orn in 1939 in Toronto, little Dean set his sights on becoming a country singer. Rock and roll didn't officially exist yet, but when it did, Dean was ready. In 1960, under the influence of Jerry Lee Lewis, Taylor recorded a rough tune entitled "At the High School Dance." A Canadian label, Perry Records, released the rocker and at least two follow-up singles. The kid must have been ripe and on to something, because in 1964 Mala Records in the U.S. decided to pick up his second single, the two-year-old "It's a Long Way to St. Louis," for release.

First charting on Sept. 19, 1970, Toronto singer/songwriter's "Indiana Wants Me" peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 pop chart and remained on the chart for 13 weeks. It was featured on his 1971 album I Think Therefore I Am, which charted Feb. 20, 1971, and peaked at #198 on the Hot 200 LP chart.

Between 1964 and 1973, Taylor occasionally released singles on Motown's VIP and Rare Earth labels. From Motown's point of view, Dean was Brian Holland's protégé, present primarily to co-write hit songs like "Love Child" and "I'm Living on Shame" for the Supremes, as well as "I'll Turn to Stone" and "You Keep Turning Away" for the Temptations. Taylor has claimed that he was "shafted" by the label when songs that he wrote were listed on the label as creations of others.

"[Holland-Dozier-Holland] were building up an image as a production team which they succeeded in doing, and they were stingy in letting any of the glory go," R. Dean told Sharon Davis, author of Motown: The History. "They used to pay me cash for whatever I wrote and left my name off. I co-wrote "You Keep Running Away," "Standing in the Shadows of Love" and "Seven Rooms" for the Four Tops, and "Love Is Here and Now You're Gone" for the Supremes, but I didn't get my name mentioned."

R. Dean also worked as part of the Clan and the Corporation production teams. These gatherings, comprising Taylor, Jeffrey Bowen, Marc Gordon, Hal Davis, Freddie Perren, Deke Richards, and Frank Wilson, were called in to fill the void at Motown when the Holland-Dozier-Holland songwriting team and production company walked out on the label.

With all the pressure to keep the Hitsville production line rolling, not much attention was apparently given to the production work-up Dean was preparing for some of his self-penned tunes. One of these, "Indiana Wants Me," was the tale of a critter on the lam for murdering a fellow who says something foul about the critter's lady. Dean followed this vacuous ode with three more mournful situations that each charted the lower reaches of the Billboard Hot 100. The last one, "Taos New Mexico" (#83, 1972), is about a poor thief serving time in the Big House, feeling sorry for himself.

Shortly after this last release, Taylor separated from the Motown empire to set up Jane Records, and issued one single, "Bonnie." No one is known to have actually heard this record, or to know what it is about. A few years later, another 45 surfaced on the Farr label, only to vanish without a trace. Apparently, Dean had served his time in the spotlight, and neither Indiana nor any of the other 49 states wanted him any longer.

Brits, however, consider R. Dean something of a Motown legend and have so honored the lad with three more Top 40 hits in 1974: "There's a Ghost in My House," "Window Shopping" and "Gotta See Jane"; the latter had clicked earlier, in the summer of 1967.

As to his limited success, R. Dean told Davis: "Brian Holland wanted to break me as a white artist with Motown, but he kept trying to make me sound black, recording me in the wrong keys and such. That's why I never got anywhere."

Taylor attempted a comeback during the early 1980s, after which he had a hiatus from the music industry. He built a recording studio at his home in Los Angeles, and worked on an unpublished memoir of his time at Motown. He died at home on January 7, 2022, at the age of 82, having been ill since contracting COVID-19 the previous year. At the time of his death he had been married for 52 years to his wife Janee.

- Wayne Jancik, The Billboard Book of One-Hit Wonders, Billboard, 1998.