THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

429-Edwin Starr-Contact.

1979-Number 6 single.

Best Bit-At 4.04. ‘Oi! Mush, what’d yu’ think yur lookin’ at!’

Edwin Starr was born Charles Edwin Hatcher, on January 21st, 1942, in Nashville, Tennessee, United States, he died of a heart attack on April 2nd, 2003, in Chilwell, Nottinghamshire, England, at the age of 61. Hatcher’s professional music career began in Detroit, Michigan, in 1957, when he formed a ‘Doo-Wop’ group called the ‘Future Tones,’ As a solo artist in the early 1960’s he signed with the small independent record label ‘Ric-Tic’ records in Detroit. The owner of ‘Motown’ records Berry Gordy, (see also best songs 449-411 and 137) who didn’t want competition, bought ‘Ric-Tic’ records, and took the labels artists, one of whom was Starr, to record for him, on Motown, and it’s subsidiary’s. It was while at ‘Ric-Tic’ records that Hatcher adopted the stage name Edwin Starr, at the suggestion of the music artist manager Don Briggs.

Edwin Starr had his greatest commercial success while signed to Motown records, peaking in 1970, when his cover version of the Norman Whitfield, (1940-2008) (see also best songs 911-777-569-533-480-346 and 233) and Barrett Strong (1941-2023) (see also best songs 777 and 569) song ‘War,’ originally recorded by The Temptations, (see also best songs 1031-1001-777 and 569) went to Number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for three consecutive weeks, the Edwin Starr version was also produced by Whitfield. It was Edwin Starr who introduced the musicians who would become known as ‘Rose Royce’ (see also best songs 533 and 233) to Norman Whitfield.The discography of Edwin Starr includes 15 Albums released between 1968-1991, and 53 singles released between 1965-1994, on the record labels ‘Ric-Tic,’ ‘Motown,’ ’20th Century,’ and ‘Motorcity.’ In America on the Billboard Hot 100, four of his singles, all on Motown, reached the top 40, with ‘War’ making the Number 1 spot, while ‘Contact’ stalled at Number 65, although it did reach Number 1 on the Billboard ‘Dance Club Songs’ chart. In the UK, Edwin Starr has had eight top 40 hit singles, with ‘War’ from 1970, peaking the highest at Number 3.

‘Contact’ was the second of two singles released from Edwin Starr’s ninth Album release called ‘Clean,’ from 1978, and was co-written by Starr, along with Robert Dickerson, and Arthur Pullam, with the production being by Starr. By 1978 ‘Disco Music’ was at it’s peak, and it appeared that everyone was jumping on the bandwagon. Edwin Starr was now signed with ’20th Century’ records, and recorded the Album ‘Clean,’ which contains other ‘Disco’ influenced songs, as well as ‘Contact,’ but also sees Starr perform ‘R&B,’ and ballads. Although the 12 inch vinyl single had already been around for a number of years by 1979, it was still unusual for them to sell in any great number, and ‘Contact’ was one of the first big sellers (many on coloured vinyl) to sell in excess of 100,000 copies in the UK. Edwin Starr uprooted and came to live in England in 1983, and would stay until his death. Starr was a very popular performer in the UK, especially on the ‘Northern Soul’ circuit, where many of his early recordings on ‘Ric-Tic’ records, and ‘Motown,’ have become sought-after Northern Soul classics.

‘Disco’ (taken from the abbreviated French ‘Discothèque’) is a genre of dance music that emerged in the late 1960’s in the United States. Prior to that Discothèques as a venue were mostly a French invention, imported to the United States with the opening of ‘Le Club,’ a members-only restaurant and nightclub located at 416 East 55th Street in Manhattan, by French expatriate Olivier Coquelin, on New Year’s Eve 1960. Disco music as a genre started as a mixture of music from venues popular among African-Americans, Hispanic and Latino Americans, gay Americans, and Italian Americans in New York City, (especially Brooklyn) and Philadelphia during the late 1960’s to the mid-to-late 1970’s. ‘Disco’ can be seen as a reaction by the 1960’s counterculture to both the dominance of ‘Rock’ music and the stigmatisation of ‘dance music’ at the time. Several dance styles were developed during the period of 70’s Disco’s popularity in the United States, including ‘The Bump,’ ‘The Hustle,’ (see also best songs 690) and ‘The Bus Stop’ (see also best songs 798.) There is no exact dates as to when ‘Disco’ music first became commercially successful, or as to when it finally declined, but as a rule of thumb I suggest that as a guide, ‘Rock the Boat’ by The Hues Corporation in 1974 (see also best songs 356) was the first American Billboard Hot 100 Number 1 ‘Disco’ single, and ‘Funky Town’ by Lipps Inc. in 1980, was the last Number 1 ‘Disco’ single.

‘Across the crowded disco room, through a maze of dancing people, she sits so quiet and all alone wanting to get the disco fever.’