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 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"). Born on July 27, 1929, 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 (January 13, 1930 -- October 15, 1980),
Alexander Graves (born April 17, 1930, Cleveland, OH), and
Prentiss Barnes (April 12, 1925, Magnolia, MS). 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) -- the soundtrack was issued on CD by
MCA -- and Mr. Rock and Roll (1957). Originally called the Crazy Sounds,
Freed christened the group
the Moonglows. The 1978 movie American Hot Wax featured a fictional group that was based on
the Moonglows and
Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers.
The Moonglows' 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, and 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 five R&B, summer 1957), and "Ten Commandments of Love" (number nine R&B, fall 1958), credited to Harvey & the Moonglows, whose lineup consisted of former members of the Washington, D.C. doo wop group
the Marquees:
Marvin Gaye, Reese Palmer, 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 D.C. 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 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 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 "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. 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 and
Melvin Wilson recorded as
Love, Peace & Happiness covering
Gladys Knight & 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" 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" (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 of 1985. A latter-day version of
the Moonglows performed on a 1999 PBS television special, and a
Fuqua-led version of the group recorded updated renditions of traditional R&B favorites for the subsequent Harvey & the Moonglows 2000 album released on
Fuqua's Resurging Artist label. A resident of Concord, NC in his later years,
Harvey Fuqua died of a heart attack at a hospital in Detroit on July 6, 2010; he was 80 years old. ~ Ed Hogan