Rare Earth was the first big hit-making act signed by Motown that consisted only of white performers.
The group was signed to Motown in 1969. The band was one of the first bands signed to a new Motown record label called Rare Earth (named after the band) that would be dedicated to white rock acts.
Rare Earth had a number of Top 40 hits in 1970–71, including remakes of The Temptations' "(I Know) I'm Losing You" and "Get Ready". Both songs were more successful than The Temptations originals.
Canadian R. Dean Taylor was one of the first solo artists assigned to Motown's Rare Earth Record label.
He was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada and had some minor success in Canada with several singles in the early 1960s. He then moved to Detroit, Michigan in 1964 and was a songwriter and recording artist for the Motown subsidiary V.I.P. label. Taylor's scheduled first single (March 1964) for V.I.P. was the topical satire "My Ladybug (Stay Away From That Beatle)", but it was deemed too weak for release and was never issued.
It was not until November 1965 that Taylor's debut V.I.P. single, "Let's Go Somewhere", was issued. It was written by Taylor in conjunction with Brian Holland and produced by Holland and Dozier. His next singles, "There's A Ghost In My House" and "Gotta See Jane" were hits in the U.K. in the late 1960s and the reissue of "Gotta See Jane" in 1971 was a Top 10 Canadian hit. Those records were released in the U.K. on the Tamla/Motown Record label.
He continued to write and co-write many hit songs for Motown's roster of acts including The Temptations, The Supremes, and other acts.
Taylor was signed to Rare Earth Records in 1970 and his song, "Indiana Wants Me" became a big international hit in the U.S., Canada, U.K. and other countries. Taylor wrote and composed the song after watching the movie
Bonnie and Clyde. The police siren sounds at the start of the record were removed from some copies supplied to radio stations after complaints that drivers hearing the song on the radio had mistakenly pulled over, thinking that the sounds were real. The sirens are also heard during the instrumental section in the middle of the song. At the climax of the song, soon after the narrator has sung, "Red lights are flashin' around me,/ Yeah, love, it looks like they found me", and the chorus, the voice of a cop on the bullhorn is heard, commanding: "THIS IS THE POLICE. YOU ARE SURROUNDED. GIVE YOURSELF UP. THIS IS THE POLICE. GIVE YOURSELF UP. YOU ARE SURROUNDED." However, the narrator apparently ignores the command, and a gun battle ensues between the narrator of the song and the police as the song fades out. An alternate version of the song fades out at the end without the gunfire sound effects. There was a limited edition red vinyl version of the 45 record produced.
All of his records released outside of North America were on the Tamla Motown Record label. His early records were also on Tamla Motown in Canada but once he signed to Rare Earth, his Canadian releases were also on that label.
He released several more songs on Rare Earth that were minor chart records.
Taylor continued recording for Rare Earth, and working as a writer / producer for other artists until Rare Earth was ended in 1976. As a Canadian citizen, he could be played on Canadian radio stations and counted towards the stations' Canadian content quotas.
He also established his own record company, Jane Records, in 1973.
