Van McCoy
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| Van McCoy | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Van Allen Clinton McCoy |
| Born | January 6, 1940 |
| Origin | Washington, D.C., United States |
| Died | July 6, 1979 (aged 39) |
| Genre(s) | R&B, pop |
| Occupation(s) | Singer, Songwriter |
| Years active | 1959–1979 |
Van Allen Clinton McCoy (January 6, 1940 – July 6, 1979) was a music producer, musician, songwriter, and orchestra conductor most famous for his massive 1975 disco hit "The Hustle", which is still played on dance floors today, nearly 30 years after his death. He is also notable for producing such recording artists as Gladys Knight and the Pips, The Stylistics, Aretha Franklin, Brenda & The Tabulations, David Ruffin and Peaches & Herb, Zulema and Stacy Lattisaw.
[edit] Biography
McCoy was born on January 6, 1940, in Washington, D.C. the second child of Norman S. McCoy, Sr. and Lillian Ray, and grew up there. He sang with the Metropolitan Baptist Church choir as a kid, and was writing his own songs in addition to performing in local amateur shows alongside older brother, Norman Jr., by the time he was 12. The two formed a doo-wop combo called the Starlighters with two friends while in high school, and issued the single The Birdland, a novelty dance record, in 1956, gaining some interest that led to their touring with drummer Vi Burnsides. The Starlighters cut three singles for End in 1959. Marriage and other things would eventually cause the group to disband in the mid-'50s. He also sang with a group called the Marylanders.
McCoy entered Howard University to study psychology some time later, only to drop out after two years to move to Philadelphia, where he formed his own label Rockin' Records, and released his first single Hey Mr. DJ in 1959. This single gained the attention of Scepter Records owner Florence Greenberg, who hired McCoy as a staff writer and A&R Representative. As a writer there, McCoy penned his first hit Stop the Music for the female vocal group the Shirelles in 1962. He also ran Vando and Share and owned Maxx during the '60s, supervising such artists as Chris Bartley, Gladys Knight & The Pips and the Ad-Libs. However he didn't really come into his own until signing on with producers Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller as a writer with their Tiger and Daisy labels. McCoy would go on to write a string of hits as the '60s progressed with them. He also penned Giving Up for Gladys Knight & The Pips, later a hit for Donny Hathaway, The Sweetest Thing This Side Of Heaven for Chris Bartley, When You're Young And In Love for Ruby and the Romantics, Right On The Tip Of My Tongue for Brenda & The Tabulations, and I Get the Sweetest Feeling for Jackie Wilson during this period. He wrote or produced most consistently for The Presidents (5-10-15-20 (25 Years of Love)), The Choice Four (The Fingerpointers, Come Down To Earth), Faith, Hope & Charity (To Each His Own) and David Ruffin (Walk Away From Love). In 1966, McCoy recorded a solo LP for Columbia Records entitled Nighttime Is a Lonely Time, and, a year later, started his own short-lived label Vando, as well as his own production company VMP (Van McCoy Productions). In the early-'70s, McCoy began a long and acclaimed collaboration with songwriter and producer Charles Kipps, and arranged several hits for the soul group the Stylistics before releasing the solo LP Soul Improvisations in 1972, which, although it included the minor hit Let Me Down Easy, due to poor promotion, wasn't a success. He also formed his own orchestra Soul City Symphony, and, with singers Faith, Hope and Charity, produced several albums and gave many performances. In 1975, to low expectations, McCoy released the mostly instrumental LP Disco Baby for the Avco (later "H&L") label.
Unexpectedly, the single "The Hustle" from the album, written about the dance of the same name and recorded last for the album, went to the top of the Billboard pop charts, and won a Grammy. McCoy, then regarded a disco hitmaker, never repeated the success of the song, although the singles "Party," "That's The Joint" and "Change With The Times" got significant airplay. After a series of follow-up albums (From Disco to Love the(1975 reissue of Soul Improvisations), The Disco Kid (1975), The Real McCoy (1976), Rhythms of the World (1976), My Favorite Fantasy (1978), Lonely Dancer (1979), and Sweet Rhythm (1979)) of which only the first few sold somewhat well yet spawned no hits, returned to producing and writing. He did, however, have phenomonal success with former Temptation David Ruffin's comeback LP, "Who I Am," featuring the massive hit, "Walk Away From Love," and went on to produce the next two albums for David Ruffin, Gladys Knight and The Pips' "Still Together" LP, and Melba Moore ("This Is It" and "Lean on Me").
He died from a heart attack in Englewood, New Jersey on July 6, 1979.
