Harold Melvin
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Harold Melvin
Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes were an American soul and R&B vocal group. One of the most popular Philadelphia soul groups of the 1970s, the group's repertoire included soul, R&B, doo-wop, and disco. Founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the middle of the 1950s as The Charlemagnes, the group is most noted for several hits on Gamble and Huff's Philadelphia International label between 1972 and 1976, although they performed and recorded until Melvin's death in 1997. Despite group founder and original lead singer Harold Melvin's top billing, the Blue Notes' most famous member was Teddy Pendergrass, their lead singer during the successful years at Philadelphia International. The remaining members of the Blue Notes have reunited for Soul Train Cruises in 2013, 2015, and 2017. History Early years The group formerly known as The Charlemagnes took on the name "The Blue Notes" in 1954, with a line-up consisting of lead singer Franklin Peaker, Bernard Williams, Roosevelt Brodie, Jes ...
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Philadelphia
Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 1,603,797 in the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The city is the urban core of the Philadelphia metropolitan area (sometimes called the Delaware Valley), the nation's Metropolitan statistical area, seventh-largest metropolitan area and ninth-largest combined statistical area with 6.245 million residents and 7.379 million residents, respectively. Philadelphia was founded in 1682 by William Penn, an English Americans, English Quakers, Quaker and advocate of Freedom of religion, religious freedom, and served as the capital of the Colonial history of the United States, colonial era Province of Pennsylvania. It then played a historic and vital role during the American Revolution and American Revolutionary ...
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Encyclopedia Of Popular Music
''The Encyclopedia of Popular Music'' is an encyclopedia created in 1989 by Colin Larkin. It is the "modern man's" equivalent of the '' Grove Dictionary of Music'', which Larkin describes in less than flattering terms.''The Times'', ''The Knowledge'', Christmas edition, 22 December 2007 – 4 January 2008. It is published by the Oxford University Press and was described by ''The Times'' as "the standard against which all others must be judged". History of the encyclopedia Larkin believed that rock music and popular music were at least as significant historically as classical music, and as such, should be given definitive treatment and properly documented. ''The Encyclopedia of Popular Music'' is the result. In 1989, Larkin sold his half of the publishing company Scorpion Books to finance his ambition to publish an encyclopedia of popular music. Aided by a team of initially 70 contributors, he set about compiling the data in a pre-internet age, "relying instead on information ...
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Thelma Houston
Thelma Houston ( Jackson; born May 7, 1943) is an American singer and actress. Beginning her recording career in the late 1960s, Houston scored a number-one hit in 1977 with her recording of " Don't Leave Me This Way", which won the Grammy for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance. Biography Early life and career Houston was born in Leland, Mississippi. Her mother was a cotton picker. She and her three sisters grew up primarily in Long Beach, California. After marrying and having two children, she joined the Art Reynolds Singers gospel group and was subsequently signed as a recording artist with Dunhill Records. Despite her surname, she is unrelated to Whitney Houston. In 1969, Houston released her debut album, entitled '' Sunshower'', produced, arranged and composed by Jimmy Webb except for one track. In 1971 she signed with Motown Records but her early recordings with them were largely unsuccessful. Her most notable single during that period was "You've Been Doing Wrong for So ...
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Motown
Motown is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. Founded by Berry Gordy, Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on January 12, 1959, it was incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau of ''motor'' and ''town'', has become a nickname for Detroit, where the label was originally headquartered. Motown played a vital role in the racial integration of popular music as an African American-owned label that achieved crossover (music), crossover success with white audiences. In the 1960s, Motown and its main subsidiary labels (including Gordy, Soul) were the most prominent exponents of what became known as the #Motown sound, Motown sound, a style of soul music with a mainstream pop music, pop-influenced sound and appeal. Motown was the most successful soul music label, with a net worth of $61 million in 1988. Between 1960 and 1969, Motown had 79 songs reach the top-ten of the Billboard Hot 100, ''Billboard'' Hot 100. In March 19 ...
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Don't Leave Me This Way
"Don't Leave Me This Way" is a song written by Kenneth Gamble, Leon Huff and Cary Gilbert. It was originally released in 1975 by Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes featuring Teddy Pendergrass, an act signed to Gamble & Huff's Philadelphia International label. "Don't Leave Me This Way" was subsequently covered by American singer Thelma Houston in 1976 and British duo the Communards in 1986, with both versions achieving commercial success. Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes original version The Blue Notes' original version of the song, featuring Teddy Pendergrass's lead vocals, was included on the group's 1975 album '' Wake Up Everybody''. Though not issued as a single in the United States at the time, the Blue Notes' recording reached number three on the US ''Billboard'' Hot Disco Singles chart in the wake of Thelma Houston's version. The song proved to be the group's highest-peaking entry in the United Kingdom, reaching number five on the UK Singles Chart, when released there as a ...
