Business & brands / Music
Ed Wingate
1919–2006 · record label owner, entrepreneur
Detroit entrepreneur who co-founded Golden World and Ric-Tic Records with Joanne Bratton, for a time Motown's strongest local rival.
- Born
Moultrie, Georgia- Died
Las Vegas, Nevada
aged 87- Birth name
- Ed Wingate Jr.
- Also known as
- Eddie Wingate
- Detroit years
- 1930s–1970s
- Field
- Business & brands, Music
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Wingate's family moved from Georgia to Detroit in the 1930s. In 1961, after turning down an offer to become a partner in Motown, he launched Golden World Records with Joanne Bratton, a label and publishing company that by 1963 was being compared with Berry Gordy's operation. Under the Golden World umbrella the pair ran the Wingate and Ric-Tic labels and a studio on West Davison, recording Edwin Starr, the Parliaments, the Fantastic Four, J. J. Barnes, Laura Lee, the Reflections and Gino Washington, often with Motown session players moonlighting. In 1966 Gordy bought the labels and turned the studio into Motown's Studio B. Wingate was also associated with the 20 Grand nightlife complex, and he was named by FBI informants as a major figure in Detroit's illegal numbers game, though he was never convicted. Laura Lee credited him with her first hit. He died in Las Vegas in 2006.
Highlights
- Co-founded Golden World Records in 1961
- Ran the Ric-Tic and Wingate labels
- Golden World studio became Motown's Studio B in 1966
- Label roster included Edwin Starr and the Parliaments
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 2
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Founded · 1962–1966
Golden World studio (Motown Studio B)
Closed
He co-owned Golden World and its studio, sold to Motown in 1966.
Related place · 1950s–1960s
The 20 Grand
Demolished
Wikipedia's article on the club says the adjacent Twenty Grand Motel was his; another article calls him the club's owner. The site is now a grass lot.