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Biography
Cleanup|date=December 2009Refimprove|date=December 2009Infobox musical artist|name = Van McCoy|background = solo_singer|birth_name = Van Allen Clinton McCoy|image =|birth_date = birth date|1940|1|6|mf=y|birth_place = Washington, D.C. |Died = death date and age|1979|7|6|1940|1|6|mf=y|death_place = Englewood, New Jersey |Place of Death= Englewood, New Jersey|Englewood , New Jersey |origin = Washington, D.C. |genre = Disco , Contemporary R& B|R& B , pop music|pop |occupation = Singer , Songwriter |years_active = 1952–1979|label = Columbia Records|Columbia , Avco Records|Avco , H& L Records|H& L Van Allen Clinton McCoy (January 6, 1940 – July 6, 1979) was an accomplished musician, music producer , Arrangement|arranger , songwriter , and orchestra conductor . He is known best for his 1975 internationally successful song " The Hustle (song)|The Hustle ", which is still played in dance halls and on radio to this day more than thirty years since his death. He has approximately 700 song copyrights to his credit and is also noted for producing songs for such recording artists as Gladys Knight and the Pips , The Stylistics , Aretha Franklin , Brenda & The Tabulations , David Ruffin , Peaches & Herb , and Stacy Lattisaw .
Biography
Early life
Van McCoy was born on January 6, 1940, in Washington, D.C. , the second child of Norman S. McCoy, Sr. and Lillian Ray.Van McCoy Music http://vanmccoymusic.com/van/bio2.htm More About Van McCoy He learned to play piano at a young age and sang with the Metropolitan Baptist Church choir as a youngster. By age 12 years, he had begun writing his own songs in addition to performing in local amateur shows alongside his older brother, Norman Jr. The two brothers formed a doo-wop combo named the Starlighters with two friends while in high school. They recorded a single entitled, "The Birdland", a novelty dance record, during 1956, which gained some interest resulting in a tour with drummer Vi Burnsides. The Starlighters produced three singles for End Records during 1959. Marriage and other commitments would eventually cause the group to disband during the mid-1950s. Van also sang with a group called the Marylanders.
During 1961 McCoy met Kendra Spotswood (aka. Sandi Sheldon) to whom he became engaged. For the next five years they sang and recorded music together professionally. Their relationship ended when McCoy delayed their wedding plans because of a contract with Columbia Records company.
Career
McCoy entered Howard University to study psychology during September 1958, only to drop out after two years to relocate to Philadelphia, where he formed his own recording company, Rockin' Records, and released his first single, "Hey Mr. DJ", during 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 composed his first success, "Stop the Music", for the female vocal group the Shirelles during 1962. He also managed the band Vando and Share and co-owned the band Maxx during the mid-1960s, supervising such artists as Gladys Knight & The Pips , Chris Bartley , and The Ad Libs . However, he really came into his own after first working for top producers Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller as a writer and then signing with the major April-Blackwood music publishing concern, connected with Columbia Records . McCoy would go on to write a string of hits as the 1960s progressed. He 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 , "Baby I'm Yours" for Barbara Lewis, "Getting Mighty Crowded" for Betty Everett , "Abracadabra" for Erma Franklin , "You're Gonna Make Me Love You" for Sandi Sheldon and " I Get the Sweetest Feeling " for Jackie Wilson . He also put together the hit-making duo of Peaches & Herb, arranging and co-producing their first hit, "Let's Fall In Love", for the Columbia subsidiary Date, in 1966. The same year, McCoy recorded a solo LP (format)|LP for Columbia titled Night-time 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).
Van wrote or produced most consistently for The Presidents (band)|The Presidents ("5-10-15-20 (25 Years of Love)"), The Choice Four ("The Finger Pointers", "Come Down to Earth"), Faith, Hope & Charity (" To Each His Own (Faith, Hope & Charity song)|To Each His Own " and "So Much Love") and David Ruffin (" Walk Away from Love "). In the early 1970s, McCoy began a long, acclaimed collaboration with songwriter/ producer, Charles Kipps, and arranged several hits for the soul group The Stylistics as well as releasing his own solo LP on the Buddah Records|Buddha label, Soul Improvisations , in 1972. The album included a minor hit, "Let Me Down Easy", but it wasn't a success following poor promotion. He formed his own orchestra, Soul City Symphony and, with singers Faith, Hope and Charity, produced several albums and gave many performances.
