Chicago-born Harvey Fuqua (born July 27, 1929), nephew of Ink Spots guitarist Charlie Fuqua, grew up in Louisville, KY, where he learned the piano and also began singing with his high school classmate Bobby Lester (born January 13, 1930; died October 15, 1980). In 1949, after both finished brief periods of serving in the military, they formed a professional duo in Louisville. Soon they were working with saxman and bandleader Ed Wiley, and it was in his group that they started singing jump and blues. Eventually a lack of earnings led them to split up, with Fuqua moving to Cleveland, where he crossed paths with an army buddy, Danny Coggins, and a neighbor of his, Prentiss Barnes (born April 12, 1925).

Fuqua brought Lester into the group, which was known as the Crazy Sounds, and they started to get work in the area around Cleveland. They were an improvisational singing group that specialized in a technique called vocalese, using their voices to replace instruments, basically in a jazz context. While performing at the Chesterfield Lounge they wer heard by Al "Fats" Thomas. He was so knockeded out that he called his friend, a local disc jockey at WJW, and had him listen to the group over the phone while they were performing. The disc jockey was none other than Alan Freed, and he liked what he heard enough to bring the group right into the studio.