Music
Richard Street
1942–2013 · singer
Detroit-born singer of the Distants and the Monitors who joined the Temptations in 1971 and sang with them until 1993.
- Born
Detroit, Michigan- Died
Las Vegas, Nevada
aged 70- Birth name
- Richard Allen Street
- Detroit years
- 1942–1970s
- Field
- Music
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Street was born and raised in Detroit, the first Temptation actually native to Motown's hometown. As a teenager he sang lead on "Come On", the 1959 local hit by Otis Williams and the Distants, alongside future Temptations Williams, Melvin Franklin and Al Bryant; when those three left to form the Temptations, Street stayed with the Distants. In the mid-1960s he recorded for Motown with the Monitors, whose "Greetings (This Is Uncle Sam)" reached the R&B Top 30, and he worked in the company's quality-control department. By the late 1960s he was traveling with the Temptations and singing Paul Williams's parts from backstage while the ailing Williams performed onstage; he officially replaced him in 1971. Street is heard on "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone", "Superstar" and "Masterpiece", and stayed until 1993. He died in Las Vegas in 2013.
Highlights
- Lead vocal on the Distants' "Come On" (1959)
- Member of the Monitors ("Greetings (This Is Uncle Sam)", 1966)
- Temptations member 1971–1993
- Sang on "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone" (1972)
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.
Recorded here · 1960s–1972
Motown Museum
He recorded with the Monitors and later the Temptations and worked in Motown's quality-control department here.
Performed here · late 1950s–1960s
Graystone Ballroom
Demolished · 1922–1980
Otis Williams and the Distants were among the acts who played the ballroom. Demolished in 1980.