The following is from the April 13, 2008 edition of “Philadelphia Weekly“:

Harvey Fuqua, a musical legend in the purest sense, is on the phone from Las Vegas, where he bought a house in 1990.

Unfortunately, he can’t hear me very well. The man has a terrible cold.

”Huh, what?” he says to nearly every one of my questions.

I begin to nearly shout into the phone. If I squint, I can almost see the dense vaporized fog around him.

I have a lot to ask about. So many questions about the early days of his career, going back, back, back to the early ’50s, questions about the bigotry he surely experienced, the music he made, the difficulty he no doubt had getting it played and what it must’ve taken to be a black producer and musical rainmaker at a time when the sounds you produced were ghettoized on the radio and tagged as ”race music” by white producers.

But Mr. Fuqua doesn’t seem to be even trying to hear what I’m asking.

He’s too miserable. The cold has him staggered.

Too, the man is 79. In a few days he’ll be getting on a plane to Philadelphia to perform at the Kimmel Center with other early–day harmony stylists as part of a Jerry Blavat stage show. He’ll be performing songs decades old, and talking to the Geator about them live.

But right now all that seems lifetimes away. All that matters is that nasty cold.

Happily, Jerry Blavat is on the phone too—prepared, as always, to make the best of any and all situations.

”Timmy, you do know all that Harvey has accomplished, right?” the Geator says, jumping into the conversation, generously providing Mr. Fuqua a much–needed time out to recoup.

I do.

Though his name may mean little to all but the most ardent rhythm ’n’ blues historians, Harvey Fuqua was among the Jackie Robinsons of the music industry.

>> He founded the seminal harmony group the Moonglows, among the first groups to practice ”vocalese” (the art of using voices to replicate the sound of instruments).

>> He recorded ”Sincerely,” a huge hit for the Moonglows, subsequently covered by the McGuire Sisters and turned into an even bigger mainstream hit. (Decades later it resurfaced on the GoodFellas soundtrack.)

>> He was mentored by legendary New York disc jockey Alan Freed, and appeared in one of the very first rock ’n’ roll movies, Rock, Rock, Rock, in 1956.

>> He produced songs by Etta James, including ”At Last,” considered among the biggest romantic ballads of all time.

>> He was a mentor to Marvin Gaye, and co–produced ”Sexual Healing,” among other hits.

>> He was married to Berry Gordy’s sister Gwen.

>> He worked as a record promotions man—new territory for people of color in his time—when not recording or producing other acts.

>> He launched his own record labels (Tri–Phi and Harvey Records), and he signed groups like the Spinners and Junior Walker & the All Stars.

Harvey Fuqua was a label owner, a writer, a singer, a performer, a producer, a promotions director, a mentor and a lot more.

But right now, he’s a man with a cold.

”Timmy,” the Geator continues, gracefully filling the silence coming from Las Vegas, ”the man is a living history. I mean, there are pioneers still around in this business, but few who go back as far as Harvey Fuqua. Am I right, Harvey?”

Harvey coughs, apologizes, promises he’ll be ready when the bell rings Sunday night at the Kimmel and the Geator asks him to take us all back to a forgotten era, to a time when courage and fortitude were as necessary as talent. He apologizes for being so little help in the interview, unnecessarily of course.

”I’ve always liked Philadelphia,” he says. ”The people where you are know their music.”

The Geator’s back on the line.

”Living history, Timmy,” he says, telling Harvey he’ll see him in a few days. ”A legend.”

The following is from the March 22, 2008 edition of “The Bridgeton News“:

By JASON LADAY

jladay@sjnewsco.com

BRIDGETON — The singer stood, microphone in hand, surrounded by collections of well-thumbed music books, stacks of cassette tapes, and Frank Sinatra albums and compact discs. Some are organized neatly on top of shelves lining the small sun-lit room, others are scattered haphazardly on milk crates, or on top of pieces of recording equipment and keyboards.

Microphone wires riddle the floor and lead to a small amplifier, then to a mixing board, which sits atop the playback machines now pumping a 20-piece band into the room through a second amplifier in the corner of the room.

