The real prize was an appearance for the group at a nightclub. “So he bought it off us and we split the money. “Luckily, the father of one of the guys had a bad back”, Starr told him. The group lasted from 1955 to 1960, and they performed mostly at school dances and other social functions.Įdwin StarrStarr told interviewer Spencer Leigh that the Futuretones won an orthopedic mattress on a local television talent show. Inspired by his musical hero Jackie Wilson, Starr began singing in a teenaged doo wop group called the Futuretones. His father was a serviceman, so the family moved around quite a bit before finally settling in Cleveland, Ohio. Starr was born Charles Edwin Hatcher on January 21, 1942, in Nashville. Although the song did not specifically refer to Vietnam, it became an anthem of the anti-war movement, and it has been used for comment on conflicts around the world ever since. At Hitsville U.S.A., his extraordinary recording of “War” touched a generation. Starr also sang lead for the Holidays, who recorded for Golden World, Ric Tic’s sister label.Īfter Motown purchased Ric-Tic/Golden World, Starr would eventually join the stable of great artists who were producing ‘ the sound of young America’. His rough, powerful voice was first heard on the James Bond-inspired “Agent Double-O-Soul”, released on Detroit’s Ric-Tic label in 1965. Great as the talent was at Motown, nobody could out-sing Edwin Starr.
