Aired on Treasure Island Oldies – Sep 29, 2024
One thing for certain about legendary deejay, Alan Freed: he knew talent when he saw it. After his own nickname, “Moondog,” he renamed a vocal harmony group, calling them the Moonglows.
The founder of the group was Harvey Fuqua, the nephew of Charlie Fuqua, a member of the fabled Ink Spots. In 1954, Fuqua’s Moonglows had a #1 R&B hit with “Sincerely,” which crossed over to the Billboard pop charts, peaking at #20. It was subsequently covered by the McGuire Sisters who took the song to the top of the pop charts in 1955.
That was just the beginning for Fuqua who would expand his singing/songwriting expertise by becoming a record producer and music label executive.
He is recognized as one of the key figures in the development of the Motown label. He and his wife at the time, Gwen Gordy, distributed the first Motown hit single, Barrett Strong’s “Money (That’s What I Want),” subsequently selling the label to Gwen’s brother Berry Gordy Jr. and becoming a songwriter and executive at Motown.
In 1977, Fuqua got wind of a band who had been playing weekends at The Palms Cafe, a cultural hotspot in San Francisco for many years, supporting the emerging gay and alternative life style. He signed its frontman/founder to a solo deal with Fantasy Records.
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The cover on the artist’s first Fantasy album showed him dressed in male attire. The purpose behind this was to move him away from his past glittery androgynous appearance to that of a more conventional rhythm-and-blues singer in order to garner a wider commercial appeal.
In September 1978, he released his second solo album, Step II. Once again co-produced by Harvey Fuqua and released on the Fantasy label, Step II contained two Disco songs that were subsequently released as singles, appearing on the Billboard Hot 100. They both became compulsory plays at nightclubs throughout North America.
Actor/singer/entertainer, Sylvester James Jr., simply known as Sylvester, paved the way for future gender-bender pop music stars such as Boy George and RuPaul. In his writings on the history of Disco, Peter Shapiro described one of Sylvester’s hit singles as his “greatest record,” “the cornerstone of gay disco,” and “an epochal record in disco history.”
The song is also one of empowerment with Sylvester stating, “You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real).”
Epilogue: In the spring of 1978, Sylvester successfully auditioned for a cameo appearance in the film The Rose starring Bette Midler. In the film, he plays one of the drag queens singing along to Bob Seger’s “Fire Down Below.”
YouTube listing of the song:
This “Moments In Time” story is yet another example of a “golden oldie” or forgotten favorite that earned its place in the evolution of Rock & Roll.