Rose Batiste

Obscure Detroit singer Rose Batiste is an ageless wonder; she's more than 50, but looks much younger. Singer Emmanuel Laskey discovered the cute, almond-complexion warbler and got her a deal with Thelma Records, owned by Berry Gordy's first wife, where Don Davis produced her debut "I Can't Leave You." She recorded other tracks for Thelma that never surfaced. Ed Wingate's Ric Tic label issued her second single, "That's What He Told Me" b/w "Holding Hands," in 1965; Bob Hamilton co-wrote both sides with Joanne Bratton-Jackson, with brother Al joining them on "Holding Hands." She jumped to Golden World Records in 1966 for one release, "Sweetheart Darling," written by Al and Bob Hamilton, Joe Hunter, and Richard Morris; "That's What He Told Me" released a year earlier on Ric Tic rode shotgun. Two final singles came out on Revilot Records in 1966-1967. The most known, "Hit & Run," wasn't sung by Batiste, but the Debonaires -- Joyce Vincent Wilson and Telma Hopkins (later Dawn). Original Parliament member Clarence "Fuzzy" Haskins wrote the flip "I Miss My Baby." Revilot followed with two Andrew Terry and Leon Ware songs: "Come Back in a Hurry" b/w "I Still Wait for You." She sung on other singers' sessions before leaving the business in the late '60s. None of her singles sold many copies or reached many outside the Detroit area until England's Northern soul uprising. Batiste's singles can be found on numerous compilations finally receiving recognition after years of indifference. She's part of the video collection The Strange World of Northern Soul, produced by the much-maligned Ian Levine. Levine tracked down 129 obscure American recording artists for the project that fills three videotapes. He filmed Batiste performing at the Blackpool Mecca where she visibly cries after...