Harvey Fuqua dies

HARVEY FUQUA, an R&B pioneer as a singer, songwriter and producer, died in Detroit on July 6 at the age of 80. The cause was a heart attack. Fuqua, a native of Louisville, began his career with the doo-wop group the Moonglows, who initially recorded for a small label run by Alan Freed and later signed with Chess. The group’s Fuqua-penned single “Sincerely” was a Top 20 hit in 1955. When Fuqua reconstituted the group as Harvey and the Moonglows in 1958, Marvin Gaye was part of the lineup, singing backup on the group’s “Ten Commandments of Love” the same year. In 1961 Fuqua laucnched the Tri-Phi and Harvey labels, recording the Spinners, Junior Walker and the All Stars and Shorty Long. Berry Gordy later hired him to run Motown’s artist development department and supervise recording sessions. He worked closely with Gaye, helping to make him one of Motown’s biggest stars and teaming him with Tammi Terrell for a series of classic duets. In 1982 he reunited with Gaye to work with him on Midnight Love, his comeback album for Columbia. (7/8a)