Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular Music
McFADDEN & WHITEHEAD
McFADDEN & WHITEHEAD
Gene McFadden (d 27 January 2005 of cancer, aged 56) and John Whitehead (victim of a drive-by shooting in May 2004, aged 55) were singers and songwriters who helped define the 'Philadelphia sound' in the 1970s. They attended high school in Philadelphia, then formed a group called the Epsilons, touring with and managed by Otis Redding until his death. When that band broke up they briefly recorded for Stax, then went to work for Gamble & Huff and stayed with Philadelphia International for 16 years.
They initially called themselves Talk of the Town but their songwriting came to the fore. Their first hit was 'Back Stabbers', a no. 1 for the O'Jays in 1972; they also wrote for the Intruders, Archie Bell & The Drells and Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes ('Wake Up Everybody' was another Soul chart-topper). Their own album McFadden & Whitehead came out in 1979, and a single from it, 'Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now', was a Soul no. 1 and crossed over to the top 20 of the white pop chart, covered many times (by Luther Vandross on a hit album of covers). Another album the next year, I Heard It In A Love Song, also reached the Billboard Top 200 albums (the title track was a hit single) and they had a minor hit on Capitol in 1982, 'One More Time'. Writing titles like 'Wake Up Everybody' and 'Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now' they were not thinking of raising political or racial consciousness, McFadden said, but just trying to make the world a better place.