With Francine "Peaches" Barker and Marlene Mack (1966–1970) Herb Fame (born
Herbert Feemster, October 1, 1941, in
Anacostia, Washington, D.C.) sang in
church and neighborhood groups as a child. After graduation from high school, he worked in a local
record store, where he met record producer
Van McCoy and was signed to
Columbia subsidiary Date Records by McCoy and
A&R executive Dave Kapralik. Francine "Peaches" Barker (April 28, 1947 – August 13, 2005), using the stage name Francine Day, started a singing trio initially dubbed The Darlettes and later renamed The Sweet Things after a change of record label to Date Records. Having produced two releases for the trio, McCoy decided to record Feemster/Fame and Hurd/Day together at Kapralik's suggestion. The resulting single, "We're in This Thing Together," was distributed to radio stations but went nowhere for months until December 1966, when a St. Louis disc jockey broadcast the single's B-side, a revival of the 1934 hit "
Let's Fall in Love". The new duo, christened "Peaches & Herb", had a string of successful singles and albums over the next year such as "
Close Your Eyes", "
For Your Love", "Let's Fall in Love", and "
Love Is Strange". Despite burgeoning success and a media image as the "Sweethearts of Soul", Barker chose to semi-retire from the duo after two years because of the rigors of
touring. Marlene Mack (aka Marlene Jenkins), who had sung on
the Jaynetts' hit "
Sally Go 'Round the Roses" and had recorded as Marlina Mars, replaced Barker on stage, but Barker remained on all of the duo's recordings for Date Records. During this period, the semi-retired "Peaches" also worked as a solo artist using her married name, Francine Barker. She released three singles in total on the
Columbia Records label,
With Linda Greene (1976–1983) Peaches & Herb lay dormant until Fame decided to re-enter the music business in 1976. In his search for a new "Peaches", Herb again enlisted the assistance of
Van McCoy, who suggested that Linda Greene would be suitable for the position. Fame met Greene and concurred, thereby leading to formation of the most successful of the "Peaches & Herb" incarnations to date. Linda's early musical training (while growing up in Washington, D.C.) was at The Sewell Music Conservatory. Fame and Greene recorded seven albums altogether, including one album released only in Argentina. Their first album,
Peaches & Herb, was
recorded for
MCA Records and produced by
Van McCoy, but it generated only one charted hit, "We're Still Together". Peaches & Herb signed with MVP/
Polydor and under the management of Paul J. Cohn, released
2 Hot, which went
gold. The album's first single, "
Shake Your Groove Thing", went gold and peaked at No. 5 on the
Billboard Hot 100 in March 1979. The follow-up single, viewed as the album's "secret weapon" by producer/songwriter Freddie Perren, was the triple platinum hit "
Reunited". Formerly Greene, Linda now goes by Linda Peaches Tavani.
Later years While remaining employed at the court, Fame again revived the brand in 1990. For the fourth "Peaches" he chose Patrice Hawthorne, fresh from television exposure on the Natalie Cole-hosted talent show
Big Break. The duo appeared infrequently in concerts and did not release any recordings. Due to unpaid
royalties, Fame's financial state was far from wealthy despite years of hits and selling nine million records with Greene. Thus, in 2001, Fame and Greene hired attorneys Oren Warshavsky and Steven Ames Brown through Artists Rights Enforcement Corporation. The attorneys brought a lawsuit against MVP Records, then headed by Christine Perren. Perren's testimony at trial revealed a series of contradictions in MVP's defense, with the result that Fame and Greene received royalties, income, and a reaffirmation of their artists' rights. Those rights have since been vigorously defended. Having financial security, Fame would then have been able to leave the court and focus solely on his music career. Instead, he banked significant funds and continued enjoying the work. and in 2008 they were reported to be planning a recording together. Together, Fame and Negre recorded
Colors of Love, the first album from Peaches & Herb since 1983.
Colors of Love was released in May 2009 by Imagen Records, approximately three months after Negre's stage debut as "Peaches". Negre died in 2020 after battling cancer. Fame has since returned to touring with Wanda Makle Tolson. ==Discography==