The Moonglows were formed in 1953. However, the origins of the group went back to 1949, when Harvey Fuqua and Bobby Lester started singing together in Louisville, Kentucky, at the end of their military service. In 1951, Fuqua moved to Cleveland, Ohio, and set up a new group (The Crazy Sounds) with Danny Coggins and Prentiss Barnes. Soon after, Bobby Lester came to Cleveland to join too.
In 1952, DJ Alan Freed became their manager and a new name, the Moonglows, was adopted in 1953. Coggins left in 1953, to be replaced by Alexander “Pete” Walton (sometimes known as Pete Graves), and guitarist Billy Johnson was later added to complete the line-up. The group’s initial recordings were released by Champagne and then Chance Records, but there was little interest in their songs. That changed in 1954 when, now signed to Chess, they cut a single entitled “Sincerely”, which reached number one on the Billboard R&B chart and number twenty on the Hot 100 chart, selling over a quarter of a million copies.
This was a significant breakthrough for Chess Records and pointed one way forward in terms of Chicago’s signature R&B sound. The group had developed a style that involved Fuqua and Lester sharing lead vocal duties, while the other members used their voices like instruments to add colour and excitement to their songs. The song and the arrangement were clearly strong enough to break into the Pop market, but, sadly, for that to happen, it needed a cover version recorded by a White group. The McGuire Sisters duly obliged, taking the song to number one on the Pop chart and selling over a million copies.
The Moonglows sound had made an impression on the market, however, and some follow-up singles were good enough to enter the R&B charts. “Most of All”, “Foolish Me”, and “In My Diary” sold well. Then in 1956, “We Go Together” reached number nine. More importantly, it was popular amongst young people, Black and White included. The follow-up single “See Saw”/ “When I’m With You” also reached number nine, but significantly it also went to number twenty-five on the Pop chart. The group’s popularity was further enhanced by their appearance in two jukebox movies, thanks to Alan Freed.
Billboard Trade Ad (Wikimedia Commons)
1957 promised to be their best year yet, but internal friction had built up regarding the sharing of the lead vocalist role. Fuqua was steadily taking over from Lester and the tensions soon led to the group breaking up in 1958. Their last Chess hit had come in 1957 with the release of the Moonglows’ cover of Percy Mayfield’s classic song “Please Send Me Someone To Love”, which reached number five on the Billboard R&B chart and number seventy-three on the Pop chart.
Harvey Fuqua soon bounced back, teaming up with the Marquees, a group based in Washington D.C. that included Marvin Gaye in the line-up. Chess released a single called “Mama Loocie” in 1959, credited to Harvey and the Moonglows, on which Fuqua is joined by the Marquees. Marvin Gaye takes the lead vocal (for the first time in his career) and gets a co-writing credit as M. Gay. In the early sixties, Fuqua also recorded a couple of duets with Etta James, which brought further chart success. “If I Can’t Have You” reached number six R&B and number fifty-two on the Pop chart in 1960. The follow-up was the Blues song “Spoonful”, which reached number twelve R&B and number seventy-eight on the Pop chart.
Soon after that Fuqua moved to Detroit to work at Anna Records. He later married Gwen Gordy.
