His co-writing credits include the hit songs "Give Me Just a Little More Time", "Band of Gold", and "Patches", for which he won a Grammy.
Born in Detroit, Michigan, he began working for Motown when it was formed in the late 1950s and was first credited as a co-writer for the Valadiers' minor 1961 hit, "Greetings (This Is Uncle Sam)".
So we used Ronnie Dunbar, who was an employee of ours and Edith Wayne, who was a friend of the Holland family....Dunbar and Wayne were credited as co-writers on most of the hit records produced by Invictus and Hot Wax, including "Give Me Just a Little More Time" by Chairmen of the Board, which reached #3 in both the US and UK in 1970, and Freda Payne's "Band of Gold" which reached #3 in the US and #1 in the UK later the same year.
Dunbar also co-wrote "Patches" with General Johnson, the lead singer of Chairmen of the Board; the song became a US #4 and UK #2 hit when recorded by Clarence Carter.
[6] After the Hot Wax and Invictus labels folded in the 1970s, Dunbar worked on independent production projects before joining George Clinton's Uncle Jam Records as A&R Director in 1978.