Stover and his brother Elgie moved to Detroit, Michigan, to work with their cousin Harvey Fuqua on his Tri-Phi record label. They befriended Marvin Gaye and members of the Motown family. In the late 1960s the Stover brothers signed to Motown's Jobete Music as staff songwriters. Stover contributed background vocals on Gaye's "Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)", and later co-wrote Gaye's "You're the Man" (1972). In 1973, Stover wrote the original rough draft of "Let's Get It On" and presented the song to Gaye as a political song.