who wrote the rose royce hit "car wash"

[geezer]

Were there any lawsuits over royalties to Rose Royce songs?

[markydefad]

Norman Whitfield wrote the "Car Wash" tunes. I think some of the lyrics were writen by Joel Schumacher, who wrote the screenplay and is now an A-list Hollywood Hack director. Julia loves him...



I don't know about any lawsuits. Why do you ask?

[geezer]

I ran into someone claiming to have won a huge settlement in 1991 over royalties involving rose royce versus something called "24K Gold" but his father's last name does not match anyone in the group so I was thinking his father may have written a hit song - but it may be all a fantasy thang.

[markydefad]

To the best of my knowledge, Norman Whitfield wrote & produced most of the Rose Royce hits, "Car Wash" and after.



Go to allmusic.com and do the search for Rose Royce. They list a section of Performed Songs By, that lists other composers whose material Rose Royce performed. See if any of the names match up...



Or maybe some of their songs were used on a compilation (24K Gold) without their permission. I would guess the writer & artist could sue for royalties...just a guess

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: markydefad on 2001-11-19 16:30 ]</font>

[markydefad]

Hmmm... well, now I'm intrigued with this subject. I went home and checked my collection and the "Car Wash" Lp's say all the Rose Royce material was by Norman Whitfield. Now I know I remember seeing Joel Schumacher's name being credited somewhere (to my surprise), so I pulled out Mary J. Blige's CD "My Life" on which she covers "I'm Goin' Down" a Rose Royce number from the soundtrack. Here the credits say: lyrics by Norman Whitfield, MUSIC BY JOEL SCHUMACHER!!! Is this a misprint? This is where I got Schumacher's name associated with the "Car Wash" music, but I assumed, if anything, he might have written some lyrics, not the music. Anyone know the 411 on this ?



I also pulled Rose Royce's Greatest Hits; aside from Norman Whitfield's name, the other composers listed are Miles Gregory ("Love Don't Live Here Anymore/Is It Love You're After"),

Billie Calvin ("Wishing On A Star") Robert Daniels ("I Wonder Where You Are Tonight"), Dwight Turner, co-writer on "Do Your Dance" and Marvin Smith, co-writer on "You're A Winner".



Any of these names ring a bell?



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Make My Feet Wanna Dance!

Markydefad

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: markydefad on 2001-11-20 12:18 ]</font>

[geezer]

wow - thanks for all that research but did not hit the name - are most of the group members from the west coast? - my "source" is from memphis tn - lots of music connections here but never heard much about any rose royce linkage to soulsville usa

[markydefad]

Hey Geezer, here's the Rose Royce lineup:



Rose Royce, the Los Angeles-based group comprised of Henry Garner (drums), Terral "Terry" Santiel (congas), Lequeint "Duke" Jobe (bass), Michael Moore (saxophone), Rose Norwalt (lead vocals), Kenny Copeland (trumpet, lead vocals), Kenji Brown (guitar, lead vocals), Freddie Dunn (trumpet) and Michael Nash (keyboards) was actually formed by Copeland and Garner. Both were preparing for graduation from high school, and contemplating their careers. Joined by Dunn and Moore, the two decided to go the route of the music business under the name Total Concept Unlimited (and later as Magic Wand).

[markydefad]

Geezer,



If you still don't see a name that matches up to your acquaintance's, might I suggest you rent "Six Degrees Of Separation"?

[maarten]

Just FYI... but Rose Royce did indeed feature Rose Norwalt as singer, initially. She was however quickly replaced by the incompbarable Gwen Dickey (with whom Rose Royce scored the most hits, including Carwash, Love don't live here anymore, Is it love you're after, and Wishing on a star) and then Ricci Benson.



Norman Whitfield also wrote and produced for Stargard (Which way's up) and The Temptations (Papa was a rolling stone).



I copy the following from The Rose Royce Greatest Hits LP/CD (Whitfield Records/ Warner Brothers 923 457-2):



"While on tour in Florida with The Undisputed Truth, the band was introduced to singer Gwen Dickey and subsequently invited her to join Rose Royce as lead vocalist. The band cut their debut album "IN Full Bloom, in 1976. However, before the LP was released, Whitfield was asked to write and produce the music for the film Carwash. Whitfield held back the first album and utilized the young group for the soundtrack. It was a wise move. Carwash, the album, yielded a number 1 single with the title track, as well as two other hits: I wanna get next to you and I'm going down."



The Carwash track on this album is credited to Whitfield only.



By the way, this is by far the best compilation available, and it still is on CD: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/AS...rniesdiscomusi



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"ON THE BEAT"

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Bernie on 2001-11-23 09:36 ]</font>

[maarten]

I forgot to ad this useless morsel of information, but I saw Rose Royce live twice. They were awesome. And Ricci Benson was very much a babe!

[markydefad]

Maarten, you are so right about the Rose Royce lineup. I cut & pasted the first paragraph from the allmusic guide page on Rose Royce, forgetting to add that the female singers changed after they became associated with Norman Whitfield.

[Cory Ander]

I kinda doubt if Schumacher would be claiming co-authorship of "Car Wash" if Whitfield was still alive.