"Contact" is a 1978 disco single by Edwin Starr. The hook line is in the chorus, eye to eye contact. The single was number one on the disco chart for one week, early in 1979. The single crossed over to the Billboard Hot 100, becoming his highest charting pop single in seven years, peaking at number sixty-five. "Contact" also made the top 20 on the soul chart, peaking at number thirteen. Edwin Starr (January 21, 1942 – April 2, 2003) was an American soul music singer. Starr is famous for his Norman Whitfield-produced Motown singles of the 1970s, most notably the number one hit "War". Starr was born in Tennessee and raised in Ohio, and later lived in Detroit while singing for Ric Tic and Motown Records. Besides "War", Starr's songs "25 Miles" and "Stop the War Now" were also major successes in the 1960s. Starr's career shifted to the United Kingdom in the 1970s, where he continued to produce music, living there until his death. Starr was born Charles Edwin Hatcher in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1942. He and his cousins, soul singers Roger and Willie Hatcher, moved to Cleveland, Ohio, where they were raised. In 1957, Starr formed a doo-wop group, the Future Tones, and began his singing career. Starr lived in Detroit, Michigan, in the 1960s and recorded at first for the small Ric-Tic label, part of the Golden World recording company, and later for Motown Records (under the Gordy Records imprint), after the latter absorbed Ric-Tic in 1968. The song which launched his career was "Agent Double-O-Soul" (1965), a reference to the James Bond films popular at the time. Other early hits included "Headline News", "Back Street" and "S.O.S. (Stop Her on Sight)". While at Ric-Tic, he wrote the song, "Oh How Happy", a #12 Billboard Hot 100 hit in 1966 for The Shades of Blue and sang lead for the Holidays' on their #12 R&B; hit, "I'll Love You Forever".. Moving to Motown, he recorded a string of singles before enjoying an international success with "25 Miles", which he co-wrote with producers Johnny Bristol and Harvey Fuqua. It peaked at #6 in both the Hot 100 and R&B; charts in 1968. The biggest hit of Starr's career, which cemented his reputation, was the Vietnam War protest song "War" (1970). Starr's intense vocals transformed a Temptations album track into a number one chart success, which spent three weeks in the top position on the U.S. Billboard charts, an anthem for the antiwar movement and a cultural milestone that continues to resound in movie soundtracks and hip hop music samples. It sold over three million copies, and was awarded a gold disc. "War" appeared on both of Starr's War & Peace album and its follow-up, Involved, produced by Norman Whitfield. Involved also featured another song of similar construction titled "Stop the War Now", which was a minor hit in its own right. Moving to England in 1973, Starr continued to record, most notably the song "Hell Up in Harlem" for the 1974 film Hell Up in Harlem, which was the sequel to Black Caesar, an earlier hit with a soundtrack by James Brown. In 1979, Starr reappeared on the charts with a pair of disco hits, "(Eye-to-Eye) Contact" and "H.A.P.P.Y. Radio". "Contact" was the more successful of the two, peaking at #65 on the US pop charts, #13 on the R&B; chart, #1 on the dance chart, and #6 on the UK Singles Chart. By now, he had joined the well-established disco boom and had further singles on 20th Century Records. Over the years, he released tracks on a variety of labels, including Avatar, Calibre, 10 Records, Motown (a return to his former label for a 1989 remix of "25 Miles"), Streetwave and Hippodrome. Contact! Across the crowded disco room Through a maze of dancing people She sits so quiet and all alone Wanting to get the disco fever And then she raised her head Her eyes caught mine And that was all that I needed In her eyes I saw the need for love The warm, soft feeling 'Cause we made Eye to eye contact Eye to eye contact (Oh, oh, oh yeah) Eye to eye contact (We made) Eye to eye contact You and me Contact! You were looking at me I was looking at you You were looking at me Across the crowded disco room Oh, your eyes told me the story My heart was beating like the drum As I fought my way over I never took my eyes away from yours Not even for a moment What I saw in your eyes made me realize (You I wanted) Yeah, yeah, yeah Eye to eye contact (We made) Eye to eye contact (Oh, oh, oh yeah) Eye to eye contact (We made) Eye to eye contact You and me I was looking at you You were looking at me I was looking at you You were looking at me Contact! Girl don't you get uptight Just dance Everything gonna be alright Just dance Take a chance Oh, and dance I sure like what you got You sho nuff looking hot (dance) I sure like what you got You sho nuff looking hot (dance) Yeah, come on and dance

• published: 28 Nov 2012
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