Freddy Cousaert (1937 – 19 August 1998) was a Belgian DJ, club owner and concert promoter, who was influential in developing an audience for authentic rhythm and blues music in Europe, and, in particular, for his role in the career of Marvin Gaye.
From the late 1950s, Cousaert ran a club in Ostend that became known for playing American R&B music which was, at the time, rarely heard in Europe.
"[1] Cousaert regularly visited the Q Club in London, run by Jamaican-born Count Suckle, which was frequented by many musicians on the British R&B scene.
[2] By the late 1960s, Cousaert ran the Groove discotheque in Ostend, playing mid-tempo soul and ska music that later developed into what became known in Belgium as the Popcorn style.
[4] In 1980, American soul singer Marvin Gaye had completed a tour in Britain, had developed a serious dependence and addiction to cocaine, and was having to deal with major taxation issues with the US Internal Revenue Service.