There’s hardly enough space for two people to stand, and the singers straightens himself up in the center of the organized chaos around him and begins crooning the words to Sinatra’s “Day in the Life of a Fool.” He pauses half-way through the tune to comment on how the strings are too heavy, and adjusts the tuning knob on the playback accordingly.

A bomb could go off outside and his ear would probably still be focused on the strings.

This very well could be the sanctuary of city resident Frank Hartman, the 71-year-old owner of Hartman Roofing Company who has spent the better part of the past 11 years chasing his dream of a full-time singing career.

The attic-like space, which acts as Hartman’s amateur recording studio and practice space inside his Atlantic Street home, is dear to him, but Hartman’s true love is onstage, in the middle of a white spot light, singing Sinatra to a packed room.

“I can’t live without it,” said Hartman, sitting at his kitchen table, a proud product of growing up in the 1950s. “From day one in 1997, I’ve personally put out more than 4,000 fliers all over New Jersey and Pennsylvania; I’ve worked for every job I’ve ever had.”

His next show is no exception. Hartman will be performing for the first time in two years at the Higher Ground Coffee House, on Rosenhayn Avenue, this Friday. He will play three shows beginning at 7, 8 and 9 p.m. The $7 fee includes the cost of his own CD.

Born in Philadelphia, Hartman moved to New Jersey in 1966 with his wife, where he began pursuing a singing career after years of performing solely for his peers at his roofing job.

After a year of visiting local clubs, occasionally asking if he could play with the house band, Hartman landed his first three professional shows at Atlantic City’s Ambassador Hotel in 1967.

Two years later, he packed up his wife and three young daughters and moved to Florida, where Hartman earning money singing and dancing with an ensemble group during the week, and performed his one-man variety show on the weekends.

However, it could not last, as the money was tight and Hartman had just become the father of a new baby boy. The family moved back to Philadelphia and Hartman returned to roofing.

“It’s a talent that I love, that was given to me, that I had to suppress for the good of my family, to raise my children,” he recalled. “The music industry has changed tremendously since then; and it’s sometimes frustrating now that I’m back, to work so hard and sometimes feel like nothing is coming.

“But if I just sat and waited for that call to come, that would guarantee nothing; I just keep working at it, keep improving.”

In 1996, with his children grown and out of the house, Hartman decided to give his dream another shot. After a year of working on his sound, Hartman approached the owner of the Settlers Inn, in Medford, about a possible show, for a $300 fee, but was turned down flat.

Fortunately, a friend’s agent later convinced the owner to hire Hartman at a rate of $10 for every person who showed up for the performance.

The night of the show, after promoting himself every night until 2 a.m. after work, Hartman left the Settlers Inn with a check for $1,670.

“Most people just look at the bottom line,” said Hartman. “But that experience of just performing in front of people is worth all the money in the world.

“My goal is to sing to audiences around the world. I feel I’m at the level where that’s where I should be.”

Hartman’s “Tribute to Frank Sinatra” has been packing rooms around south Jersey since that show in 1997. A through-and-through showman, Hartman has never performed without a spotlight, even when singing in someone’s house. And he prefers the classic 40-piece orchestra to today’s more popular trios.

However, he is quick to point out his act is not merely an imitation or cover songs.

“I don’t imitate; I’ve studied Sinatra, looked to him as a mentor,” he said. “I learned how to sing through listening to him.

“Sinatra played with rhythm like a jazz musician would, that’s what made him so interesting, you never knew what he was going to do next.”

It is that unpredictable spirit the Bridgeton resident of 8 years has tried to bring to all his shows.

“I know a whole slew of people around here, so it’s going to make this show hard,” said Hartman of his upcoming performance at Higher Grounds. “I’m really going to have to be on top of my game.”

Hartman has taken on Sinatra’s “Let Me Try Again” as his theme song, as it mirrors his own story of leaving something you love behind, only to find yourself picking it up again years later.

When asked if he sometimes regrets giving up his singing career, at what was perhaps his prime, in order to tend to his family, Hartman pauses and seems to tear up.

