Rose Royce ~ Car Wash 1976 Disco Purrfection Version

Another big disco hit that radio fully embraced! Motown stalwart Norman Whitfield was not really interested in putting his efforts into the music for "Car Wash" as a play with music. He finally relented after he had a burst of creativity that would not wait, and wrote out the lyrics to "Car Wash" on a Kentucky Fried Chicken wrapper while he was at a basketball game with Gwen Dickey, who was renamed Rose Norwalt to fit with the Rose Royce moniker he had chosen for the band.

Gwen has been a member of a local girl group in Miami called the Jewels (not the Washington DC based group that had a hit in 1964 with the single "Opportunity"). He wanted to break Rose Royce, his latest proteges who he had been using as background vocalists and musicians for his productions for the Temptations and the Undisputed Truth.

Qhe label was not 100% behind that, but Norman persevered and Rose Royce went in the studio. One line, "A movie star or maybe even a Indian Chief" gave Rose no end of ennui and had to record it nearly 60 times so that the word "chief" did not sound like "sheep". The result was a smash hit, #1 on the Hot 100 and #1 R&B and became an iconic disco song. It was my friend Damien's favorite disco song ever......he had exquisite taste!