Norman Whitfield RIP

[Greg Wilson]

Shit - one of my absolute heroes.

God rest his Soul.

[needlefingers]

Another star has been dimmed, but the music lives on. Thank you for the music.

[Noman]

I will personally remember him most for his work under the whitfield label although he did som fantastic things during his Motown years..

[RetroRuss]

Very sad news. If you think of the tunes, bands and people he has worked with then he is one of the legends. Who would know Stargard, Rose Royce, Undisputed Truth, Stargard etc. without him...

RIP

[drlove]

According to the Songwriter's Hall of Fame listing of his tunes, some of the disco-styled tunes he wrote (or co-wrote):

"Papa Was A Rollin' Stone" (1972) with its great long proto-disco opening,

the Grammy-winning disco tune "Car Wash" from the 1976 film of the same name, and

the great title theme to "Which Way Is Up" (1977).

My favorite songwriting effort of his is the fantastically-written R&B classic "Smiling Faces Sometimes" (1971) by Undispbuted Truth. R.I.P. Norman

[markydefad]

Top 30 Reasons Why I Loved Norman Whitfield

1) I HEARD IT THROUGH THE GRAPEVINE - Marvin Gaye
2) YOU + ME = LOVE - Undisputed Truth
3) JUST MY IMAGINATION (Running Away With Me) - The Temptations
4) IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN ME - Yvonne Fair [also by Kim Weston & Gladys Knight --but Yvonne owns it.]
5) AIN'T TOO PROUD TO BEG - The Temptations
6) PAPA WAS A ROLLIN' STONE - The Temptations
7) I CAN'T GET NEXT TO YOU - The Temptations
8. (I Know) I'M LOSING YOU - The Temptations
9) I'M GOING DOWN - Rose Royce
10) I WISH IT WOULD RAIN - The Temptations
11) TOO BUSY THINKING ABOUT MY BABY - Marvin Gaye
12) I WANNA GET NEXT TO YOU - Rose Royce
13) WAR - Edwin Starr
14) R.R. EXPRESS - Rose Royce
15) I HEARD IT THROUGH THE GRAPEVINE - Gladys Knight & The Pips
16) HE WAS REALLY SAYIN' SOMETHING - The Velvelettes or Bananarama [actually the better version!]
17) BEAUTY IS ONLY SKIN DEEP - The Temptations
18. TOO MANY FISH IN THE SEA - The Marvelettes
19) SMILING FACES SOMETIMES - Undisputed Truth
20) BALL OF CONFUSION - The Temptations
21) CLOUD NINE - The Temptations
22) OOH BOY - Rose Royce
23) NEEDLE IN A HAYSTACK - The Velvelettes
24) LAW OF THE LAND - The Temptations
25) THAT'S THE WAY LOVE IS - Marvin Gaye
26) FRIENDSHIP TRAIN - Gladys Knight & The Pips
27) PSYCHEDELIC SHACK - The Temptations
28. RUNAWAY CHILD, RUNNING WILD - The Temptations
29) YOU'RE MY EVERYTHING - The Temptations
30) CAR WASH - Rose Royce


There's more.....add your faves....

[update: expanded from 25 to 30 to take care of ommissions!!!]

[thommy2458]

Adding to Marky's most excellent list is a personal favorite and one that was played out here in So Cal
Undisputed Truth's "Higher Than High"-it's Norman
in his psycedelic,space age mood pumped up 200X-
it was a great mood enhancer on the dancefloor.
Thom

[Disco Funk]

RIP Norm:















Disco Funk

[NickNack]

All of Marky's list plus:

SUPERSTAR (REMEMBER HOW YOU GOT WHERE YOU ARE) - TEMPTATIONS
BIG JOHN IS MY NAME - UNDISPUTED TRUTH
MAMA I GOT A BRAND NEW THING (DON'T SAY NO) - UNDISPUTED TRUTH
RUNAWAY CHILD, RUNNING WILD - TEMPTATIONS

R.I.P., Norman, and thanks for the MASTERPIECE.

[keefelc]

What an incredible legacy Norman left behind!

I loved when he worked with the Pointer Sisters on "You Gotta Believe" for the "Car Wash" soundtrack. Always wished he did more with them. Their harmonies sounded so rich on that track!