Harvey Fuqua (July 27, 1929 – July 6, 2010) was an American

rhythm and blues Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated in African-American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly ...

singer,

songwriter A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music ...

record producer A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure.Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as ...

, and record label executive. Fuqua founded the seminal R&B/

doo-wop Doo-wop (also spelled doowop and doo wop) is a genre of rhythm and blues music that originated in African-American communities during the 1940s, mainly in the large cities of the United States, including New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Chica ...

group

the Moonglows The Moonglows were an American R&B group in the 1950s. Their song " Sincerely" went to number 1 on the ''Billboard'' R&B chart and number 20 on the ''Billboard'' Juke Box chart. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000. ...

in the 1950s. He is notable as one of the key figures in the development of the

Motown Motown Records is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. It was founded by Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on June 7, 1958, and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau of ''moto ...

label in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and t ...

. His group gave

Marvin Gaye Marvin Pentz Gay Jr., who also spelled his surname as Gaye (April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984), was an American singer and songwriter. He helped to shape the sound of Motown in the 1960s, first as an in-house session player and later as a solo ar ...

a start in his music career. Fuqua and his wife at the time, Gwen Gordy, distributed the first Motown hit single,

Barrett Strong Barrett Strong (born February 5, 1941) is an American singer and songwriter. Strong was the first artist to record a hit for Motown, although he is best known for his work as a songwriter, particularly in association with producer Norman Whitfi ...

's "

Money (That's What I Want) "Money (That's What I Want)" is a rhythm and blues song written by Tamla founder Berry Gordy and Janie Bradford, which was the first hit record for Gordy's Motown enterprise. Barrett Strong recorded it in 1959 as a single for the Tamla label, ...

", on their record label, Anna Records. Fuqua later sold Anna Records to Gwen's brother

Berry Gordy Berry Gordy III (born November 28, 1929), known professionally as Berry Gordy Jr., is a retired American record executive, record producer, songwriter, film producer and television producer. He is best known as the founder of the Motown record l ...

and became a songwriter and executive at Motown. He was the nephew of Charlie Fuqua of the

Ink Spots The Ink Spots were an American pop vocal group who gained international fame in the 1930s and 1940s. Their unique musical style presaged the rhythm and blues and rock and roll musical genres, and the subgenre doo-wop. The Ink Spots were widely a ...

and the uncle of the filmmaker Antoine Fuqua.

Biography

Fuqua was born in

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...

, United States. He was the nephew of Charlie Fuqua of the

. In 1951, with Bobby Lester, Alexander Graves and Prentiss Barnes, he formed a vocal group, the Crazy Sounds, in Louisville, later moving with other members of the group to

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the United States, U.S. U.S. state, state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along ...

Ohio Ohio () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Of the List of states and territories of the United States, fifty U.S. states, it is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 34th-l ...

. There they were taken under the wing of disc jockey

Alan Freed Albert James "Alan" Freed (December 15, 1921 – January 20, 1965) was an American disc jockey. He also produced and promoted large traveling concerts with various acts, helping to spread the importance of rock and roll music throughout Nor ...

, who renamed them the Moonglows, after his own nickname, Moondog". The Moonglows' first releases were for Freed's Champagne label in 1953. They then recorded for the Chance label in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

, before signing with

Chess Records Chess Records was an American record company established in 1950 in Chicago, specializing in blues and rhythm and blues. It was the successor to Aristocrat Records, founded in 1947. It expanded into soul music, gospel music, early rock a ...

in 1954. Their single " Sincerely" reached number 1 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large adverti ...

R&B chart The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by ''Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 p ...

and number 20 on the

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...

in late 1954. Recording for

, Fuqua initially shared lead vocals with Lester but eventually asserted himself as the leader of the group. This changed in 1957 when he, in effect, fired the other members and installed a new group, previously known as

the Marquees ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

, which included Marvin Gaye. The new group, billed as Harvey and the Moonglows, had immediate success with "Ten Commandments of Love" (number 22 on the ''Billboard''

). Fuqua left the group in 1958. The Moonglows reunited temporarily in 1972. They were inducted into the

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), sometimes simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum and hall of fame located in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States, on the shore of Lake Erie. The museum documents the history of rock music and ...

in 2000. While on the Chess label, Fuqua also sang duets with

Etta James Jamesetta Hawkins (January 25, 1938 – January 20, 2012), known professionally as Etta James, was an American singer who performed in various genres, including gospel, blues, jazz, R&B, rock and roll, and soul. Starting her career in 1954, sh ...

, having hits with "If I Can't Have You" (number 6 R&B, number 52 pop, 1960) and "

Spoonful "Spoonful" is a blues song written by Willie Dixon and first recorded in 1960 by Howlin' Wolf. Called "a stark and haunting work", it is one of Dixon's best known and most interpreted songs. Etta James and Harvey Fuqua had a pop and R&B reco ...

" (number 12 R&B, number 78 pop, 1961). Fuqua left the Moonglows when

Leonard Chess Lejzor Szmuel Czyż (March 12, 1917 – October 16, 1969), best known as Leonard Sam Chess, was a Polish-American record company executive and the co-founder of Chess Records. He was influential in the development of electric blues, Chicago bl ...

suggested that he join Anna Records in Detroit. At Anna Records, Fuqua began working with

Anna Gordy Anna Ruby Gaye (née Gordy; January 28, 1922 – January 31, 2014) was an American businesswoman, composer and songwriter. An elder sister of Motown founder Berry Gordy, she became a record executive in the mid-to-late 1950s distributing records ...

