FEATURED ARTISTS Ron Tyson has been performing with The Temptations now for over 20 years as their first tenor. Ron was born february 8th, 1948 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, he was brought up in North Carolina. Ron has been under a musical influence in one form or another since his early years. He was part of his grandfather's Gospel group 'The Southern Gospel Six', he recorded his first record at the tender age of 7. Ron's grandfather is earmarked as a major influence on Ron's style. Gospel music has and continues to have a major effect on Ron's style of music. In the late 60's Ron became lead singer of the Philadelphia group The Ethics which contained group members Carl Enlow, Andrew Collins and Joe Freeman along with Ron. Although The Ethics were like many of the groups at the time just reaching for the big time they're music was good enough to sell relatively well even though it was on the small independent label Vent Songs such as "Searching", "Farewell" and "Tell me" are remembered fondly from this period. During the demise of Vent records the group decided to change their name to Love Committee . The group was signed to T.S.O.P records and later on scored disco hits in the 70's for labels such as Ariola International and Goldmind. Ron's talents don't only restrain themselves to performing he is also an extremely respected and accomplished song writer and producer. During the 70's Ron wrote many hits for acts such as The Ojay's, Bunny Sigler, First Choice, Gloria Gaynor, The Four Tops, Curtis Mayfield, The Dell's  and many more far to numerous to mention. Ron's first appearance with The Temptations came with the "Motown 25" television special in 1983. The plan was too ease Ron in to the group gently, he had been working with a choreographer to learn the routines. But a call came wanting The Tempts to appear on the special and a very nervous but yet excited Ron had to go and perform with what he knew. Ron did fantastically that night and showed people that he was here to stay. Ron has been a massive part of the legendary Temptations now for the last two decades and next to founding member Otis Williams he is currently the temps longest serving member. Before he became a member of The Temptations Ron was a massive fan of the group and patterned his own style on that of the late great Eddie Kendricks who was and still is his idol. Ron took the place once filled by Eddie and does a wonderful job of performing those legendary vocals while also taking the tempts sound in new directions. Ron is the fith falsetto for The Temptations following in the footsteps of Eddie Kendricks, Ricky Owens, Damon Harris & Glen Leonard who all held the position before him. Although the temps had a few lean years in the 80's they have come back strong in the 90's and early years of the new millenium. Ron has been an integral part of the latest success for The Temptations with the criticly acclaimed "For lovers only album", the platinum selling "Phoenix Rising", the fantastic "Earrisitable" and the Gramy winning "Awsome". Ron's soaring falsetto and fantastic song writing credits are featured on each and everyone of these albums. Now with a solo project in the pipeline Ron is still tempting us all over the world. Find out more about Ron at his website RON TYSON . Charles Hatcher was born on the 21st January 1942 in Nashville Tennesee. Brother to Northern Soul recording artist Roger Hatcher who is well known for his fantastic "Sweetest girl in the world" and fellow singer Willie Hatcher. The Hatcher family like many at the time moved North towards Detroit to experience the quickly growing industry. Charles knew he wasn't destined to spend his life on the Ford assembly line and decided to search out alternative careers, Discovering he had a talent for singing he became a founder member of the vocal group 'THE FUTURE TONES" in 1957. Charles was then drafted into the army. After his three year service Charles returned and once again took up his singing career this time as a solo artist. He toured with the Bill Dognet Combo and was eventually offered a solo contract at Ric-Tic records in 1965. Edwin promptly changed his name to Edwin Starr giving him a certain something in his name. Little did we know what a star this man would turn out to be. At the time Motown was on the rise and the feeling in and around Detroit was great. Many more localised labels such as Ric - Tic were trying to recreate the magic formula that Berry Gordy had found although many never managed to hit the charts like Motown many labels had created fantastic records. But in a few cases the smaller labels managed to hit the charts with records such as Edwin's first release on Ric-Tic "Agent Double O soul". Edwin managed to cash in on the new popularity for the Bond films with this fantastic effort and cracked the top 30. Edwin's next hit came in the shape of "S.O.S (Stop Her on Sight)" which proved popular among the specialist soul fans in the UK. In 1967 Motown took over Ric-Tic records, only a handful of artists followed Berry Gordy back to Motown one of these was Edwin. He returned in 1969 with "25 Miles" a gutsy floorstomping piece of down right dirty soul. It was obviously loved by fans as it hit the top 10. Edwin hit again in 1970 with Norman Whitfield's politically charged "War" originally recorded by The Temptations. War became his biggest ever hit as it rose to NUMBER 1 in The U.S in 1970. After the succesful colaboration between Whitfield & Starr the pair were to work together once again recording versions of The Temptations "Funky Music Sho Nuff turns me on" & "Stop the war now". Edwin Starr's talents didn't just limit themselves to Singing, Edwin was also a flourishing song writer. Motown who at one time never let any vocalists write or produce gave Edwin the chance to write for himself after the success of Marvin Gaye & Stevie Wonder's latest self productions. Starr didn't dissapoint presenting his "Hell up in Harlem" album to critical acclaim in which he took notice of the style towards Blackploitation as pioneered by people such as Curtis Mayfield and Issac Hayes. Starr like many artists at the time not happy with how Motown was becoming to be run left the company. He carried on recording for small labels in America and England eventually returning in 1979 with the disco hits "Contact" and "Happy Radio". Edwin Starr left the States in the 80's and moved to England. He was featured with the Style Council on a record offering support for striking Coal Miners and enjoyed many club hits on the Hippodrome label such as "It ain't fair". Starr carried on being an in-demand touring artist in the UK & Europe along with sets in the USA from time to time. Although not recording regularly anymore whenever he hit the studios be it to record or write for other artists he made a big impact. Especially on Ian Levine's Motor City label where he co-wrote many records. Edwin carried on to tour through the early part of the millenium although his health had dipped a little, from his performances you wouldn't have noticed a thing. Following a sell out concert in Germany in April 2003 Edwin returned home to the UK. He suffered a fatal heart attack and passed away at lunch time on April 2nd 2003. Edwin Starr was one of the greatest soul singers and performers of all time and his death was a great tradegedy. Anybody who saw a live concert of Edwin's would be captivated and he was described as the hardest working man in music, Aged just 61 he had so much more to offer. R.I.P Edwin a Starr in every sense of the word. To read more on Edwin Starr go to Edwin Starr info Want to be notified when featured artists page is up-dated? Why not join Soulful Matters a free web-based newsletter from the Topica network in associtation with seanlivesey.com for more info follow the link: SOULFUL MATTERS Want to return to my homepage? Click here