Edwin Starr (January 21, 1942 – April 2, 2003) – Stop The War Now (1970)
Starr followed up his #1 hit War with an even more powerful anti-war anthem, co-written and produced by Norman Whitfield.
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Before his time as a Motown star, Charles Edwin Hatcher aka Edwin Starr had been signed to Ric-Tic, another Detroit label. They released three of his singles that were top-ten R&B hits: "Agent Double-O-Soul" (1965), "Stop Her on Sight (S.O.S.)" (1966), and "I'll Love You Forever" (1966).
Motown bought Ric-Tic in 1968 and absorbed its artists into its own roster. Starr's first hit record for Motown was "Twenty-Five Miles" (1969), which he co-wrote with Harvey Fuqua and Johnny Bristol. The song peaked at #6 on both the R&B and pop charts.
Starr's most famous song, the iconic anti-war anthem "War," was originally recorded by the Temptations. Written by Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong, it was included on their album Psychedelic Shack released in March, 1970. Fans immediately began writing letters to Motown asking the company to release it as a single.
But Berry Gordy was wary of having one of the label's biggest crossover acts put out a high-profile single with a controversial political message. Whitfield fought the decision, and a compromise was reached that the song would have to be covered by a different artist in order to become a single. Starr caught wind of the internal company debate and volunteered to record his own version.
“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,” Starr said years later in an interview. “And I was given that privilege to do so.”
"War" was released in June, 1970 and rocketed up the charts, hitting #1 on August 29 and staying there for three weeks. It went gold and sold over three million copies, was nominated for a Grammy, and became one of the most well-known songs of the Vietnam War era.
Starr followed up “War” with the even more powerful anti-war anthem “Stop The War Now” (1970). It was released as a single in late 1970, and appeared on his LP Involved (1971). Like “War,” this track was also co-written by Whitfield and Strong, and produced by Whitfield. It hit #5 R&B in early 1971, almost matching the #3 R&B that “War” reached, but only made it to #26 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Influential Village Voice critic Robert Christgau considered Involved to be "Norman Whitfield's peak production," and described “Stop The War Now” as “Barrett Strong’s most strident protest (song) yet.” The album featured backup singers Total Concept Unlimited, who later became Rose Royce.
Although “War” has its legacy cemented as the most political song to ever be a #1 U.S. pop hit, some think its lyrical content came up short, especially the refrain, “What is it good for? Absolutely nothing!” Because after all, war is very good for some, especially the military-industrial complex.
However, there’s no ambiguity about any part of “Stop The War Now,” which begs us to “Give peace a chance,” “Don’t throw another life away,” and “War is world’s enemy number one, and it’s time that we called it off!”
#soul #funk #antiwar #peace #Motown #NormanWhitfield #EdwinStarr