Harvey Fuqua
*Harvey Fuqua was born on this date in 1929. He was a Black contemporary singer and composer.
Born in Louisville, KY, Harvey Fuqua (the nephew of Charlie Fuqua of the Ink Spots) started the Moonglows with lead singer and fellow Louisville native Bobby Lester, Alexander Graves, and Prentiss Barnes. They were mentored by rock & roll DJ Alan Freed and appeared with Freed on his radio show, concerts, and with him in the movies Rock, Rock, Rock (1956) and Mr. Rock and Roll (1957). Originally called the Crazy Sounds, Freed re-named the group the Moonglows.
The Moonglows' first releases were for Freed's Champagne label in 1953. The following year, the group signed with the Chance label. Chance folded that same year, and they got a deal with Chess Records. Their Chess single "Sincerely" parked at number one R&B for two weeks and number 20 pop on Billboard's charts in 1954, "Most of All" (number five R&B, spring 1955), "We Go Together" (number nine R&B, summer 1956, the double-sided hit "See Saw" (number six R&B, b/w "When I'm with You," number 15 R&B, fall 1956), and "Please Send Me Someone to Love" (number five R&B, summer 1957).
"Ten Commandments of Love" (number nine R&B, fall 1958) is credited to Harvey & the Moonglows, whose lineup consisted of former Washington, D.C. doo-wop group members the Marquees. In 1958, Fuqua left the Moonglows, and label owner Leonard Chess suggested that he join Anna Records in nearby Detroit, MI. where he began working with "See-Saw" co-writer Billy Davis and Anna Gordy, whose brother Berry Gordy he had met when he came to Chess to lease the rights to the Miracles' "Bad Girl." Anna Records was having a huge hit with Barrett Strong's "Money." While with Anna, Fuqua recorded Lamont Anthony (aka Lamont Dozier) and Johnny Bristol, two talents who would later succeed with Motown. Fuqua came to Berry Gordy's attention when he observed Fuqua's marathon practice sessions. At the same time, Fuqua rented a room at the home of his sister, Esther Gordy, and her husband, George Edwards.
Fuqua was still working with Chess producing sides for Etta James. In 1961, he started his own labels, Tri-Phi and Harvey Records. On their rosters were the Spinners (the Fuqua-led "That's What Girls Are Made For" on Tri-Phi, number five R&B, summer 1961), Junior Walker & the All-Stars ("Good Rockin' Tonight"), and Shorty Long. Tired of the rigors of running a small independent label with no distribution or manufacturing edge against the major-label competition, Fuqua was glad when Motown founder Berry Gordy hired him to head the label's artist development department, basically a charm school for the label's artists. He was assisted by Gordy's sisters Gwen (Fuqua's wife) and Anna, Maxine Powell, and Cholly Atkins and brought the Spinners and Johnny Bristol to Motown.
Fuqua co-produced several hits with Bristol, Marvin Gaye, and Tammi Terrell's "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" (written by Ashford & Simpson, number three R&B, number 19 pop, summer 1967), "Your Precious Love" (number two R&B, number five pop, fall 1967), and "If This World Were Mine" (number two R&B, number ten pop, late 1967), in addition to former Temptations member David Ruffin's "My Whole World Ended (The Moment You Left Me)" (number two R&B, number nine pop, early 1969). Around 1971, Fuqua left Motown and signed a production deal with RCA Records. The Moonglows reunited in 1972; they recorded an RCA LP, The Return of the Moonglows, and a remake of "Sincerely" that charted number 43 R&B. Fuqua reunited with Marvin Gaye in the summer of 1982, collaborating on the singer's Midnight Love LP, which hit number seven pop in late 1982, sold two million copies, and included the gold single "Sexual Healing."
The single "Sanctified Lady," from Gaye's posthumously released 1985 LP Dream of a Lifetime, parked at number two in R&B for three weeks in the spring of 1985. founded the seminal R&B/doo wop group the Moonglows, was an early mentor of Marvin Gaye (co-producing "Sexual Healing" and Gaye's hit duets with Tammi Terrell), helped to develop several Motown acts, and helped to launch the careers of '70s soul-pop group New Birth and disco superstar Sylvester ("Dance [Disco Heat]," "You Make Me Feel Mighty Real").
A latter-day version of the Moonglows was performed in a 1999 PBS television special. A Fuqua-led group recorded updated renditions of traditional R&B favorites for the subsequent Harvey & the Moonglows 2000 album, released on Fuqua's Resurging Artist label. In his later years, Harvey Fuqua, who lived in Concord, NC, died of a heart attack at a hospital in Detroit on July 6, 2010.
