Van McCoy

Although Van McCoy achieved widespread recognition chiefly through his solitary chart-topping disco single “The Hustle,” his earlier decades were marked by an extensive body of work as a behind-the-scenes songwriter and producer whose soul compositions repeatedly reached the upper ranks of the charts until his death at age 39. Born Van Allen Clinton McCoy in Washington, D.C., on January 6, 1940, he performed as a youth in the Metropolitan Baptist Church choir and, by twelve, had begun composing original material while appearing alongside his older brother Norman Jr. in neighborhood talent contests.

Together with high-school classmates Freddy Smith and Paul Comedy, the McCoy brothers formed the doo-wop group the Starlighters. In that ensemble Van served as lead singer, principal songwriter, and musical director; under his guidance the quartet released the 1956 novelty dance single “The Birdland,” which drew sufficient regional attention to secure an East Coast tour opening for drummer Vi Burnsides. When military service and marriages soon dissolved the quartet, McCoy enrolled at Howard University to study psychology yet withdrew after one year, moving to Philadelphia to launch his own imprint, Rockin’ Records.

Rockin’ Records issued his first solo effort, “Hey Mr. DJ,” in 1959. Although the single failed to become a major success, it attracted the notice of Scepter Records founder Florence Greenberg, who appointed him staff writer and A&R representative; in that capacity he supplied the Shirelles with their 1962 hit “Stop the Music.” He subsequently joined the writing roster of producers Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller at their Tiger and Daisy labels, where over the ensuing years he created such notable recordings as Jackie Wilson’s “I Get the Sweetest Feeling,” Gladys Knight & the Pips’ “Giving Up,” Betty Everett’s “Getting Mighty Crowded,” Ruby & the Romantics’ “When You’re Young and in Love,” and Barbara Lewis’s “Baby, I’m Yours.” With his then-girlfriend Kendra Spotswood he also composed, produced, and performed under various pseudonyms, among them the Pacettes’ “You Don’t Know Baby,” Jack & Jill’s “Two of a Kind,” and the Fantastic Vantastics’ “Gee What a Boy.” Recording as Sandi Sheldon, Spotswood delivered the McCoy-penned “You’re Gonna Make Me Love You,” a track later revered in Britain’s Northern soul clubs.

McCoy signed with Columbia in 1966 for the Mitch Miller-produced album Nighttime Is a Lonely Time. The following year he established the short-lived Vando label and the production firm VMP. From 1971 onward he maintained an extended partnership with songwriter-producer Charles Kipps; their joint projects included David Ruffin’s 1975 Motown comeback album Who I Am, which spawned the hit “Walk Away from Love.” McCoy additionally supplied arrangements for several successes by Philly soul stalwarts the Stylistics. Seeking recognition as a performer, he released the 1972 solo album Soul Improvisations—later reissued as From Disco to Love—yet it attracted little notice.

Hopes for the 1975 Avco release Disco Baby were likewise modest until McCoy, after learning of the dance from New York disc jockey David Todd, wrote “The Hustle” in less than an hour as the album’s final track. The song ascended to the top of the Billboard pop chart in July 1975 and received a Grammy, though McCoy later expressed unease at being narrowly identified as a disco artist. Subsequent LPs—The Disco Kid, 1976’s The Real McCoy and Rhythms of the World, and 1979’s Lonely Dancer—did not replicate that breakthrough, prompting his gradual return to production work with acts such as Faith, Hope & Charity. On July 6, 1979, he suffered a fatal heart attack in Englewood, New Jersey, six months before his fortieth birthday.