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# Motown's First Engineer And "Please Mr. Postman" Songwriter Robert Bateman Dies
- URL: https://www.dailydetroit.com/motowns-first-engineer-please-mr-postman-songwriter-robert-bateman-dies/
- Published: 2016-10-12T21:16:27.000Z
- Updated: 2024-02-27T19:49:37.000Z
- Author: Jer Staes
- Tags: Motown, Please Mr. Postman, Robert Bateman, #wordpress, #Import 2024-02-25 18:12, #daily-detroit-staff

“Wait a minute Mr. Postman… Wait Mr. Postman…”

If you grew up in Detroit in a certain era and don’t know that song, it’d be a surprise. And sadly, [the Freep reports](http://www.freep.com/story/entertainment/music/2016/10/12/robert-bateman-motown-dead-80-obituary/91942908/?ref=dailydetroit.com), one of the songwriters behind “Mr. Postman,” Motown’s first pop hit, has passed of a massive heart attack at age 80 in Sherman Oaks, California where he had been hospitalized while traveling.

He also was Motown’s **[first engineer](http://www.soul-source.co.uk/soulforum/topic/23022-motowns-first-engineer-robert-bateman-enterprising/?ref=dailydetroit.com)** and is a member of the R&B Hall of Fame. Bateman also was in front of the microphone and recorded for Motown as part of the Satintones, and continued his career after leaving the label in 1963.

[![Robert Bateman was on the far right. ](https://storage.ghost.io/c/47/f5/47f528d4-7214-4519-b2b2-26249e48460d/content/images/wordpress/2016/10/TheSatintonesComplet.jpg)](https://storage.ghost.io/c/47/f5/47f528d4-7214-4519-b2b2-26249e48460d/content/images/wordpress/2016/10/TheSatintonesComplet.jpg?ref=dailydetroit.com)

Robert Bateman was on the far right.

He was born in Illinois, but was Detroit his home. Arrangements will be handled by the Swanson Funeral Home in the city. [More at the Freep.](http://www.freep.com/story/entertainment/music/2016/10/12/robert-bateman-motown-dead-80-obituary/91942908/?ref=dailydetroit.com)