McFadden and Whitehead were 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 duo, best known for their signature tune "
Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now
"Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now" is a 1979 disco song performed by American R&B duo McFadden & Whitehead, from their debut album ''McFadden & Whitehead''. They wrote and produced the song along with keyboard player Jerry Cohen. McFadden & Whitehead wou ...
". They wrote and produced some of the most popular
R&B hits
Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Music
* ''H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block
* ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998
* ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014 - a British compilation album se ...
of the 1970s, and were primarily associated with the
Gamble and Huff
Kenneth Gamble (born August 11, 1943, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) and Leon A. Huff (born April 8, 1942, Camden, New Jersey) are an American songwriting and production team credited for developing the Philadelphia soul music genre (also known as ...
record label
A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produ ...
,
Philadelphia International Records
Philadelphia International Records (PIR) was an American record label based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1971 by songwriting and production duo Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff along with their longtime collaborator Thom Bell. I ...
.
Early career
As teenagers,
Gene McFadden
Gene McFadden (January 28, 1949 – January 27, 2006) was an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known as one of the key members of the Philadelphia International record label, and was one-half of the successful team o ...
and
John Whitehead met at school in 1960s Philadelphia and formed a group called The Epsilons.
The personnel included Allen Beatty, James Knight, and future Blue Notes member
Lloyd Parks
Lloyd Parks (born 26 May 1949) is a Jamaican reggae vocalist and bass player who has recorded and performed as a solo artist as well as part of Skin, Flesh & Bones, The Revolutionaries, The Professionals, and We the People Band.Larkin, Colin: ...
. When Otis Redding came to Philadelphia, The Epsilons were invited to become part of his revue. They toured with him during the late 1960s until Redding's death in a plane crash in 1967. They signed a small record deal with
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 ...
on the back of this opportunity and had a moderate success in 1970 with "The Echo".
After the departure of Lloyd Parks to Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes, Gene and John changed their name to Talk of the Town and worked with Gamble/Huff who groomed their talents on their North Bay label. Discovering their abilities for writing and producing, Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff employed McFadden & Whitehead at their Philadelphia International Records (PIR) label through the 1970s, collaborating with them at first on 'I'll Always Love My Mama' for
The Intruders. While at the label, their songs and/or productions were utilised by the O'Jays on their hit "
Back Stabbers" in 1972 (which reached #3 on the
''Billboard'' Hot 100 and #1 on ''
Billboard's
''Billboard'' (stylized as ''billboard'') is an American music and entertainment magazine published weekly by Penske Media Corporation. The magazine provides music charts, news, video, opinion, reviews, events, and style related to the music ...
''
Hot Soul Singles
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 p ...
chart) and
Archie Bell & the Drells
Archie Bell & the Drells was an American R&B vocal group from Houston, Texas, and one of the main acts on Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff's Philadelphia International Records. The band's hits include " Tighten Up", "I Can't Stop Dancing" (both 19 ...
for hits "Let's Groove", "The Soul City Walk", "Strategy" and "Don't Let Love Get You Down".
McFadden and Whitehead also wrote songs such as "
Bad Luck",
"Wake Up Everybody", "Prayin'" (on the Source label) and "Where Are All My Friends" for
Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes
Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes were an American soul and R&B vocal group. One of the most popular Philadelphia soul groups of the 1970s, the group's repertoire included soul, R&B, doo-wop, and disco. Founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in ...
, as well as "The More I Get, The More I Want", and "Cold, Cold World" for
Teddy Pendergrass
Theodore DeReese Pendergrass (March 26, 1950 – January 13, 2010) was an American soul and R&B singer-songwriter. He was born in Kingstree, South Carolina. Pendergrass spent most of his life in the Philadelphia area, and initially rose to musi ...
as well as "Just Got To Be More Careful" for Carolyn Crawford. A number of these songs were written in collaboration with their associate Victor Carstaphen.
The production team also worked with fellow producer Rahni Song and with artists
Melba Moore
Beatrice Melba Hill or Beatrice Melba Smith (sources differ) (born October 29, 1945), known by her stage name Melba Moore, is an American singer and actress.
Biography Early life and education
Moore was born Beatrice Melba Hill or Beatrice Melba ...
,
Freddie Jackson
Frederick Anthony Jackson (born October 2, 1956) is an American singer. Originally from New York, Jackson began his professional music career in the late 1970s with the California funk band Mystic Merlin. Among his well–known R&B/soul hits are ...
,
Gloria Gaynor
Gloria Gaynor ( née Fowles; born September 7, 1943) is an American singer, best known for the disco era hits "I Will Survive" (1978), " Let Me Know (I Have a Right)" (1979), " I Am What I Am" (1983), and her version of "Never Can Say Goodbye" ( ...
,
Gladys Knight
Gladys Maria Knight (born May 28, 1944), known as the "Empress of Soul", is an American singer, actress and businesswoman. A seven-time Grammy Award-winner, Knight recorded hits through the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s with her family group Gladys Kn ...
,
The Jackson 5
The Jackson 5 (sometimes stylized as the Jackson 5ive, also known as the Jacksons) are an American pop band composed of members of the Jackson family. The group was founded in 1964 in Gary, Indiana, and for most o ...
