R.I.P. - Rose Batiste (9 Nov 1947 - ? Aug 2023)

There are unconfirmed reports (from a reliable source) that Northern Soul heroine Rose Batiste (Rose Battiste) has died.

She released a handful of singles between 1964-1967 on independent Detroit labels Thelma, Ric-Tic, Golden World and two on Revilot which included her big Northern Soul double-sider "I Miss My Baby" / "Hit & Run". Outside of the Northern Soul world she is probably unknown.

Batiste was cousins with Darrow Fletcher and Freddie Gorman (The Originals) and made her recording debut aged 15 at the Continental studio and recorded a Don Mancha produced song called "I'm Yours For A Lifetime" for local musical entrepreneur Sam Motley (who owned a couple of labels) but the song was never released. 

She auditioned for, and was signed to, Thelma Records in 1964, when just 16. Thelma was owned by Hazel Coleman and named after her daughter Thelma who was Berry Gordy's first wife. She recorded "I Can't Leave You" / "Someday" in Nov 1964, both early Detroit dancers.

When Thelma closed its doors in 1965 she followed Don Davis to Ric-Tic and released her second single, "That's What He Told Me" / "Holding Hands," in Sep 1965.

"That's What He Told Me" was also released as the flip to her next single "Sweetheart Darling" on Ric-Tic parent Golden World in Jan 1966. Golden World / Ric-Tic was acquired by Motown which left artists looking for a new home, some being retained by Motown and others let go. Once again she followed Don Davis to Solid Hitbound whose labels were Revilot, Groovesville and Solid Hit.

There she released for her next two, and final releases, "I Miss My Baby" / "Hit And Run" Oct 1966 followed by "I Still Wait For You" / "Come Back In A Hurry" in May 1967 (possibly her least known recording).

The backing track of "I Miss My Baby" was released in 1967 by Doni Burdick as "Bari Track" with a cover of Edwin Starr's "I Have Faith In You" as the flip on Sound Impressions. It's a particularly hard one to find and fetches four figures as it was a huge NS instrumental back in the day.

There is perhaps a little known anomaly as her first Revilot single was mispressed on a 1966 A&M label credited to Chris Montez, "Time After Time" plays "Hit and Run" whilst the flipside "Keep Talkin'" plays "I Miss My Baby".

image courtesy of Nick Soule SoulSource

Gwen Owens also recorded "Hit And Run" which was first released on a 1994 compilation "The Solid Hitbound Story" by Goldmine Soul Supply, another version by Pat Lewis on Goldmine Sevens in 1997 and yet another demo version credited to Martha Reeves (released on Goldmine's "Thelma's Detroit Collective"). There is speculation that the Rose Batiste version on Revilot is actually The Debonaires and not Rose Batiste's version owing to a tape mix up!

Rose's career seems to have consisted of being at the right place at the wrong time as several of her releases weren't commercially successful as they competed for promotion with more successful records. At Ric-Tic she was up against "Hungry For Love" (San Remo Golden Strings) and Edwin Starr's "Agent Double-O-Soul" and at Revilot her first single competed for attention with Steve Mancha's regional hit "Don't Make Me A Storyteller" on sister label Groovesville and Darrell Banks' "Open The Door To Your Heart" / "Our Love (Is In The Pocket)". Ian Levine, who is credited with discovering her first Revilot recording, recorded her singing the latter for his ;The Strange World of Northern Soul' (c1998) video included below.

With little commercial success, Rose left recording and started working as a receptionist for Solid Hitbound, later moving to the advertising department at General Motors.

In 1970 she began working as a typist for Motown Records who had bought out Golden World and Ric-Tic a few years earlier. She recorded a few songs, one a remake of Jimmy Ruffin's "Our Favorite Melody", but again she was in the right place at the wrong time as Motown was in the process of relocating to L.A. and none were released.

A couple of previously unreleased songs have been released on UK labels in recent years. The first is an alternate, first version, of "I Miss My Baby" titled "This Heart Is Lonely" found on a Pied Piper tape and released by Ace/Kent on a Pied Piper logo in 2015. The plot thickens as BMI lists the singer as Telma Hopkins who was one of The Debonaires and later part of Tony Orlando's Dawn before becoming an actress in the late 70s. She also recorded a single "Baby, Don't Leave Me" as Telma Laverne, one of only four listed singles on Johnnie Mae Matthews Northern De-La label in 1964.

The other, "It's Not What You Say (But How You Say It)", is a unreleased Golden World recording from around 1966 released by Hayley in 2020.

A long time friend, and all-nighter DJ partner from way back, Irv Milne sent us this photo with Rose at Detroit A Go-Go Oct 2019 which was named Motown A Go Go to celebrate Motown's 60th anniversary.

Included below are a few videos of her performing Levine re-recordings, not the original versions, of her best known songs at the Blackpool Mecca Reunion in Nov 1998 and an obscure video performance of her last single.

Gilly pointed us to a YouTube clip for an acetate he acquired from the engineer in 1990, which was originally thought to be Rose Batiste, but turned out to be Gwen Owens' version as he played it to Rose who told him that it wasn't her singing. (Sound quality is not brilliant as it hasn't been recorded directly but a bit of history!)

Thanks to Yves Lambert who pointed out an unreleased version on Jimmy Gilford's "Nobody Love Me Like My Baby" (Thelma T 501 1964) which we found a 'live' video for recorded at the same time as the video for "I Still Wait For You"

References SoulSource, Soulful Detroit, Richard 'Gilly' Gilbert

Discography

1964-11 - I Can't Leave You / Someday [Thelma #T-102]

1965-09 - Holding Hands / That's What He Told Me [Ric-Tic #RT-105]

1966-01 - Sweetheart Darling / That's What He Told Me [Golden World #GW033]

1966-10 - I Miss My Baby / Hit And Run [Revilot #RV-204]

1967-05 - I Still Wait For You / Come Back In A Hurry [Revilot #RV 206]

2015-06 - This Heart Is Lonely [Pied Piper #PIPER 007]

2020-10 - It's Not What You Say (But How You Say It) [Hayley #HR 029

A couple more pieces of memorabilia:

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