On the day that Edwin Starr’s War was released in June 1970, two Detroiters in their twenties were jailed for five years for ransacking a Chicago draft board office and burning its records – yet another example of the anger and rebellion which America’s prosecution of the Vietnam war was continuing to stir among the country’s young. The artists of Motown were hardly known at that time for social commentary and controversial material, but Starr had no superstar reputation to put at risk when he cut the song in May 1970. Continue reading
