"Melting Pot" is the 1969 debut single from UK pop group

Blue Mink Blue Mink were a British six-piece pop group that existed from 1969 to 1977. Over that period they had six Top 20 hit singles in the UK Singles Chart, and released five studio based albums. According to AllMusic: "they have been immortalised on ...

. The song was written by Blue Mink's lead singer Roger Cook and long-time songwriter partner

Roger Greenaway Roger John Reginald Greenaway, (born 23 August 1938) is an English singer, songwriter and record producer, best known for his collaborations with Roger Cook. His compositions have included "You've Got Your Troubles" and the transatlantic mill ...

. The song peaked at number three in the UK Singles chart in the first week of 1970, number 10 in Australia, and also reached number 11 in Ireland. "Melting Pot" did best in New Zealand, where it spent three weeks at number 2. It became the opening track on the group's 1969 debut album, also titled ''Melting Pot''. While the song has

assimilationist Cultural assimilation is the process in which a minority group or culture comes to resemble a society's majority group or assume the values, behaviors, and beliefs of another group whether fully or partially. The different types of cultural assi ...

undertones, it is generally considered a plea for racial harmony. The song featured on episode 3 of ''

I'm Alan Partridge ''I'm Alan Partridge'' is a British sitcom written by Steve Coogan, Peter Baynham and Armando Iannucci. Coogan stars as Alan Partridge, a tactless and inept radio DJ and television presenter who has been left by his wife and dropped from the BB ...

'' series 1, entitled "Watership Alan", in which Alan sings the song whilst exercising in his hotel room alongside Michael, the caretaker, who is clearing out an air vent. Alan asks Michael whether the song is racist, but Michael says no on the basis that Chinese is both a race of people and a food.

Formats and track listings

7" (1969) # "Melting Pot" (Roger Cook/Roger Greenaway) # "Blue Mink" (Alan Parker) 7" (1969) # "Melting Pot" (Roger Cook/Roger Greenaway) # "But Not Forever" 7" (1975) # "Melting Pot" # "Gimme Reggae"

When the Cat's Away version

In 1988 "Melting Pot" was covered by New Zealand female vocal group and

covers band A cover band (or covers band) is a band that plays songs recorded by someone else, sometimes mimicking the original as accurately as possible, and sometimes re-interpreting or changing the original. These remade songs are known as cover songs. Ne ...

When the Cat's Away. Their version peaked at number one in the New Zealand charts, and charted for 15 weeks. The single was certified gold. It was one of three songs by New Zealand artists to reach number one in 1988. The group released a low-budget, self-produced music video, directed by photographer Kerry Brown. The video features the group performing with a band in a white room, footage of people of different ethnic groups around

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

, and cats.

Track listing

#"Melting Pot" (Roger Cook/Roger Greenaway) #"

Fire Fire is the rapid oxidation of a material (the fuel) in the exothermic chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction Product (chemistry), products. At a certain point in the combustion reaction, called the ignition ...

" (Bruce Springsteen)

Other versions

* The reggae singer

Max Romeo Max Romeo (born Maxwell Livingston Smith; 22 November 1944)"Respect to th ...

covered the song and released it as a single on the Unity label in the UK in 1970. *

The New Seekers The New Seekers are a British pop group, formed in London in 1969 by Keith Potger after the break-up of his group, The Seekers. The idea was that the New Seekers would appeal to the same market as the original Seekers, but their music would hav ...

recorded a version for their 1974 album ''Together'' (member

Eve Graham Eve Graham (born Evelyn May Beatson; 19 April 1943) is a Scottish singer who found fame in the early 1970s with the pop group, The New Seekers. Biography Graham began her career during the 1960s as a band singer with the Cyclones in Scotland a ...

had originally been offered the song back in 1969). * English pop group

Culture Club Culture Club are an English pop band formed in London in 1981. The band comprises Boy George (lead vocals), Roy Hay (guitar and keyboards), Mikey Craig (bass guitar) and formerly included Jon Moss (drums and percussion). Emerging in the New ...

played a live version of "Melting Pot" in 1983. The live song was made available on the 2003 digital remaster of their 1983 album ''

Colour By Numbers ''Colour by Numbers'' is the second album by the British new wave group Culture Club, released in October 1983. Preceded by the hit single "Karma Chameleon", which reached number one in several countries, the album reached number one in the UK ...

''. *

Boyzone Boyzone were an Irish boy band, created in 1993 by talent manager Louis Walsh. Before even recording any material, Boyzone made an appearance on RTÉ's '' The Late Late Show''. Their most successful line-up was composed of Keith Duffy, Steph ...

recorded a version on their 1996 album '' A Different Beat'', which also featured the vocals of

Madeline Bell Madeline Bell (born July 23, 1942) is an American soul singer, who became famous as a performer in the UK during the 1960s and 1970s with pop group Blue Mink, having arrived from America in the gospel show ''Black Nativity'' in 1962, with the v ...

References

External links

*
When the Cat's Away music video
*
Proposed New Zealand flag based on song
{{authority control 1988 singles 1969 singles 1969 songs Songs written by Roger Greenaway Songs written by Roger Cook (songwriter) Philips Records singles