Wexler, and Bert Berns. He succeeded with the 1969 hit "25 Miles," which was co-written by Starr, Johnny W. Starr followed up "Agent Double O Soul" with such other minor hits for Ric Tic as "Backstreets," "Stop Her on Sight (S.O.S.)," "Headline News," and "You're My Mellow." During this period he also wrote two hit singles recorded by the Shades of Blue, "Oh How Happy" and "Lonely Summer."īerry Gordy bought out Ric Tic in the late 1960s and sought to invigorate Starr's career. His first single, "Agent Double-O-Soul," was written by Starr and was an attempt to cash in on the era's pop culture fascination with Cold War spies, including the immense popularity of Sean Connery's James Bond films. Starr signed with Golden World, a label owned by Joanne Jackson that included the Ric Tic subsidiary, which at the time was a close competitor to Berry Gordy's Motown/Gordy/Tamla/Rare Earth empire. In 1965 the Future Tones moved from Cleveland to Detroit. Shortly thereafter Starr formed the Future Tones, a group that would become known as Starr's backup group the Soul Agents. Upon his return, Starr was invited to join Bill Doggett's band as a featured vocalist. He took advantage of his furloughs to perform in numerous clubs between Berlin and Amsterdam, honing the style that would eventually bring him fame when he returned to the United States.
After serving briefly in Canada, he was transferred to Europe for two years. Some sources indicate that Starr was drafted and others indicate that he enlisted in the U.S. Starr attended Cennard High School and East Technical School in Cleveland. Starr's father, William Hatcher, moved his family to Cleveland, Ohio, following World War II. He was the cousin of soul music performer Roger Hatcher, but grew up in a non-musical household.
Starr was born Charles Hatcher in 1942 in Nashville, Tennessee. Starr was never able to match the success of "War," and changed from the Motown label to several lesser-known independent record companies before his death in England in 2003. Born Charles Hatcher on January 21, 1942, in Nashville, TN died on April 2, 2003, in Nottingham, England.Įdwin Starr is perhaps best remembered for his 1970 number one best-selling Motown subsidiary hit, "War." His passionate delivery of the Norman Whitfield composition transformed the rather facile lyrics ("Who wants to die?" and "War can't give life, it can only take it away") into a powerful indictment of the United States' involvement in the Vietnam War, and Starr's timeless soul rendition of the song has caused the song to reemerge and regain popularity during subsequent military buildups and armed conflicts.
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