Richard Allen Street (October 5, 1942 – February 27, 2013) was an American soul and R&B singer, most notable as a member of Motown vocal group The Temptations from 1971 to 1993. Prior to joining the Temptations, he had been a member of Otis and The Distants in the 50s, a vocal group that was led by Temptation Otis Williams.
Early life
Born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, Street was the first member of the Temptations to actually be a native of the city which served as Motown's namesake and hometown; all of the previous members were born and at least partially raised in the southern United States.
Career
Otis Williams and the Distants
Street was the lead singer of an early Temptations predecessor, Otis Williams & the Distants, and takes the spotlight on their local hit "Come On". The Distants also included future Temptations Otis Williams, Melvin Franklin (who referred to Street as his cousin), and Elbridge "Al" Bryant, who left The Distants and their record deal with Johnnie Mae Matthews' Northern Records to form The Elgins (later The Temptations) with Eddie Kendricks and Paul Williams. After their departure, Matthews had Street briefly lead a new Distants group in the early 1960s.
The Monitors
During the mid-1960s, Street performed with a Motown act called The Monitors, who had only one minor hit, 1966's "Greetings (This Is Uncle Sam)", which reached #21 on the Billboard R&B Chart, and #100 on the Billboard Pop Singles Chart, to its name. They also had a smaller hit in 1965 by the name of "Say You", which The Temptations also recorded for their Gettin' Ready album.
The Temptations
Street knew the Temptations and Otis Williams, in particular, having worked for Motown in quality control and through his vocal work with the Distants and the Monitors. By the late-1960s, Street was being called upon to travel with The Temptations and sing Paul Williams' parts from off-stage, while Paul Williams, who suffered from both alcoholism and sickle-cell disease, danced and lip-synched onstage. Street officially replaced Paul Williams in mid-1971, after both he and Eddie Kendricks left the group.
A number of the Temptations' best-selling hits feature Street's lead vocals, including "Superstar (Remember How You Got Where You Are)" (1971), "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone" (1972), "Masterpiece" (1973), and was featured solo on "Hey Girl (I Like Your Style)" (1973) as well as the album cuts "The First Time I Saw Your Face" and "Firefly" from the All Directions (1972) and A Song for You albums (1975), respectively. Street and Damon Harris traded leads on "1990"'s tune "Heavenly". He and old Distants bandmates Otis Williams and Melvin Franklin endured a number of lineup changes over the two decades Street was a Temptation, during which time Dennis Edwards, Ricky Owens, Damon Harris, Glenn Leonard, Louis Price, Ron Tyson, and Ali-Ollie Woodson all served as members of the group at various times.
According to Street's own website, he left the group after the "family feeling" of the Temptations deteriorated. He fell out with Otis Williams in 1993 after missing a show because Street entered the hospital to have seventeen kidney stones removed. When the information wasn't relayed to Otis Williams, he confronted Street, demanding to know why he missed his last performance. Street felt that Williams seemed to show a lack of concern, and decided to move on. He was replaced by Theo Peoples.
When asked what the music of the Temptations meant to Street, he stated: The Temptations songs were message songs of the times, about what was going on with the world," he said last year. "You had to represent your race. People all over the world loved what we did. Back then, we did not have a whole lot of black people to look up to. We did not know we would make such a stir.”
In 1998, NBC aired The Temptations, a four-hour television miniseries based upon an autobiographical book by Otis Williams. Street was portrayed by actor J. August Richards.
Solo work
Street continued to tour and perform as a solo artist. At times, he performed as a duo with former Temptations bandmate Damon Harris, who had joined the group at about the same time he did. Street was also a regular guest host with Tim Marshall and Larry Cotton on R&B Showcase Radio Show airing on WBZC FM in South Jersey. He was honored with a New Jersey State Senate Proclamation on May 11, 2002, for his charitable works at a Mount Laurel, NJ benefit for Cancer. The event was presented by R&B Showcase Magazine. Entertainers including Ms. Marilyn Marshall and MTV's "Making The Band" finalists LMNT paid tribute to Richard Street.