MALLINation

Norman Whitfield – a key member of Motown’s late 60s assembly line as a writer/producer, is dead at age 65. At Motown he co-wrote classics like “I Heard it Through the Grapevine”, “Just my Imagination”, “Ball of Confusion”, “Papa Was a Rolling Stone”, “Cloud Nine”, and “War” pushing the staid label into more socially conscious territory. This was echoed by his production work which took on a funkier thicker density as the 70s dawned. Away from Motown he would score hits like Rose Royce’s “Car Wash” in 1977.