Harvey Fuqua died on 6th July 2010 (born 1929). Fuqua was a leading light in the three decades of music as a performer, writer, producer and arranger for many well known artists. In the 1950's he was a member of the Moonglows which later included Marvin Gaye(from 1959). With the group he hit with "Sincerely" in 1954 and "Ten Commandments of Love" in '58. He married Berry Gordy's sister Gwen and together they owned and ran the Tri-Phi Label which first contracted with Junior Walker and the Allstars. In '63 the label was acquired by Motown and Fuqua turned his talents to a raft of stars including Walker, Gladys Knight and Marvin Gaye (who he brought to the label). He wrote and produced a number of hits for the label including "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" and many of Walkers hits including "What Does It Take (To Win Your Love)". Post Motown his biggest success was as a producer of disco, most notably "You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)" for Sylvester and also worked with another ex-staffer at Motown, Johnny Bristol. He reunited with Marvin Gaye for the "Midnight Love" album in 1982.
Pick up any Motown compilation and it's likely he's featured there somewhere. One of the unsung heroes.
see also: More on Junior Walker
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