Soul legend to dazzle late-night flea market crowds

Enthusiasts of soul and R&B may recognize the musical stylings of “Twistin’ Harvey” Scales wafting through the DuPage County Fairgrounds Saturday.

An influential 1960s-era musician, Scales will reunite with members of his band and the James Brown band during the Wheaton All Night Flea Market.

Scales has three solo albums and a handful of singles with his band Harvey Scales and the Seven Sounds.

The Daily Herald spoke with him this week.

Q. You’ve been in the music business a long time. How has the industry changed over the past 40 years?

A. They’re calling me a legend and an icon. I started out writing for Stax Records back in the day. I’ve been doing this since I was 18. We’re kind of like the Last of the Mohicans.

I’ve seen the industry change drastically from great musicians to electronic musicians. Whereas we used to go into the studio with seven or eight pieces and some background and record the whole thing, nowadays you can take the keyboard one day, record lead vocal the next day. It’s almost like having a robot. It’s going from human to almost robot.

Q. Tell us a little bit about your single “Disco Lady.”

A. It was recorded by Johnnie Taylor, who was also with Stax Records. I was in the writing mode then, not so much the performing mode. He ended up doing the song, even though it was supposed to be for me and my band — Harvey Scales and the Seven Sounds.

In 1976 it was No. 1 for about 18 weeks in the country and overseas. Around the time when the record came out platinum records were just starting to be issued. With disco being such a big phenomenon they had to go from gold records to platinum. “Disco Lady” happened to be the first single to go platinum.

Q. Do you have a favorite place to play?

A. Europe, for my type of music. Europe eats it up, and the United States, the United States is all Jay-Z and Beyoncé — electronic music I call it. Over there they like the real thing — Otis Redding, James Brown — soul music.

Q. You’re a Milwaukee native. Did that influence your musical style at all.

A. Milwaukee by way of Chicago. Musically I was in Chicago all the time. We’d go to Chicago to try to get a break. We were in Detroit all the time, too.

My band was the premiere band of the college circuit in Illinois and Wisconsin, and without bragging, John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd kind of got the inspiration for the old Blues Brothers thing from Harvey Scales. You know, “You make me want to shout.”

They would all be there at the toga parties. We played them all every week. (John Belushi) was a student at Whitewater College where we played all the time and he said the toga parties gave him the idea for “Animal House.”

Q. What are your plans for the future and for your music?A. I#146;m like B.B. King. I#146;m going to do it and if they want to take me out, they can take me out and pull the microphone out of my hand. I#146;m going to play until the end. Why should I retire? If I go, I won#146;t be having no fun.