R. Dean Taylor – “Indiana Want’s Me” (1970)

Richard Dean Taylor, (born in 1939, Toronto, Ontario, Canada is a singer, most famous as an recording artist, songwriter, and record producer for Motown Records during the 1960s and 1970s. According to Jason Ankeny, Taylor “remains one of the most underrated acts ever to record under the Motown aegis”. Taylor began his career in 1961, as a pianist and singer with several bands in Toronto. He also made his first recordings in 1961, for the Audiomaster record label. The following year, Taylor’s “At The High School Dance”, a single for Amy-Mala Records, was a minor success. A follow-up on the Barry label, “I’ll Remember”, was a #23 hit on Toronto rock and roll radio station CHUM, and the singer decided to move to Detroit, Michigan to further his career. In Detroit, Taylor was hired by Motown Records in 1964 as a songwriter and recording artist on the Motown subsidiary VIP Taylor’s scheduled first single (March 1964) for VIP was the topical satire “My Ladybug (Stay Away From That Beatle)”, but it was deemed too weak for release and was never issued. Taylor resumed his recording career in 1970, becoming one of the first artists assigned to Motown’s new Rare Earth subsidiary, which was dedicated to white artists. His first Rare Earth single, “Indiana Wants Me” in 1970, became a #1 hit in his native Canada. It peaked in the United States at No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and at No. 2 in the UK. “Gotta See Jane” was also reissued in 1971, and became a Top 10 hit in Canada …