Van McCoy

USA, 1956–1979

Washington-born songwriter, producer and arranger who sang doo-wop with the Starlighters, wrote and produced for Scepter Records, arranged hits for the Stylistics and co-produced David Ruffin's Who I Am. Fronting his studio orchestra as Van McCoy & the Soul City Symphony, he took the instrumental 'The Hustle' to number one in the United States in 1975, a Grammy-winning record that named a dance craze. He died in 1979, aged 39.