Singer/songwriter Kenneth Stover, the brother of Elgie Stover, is Harvey Fuqua's cousin. Big brother Elgie (Kenny's ten years younger) wrote some significant songs but is remembered by insiders as a living room comedian who had some spirited snapping sessions with Eddie "Bongo" Brown at Marvin Gaye's house, where the Stovers resided. Kenny Stover was born August 21, 1948, in Athens, GA; he came to Cleveland, OH, early in life and resided in the Hough area on Belvedere Court. He joined his brother in Detroit, MI, who relocated to work with Fuqua after he disbanded the Moonglows and started HPC, then Harvey and Tri-Phi Records with Gwen Gordy-Fuqua. Kenny Stover gained entry into Motown through his brother and befriended Marvin Gaye and the Gordys and secured a songwriting contract with Jobete Music (Motown's publishing wing) and started honing his craft. Stover stayed with Gaye as a combination runner/house sitter while working his regular gig as Mrs. Gordy's (Berry's mother) personal assistant and writing songs. He moved in 1970. Kenny was there (at Marvin Gaye's house) when the IRS man showed up to discuss taxes due with penalties and interest; the discussion turned ugly and Gaye slammed the door on Mr. IRS, prompting the government official to take off in Gaye's Cadillac. From that point on Gaye borrowed Stover's company car to drive to Motown and kept his garage door -- where a Rolls and a Porsche were parked -- locked. Stover contributed backing vocals to Gaye's "Inner City Blues" from the What's Going On album and also claims to have created some of its melody (uncredited). Elgie co-wrote two songs: "Flying High in the Friendly Sky" and "God Is Love" on the acclaimed album. Gaye thanked both Stover brothers in the liner notes for provoking his thought process. Stover's first major songwriting credit was "You're the Man Parts 1 & 2" for Marvin Gaye. Big things were expected but when the song failed to storm the pop charts Motown cooled on it and a proposed album project. Other prominent Motown cuts include "Lovin', Livin' and Givin'" (Diana Ross) and "Sexy Sassy" and "Got to Get up on It" (Bobby Nunn). Stover wrote the first draft of "Let's Get It On" as a political song; at a studio rehearsal with Gaye about to run the song down on tape, Ed Townsend bellowed '"Let's Get It On" should be about a man and a woman about to make love, not some political song!' and punctuated his statement with an exaggerated "let's get It onnnnnn." Gaye agreed, and the two revamped the lyrics into a love blast that aced both the R&B and pop charts and sold a reported 4,000,000 copies. Stover got zero credit, not even a few points for the title, but he never got mad about these omissions and says he was just happy being in the presence of a star like Gaye. He formed Leo's Sunship with Allen Few and Johnny Simon in 1977 (all three were born under the astrological sign of Leo). Simon, an original member of the Wallace Brothers, also recorded with the Naturals and toured as one of Marvin Gaye's backing singers. Stover befriended Simon when the Atlanta native relocated to Los Angeles. The two collaborated on "Madame Butterfly" for Tavares. Tragically, Simon died before the Leo's Sunship LP was finished. The album (We Need Each Other) was eventually finished and released by Lyons Records who dropped the single "Give Me Sunshine" from the set. In 1978 a Motown honcho decided to put a bunch of staff songwriters in a group and name them Finished Touch; the lineup consisted of Kenny Stover, Larry Brown, Harold Johnson, Michael McGloiry, and Brenda and Mike Sutton. They cut a surprisingly good album, Need to Know You Better; a second LP was in the hopper but was shelved when Motown soured on the project. When Gaye bolted to Europe in 1981, Stover lost touch with the Prince of Soul and left the City of Angels for Hotlanta. The earthquakes and the smog, which made him ill, also contributed to the move. Peabo Bryson scored with "Good Combination" a Stover, Keith Rawls, and Barbara Thomas song. Al Johnson, Bobby Womack, Tavares, and Marlena Shaw recorded his "I'm Back For More";" Will Smith did "Just Cruisin'," created with Nasir Jones; Faith Evans did "Sunny Days," and III of a Kind did "Love Don't Come No Stronger," a collaboration with Leonard Perry. Stover's biggest regret is never getting a chance to renew his friendship with Marvin Gaye after he returned to the States; before it happened, the soul man suffered a fatal gunshot wound at the hands of his father April 1, 1984. Stover returned to Cleveland in 1985 to care for an ailing sister and has been a resident ever since. He ventured initially into the lucrative silk-screening business but now concentrates on writing and producing music rejuvenated by the revenue generated by the Will Smith and Faith Evans cuts. ~ Andrew Hamilton