Harvey Scales (September 27, 1940 – February 11, 2019) was an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

R&B and

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...

singer, songwriter, and producer. Scales had been active in the music industry since the 1960s, and composed songs for groups such as

The Dells The Dells were an American R&B vocal group. Formed in high school in 1953 by founding members Marvin Junior, Verne Allison, Johnny Funches, Chuck Barksdale, and Michael and Lucius McGill, under the name the El-Rays. They released their first r ...

The Dramatics The Dramatics are an American soul music vocal group, formed in Detroit, Michigan, in 1964. They are best known for their 1970s hit songs " In the Rain" and "Whatcha See Is Whatcha Get", both of which were Top 10 Pop hits, as well as their late ...

, and

The O'Jays The O'Jays are an American R&B group from Canton, Ohio, formed in 1958 and originally consisting of Eddie Levert, Walter Lee Williams, William Powell, Bobby Massey, and Bill Isles. The O'Jays made their first chart appearance with the minor hi ...

. He is particularly notable for his co-authorship of the songs "

Love-Itis Love-Itis is a song written by Harvey Scales and Albert Vance (with Rudy Jacobs also initially acknowledged as a co-writer), originally recorded by Harvey Scales and The Seven Sounds. The song was later recorded and popularized by The Sonics, M ...

" and "

Disco Lady "Disco Lady" is a 1976 single by American singer Johnnie Taylor that went on to become his biggest hit. It spent four weeks at No. 1 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and six weeks on the ''Billboard'' R&B chart in the U.S. It was also the first sing ...

". Once called Milwaukee's "Godfather of Soul" by a local reporter, Scales credited

James Brown James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, dancer, musician, record producer and bandleader. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th century music, he is often referred to by the honor ...

and the sound of "

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the m ...

" for influencing his music career.

History

Scales was born in

Osceola, Arkansas Osceola is a city in, and a dual county seat of, Mississippi County, Arkansas, Mississippi County, Arkansas, United States. Located along the Mississippi River within the Arkansas Delta, the settlement was founded in 1837 and incorporated in 1853. ...

, and grew up in

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee is ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

, where he attended Roosevelt Middle School and North Division High School. He was well known in Milwaukee, before his big break as a national songwriter. He was known as "Twistin' Harvey", in the early 1960s. In 1961, he and his longtime friend Albert James Vance (1943–2003) formed the group, Harvey Scales & The 7 Sounds, which released several singles. Ed Hogan
Biography of Harvey Scales
Allmusic. Retrieved 2011-12-03. Harvey Scales & The 7 Sounds initially recorded for

Cuca Records Cuca Records was an American independent record label, of Sauk City, Wisconsin, United States, was founded by James Kirchstein in 1959 and actively produced LP and 45 rpm recordings until the early 1970s. During this period, Cuca recorded and rel ...

, and later for Magic Touch Records, a Wisconsin-based label owned by

Lenny LaCour Lenny LaCour (born Leonard James LaCour Sr., April 27, 1932, Bayou Brevelle, Louisiana, United States) is an American record producer, songwriter and performer, particularly active from the mid-1950s to the mid-1970s.Dik De Heer, with Gary Meyers a ...

.Dik De Heer, with Gary Meyers and Eric LeBlanc
Biography of Lenny LaCour
BlackCat Rockabilly Europe. Retrieved 2011-12-19. The band's one hit was "Get Down", backed with "Love-Itis", which reached No. 32 on the

R&B charts The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by '' Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 ...

in 1967.Uncredited, Soulwalking
Biography of Harvey Scales
Retrieved 2011-12-07. The band signed with

Chess Records Chess Records was an American record company established in 1950 in Chicago, specializing in blues and rhythm and blues. It was the successor to Aristocrat Records, founded in 1947. It expanded into soul music, gospel music, early rock and roll ...

in 1969, recording for the

Cadet Concept Records Cadet Records was an American record label that began as Argo Records in 1955 as the jazz subsidiary of Chess Records. Argo changed its name in 1965 to Cadet to avoid confusion with the similarly named label in the UK. Cadet stopped releasing r ...

division, with LaCour continuing as producer. In 1970, the group had a regional hit with the LaCour-produced "The Funky Yolk". Through his familiarity with producer Don Davis at Chess, Scales met singer

Johnnie Taylor Johnnie Harrison Taylor (May 5, 1934 – May 31, 2000) was an American recording artist and songwriter who performed a wide variety of genres, from blues, rhythm and blues, soul, and gospel to pop, doo-wop, and disco. In 2022, Taylor was ...

, who was at the time recording for

Stax Records Stax Records is an American record company, originally based in Memphis, Tennessee. Founded in 1957 as Satellite Records, the label changed its name to Stax Records in 1961. It also shared its operations with sister label Volt Records. Stax was ...

. Scales then moved from Cadet Concept to Stax, releasing several singles. Scales followed the career of Johnnie Taylor when Taylor moved to

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...

. As described by Ed Hogan: :"When Stax became inactive, Taylor signed with Columbia, retaining Davis' services. Recording at Davis' favorite studio ( United Sound Studios in Detroit), the producer used

the Impressions The Impressions were an American music group originally formed in 1958. Their repertoire includes gospel, doo-wop, R&B, and soul. The group was founded as the Roosters by Chattanooga, Tennessee natives Sam Gooden, Richard Brooks and Arthur Bro ...