, Billy Davis,

Lamont Dozier Lamont Herbert Dozier (; June 16, 1941 – August 8, 2022) was an American singer, songwriter, and record producer from Detroit, Michigan. He co-wrote and produced 14 US ''Billboard'' number-one hits and four number ones in the UK. Career Doz ...

and

Johnny Bristol John William Bristol (February 3, 1939 – March 21, 2004) was an American musician, most famous as a songwriter and record producer for the Motown label in the late 1960s and early 1970s. He was a native of Morganton, North Carolina, about whi ...

. He also introduced Marvin Gaye to Anna's brother, Berry Gordy, and married their sister Gwen Gordy.Williams, Richard
"Harvey Fuqua Obituary"
''The Guardian'', July 11, 2010. In 1961, he started his own labels, Tri-Phi Records and Harvey Records, whose acts included the Spinners, Junior Walker and Shorty Long. However, tiring of running a small independent label, Fuqua welcomed the opportunity to work at Motown; he was hired to head the label's Artist Development department and also worked as a producer for the company. Fuqua brought the Spinners and Johnny Bristol to Motown and co-produced several hits for Bristol. He was also responsible for bringing Tammi Terrell to the label and for suggesting and producing her duets with Marvin Gaye, including "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" and "Your Precious Love". In 1962, with the Five Quails, Fuqua had a minor hit with "Been a Long Time". Around 1971, Fuqua left Motown and obtained a production deal with

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also ...

, for which he had particular success with the band

New Birth Born again, or to experience the new birth, is a phrase, particularly in evangelicalism, that refers to a "spiritual rebirth", or a regeneration of the human spirit. In contrast to one's physical birth, being "born again" is distinctly and sep ...

. He also discovered the disco pioneer

Sylvester Sylvester or Silvester is a name derived from the Latin adjective ''silvestris'' meaning "wooded" or "wild", which derives from the noun ''silva'' meaning "woodland". Classical Latin spells this with ''i''. In Classical Latin, ''y'' represented ...

and "Two Tons o' Fun" (also known as the

Weather Girls Weather Girls is a group of Japanese idols from Taiwan. Originally, the group is formed in 2010 and acted as weather forecasters on television and the internet for Taiwan and the United States. After attracting attention in Japan, seven of it ...

), producing Sylvester's hit singles "

Dance (Disco Heat) "Dance (Disco Heat)" is a song by American singer Sylvester and his backup vocalists Two Tons O' Fun. The song appears on his 1978 album, '' Step II''. Chart performance The song was Sylvester's first Top 40 hit in the United States, where it pe ...

" and "

You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real) "You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)" is a 1978 song by American disco/ R&B singer Sylvester. It was written by James Wirrick and Sylvester, and released as the second single from Sylvester's fourth album, ''Step II'' (1978). The song was already a ...

" in 1978 and his album ''Stars'' in 1979. He also served as

Smokey Robinson William "Smokey" Robinson Jr. (born February 19, 1940) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and former record executive director. He was the founder and front man of the Motown vocal group the Miracles, for which he was also chief ...

's road manager. In 1982, he reunited with Marvin Gaye to produce the singer's '' Midnight Love'' album, which included the single "

Sexual Healing "Sexual Healing" is a song recorded by American singer Marvin Gaye from his seventeenth and final studio album, '' Midnight Love'' (1982). It was his first single since his exit from his long-term record label Motown earlier in the year, followi ...

". In 2000, he set up his own record company, Resurging Artist Records. He served as a trustee of the Rhythm and Blues Foundation. Fuqua co-wrote one of the most famous disco instrumentals, " K-Jee", recorded originally by The Nite-liters, from which New Birth was an offshoot band, and then Philadelphia session musicians

MFSB MFSB, officially standing for "Mother Father Sister Brother", was a pool of more than 30 studio musicians based at Philadelphia's Sigma Sound Studios. They worked closely with the production team of Gamble and Huff and producer/arranger Thom ...

for the movie ''

Saturday Night Fever ''Saturday Night Fever'' is a 1977 American dance drama film directed by John Badham and produced by Robert Stigwood. It stars John Travolta as Tony Manero, a young Italian-American man from the Brooklyn borough of New York. Manero spends h ...

''. Fuqua resided in

Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vega ...

, until his death from a heart attack in a hospital in Detroit on July 6, 2010.Obituary, ''Miami Herald''

Solo singles discography

Charitable work

In March 1995, Fuqua and with his wife, Carolyne, incorporated the Foundation for the S.T.A.R.S., a nonprofit organization that reaches out to address some of the difficulties to underprivileged youth in the inner cities of America, with the belief that every dream should have the opportunity to be realized.

Lawsuits

In November 1982, disco star

filed a lawsuit against Fuqua and Fantasy Records, which led to a judgment that the company had been withholding money from him, in the amount of $218,112.50. Fuqua was unable to pay more than $20,000, therefore Sylvester never received most of the money that was legally owed to him.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fuqua, Harvey 1929 births 2010 deaths Songwriters from Kentucky Musicians from Louisville, Kentucky Motown American soul musicians American baritones Singers from Chicago Musicians from Los Angeles Record producers from Illinois Motown artists Chess Records artists The Moonglows members Singers from Kentucky Songwriters from California Songwriters from Michigan Songwriters from Illinois Singers from Detroit Record producers from California African-American male songwriters 20th-century African-American male singers