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Hot Dance Music/Club Play
The Dance Club Songs (also known as National Disco Action, Hot Dance/Disco Club Play, and Hot Dance Club Play) was a chart published weekly between 1976 and 2020 by ''Billboard'' magazine. It used club disc jockeys set lists to determine the most popular songs being played in nightclubs across the United States. History The Dance Club Songs chart underwent several incarnations since its inception in 1974. Originally a top-10 list of tracks that garnered the largest audience response in New York City discothèques, the chart began on October 26, 1974, under the title ''Disco Action''. The chart went on to feature playlists from various cities around the country from week to week. ''Billboard'' continued to run regional and city-specific charts throughout 1975 and 1976 until the issue dated August 28, 1976, when a 30-position ''National Disco Action Top 30'' premiered. The first number-one song on the chart for the issue dated August 28, 1976, was " You Should Be Dancing" by the ...
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Recording Industry Association Of America
The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/or distribute approximately 85% of all legally sold recorded music in the United States". RIAA is headquartered in Washington, D.C. RIAA was formed in 1952. Its original mission was to administer recording copyright fees and problems, work with trade unions, and do research relating to the record industry and government regulations. Early RIAA standards included the RIAA equalization curve, the format of the stereophonic record groove and the dimensions of 33 1/3, 45, and 78 rpm records. RIAA says its current mission includes: #to protect intellectual property rights and the First Amendment rights of artists #to perform research about the music industry #to monitor and review relevant laws, regulations, and policies Between 2001 and 2 ...
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Music Recording Sales Certification
Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see List of music recording certifications). Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories, which are named after precious materials (gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ..., platinum and diamond). The threshold required for these awards depends upon the population of the territory where the recording is released. Typically, they are awarded only to international releases and are awarded individually for each country where the album is sold. Different sales levels, some perhaps 10 times greater t ...
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Bad Luck (Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes Song)
"Bad Luck" is a song recorded by American vocal group Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes from their album '' To Be True''. Released as a single in 1975 by Philadelphia International Records, the song was written by Victor Carstarphen, Gene McFadden, and John Whitehead and produced by Gamble and Huff, with MFSB providing instrumentals. The single was number one on the ''Billboard'' Disco Action chart for eleven weeks, also peaking at no. 4 on Hot Soul Singles and no. 15 on the Hot 100. With an unusually loud hi-hat by session drummer Earl Young, "Bad Luck" is considered a signature disco song. Development After moving into the former headquarters of Cameo-Parkway Records, Philadelphia International Records began using Cameo-Parkway's old Studio B for recordings in 1974. Sigma Sound Studios audio engineer Joseph Tarsia upgraded Studio B to become an extension of the original Sigma Sound Studios. Among the earliest albums to be recorded at the new Sigma Sound Studios room was '' To Be ...
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Wake Up Everybody (Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes Song)
"Wake Up Everybody" is an R&B song written by John Whitehead, Gene McFadden and Victor Carstarphen. Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes version Originally recorded by Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes, with Teddy Pendergrass singing lead vocals, the song had a somewhat unconventional structure, starting subdued and building slowly to a climax. The title track from their 1975 album, the song spent two weeks at number one on the Hot Soul Singles chart in early 1976. It also enjoyed success on the pop charts, peaking at number 12 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart, number 34 Easy Listening, number 33 in Canada, and number 23 in the UK Singles Chart. They performed the song on '' Soul Train'' on November 22, 1975. This version was used in the 1980s in an Ad Council public service announcement advocating for young Americans to join the teaching profession. Charts Weekly charts Year-end charts Sonia version "Wake Up Everybody" was covered in 1995 by British singer Sonia. It ...
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The Love I Lost
"The Love I Lost" is a song by American R&B group Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes. Group member Teddy Pendergrass sang lead vocals. Originally written as a ballad by Philly soul songwriters Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff, the song was transformed into a funk song and features drummer Earl Young. It was released from the '' Black & Blue'' album in late 1973 and sold more than a million copies. It peaked at number seven on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and number one on the ''Billboard'' Hot R&B chart. In the 21st century, the track has been the subject of extended re-edits by notable remixers Tom Moulton, Theo Parrish, and Dimitri From Paris. In 2022, ''Rolling Stone'' ranked "The Love I Lost" number 116 in their list of the "200 Greatest Dance Songs of All Time". Background "The Love I Lost" is considered an early example of disco. The track was one of the transitional songs marking the emergence of disco from traditional rhythm and blues as a distinctive style of music. The 2024 P ...
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