A KEY figure in the success of Philadelphia International Records, as a singer Gene McFadden enjoyed a memorable international hit with Ain’t No Stopping Us Now in 1979. Released under the name McFadden and Whitehead, it was a rare excursion into the spotlight for the backroom writing and production duo, who were behind more than 20 gold records for other artists such as the O’Jays and Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes, and helped to forge the 1970s disco style known as “Philly soul”.
Born in Philadelphia in 1949, McFadden formed the vocal group the Epsilons with his friend John Whitehead while at school. Still in their teens, they were discovered in 1966 by Otis Redding, who not only hired them as his backing singers but became their manager and signed the group to the Memphis-based Stax Records.
There they backed Arthur Conley on his hit Sweet Soul Music and released one single of their own. But Stax lost interest in them after the death of their famous patron in an air crash in late 1967.
McFadden and Whitehead returned to Philadelphia and formed Talk of the Town. But after a brace of singles that sank without trace, it seemed that the big time, which their association with Redding had briefly promised, had well and truly passed them by. Whitehead was forced to take a job in the post room of the newly formed Philadelphia International Records, although he was not stamping the mail for long.
Soon, he persuaded the label’s founders, Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff, to listen to a song he had written with McFadden called Back Stabbers, and the track was given to the O’Jays. Their 1972 recording not only provided the label with its first gold record, but also secured both Whitehad and McFadden jobs as staff writers and producers.
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They went on to score 22 gold records working with other Philly soul performers over the next six years, their roll call of hits including For the Love of Money for the O’Jays once again; Wake Up Everybody and Where Are All My Friends for Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes; Don’t Let Love Get You Down for Archie Bell and the Drells; and I’ll Always Love My Mama for the Intruders.
The duo also revived Talk of the Town, releasing the singles Super Groover (All Night Mover), Bumpin’ Boogie and I Apologise. None charted, but in 1978 they recorded Ain’t No Stoppin’ Us Now, a song which they had originally written for the O’Jays. Released the following year under the name McFadden and Whitehead, it became a No 1 hit and was adopted by Philadelphia’s sports teams as an anthem.
Its inspirational message appeared to work wonders, too, for the song sound-tracked the Phillies winning baseball World Series for the first time in 1980, and the Philadelphia Eagles winning the Super Bowl in the 1980-81 season.
Ultimately, however, the duo proved more successful writing and producing for other artists than working under their own name. Their follow-up releases, I Heard It in a Love Song and I’ve Been Pushed Aside flopped, and two albums similarly failed to sell.
In the early 1980s they wrote one more hit together with Let’s Groove for Earth, Wind & Fire. But after the failure of their own single Movin’ On in 1982, they went their separate ways.
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They reunited as a duo in the 1990s to play the disco nostalgia circuit, until Whitehead was shot and killed in an unsolved murder outside his Philadelphia home in 2004.
McFadden is survived by Barbara, his wife of 38 years, two daughters and two sons.
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Gene McFadden, soul singer, songwriter and producer, was born in 1949. He died of cancer on January 27, 2006, aged 56.