“Yes, I have regrets of not pursuing my dream, but I would’ve regretted it even more if I walked away from my kids,” he said. “Sinatra may have been able to walk away from his kids, but there’s nothing on the earth that could keep me from my kids.”

Hartman’s variety show can be heard every Thursday at 11 p.m. on WVLT 92.1 FM.

The following is from the March 07, 2008 edition of “The Daily Journal“:

St. Mary Magdalen Parish in Millville invites the community to its second annual St. Patrick’s Day-Hooley from 6 to 11 p.m. March 15 at Centerton Country Club, Almond Road, Pittsgrove. The event will feature DJ Lou Costello of Oldies 92.1 WVLT and the sounds of the Celtic band, Birnam Wood. The event will also include a choice of three entrees, a cash bar, a silent auction, basket raffles and more. Tickets are $45 per person, $80 per couple or $350 for a reserved table of 10. For reservations or more information, call (856) 825-0021.

The following is from the February 26, 2008 edition of “The Atlantic City Press“:

(Published: Tuesday, February 26, 2008)

VINELAND - In her quest to become what she hopes is “a strong voice for people with diabetes,” a local woman has traveled to Florida this week, taking her burgeoning, Vineland-based radio show on the road.

Kitty Castellini, who astounded doctors after she survived a rare pancreas transplant that effectively cured her of her diabetes, took a weekly slot on local station WLVT 92.1 FM in December. She will try her hand tonight at broadcasting across the country when she meets with the inventor of a groundbreaking treatment for certain sufferers in his Miami research center.

“I asked to interview Dr. Camillo Ricordi because he is world-renowned,” Castellini said by phone Monday from Miami.

Ricordi, who is scientific director of the Diabetes Research Center at the University of Miami, invented the Ricordi chamber, a method of isolating insulin-producing islet cells, which can be transplanted into patients.

A simple letter Castellini wrote to his office received a favorable reply, she said.

In the past two months, Castellini’s impact through a variety of media channels has grown, she says. Her call-in radio show, heard every Tuesday, is now being streamed online for listeners and will launch its own Web site, www.diabeteslivingtoday.com, this morning, she said.

Afflicting an estimated 8 percent of people in the United States, diabetes is still comparatively misunderstood and underdiscussed, Castellini believes.

A resident of East Vineland, she was three when she was diagnosed with the illness, and by 2002 she was so sick that her frequent blood-sugar fluctuations were detected by her trained seizure dog, a beagle named Jamie.

Four years ago, she was being considered for islet-cell transplant a technique which allows a sufferer to live without insulin injections - but doctors decided she was a good candidate for a pancreatic transplant instead.

Tonight, she will broadcast live from Miami from 8 p.m., with her physician and cohost, endocrinologist Dr. Joseph J. Fallon.

The following is from the February 12, 2008 edition of “Today’s Sunbeam - NJ.com“:

Nick (Miller) Moularakis hopes to open a 1950s diner in Deptford Township this year. Its name? “Happy Days,” what else? But it won’t be an ordinary ’50s diner. This one will have a special section for Sally Starr memorabilia. A life-long fan, Moularakis has a collection of momentoes which include all seven of her uniforms from the Channel 6 Sally Starr Show, photographs, dozens of her awards, and other items. She gave him the collection a year ago. “She trusts me with it,” Moularakis says. “She didn’t want to see it wind up in the hands of someone would sell it for a profit. I promised her I’d never do that.” Moularakis, whose family operated a New Sharon pig farm, was a huge fan of Starr’s when he was a youngster and met her when she made an appearance at New Sharon School. “I watched her when I was little in the ’50s, which is still the best time in many peoples’ lives. We became close friends and stayed in touch over the years,” says Moularakis, 58, who attended Sally’s 85th birthday party recently in Atco, where she lives. “Her overall health isn’t great, but her mind’s very sharp.” Starr has a weekly hour-long radio show Thursdays on 92.1, spinning country records and taking calls from adoring fans. Moularakis says he hopes to have a variance for his new diner within a few months. And a lasting place for the memories of a special friend’s life.