From:   "Dik de Heer" 
Date:  Sat Jul 27, 2002  1:58 am
Subject:  Born To Be With You : Harvey Fuqua
 
HARVEY FUQUA (By Shaun Mather)

Born 27 July 1928, Chicago, Illinois

Harvey Fuqua 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, soul and disco
acts. Music was in his blood, he was the nephew of Charlie Fuqua of the Ink
Spots and soon started the Moonglows with lead singer and fellow Louisville
native Bobby Lester, Alexander Graves and Prentiss Barnes. Mentored by
legendary rock & roll DJ Alan Freed, the group 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
christened the group the Moonglows. Their first releases were for Freed's
Champagne label in 1953. The following year, the group signed with Art
Sheridan's Chicago, IL-based Chance label, scoring a regional hit with a
cover of Doris Day's "Secret Love." When Chance folded that same year, label
exec Ewart Abner suggested they try to get a deal with another Chicago
label, Chess Records. Their Chess single "Sincerely" parked at number one
R&B for two weeks, number 20 pop on Billboard's charts in late 1954. The
group's "blow harmony" can be heard on other Chess hits: "Most of All" (number
five R&B, spring 1955), "We Go Together" (number nine R&B, summer 1956,
later covered by Jan & Dean), the double-sided hit "See Saw" (number six
R&B, b/w "When I'm With You," number 15 R&B, fall 1956), a cover of Percy
Mayfield's 1950 gold hit "Please Send Me Someone to Love" (number 5 R&B,
summer 1957), and "Ten Commandments of Love" (number nine R&B, fall 1958),
credited to Harvey and the Moonglows, whose lineup consisted of former
members of the Washington, D.C., doo wop group the Marquees: Marvin Gaye,
Reese Palmner, James Knowland, Chester Simmons, and Chuck Barksdale on
loan from the Dells.

The group also recorded under the "pun" name the Moonlighters, having a
regional hit with "Soo-doo-Bedoo," which was inspired by the Chords'
"Sh-Boom." In 1958, Fuqua left the Moonglows and label owner Leonard Chess
suggested that he join Anna Records in nearby Detroit, MI. Retaining Gaye,
he gave the other three Marquees members tickets back to DC and traveled to
Detroit where he began working with "See Saw" co-writer Billy Davis - not to
be confused with the Fifth Dimension member of the same name - and Anna
Gordy, whose brother Berry 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 have
huge success with Motown. Fuqua came to the attention of Berry Gordy when he
observed Fuqua's marathon practice sessions while 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 on Etta James. In 1961, he started
his own labels, Tri-Phi and Harvey Records. On their rosters were the
Spinners (the Fuqua-lead "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
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, all having a sprinkling of the Moonglows' sound: Marvin Gaye
and Tammi Terrell's "Aint 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. Two acts signed to
Fuqua's talent agency were signed to the label: The Nitelighters ("K-Jee,"
"Afro-Strut" b/w "(We've Got To) Pull Together") and New Birth (a cover of
Perry Como's 1971 hit "It's Impossible," a cover of Bobby Womack's "I Can
Understand It," "It's Been a Long Time"). New Birth group members Lester &
Melvin Wilson recorded as Love, Peace and Happiness covering Gladys Knight
and the Pips' "I Don't Want to Do Wrong," number 41 R&B, summer 1982. The
Moonglows reunited in 1972 with Fuqua, Lester, Graves, Doc Williams, and
Chuck Lewis. They recorded an RCA LP, The Return of the Moonglows, and a
remake of "Sincerely" which charted number 43 R&B. Fuqua reunited with
Marvin Gaye in summer 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," number one R&B for ten weeks,
number three pop, fall 1982. The single "Sanctified Lady," from Gaye's
posthumously released 1985 LP Dream of a Lifetime, parked at number
two R&B for three weeks in the spring 1985.
(Adapted from All Music Guide).

Recommended listening: The Moonglows, Blue Velvet : The Ultimate Collection.
(Chess, 2 CD-set, 44 tracks.)