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In this episode of Music and Revolution, Rolf Straubhaar dives into Edwin Starr’s explosive 1970 anti-war masterpiece, “War.” Released only a month after the tragic Kent State shootings, the track became the definitive sonic flashpoint for a nation at war with itself over Vietnam. We travel back to a highly anxious Motown Records, where label boss Berry Gordy deemed the song too politically dangerous to release as a single for his premier act, the Temptations—fearing a career-ending conservative backlash.
We follow the incredible courage of Edwin Starr, a lower-tier Motown artist who stepped up to reclaim the track. Starr demanded to sing it his way, delivering a blistering, legendary vocal performance captured in a single, lightning-in-a-bottle studio take. Rolf breaks down the song's fierce call-and-response architecture and examines Starr's lifelong insistence that "War" was never just about Southeast Asia—it was a direct cry against the systemic domestic violence, racial conflicts, and neighborhood wars raging right inside America's borders. Finally, Rolf shares a nostalgic personal reflection on learning to play the drums to Edwin Starr's irresistible groove in his mother's sewing room, realizing how protest music is often felt in the body before it is ever processed by the mind.
If you’ve ever shouted along to that historic chorus without knowing the high-stakes Motown battle fought to bring it to the airwaves, this episode is for you.
In this episode you’ll find:
- The Powder Keg of 1970: A journey back to the historical boiling point of the Vietnam War, the invasion of Cambodia, and the devastating Kent State massacre that mobilized four million protesting students.
- The Motown Tug-of-War: The fascinating behind-the-scenes conflict between producer Norman Whitfield and Berry Gordy, exploring why the smooth, controlled Temptations version of the track was locked away in the album vaults.
- The Single-Take Masterclass: How Edwin Starr injected raw, Stax-style grit into Motown’s polished pop, unleashing the improvised grunts, wails, and wailing fury that defined the final cut in just one pass.
- A Lyrical Demolition: A close reading of the track’s most political lines, dissecting the transition from "induction" to "destruction" and the psychological reality of returning veterans who were left "disabled, bitter and mean".
- A Multitude of Afterlives: A musical tour through the song's incredibly diverse cover history, tracing how it was utilized by Canadian punks D.O.A., UK new-wavers The Jam during the Falklands War, and Bruce Springsteen on his Born in the U.S.A. tour.
- Extreme Adaptations: How Slovenian industrial icons Laibach used the track to soundtrack the collapse of Yugoslavia, and how hip-hop group Bone Thugs-N-Harmony joined forces with Henry Rollins, Flea, and Tom Morello to reinvent the anthem for the late '90s.
- A Teenager's Drum Kit: Rolf’s personal memory of saving up lawn-mowing money to buy a used drum set, finding his physical and political rhythm by locking into the Funk Brothers' driving percussion.
Keywords
- Edwin Starr
- War
- Norman Whitfield
- Barrett Strong
- Motown Records
- Berry Gordy
- The Temptations
- Vietnam War
- Anti-war protest
- Kent State
- Deindustrialization
- Bruce Springsteen
- The Jam
- Frankie Goes to Hollywood
- Laibach
- Bone Thugs-N-Harmony
- Tom Morello
- Henry Rollins
- Funk Brothers
- Public humanities
- Music and Revolution
