The Moonglows

Induction Year: 2000

Induction Category: Performer

"As rhythm & blues innovators with an exquisite vocal blend, the Moonglows were among the finest black harmony groups of the Fifties. They served to bridge the smoother approach of groups like the Ink Spots and the Mills Brothers with the earthier sounds of rock and roll. The Moonglows, at least part of whose career found them in league with deejay , heralded the revolution that was to come on the strength of such doo-wop singles as “Sincerely,” “Most of All,” and “See Saw,” which were all sizable hits on both the pop and R&B charts in the mid-Fifties.

The Moonglows came together in Cleveland in the early Fifties from an alliance between Harvey Fuqua and Bobby Lester, who’d previously sung together in their hometown of Louisville, Kentucky. They called their jazzy vocal group the Crazy Sounds, but renamed them the Moonglows. They recorded one single for Freed’s Champagne label and five for Chicago-based Chance Records before Phil Chess brought them over to his Chess label, where they remained from 1954 to 1961. The Moonglows’ productive stay on Chess ranged from the vocally innovative “Sincerely,” their biggest hit (#1 R&B, #20 pop), to the Platters-influenced “Ten Commandments of Love” (#9 R&B, #22 pop). When the group reshuffled its lineup in 1959, a young became one of the new members. Subsequently, Gaye became a star at Motown while Moonglows founder Harvey Fuqua, who’d already been writing songs with Motown founder Berry Gordy, served as an in-house producer and songwriter.

TIMELINE

1952: The first Moonglows record, “I Just Can’t Tell No Lie,” is released on Champagne Records, owned by .

1953: The Moonglows release the first of five singles for the Chance label.

1954: Debuting on the Chicago-based Chess label, the Moonglows release “Sincerely,” which is the biggest hit of their career. It tops the R&B chart and makes the Top Twenty on the pop chart.

1955: The Moonglows hit #5 on the R&B chart with the Chess release “Most Of All.”

1956: The Moonglows appear in ‘Rock Rock Rock’, a rock and roll movie featuring . A year later they return in ‘Go Johnny Go.’

1956: The Moonglows hit #25 with the Chess release “See Saw.”

1956: The Moonglows hit #9 on the R&B chart with the Chess single “We go Together.”

September 1, 1956: The Moonglows’ second-biggest hit, “See Saw,” enters the singles charts. It reaches #6 on the R&B side and #25 on the pop side.

1957: The Moonglows hit #5 on the R&B chart with “Please Send Me Someone To Love” on Chess records.

December 2, 1957: The last of the Moonglows’ singles to chart, “Ten Commandments of Love” is recorded on Chess records. More work on the song is done in 1958 and it is a hit that fall.

1959: “Twelve Months of the Year,” featuring , who replaced the departed Harvey Fuqua in the Moonglows, is recorded.

1960: The Moonglows disband, although singles are released under their name by Chess into 1961.

1972: A Reformed Moonglows lineup releases “Sincerely ‘72.”

March 6, 2000: The Moonglows are inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at the fifteenth annual induction dinner. is their presenter.

Essential Songs

Most of All
When I’m With You
See Saw
We Go Together
Please Send Me Someone to Love
Let’s Go
Shoo Doo Be Doo (My Loving Baby)
The Beating of My Heart
Sincerely
Ten Commandments of Love

Recommended Reading

The Moonglows: Their Greatest Hits
The Moonglows Chess/MCA, 1997. (Note: The booklet included with this anthology contains biographical and discographical information.)

“The Moonglows: The Commandments of Doo-Wop.”
Steve Propes. Goldmine (February 8, 1991), 11-13, 32.