Van McCoy Story Pt 1 Chancellor of Soul's Soul Facts Show

NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT INTENDED

Chancellor of Soul, Mike Boone presents on his WCOS
Internet Radio show, 'Soul Facts' a special two-part edition of 'The Van McCoy Story (Part 1)'.

Born on January 6, 1940 in Washington, D.C
Van Mc Coy started his musical training at an early age
when he sang with the Metropolitan Baptist choir. He learned to play piano and began writing songs at 12.

With his older brother Norman Jr. and two high school
buddies, they formed the Starlighters and perfomed in
various talent shows. The group recorded their first single
on End Records titled, 'The Birdland' named after a popular dance in the 1950's. Personal committments
by each member, forced the group to disband in the late
50's.

McCoy enrolled in Howard University to study psychology
but dropped out after two years to move to Philadelphia Pa.
to form Rock' N Records and record his first single,
'Hey Mr. D.J.' IN 1961. He later met and became engaged
to Kendra Spottswood aka Sandi Sheldon, who he first met when he later moved to Englewood, N.J . They
performed professionally for the next 5 as The Fantastic Vantastics on the Tuff imprint. Their engagement was
interrupted when Van signed with Columbia Records.

His 'Mr. D.J.' caught the attention of Florence Greenberg
founder of Scepter / Wand Records and hired him as a
staff writer. McCoy composed his first hit as a songwriter
for the Shirelles in 1962 called, 'Stop The Music'.
Van remained with Scepter/ Wand from 1962-1964.

He then became co-owner with Larry Maxwell and formed
Maxx Records that featured artist like Gladys Knight & The
Pips. Musically speaking, Van became more of free agent
when composed maaterpiece classic R&B / Pop hits for
artists like Ruby & The Romatics, Barbara Lewis Betty
Everett, Jackie Wilson, The Spellbinders, Gladys Knight
& The Pips among others.

Legendary bandleader/ arrranger Mitch Miller who was the
head of the A&R department at Columbia Records and
responsible for the career of Johnny Mathis, was very
impressed with Mc Coy smooth vocals and decided to
to produce an album on Van entitled, 'Nighttime Is Lonely
Time' in 1966. Because of lack of promotion from the
company, the album sank without a trace. It is now considered a collector's item.

In 1967, McCoy co-founded with legendary Philadelphia
D.J. Jocko Henderson, Vando Records, where a young
male singer from Harlem, NY, the late Chris Bartley
signed on as an artist. Bartley recorded the label's first
top ten R&B smash, 'The Sweetest Thing This Side Of
Heaven' released in the late summer of 1967.

In 1968, McCoy formed his own production company
VMP (Van McCoy Production) and co-owned the Share
indie label in 1969.

As the 60's came to a close, Van McCoy succesfully left
a deep caste in the sands of a musical imprint but his
greatest achivements was just around the corner. (End Of Part 1)

Category:

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• Wand
• Maxx

[Classic63]

@TruthSerum101 Hi TruthSerum. Thanks so much for your nice comments. I'm glad you enjoyed the video. I agree 'Lovers Always Forgive' is a great song. Thanks again !

[TruthSerum101]

Wow, this is epic. Thanks for this great information. I've never heard Lovers Always Forgive before. I have to get it now. I first heard of Van as a kid when the Hustle was released and Melba Moore's Lean On Me.