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David Perlmutter's avatar

Even the name "Edwin Starr" was forced upon him. His real name was Charles Hatcher, but, when he was performing with Bill Doggett's group, he was introduced one night as "Edwin Starr", without being consulted first, and that was that.

He was an amazing singer- at Golden World he cut three stone classics, "Stop Her On Sight (S.O.S.), "Headline News" and "Agent Double O Soul", and you can clearly hear why Gordy wanted him so badly. But "War"- my God! He was in full Baptist preacher mode on that- not so much singing the lyrics as SCREAMING them with an insane amount of passion. He sold the song to an even greater degree than even Whitfield must have imagined- and it was no wonder it ended up as a #1 hit.

And, of course, it's still relevant now, because war still "ain't nothing but a heartbreak" and "friend only to the undertaker".

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Daniel Helkenn's avatar

Probably the most OG of the anti war songs. I had to smile at the thought he didn’t view it as an anti Vietnam song. I suspect that’s his narrative for the press to consume. Who knows, maybe he did actually believe it in some way.

I don’t know if this is on your list somewhere but Two Tribes from Frankie Goes To Hollywood is probably one of the better known anti war vids from the start of the MTV era.

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