Israel Melnikoff (September 22, 1902 – July 10, 1994), known professionally as Robert Mellin, was a

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

-born

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

composer and lyricist and

music publisher A music publisher is a type of publisher that specializes in distributing music. Music publishers originally published sheet music. When copyright became legally protected, music publishers started to play a role in the management of the intellect ...

. Born in

Kyiv Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...

and raised in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, where his first job was music plugger at Remick Music. In the early 1940s he moved to New York, where he founded his own company in 1947.Marshall, Jim. IMDb mini biography
/ref> Moving to Europe in the early 1950s, Mellin wrote the music or lyrics for hundreds of songs, including several hits, over the next two decades. His biggest hit was ''

My One and Only Love "My One and Only Love" is a 1953 popular song with music written by Guy Wood and lyrics by Robert Mellin.Gioia, T. (2012). ''The Jazz Standards: A Guide to the Repertoire''. Oxford University Press. . pp. 284-285. Notable renditions by Frank Sina ...

'' written with lyricist

Guy Wood Guy B. Wood (24 July 1911 – 23 February 2001) was a musician and songwriter born in Manchester, England. Wood started his career in music playing saxophone in dance bands in England. He moved to the United States in the 1930s, where he worked f ...

. It was recorded by many artists, including

Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Chairman of the Board" and later called "Ol' Blue Eyes", Sinatra was one of the most popular ...

Louis Armstrong Louis Daniel Armstrong (August 4, 1901 – July 6, 1971), nicknamed "Satchmo", "Satch", and "Pops", was an American trumpeter and vocalist. He was among the most influential figures in jazz. His career spanned five decades and several era ...

Ella Fitzgerald Ella Jane Fitzgerald (April 25, 1917June 15, 1996) was an American jazz singer, sometimes referred to as the "First Lady of Song", "Queen of Jazz", and "Lady Ella". She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phrasing, timing, in ...

Chet Baker Chesney Henry "Chet" Baker Jr. (December 23, 1929 – May 13, 1988) was an American jazz trumpeter and vocalist. He is known for major innovations in cool jazz that led him to be nicknamed the "Prince of Cool". Baker earned much attention and ...

and (as a duet)

John Coltrane John William Coltrane (September 23, 1926 – July 17, 1967) was an American jazz saxophonist The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of br ...

and

Johnny Hartman John Maurice Hartman (July 3, 1923 – September 15, 1983) was an American jazz singer who specialized in ballads. He sang and recorded with Earl Hines' and Dizzy Gillespie's big bands and with Erroll Garner. Hartman is best remembered for hi ...

. In 1962 Mellin wrote lyrics for

Acker Bilk Bernard Stanley "Acker" Bilk, (28 January 1929 – 2 November 2014) was a British clarinetist and vocalist known for his breathy, vibrato-rich, lower-register style, and distinctive appearance – of goatee, bowler hat and striped waistc ...

's instrumental '' Stranger on the Shore'', enabling it to be covered by vocal artists. From the mid-1950s onwards he ran his own music publishing company, Robert Mellin Music, based in London's Tin Pan Alley on

Denmark Street Denmark Street is a street on the edge of London's West End running from Charing Cross Road to St Giles High Street. It is near St Giles in the Fields Church and Tottenham Court Road station. The street was developed in the late 17th centu ...

Tony Hatch Anthony Peter Hatch (born 30 June 1939) is an English composer for musical theatre and television. He is also a songwriter, pianist, arranger and producer. Early life and early career Hatch was born in Pinner, Middlesex. Encouraged by his mus ...

found his first job there. The company acquired exclusive rights to all film scores coming out of Czechoslovakia and Rumania, as well as many scores from Italy. With

Gian-Piero Reverberi Gian Piero Reverberi (born 29 July 1939 in Genoa) is an Italian pianist, composer, arranger, conductor, and entrepreneur. Biography After obtaining Diplomas in piano and composition from the Paganini Conservatory in Genoa, Reverberi worked in ...

Mellin wrote the theme music for the 1964 TV series ''

The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe ''Robinson Crusoe'' ( es, Aventuras de Robinson Crusoe; also released as ''Adventures of Robinson Crusoe'') is a 1954 adventure film directed by Luis Buñuel, based on the 1719 novel of the same name by Daniel Defoe. It stars Dan O'Herlihy as ...

'', which became a hit single, and in 1966 the score for ''Don Quijote''. He also wrote music for films in the 1960s. Mellin married the songwriter Patricia Rossiter in 1980. He died while on a business trip to Rome at age 91.

Songs

Eddie Fisher Edwin Jack Fisher (August 10, 1928 – September 22, 2010) was an American singer and actor. He was one of the most popular artists during the 1950s, selling millions of records and hosting his own TV show, ''The Eddie Fisher Show''. Actress Eli ...

: " I'm Yours" (1952) – music and lyrics by Mellin *

: "

" (1953) – music by

, lyrics by Mellin *

Ames Brothers The Ames Brothers were a singing quartet, consisting of four siblings from Malden, Massachusetts, who were particularly famous in the 1950s for their traditional pop music hits. Biography The Urick brothers were born in Malden, Massachusetts. ...

: " You, You, You" (1953) – music by Lotar Olias, lyrics by Mellin *

Nat King Cole Nathaniel Adams Coles (March 17, 1919 – February 15, 1965), known professionally as Nat King Cole, was an American singer, jazz pianist, and actor. Cole's music career began after he dropped out of school at the age of 15, and continued f ...

: "My One Sin" (1955) – music by

Vittorio Mascheroni Vittorio is an Italian male given name which has roots from the Byzantine-Bulgarian name Victor. People with the given name Vittorio include: * Vittorio Emanuele, Prince of Naples, pretender to the former Kingdom of Italy * Vittorio Adorni, pro ...

, lyrics by Mellin *Frank Sinatra: "Rain (Falling from the Sky)" (1955) – music and lyrics by Mellin and

Gunther Finlay Gundaharius or Gundahar (died 437), better known by his legendary names Gunther ( gmh, Gunther) or Gunnar ( non, Gunnarr), was a historical king of Burgundy in the early 5th century. Gundahar is attested as ruling his people shortly after they ...

*" Stranger on the Shore" (1962) – lyrics by Mellin (original composition by

was an instrumental) *

Julie Rogers Julie Rogers (born Julie Rolls, 6 April 1943, Bermondsey, London, England) is an English pop singer. She is best known for her multi-million selling song, " The Wedding". Career Rogers, the youngest of five children, had piano lessons and star ...

, Lydia MacDonald: "You Never Told Me" (1966) – music by

Piero Piccioni Piero Piccioni (; December 6, 1921 – July 23, 2004) was an Italian film score composer and lawyer. A pianist, organist, conductor, composer, he was also the prolific author of more than 300 film soundtracks. He played for the first time on ...

, lyrics by Mellin

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mellin, Robert 1902 births 1994 deaths American male songwriters Songwriters from Illinois American music publishers (people) 20th-century American musicians Emigrants from the Russian Empire to the United States Musicians from Chicago 20th-century male musicians