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 1952, while performing at a Cleveland club, the Crazy Sounds auditioned for the club's management. They soon got in contact with the radio host Alan Freed, who upon hearing them became the group's manager. Freed renamed the group the Moonglows, after his own nickname, Moondog. They signed with Freed's Champagne label, but their recordings for the label failed to make the charts. Coggins left the group and was replaced by Alexander Walton, who was sometimes known as Pete Graves or Pete Walton.
In 1953, they recorded for another small label, Chance, but like their Champagne recordings, their records had little success; their cover of Doris Day's "Secret Love" was their most successful for Chance. In September 1953, Freed obtained a contract with the New York radio station WINS. His success as a broadcaster and host of the station led to a contract for the Moonglows with Chess Records.
For most of the Moonglows' tenure, the lead vocals were split between Lester and Fuqua. Lester preferred doo-wop ballads, whereas Fuqua preferred rock-and-roll songs. The two also recorded vocal duets. Their next hits, in 1956, included "See Saw", which peaked at number five R&B and number 25 on the Billboard Top 100, and "When I'm with You". which reached number 15 on the R&B chart. In August 1956, the band appeared in one of the first rock-and-roll movies, Rock, Rock, Rock, lip sync "Over and Over Again" and "I Knew From The Start".
By December 1956, Fuqua had begun to sing most of the vocal leads. In June 1957, the Moonglows had an R&B hit with their cover of Percy Mayfield's "Please Send Me Someone to Love". In late 1958, the Fuqua-led "Ten Commandments of Love" (used in soundtrack of "A Bronx Tale") reached number nine R&B and number 22 pop; the group was billed as Harvey and the Moonglows. Chess released two EPs and an album, Look, It's the Moonglows, during that period. Following that release, the original group broke up at the end of the year, performing together only for contractual reasons.
Lester later formed his own Moonglows group. In 1959, he made headlines after he was arrested on a narcotics charge in Beaumont, Texas. In early 1960, James Nolan left Fuqua's group, as did Reese Palmer. According to Palmer, they left to raise their families. Chuck Barksdale also left to rejoin the revived Dells. In late 1960, Gaye, Chester Simmons and Fuqua recorded (along with, presumably, members of the Spinners) the last New Moonglows recordings, including "Junior" and "Beatnik". Afterwards, Gaye relocated to Detroit and later signed with Tamla, a subsidiary of Motown Records. In February 1961, Fuqua left Chess and worked on his own Detroit labels, Harvey and Tri-Phi, until he joined Motown's production team. He left Motown for RCA Records in 1970. In 1969, Prentiss Barnes retired from show business after complications of injuries from a car crash.
Bobby Lester continued to sing lead for his own Moonglows group until he succumbed to complications of cancer in 1980, at the age of 49. He was replaced by Billy McPhatter, son of Clyde McPhatter.
Fuqua performed with Bobby Lester's Moonglows at the 1983 Grammy Awards ceremony, and the group toured as Harvey and the Moonglows until 1986. Bobby Lester, Jr., replaced McPhatter as lead singer of Bobby Lester's Moonglows.Warner, Jay. American Singing Groups: A History from 1940 to Today. Hal Leonard. . Google Books link
They also performed at Doo Wop 50, where they sang "Sincerely" and "Ten Commandments of Love". The line-up was Harvey Fuqua, Bruce Martin, Gene Kelley, Peter Crawford, and Gary Rodgers.
Billy Johnson died in Los Angeles on April 28, 1987.
Chester Simmons died on September 26, 1988.
Gary Rodgers died on June 25, 2005.
Reese Palmer died on October 27, 2011.
Prentiss Barnes and Pete Graves both died in 2006. Fuqua, the last surviving original member of the group, died on July 6, 2010, in Detroit.
The Moonglows were inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 1999 and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2000.
The group are mentioned in Paul Simon's 1983 song "René and Georgette Magritte with Their Dog after the War".
1953 | "Just a Lonely Christmas" b/w "Hey, Santa Claus" | — | — | Non-album tracks |
1954 | "Secret Love" b/w "Real Gone Mama" | — | — | |
"I Was Wrong" b/w "Ooo Rockin' Daddy" | — | — | ||
"219 Train" b/w "My Gal" | — | — | ||
"Sincerely" b/w "Tempting" (Non-album track) | 20 | 1 | "Rock, Rock, Rock" soundtrack | |
1955 | "Most Of All" b/w "She's Gone" (Non-album track) | — | 5 | Bunch of Goodies |
"Starlite" b/w "In Love" | — | — | Non-album tracks | |
"Lover, Love Me" b/w "In My Diary" (from Bunch of Goodies) | — | — | ||
1956 | "We Go Together" b/w "Chickie Um Bah" (Non-album track) | — | 9 | Bunch of Goodies |
"When I'm With You" / | — | 15 | Look! It's The Moonglows | |
"See Saw" | 25 | 6 | "Rock, Rock, Rock" soundtrack | |
"Over and Over Again" b/w "I Knew From The Start" | — | — | ||
1957 | "Don't Say Goodbye" b/w "I'm Afraid The Masquerade Is Over" (Non-album track) | — | - | Look! It's The Moonglows |
"Please Send Me Someone to Love" b/w "Mr. Engineer (Bring Her Back To Me)" (Non-album track) | 73 | 5 | Bunch of Goodies | |
"The Beating Of My Heart" b/w "Confess It To Your Heart" | — | — | Non-album tracks | |
1958 | "Here I Am" b/w "Too Late" | — | — | |
"In the Middle of the Night" b/w "Soda Pop" | — | — | ||
"Ten Commandments of Love" b/w "Mean Old Blues" | 22 | 9 | Look! It's The Moonglows | |
1959 | "Mama Loocie" b/w "Unemployment" | — | — | Non-album tracks |
1972 | "Sincerely" b/w "I Was Wrong" | — | 43 | The Return Of The Moonglows |
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