Rose Royce is a Grammy-nominated American soul band. The Los Angeles-based group composed of Henry Garner (drums), Terral "Terry" Santiel (congas), Lequeint "Duke" Jobe (bass), Michael Moore (saxophone), Rose Norwalt (real name Gwen Dickey, lead vocals), Kenny Copeland (trumpet, lead vocals), Kenji Brown (guitar, lead vocals), Freddie Dunn (trumpet), and Michael Nash (keyboards) — began in the early 1970s, when members of several backup bands from the Watts and Inglewood areas of Los Angeles united under the name Total Concept Unlimited. It was while T.C.U. was incubating, in 1973, that they toured England and Japan behind Motown soul star Edwin Starr. And it was Starr who introduced them to Norman Whitfield, Motown's 'psychadelic shaman' who was responsible for bringing a progressive funk-rock slant to the company via such productions as Starr's War, The Undisputed Truth's Smiling Faces Sometimes and The Temptations Papa Was A Rolling Stone. [1]
Whitfield , after a decade at Motown, wanted to start a company of his own. He took the T.C.U . octet under his wing. The group worked with Yvonne Fair, (they were now called Magic Wand), and they became the studio and concert band for the Undisputed Truth. During a tour stop in Miami, Undisputed Truth leader Joe Harris stumbled upon a singer named Gwen Dickey, then a member of a local group called The Jewels. Harris informed Whitfield of his discovery and Dickey was flown to Los Angeles to audition. And so Whitfield found the ingredient he felt was missing in Magic Wand: a charismatic female singer. He gave her the stage name Rose Norwalt. The original band lineup, now complete, prepared their debut album. During this time Whitfiled was contacted by film director Michael Schultz, fresh from the success of his first feature Cooley High. Schultz offered Whitfield the opportunity to score his next picture Car Wash. Whitfield would utilize the film to launch his new group, and began composing music based on script outlines. He and the band visited the film set, soaking up the atmosphere. This was one of the rare instances in Hollywood in which the music was composed concurrently with the opicture instead of after the fact. In the spirit of the soundtrack, the band's name was changed one final time to Rose Royce. The name not only referenced the movies automotive theme, but it also placed Gwen Rose Dickey, front and centre. (Further, it hinted at a touch of class the band would strive to bring to '70s soul-funk). [2]
The movie Car Wash and the soundtrack were great successes, and they also gave the group, now known as Rose Royce, national fame. Released in late 1976, the soundtrack featured three Billboard R&B Top Ten singles: "Car Wash," "I Wanna Get Next to You," and "I'm Going Down." The first of these was also a number one single on the Billboard popular music charts, and "I Wanna Get Next to You" reached number ten.
The group's follow-up album, Rose Royce II: In Full Bloom, produced two Top Ten singles, "Do Your Dance" and "Ooh Boy". During 1978, they released their third album, entitled Rose Royce III: Strikes Again!, and it featured "I'm in Love (And I Love the Feeling)" and "Love Don't Live Here Anymore". Both singles entered the Billboard R&B Top Five.
The group followed with a series of successes that scored the charts, but never gained the chart status that their previous songs did. They became very popular in UK and remain a marquee attraction there.