Rose Royce: The Band Formed for a Film
By the mid-1970s, Norman Whitfield had grown tired of Berry Gordy’s Motown empire. Perhaps he’d taken inspiration from Holland-Dozier-Holland, who had broken away to start Invictus Records and scored hits with Freda Payne. Norman may well have thought, I can do that!
He began by assembling a new act using the backing band of Edwin Starr, who’d famously recorded War—a hit that had also been performed by The Temptations. Whitfield gave the group a lead singer in Gwen Dickey, whom he renamed Rose Norwalt.
All he needed now was a platform and some strong material. That opportunity came when film director Michael Schultz approached Whitfield to score his upcoming film Car Wash. Everything started to fall into place.
While writing songs, developing the band, and watching the film take shape, Whitfield crafted a soundtrack that struck gold. The film did well, and the band—now named Rose Royce—had three major hits from it: Car Wash, I’m Going Down, and I Wanna Get Next To You. Whitfield even won a Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack Album.
His new label, named Whitfield Records, got off to a flying start with Rose Royce. The follow-up album brought more success with Do Your Dance, Ooh Boy, and Wishing On A Star.
Their third album, released in 1978, delivered two more notable singles: I’m in Love (And I Love the Feeling) and Love Don’t Live Here Anymore. The latter would later be covered successfully by Madonna, Jimmy Nail, and Seal.
By 1980, Gwen Dickey had decided to go solo—perhaps she, too, had seen others break away and thought, I can do that! Two years later, Whitfield Records was shut down. Rose Royce had been Norman’s only real success on the label.
As for Gwen, none of her solo releases matched the impact of what Whitfield had written for her.
Rose Royce Tunes | Related Pages
Car Wash | Chords + Lyrics
You can learn how to play Car Wash by Rose Royce using chords, lyrics, chord analysis, a chord chart, and the original recording.
| (C#7) D7 | (C#7) D7 |
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Rose Royce on the web