,
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 ...
,
Stevie Wonder
Stevland Hardaway Morris ( Judkins; May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, who is credited as a pioneer and influence by musicians across a range of genres that include rhythm and blues, Pop musi ...
,
Lou Rawls, Willie Collins, Jerry Bell and Beau Williams.
Rise to stardom
McFadden and Whitehead formed together as a group officially under the name "McFadden & Whitehead" in 1977. The pinnacle of their success came in 1979 with dancefloor anthem "Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now", from their eponymously named album, which went to #1 on the R&B charts, #13 on the pop charts,
sold eight million records worldwide and was nominated for a
Grammy Award
The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...
. (Two more versions of the song were released back-to-back in 1981 - The Philadelphia Phillies version and The Philadelphia Eagles version, on the label's T.S.O.P. subsidiary). After leaving PIR, they re-recorded "Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now" as "Ain't No Stoppin' (Ain't No Way)" for the Sutra label in New York (1984) and worked on some individual projects. The duo was featured on ''
The Oprah Winfrey Show
''The Oprah Winfrey Show'', often referred to as ''The Oprah Show'' or simply ''Oprah'', is an American daytime broadcast syndication, syndicated talk show that aired nationally for 25 seasons from September 8, 1986, to May 25, 2011, in Chicag ...
'', where they sang their most famous song on an episode in which
Oprah
Oprah Gail Winfrey (; born Orpah Gail Winfrey; January 29, 1954), or simply Oprah, is an American talk show host, television producer, actress, author, and philanthropist. She is best known for her talk show, ''The Oprah Winfrey Show'', br ...
featured the top hits of the 1970s.
Hits co-written/produced by McFadden & Whitehead include:
* "Back Stabbers" (the O'Jays)
* "Bad Luck" (Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes)
* "Wake Up Everybody" (Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes)
* "Where Are All My Friends" (Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes)
* "I'll Always Love My Mama" (The Intruders)
* "Let's Groove" (Archie Bell & the Drells)
* "The Strength of One Man" (The Jacksons)
* "I Don't Want To Lose Your Love" (Freddie Jackson)
* "Standing Right Here" (Melba Moore)
* "Pick me Up, I'll Dance" (Melba Moore)
* "Let's Stand Together" (Melba Moore)
* "Let's Mend What's Been Broken" (Gloria Gaynor)
* "Determination" (Willie Collins)
* "I Got the Love" (McFadden & Whitehead)
* "You're My Somebody to Love" (McFadden & Whitehead)
* "I've Been Pushed Aside" (McFadden & Whitehead)
* "Got to Change" (McFadden & Whitehead)
* "Do You Want to Dance?" (McFadden & Whitehead)
* "Just Wanna Love You Baby" (McFadden & Whitehead)
* "Mr. Music" (McFadden & Whitehead)
* "This Is My Song" (McFadden & Whitehead)
* "All the Man You Need" (Jerry Bell)
According to the ''
American Top 40
''American Top 40'' (previously abbreviated to ''AT40'') is an internationally syndicated, independent song countdown radio program created by Casey Kasem, Don Bustany, Tom Rounds, and Ron Jacobs. The program is currently hosted by Ryan Seacr ...
'' radio program for the week ended August 4, 1979,
Casey Kasem
Kemal Amin "Casey" Kasem (April 27, 1932 – June 15, 2014) was an American disc jockey, actor, and radio personality, who created and hosted several radio countdown programs, notably '' American Top 40''. He was the first actor to voice Nor ...
reported that McFadden and Whitehead were in Chicago on May 25, 1979, promoting their music and doing various interviews. Because they agreed to do one more music interview at the last minute, they decided to reschedule their flight to Los Angeles to the next day, May 26. They were originally scheduled to fly on
American Airlines Flight 191
American Airlines Flight 191 was a regularly scheduled domestic passenger flight in the United States operated by American Airlines from Chicago O'Hare International Airport to Los Angeles International Airport. On the afternoon of May 25, ...
on May 25, which crashed shortly after takeoff from O'Hare International Airport, killing all 258 passengers plus the crew.
Deaths
On May 11, 2004, Whitehead was murdered on the street outside of his
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
home studio, while standing aside as a young man made repairs on his SUV. There, he was shot once by one of several unknown gunmen, who then fled. The case remains unsolved. Whitehead was 55 years old.
On January 27, 2006, McFadden died of
liver
The liver is a major Organ (anatomy), organ only found in vertebrates which performs many essential biological functions such as detoxification of the organism, and the Protein biosynthesis, synthesis of proteins and biochemicals necessary for ...
and
lung cancer
Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma (since about 98–99% of all lung cancers are carcinomas), is a malignant lung tumor characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissue (biology), tissues of the lung. Lung carcinomas derive from tran ...
.
He was 56.
Discography
Studio albums
Compilation albums
*''Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now: The Best of the PIR Years'' (2004,
Edsel UK)
Singles
References
External links
*
McFadden and Whitehead at PhillySoulClassics.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:McFadden and Whitehead
American disco groups
Disco duos
Rhythm and blues duos
Philadelphia International Records artists
Musical groups from Philadelphia
Record production duos
American soul musical groups
American songwriting teams
American musical duos