War by Edwin Starr

Conceived as an anti-Vietnam protest song, “War” was released as a single by Motown by Edwin Starr in 1970. It was a US number one hit. It proved to be the most successful hit of Starr’s career and although originally written for the Temptations, they were considered to appeal to a more conservative audience to be associated with it. Nevertheless, they eventually did release a version, albeit less strident and forceful.

Born in 1942, Charles Edwin Hatcher hailed from Nashville but grew up in Cleveland. He first joined a group called the Future Tones although they never recorded in the five years he was with them. In 1962 he joined the Bill Doggett Combo as a vocalist and it was whilst here that he came up with “Agent Double-O-Soul” – but Doggett wouldn’t let him record it and so he left and joined Golden World’s “Ric-Tic” label where the single broke into the R&B top ten in 1965. In 1966 he recorded “Back Street” and followed it up with “Stop Her on Sight”.

Surprisingly, Starr was unaware that Berry Gordy’s Motown label had acquired Golden Records until after the event and it was two years until “I Want My Baby Back” hit the charts. Starr felt somewhat constrained by the Motown formula that meant individual artists could end up recording different versions of the same song – leaving little scope for those who also had a talent for writing on their own. Finally, in 1969, he reached the Number 6 slot with “25 Miles”.

Edwin Starr never really matched the success of “War” and he split from Motown in the mid-seventies.

Sample “War” on Motown 50 here:

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