Television and film
Van McCoy appeared on the Mike Douglas Show and was a regular guest on the Tonight Show . He wrote and sang the theme song for the movie Sextette that starred Mae West and Timothy Dalton and even made a cameo appearance in it, playing a delegate from Africa. He also contributed some music for A Woman Called Moses , the TV classic that starred Cicely Tyson .Van McCoy Music http://vanmccoymusic.com/van/bio.htm The Story of Van McCoy (Page 2) Along with Faith Hope & Charity, Brass Construction and Johnny Dark , he appears in episode 4.20 of Don Kirshner 's Rock Concert .IMDb http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1417464/fullcredits#cast Full cast and crew for "Rock Concert" Episode #4.20 (1977)
Mainstream success
In 1975, McCoy released to low expectations the mostly instrumental LP Disco Baby for the Avco Records|Avco (later H& L) label. It should be noted, however, that the title song, "Disco Baby", was written by David Weiss and Hugo & Luigi, and performed by the Stylistics. Unexpectedly, a single called " The Hustle (song)|The Hustle " from the album, written about the dance of the same name and recorded last for the album, went to the very top of both the Billboard magazine|Billboard pop and R& B charts (also #3 in Britain) and won a Grammy. The album was also Grammy nominated. 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. The latter reached #6 in the Billboard R& B chart and was a Top 40 hit in the UK. There were no further major sellers in the US, despite 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)). However, he scored the UK top 5 again during 1977 with the instrumental success "The Shuffle".
Van also had major success with former Temptation David Ruffin 's comeback LP, Who I Am , featuring " Walk Away from Love ", a number 1 R& B hit (#9 pop) in the US and a UK Top 5 success. He went on to produce the next two albums for David Ruffin , which spawned further successes. McCoy produced Gladys Knight and The Pips ' Still Together LP, and for Melba Moore (" This Is It (Melba Moore song)|This Is It " and " Lean on Me (song)|Lean on Me "). He discovered Faith, Hope And Charity, whose major success in 1975, "To Each His Own", was another R& B chart-topper for him.
Death
McCoy died from a myocardial infarction|heart attack in Englewood, New Jersey|Englewood , New Jersey , on July 6, 1979, at the age of 39.
1978: My Favorite Fantasy / You're So Right For Me
1979: Lonely Dancer / Decisions
Van McCoy & The Soul City Symphony
Killing Me Softly / Love Is The Answer - Avco Records AV-4639 - 1974
Boogie Down / A Rainy Night In Georgia - Avco 4648 - 1974
The Hustle / Get Dancin' - Avco 6105 037 - 1975
Albums
1966: Night Time Is Lonely Time
1972: Soul Improvisations
1974: Love Is The Answer
1975: Disco Baby
1975: The Disco Kid
1975: From Disco To Love
1976: The Real McCoy
1976: Rhythms Of The World
1977: Van McCoy And His Magnificent Movie Machine
1978: My Favorite Fantasy
1979: Lonely Dancer
1979: Sweet Rhythm
References
Reflist
References
http://www.superseventies.com/sw_hustle.html
External links
http://www.vanmccoymusic.com Van McCoy Website
http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/van-mccoy/ Van McCoy Yahoo Group Founded: Oct 26, 2008
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vanmccoy Van McCoy – Yahoo Group Founded: May 2, 2001
http://apps.facebook.com/ilike/artist/Van+McCoy iLike Van McCoy Facebook
http://noolmusic.com/myspace_layouts/van_mccoy/van_mccoy_-_myspace_layouts_profiles_videos.shtml Van Mccoy - MySpace Layouts, Tags, Videos
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0566817/ Imdb
http://everything2.com/title/Van+McCoy Everything2 - Van McCoy
http://www.soulwalking.co.uk/Van%20McCoy.html Van McCoy Soul Walking
http://www.bsnpubs.com/nyc/avco/avco.html Avco Embassy/Avco/H& L Album Discography
Persondata| NAME =Maccoy, Van | ALTERNATIVE NAMES = | SHORT DESCRIPTION = | DATE OF BIRTH =January 6, 1940 | PLACE OF BIRTH = Washington, D.C. | DATE OF DEATH =July 6, 1979 | PLACE OF DEATH = Englewood, New Jersey|Englewood , New Jersey DEFAULTSORT:Maccoy, Van Category:1940 births Category:1979 deaths Category:American male singers Category:Musicians from Washington, D.C. Category:People from Washington, D.C. Category:Howard University alumni Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Liberty Records artists Category:Deaths from myocardial infarction Category:African American male singers
