The Encyclopedia of Dead Rock Stars (393 page)

A serious car accident forced Quaife to leave the band temporarily in 1966, and the bassist eventually quit altogether in 1969, to be replaced by John Dalton. While The Kinks continued to enjoy success, Quaife formed the band Mapleoak, but was surprised and deflated when the band’s first single ‘Son of a Gun’ (1970) failed to make an impact. By mid-1970, the bass player– who did not appear on Mapleoak’s first album–had all but left the music industry. The former musician then emigrated to Canada where he embarked upon a career in graphic art and writing. (Quaife did, however, play with a reunited Kinks line-up during the eighties–and also played with the band at the time of their induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1991.)

For the last dozen years of his life, Pete Quaife was in fairly poor health, after being diagnosed with renal failure in 1998. The ex-bassist–having undergone dialysis for over a decade–finally passed away at his last home in Denmark on 24 June 2010.

‘Pete Quaife literally drove The Kinks along.’

The Who’s John Entwistle, in 1996

JULY

Golden Oldies #117

Harvey Fuqua

(Louisville, Kentucky, 27 July 1929)

The Moonglows

Harvey Fuqua achieved a great deal in the music industry. Starting out as a singer, he became one of the most respected names in US soul and R & B, working his way up the ladder as a songwriter, producer and an executive who was to become one of the most influential figures in the development of Motown.

Fuqua was the nephew of Ink Spots singer Charlie Fuqua and held his uncle in high esteem, in the hope that he might one day emulate him. As lead singer of legendary Chess doo-wop quartet The Moonglows–sensibly renamed from The Crazy Sounds–Fuqua achieved this at a young age. Among the group’s best-loved songs were the Top Forty hits ‘Sincerely’ (1955, US R & B number one), ‘See Saw’ (1956) and ‘Ten Commandments of Love’ (1958)–Fuqua recording soon after this with Etta James. A revised line-up of The Moonglows enabled the first outings of Marvin Gaye, who later became one of many stars to be produced by Fuqua at Tamla Motown. Upon the disbanding of his group in 1960, Fuqua left for Detroit and set out to discover major talent for the fledgling record label (initially via Anna Records, the label he ran with one of Berry Gordy’s sisters–Gordy’s other sister, Gwen, was soon to become Fuqua’s wife). Among those under Fuqua’s wing in the early years were Johnny Bristol, Lamont Dozier, Tammi Terrell, Junior Walker and various members of The Temptations and The (Detroit) Spinners. Some of these acts were also to record for Fuqua’s own labels, Tri and Harvey.

After leaving Motown for RCA in the seventies, the mogul enjoyed success as manager/producer to fledgling disco star, Sylvester, among other acts. Having broken into the more contemporary R & B scene, Fuqua reunited the following decade with Gaye to produce what was to be the former Motown star’s last major work,
Midnight Love
(1982)–which, of course, included the global enormo-hit ‘Sexual Healing’ (US/UK Top Five).

Understandably, Harvey Fuqua’s workload diminished considerably in his latter years, he and his next wife, Carolyne, focusing on charitable concerns. Fuqua had been living in Las Vegas up until his death on 6 July 2010 following a heart attack in Detroit.

See also
Bobby Lester (
October 1980); Marvin Gaye (
April 1984); Billy Johnson (
April 1987); Sylvester (
December 1988). Former Moonglows Gary Rodgers (co-lead, d 2005) and Prentiss Barnes (bass vocal, d 2006) have also passed away. Etta James died early in 2012.

Golden Oldies #118

Bill Porter

(St Louis, Missouri, 15 June 1931)

Bill Porter–described fondly as the ‘Golden Ear’–was a highly respected studio engineer considered key in the shaping of the Nashville sound. In his early career, Porter worked with Floyd Kramer, Skeeter Davis and Bobby Bare; he really hit the big time in the late fifties when he engineered the recordings of Elvis Presley, The Everly Brothers and Roy Orbison, among dozens of others. Some figures: in his career, Porter was responsible for nearly
six hundred
Billboard chart hits, eleven of which were chart-toppers, another thirty-eight of which achieved Top Ten status and, in total, twenty-six of which were certified at least gold.

Later, Bill Porter specialised in live recording and was responsible for mixing Presley’s last concert album before the star’s untimely death (
August 1977).
Bill Porter–who died in a hospice from Alzheimer’s disease on 7 July 2010–never graduated college himself, but was recognised as the co-creator of America’s first-ever university curriculum in Audio Engineering.

Fred Carter Jr–whose unique guitar style is also considered an integral component of the Nashville sound–died just ten days later.

Saturday 10

Sugar Minott

(Lincoln Barrington Minott-Kingston, Jamaica, 25 May 1956)

(The African Boys)

Like many reggae artists, dancehall singer and DJ Lincoln Barrington ‘Sugar’ Minott began on Kingston’s sound systems, his own Gathering Of Youth system proving to be one of the most popular and inspirational. Minott’s pure voice pushed him in other directions though, and the budding singer began fronting the Rastafari-influenced African Boys, a troupe formed with Tony Tuff and Derrick ‘Bubbles’ Howard. The African Boys’ lively mix of styles allowed them to issue a series of sides for the Micron label in the late sixties and early seventies.

By 1974, Minott was working with dub artist Rupie Edwards (who was enjoying unexpected success in the UK). After a series of patchily successful recordings for ‘Coxsone’ Dodd’s Studio One, Minott hit on his greatest international success, a cover of Michael Jackson’s ‘Good Thing Going’ (1981, UK Top Five), which was picked up for European distribution by RCA. This bright and breezy track prompted a similarly titled LP, but there were no further hits. The singer suffered somewhat from the fact that his material–both old and new–was being issued via a variety of labels. Minott continued to put on stunning live performances, though, and also founded his own Black Roots label. (He is also considered instrumental in break-ing schoolboy reggae act, Musical Youth.)