Northern Soul, Northernsoulinoz, Northern, Tamla, Tamlamotown, Rose Batiste, Twisted Wheel, Wigan Casino, Soul Brother, 

ROSE BATISTE
Northern Soul fan Graham Finch is a very knowledgeable Soulie and is also big on the Northern Soul and Scooter scenes, Graham is presently writing a book on Soul, which we will carry news of on these pages. This interview has been kindly provided by him, we thank him for what we are sure you will agree is an enlightening and very interesting article.

               
 Rose Batiste was born in Detroit in 1947 and grew-up on the Motor City's east side with her sister and two brothers. Her mother, who was a frustrated entertainer, encouraged her young daughter to try and make it as a professional singer; the first place she took her was Hitsville USA, Motown's studio.

Rose told me her reception was similar to that given to most youngsters, who ventured down to West Grand Boulevard, "I saw Lamont Dozier, my cousin Freddie Gorman, and also Berry Gordy; he told my mother that I had a lot of potential but it didn't come to anything.

By the time Rose was 13 her family had moved across to Detroit's west side and consequently she attended North Western High School, then situated on grand River Avenue. At 15 she made her recording debut in the Continental studio on 12th Street, where Don Mancha produced a song called I'm Yours for a Lifetime for local musical entrepreneur Sam Motley.

Rose remembers that, 'My whole family came to the session and my grandmother took her shoes off and danced across the floor." But sadly the song doesn't seem to have made it onto any of Sam's various record labels, such as SA-MO or M & M. Rose had got a taste of recording and had been bitten by the music-business bug. 

The Thelma Recording Company
After leaving school one afternoon she walked across Grand River, to number 6519, where she had an impromptu audition at the Thelma Recording Company's store front office. Her warm reception made her start hanging out at the mom and pop operation, eventually teaming up with writer-producer Don Davis, and Joey 'Kingfish". The camaraderie at Thelma's suited young rose and she has fond memories of the time she spent there, "Mr and Mrs Coleman (the owners) were such beautiful people, they took really good care of me, and Kingfish could really get me to belt out my voice!"

       This is Steve Bardsley's copy of
       Hit & Run and well worn it is!

Rose joined other Thelma recording artists on gigs around Detroit, most notably at the famed 20 Grand on 14th Street. Radio-jock Martha Jean "The Queen" started hosting sock-hops in the club's Gold Room that that were titled Monday Night Swing. With a mere fifty cents cover charge it soon became a hot spot for the city's hip teenagers. They got to see numerous performers lip-syncing to their latest records and often the headline acts from the club's Driftwood lounge would also make a courtesy appearance. 

  Steve Bardsley's "Sweetheart Darling" 

Rose's two Thelma sides were recorded at Detroit's United Sound Studios on 2bd Avenue when she was just 16-years old. I Can't leave You has Don Davis' customary stamp of high quality, with watertight production and a strong beat that typifies the emerging Detroit Sound. The flip side, Someday, belies Rose's tender age and she told me how she overcame her teenage shyness to deliver such a vocal punch. "Mrs Coleman said to me, 'turn around with your back to us and face the wall,' and that's how I did it!" Unfortunately the 45, like other Thelma releases didn't achieve the success that it deserved. Once things started to dissolve at Thelma, Rose followed Don to the Golden World studios on West Davison, where he'd established a new base.

Ric-Tic Records
WOW! Rose was a real looker. Scan provided courtesy of Graham Finch. Her Ric-Tic sides were co-written by Bob Hamilton, who told Rose to sing Holding Hands straight, without infusing any passion, or as he put it, "Blues-ing it up". This Ric-Tic release immediately followed the successful records Hungry for Love and Edwin Starr's Agent 0-O Soul, which inevitably shoved Rose's 45 into promotional oblivion.  Her next release on Golden World, Sweetheart D, has a Diana Ross sound and even though Rose likes the lyrics, it's her least favourite recording. Golden World become too Motown-esque for Berry Gordy's liking; he bought Mr Ed Wingates's company in September of 1966 and the take-over left most of his artists searching for a new recording home.

This label scan provided courtesy of Graham Finch

Rose again followed Don Davis, this time to Solid Hitbound, a production company that had been formed at Golden World with ex-radio DJ LeBaron Taylor and station manager George White. Their labels included Groovesville, Revilot and Solid Hit and boasted George Clinton, Mike Terry and other talented Detroit musicians and writers. Rose's tremendous up-tempo Revilot double sider, I Miss My Baby b/w Hit & Run, followed in the wake of Darell Banks hugely popular Open The Door To Your Heart (Revilot 201). Steve Mancha's Don't Make Me A Storyteller (Groovesville 1005) also proved to be a big regional hit, so it was another case of being in the right place at the wrong time. The company's promotion drive was focused on these two 45s, leaving hers to sink without a trace. Consequently it's now a highly sought-after disc.

                           
                Steve Bardsley's "I Miss My Baby" (B side of Hit & Run)
                      (Backing track is Doni Burdick's "Bari Track")

Rose's fifth and last 45 also suffered from bad timing. The Parliament's Top 20 smash I Wanna Testify (Revilot 207), was released simultaneously to her underrated I'll Still Wait For You and unkindly condemned it to the land of flops. Rose's fine vocal delivery and the polished work of Mike Terry and Leon Ware deserved better. 

Rose backed away from recording and started working as a receptionist at Solid Hitbound's small office on Puritan Street, but soon moved to a job in the advertising department at General Motors. By 1970 she'd switched to working as a typist in Motown's corporate offices on Woodward Avenue. Word soon filtered through the building about her former singing career and it wasn't long before she was back in the studio, recording under the supervision of 'Larry" Brown. Rose remembers a handful of songs that she considers to be some of the most soulful recordings of her career. These include a remake of Jimmy Ruffin's Our Favorite Melody; but Motown moved to California in the early 7os' and nothing from these sessions has seen the light of day.

After such a frustrating career littered with many "if only" experiences, most entertainers would be pulling their hair out, but Rose remains phlegmatic. When I asked her how she felt about success always proving to be elusive she smiled, shrugged and said "it just wasn't meant to be... and I had such a ball!"

Once again, many thanks to Graham Finch for bringing this amazing, informative and entertaining personal interview to our readers. I personally will enjoy listening to Rose's recordings all the more from here on in.