Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular Music

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

MELVIN, Harold, and the Blue Notes

Soul vocal group. Self-taught pianist Harold Melvin (b 25 June '39, Philadelphia; d there 24 March '97) began singing doo-wop in his home town, formed quintet the Blue Notes '56, composing, arranging and choreographing most of their material. First recorded for Josie; 'If You Love Me' '56 was a local hit; 'My Hero' '60 and 'Get Out' '65 (lead vocal: John Atkins) reached the R&B top 40. After many personnel changes, at the end of the '60s they teamed with the Cadillacs for tours; the Cadillacs' drummer Teddy Pendergrass replaced Atkins as lead singer '70; with his extremely popular voice they reached their greatest success prod. by Gamble and Huff on their Philadelphia International label (dist. by CBS) from '72, becoming (with the O'Jays and others) part of what was called the Philly sound. They had ten top 10 hits in the soul chart '72--7, twelve crossovers to the white pop Hot 100 '60--77; the magnificent 'If You Don't Know Me By Now' and 'The Love I Lost (Part 1)' (both written by Gamble and Huff) were both no. 1 R&B, top ten pop. Melvin sometimes did not appear on stage but remained the boss; the billing had changed to Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes; Pendergrass inevitably went solo '76, replaced by David Ebo; they label-hopped and had soul hits until '84. Some hits (incl. 'Hope That We Can Be Together Soon', no. 1 R&B) featured Sharon Paige, sometimes spelled Page.