' " Gypsy Woman" and an African dancer he had seen on a vacation to Spain as a template for a partially finished song ("Disco Baby") that Scales had brought to him. Davis took it to (Bootsy) Collins and (Bernie) Worrell, who honed and tightened up the groove, while veteran arranger

David Van De Pitte David J. Van De Pitte (October 28, 1941 – August 9, 2009) was an American music arranger and bass player. He is best known for his work at Motown Records during the 1960s and early 1970s, when he was responsible for arranging many of the be ...

did the horn arrangements." Scales received national recognition for co-writing with Don Davis and Albert Vance on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart-topping single for

, "

". "Disco Lady" was the very first platinum single in the history of the

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

, selling over two million copies. It was certified platinum on April 22, 1976. As a result, Scales became -- and will always be -- one of the co-writers of the first platinum single record in America. Scales is also notable as being the co-writer of "

", a 1967 release by Harvey Scales & The 7 Sounds, which later was covered and was a hit for the Canadian band

Mandala A mandala ( sa, मण्डल, maṇḍala, circle, ) is a geometric configuration of symbols. In various spiritual traditions, mandalas may be employed for focusing attention of practitioners and adepts, as a spiritual guidance tool, for e ...

in 1968, and the

J. Geils Band ''J. The Jewish News of Northern California'', formerly known as ''Jweekly'', is a weekly print newspaper in Northern California, with its online edition updated daily. It is owned and operated by San Francisco Jewish Community Publications In ...

in 1975. The song was also covered by

The Sonics The Sonics are an American garage rock band from Tacoma, Washington that formed in 1960. Their aggressive, hard-edged sound has been a major influence on punk and garage music worldwide, and they have been named inspirations to the White Str ...

, originally recorded in 1967. Scales also co-wrote, with

Bunny Sigler Walter "Bunny" Sigler (March 27, 1941 – October 6, 2017) was an American R&B singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and record producer who did extensive work with the team of Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff, and was instrumental in creating th ...

, "Once Is Not Enough", recorded by

and, as sole composer, "Be For Real With Me", which was recorded by

. Taki S. Raton
"Twistn" Harvey Scales returns to Milwaukee
'' Milwaukee Courier'', September 10, 2011. Retrieved 2011-12-12. The success of "Disco Lady" enabled Scales to obtain a recording contract with

Casablanca Records Casablanca Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group and operated under Republic Records. Under its founder Neil Bogart, Casablanca was most successful during the disco era of the mid to late 1970s. The label currently f ...

. At Casablanca, Scales recorded the first two albums of his career, '' Confidential Affair'' (1978) and '' Hot Foot: A Funque Dizco Opera'' (1979). Scales did not release another album for eighteen years, when he released '' Somebody Else's Somebody'' on Four Sight Records. In 2009, a compilation album of material by Harvey Scales and The Seven Sounds, recorded for Magic Touch Records, was released by Soul-Tay-Shus Records as ''Love-Itis: All the Rare & Unreissued 45's from the Vaults of Magic Touch: 1967-1977''. Harvey Scales died on February 11, 2019, at the age of 78.

Discography

Studio albums

*''Somebody Else’s Somebody'' (1997) (Four Sight) *''Hot Foot: A Funque Dizco Opera'' (1979) (Casablanca) *''Confidential Affair'' (1978) (Casablanca)

Singles

*Cuca **J-1132 Harvey (Twistin' Harvey) "The Clock/ Every Step Of The Way" **J-1155 Harvey & The Seven Sounds “Glamour Girl/New York City” **J-1271 Harvey & The Seven Sounds "Independency/ I Want To Apologize" **1311 Harvey Scales & the Seven Sounds "Bootleg/ Monkeytime ‘67" *Magic Touch **2007 Harvey Scales & the Seven Sounds "Get Down/ Love-Itis" 1967 **16001 Harvey Scales & the Seven Sounds "Broadway Freeze/ I Can’t Cry No More" 1968 **2069 Harvey Scales & the Seven Sounds "(It’s Too Good) Too Good To Be True/ Love Is A Gas" 1969 **2072 Harvey Scales & the Seven Sounds "Don’t You Ever Let It End/ The Sound Of Soul" 1969 **2077 Harvey Scales & the Seven Sounds "Welcome Home/ Trackdown" 1969 **3002 Harvey Scales & the Seven Seas "Bump Your Thing/ Trying To Survive" **7006 Harvey Scales "Groove On Sexy Lady/ Rock The World” **9003 Harvey Scales "Follow The Disco Crowd/ Love Thief” *Chess/Cadet Concept ** Harvey Scales and the Seven Sounds "The Funky Yolk" 1970 *Earthtone **508014X Harvey Scales "Single Girls/ Spend The Nite Forever" *Casablanca **954 Harvey Scales "Shake-A-Matic/?" *Soul-Tay-Shus **STS CD 6363 Harvey Scales & the Seven Sounds "Love-Itis: All the Rare & Unreissued 45's from the Vaults of Magic Touch: 1967-1977" 2009 *Mercury **72937 Harvey Scales "Shake Your Power/Sun Won't Come Out"

References

Other sources

* Carter, Nick. "A Homecoming for R&B's Harvey Scales." (2004, October 1). ''

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel The ''Milwaukee Journal Sentinel'' is a daily morning broadsheet printed in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where it is the primary newspaper. It is also the largest newspaper in the state of Wisconsin, where it is widely distributed. It is currently o ...

'', p. 1. * Flyth, Shelton L. (2004, June 16). "June is Black Music month: Saluting Harvey Scales." ''New Journal & Guide'', p. 1. * Get Out - Best bets for the weekend and beyond. (2006, October 27). ''The

Commercial Appeal ''The Commercial Appeal'' (also known as the ''Memphis Commercial Appeal'') is a daily newspaper of Memphis, Tennessee, and its surrounding metropolitan area. It is owned by the Gannett Company; its former owner, the E. W. Scripps Company, also ...

'', p. G.2.3.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Scales, Harvey 1940 births 2019 deaths People from Osceola, Arkansas Musicians from Arkansas Musicians from Milwaukee North Division High School (Milwaukee) alumni