R. Dean Taylor

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After proving his mettle as a chart-topping staff songwriter at Motown, R. Dean Taylor’s single “Indiana Wants Me” was a top five smash in 1970, becoming one of the label’s first major crossover hits performed by a white artist. Born Richard Dean Taylor in Toronto in 1939, he began his singing career at age 12, performing at local country showcases before embracing rock & roll. In 1960, he signed to the Toronto-based Audiomaster label to cut his rockabilly-flavored debut single, “At the High School Dance,” supported via appearances on the CBC as well as a brief tour of the northeastern U.S. Taylor relocated to New York City in 1962, signing to the Amy/Mala label to cut a pair of singles, “I’ll Remember” and the novelty effort “We Fell in Love as We Tangoed.” Neither attracted much notice, and the following year a friend in the Detroit region recommended he audition for Berry Gordy’s up-and-coming Motown Records.

While not the label’s first white artist, Taylor would prove one of its most successful. Paired with Eddie Holland of the fabled Holland-Dozier-Holland songwriting/production team, he quickly proved an essential cog in the Motown assembly line, co-writing hits like the Supremes’ number one pop blockbuster “Love Child,” the Temptations’ “All I Need,” and the Four Tops’ “I’ll Turn to Stone.
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  • Fullmettall

    Muito maneiro!

    July 2011

  • seanyct5

    ghost in my house one of the better nothern soul tunes to dance too.

    April 2010

  • commissar001

    there's a ghost in my house!!!! i can't hide!!!!

    August 2009

  • ska5446was

    lo mejor de lo mejor

    July 2009

  • X80sSkin

    R. Dean Taylor was truly underrated. A classic blue-eyed soul singer, Mototwn needs to reissue his work, here in the States -- then again, there's so much material and artists that Motown is just sitting on.

    April 2009

  • manimouse

    an amazing tune

    February 2009

  • marinaftw

    Totally underrated.

    September 2008

  • Tr1xx

    A truly great Northern Soul artist

    August 2007
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