Mel Street
| Mel Street | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | King Malachi Street |
| Born | October 21, 1935 |
| Origin | Grundy, Virginia |
| Died | October 21, 1978 (aged 45) |
| Genres | Country |
| Occupations | Singer-songwriter |
| Instruments | Guitar |
| Years active | 1972–1978 |
King Malachi Street (October 21, 1935 – October 21, 1978), commonly known as Mel Street, was an American country music singer.
Contents |
[edit] Biography
Street was born in Grundy, Virginia to a coal mining family.[1] Publications cite his year of birth as 1933, although his family maintains that he was born in 1935.[2] He began performing on western Virginia and West Virginia radio shows at the age of sixteen. Street subsequently worked as a radio tower electrician in Ohio and as a nightclub performer in the Niagara Falls area. He moved back to West Virginia in 1963 to open up an auto body shop.[3]
From 1968 to 1972, Street hosted his own show on a Bluefield, West Virginia television station.[4] He recorded his first single, "Borrowed Angel," in 1970 for a small regional record label. A larger label, Royal American Records, picked it up in 1972, and it became a top-10 Billboard hit. He recorded the biggest hit of his career, "Lovin' on Back Streets", in 1973.
Street continued to flourish throughout the mid-1970s, recording several hits such as "You Make Me Feel More Like a Man," "Forbidden Angel," "I Met a Friend of Yours Today," "If I Had a Cheatin' Heart," and "Smokey Mountain Memories". He signed with Mercury Records in 1978. But, suffering from clinical depression and alcoholism, he committed suicide by a self-inflicted gunshot wound, on October 21, 1978, his 45th birthday. Sadly he had a record debut on the country charts on October 21 as well, a prophetic song called "Just Hangin' On".[5]
[edit] Discography
[edit] Albums
| Year | Album | US Country | Label |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1972 | Borrowed Angel | 14 | Metromedia Country |
| 1973 | The Town Where You Live / Walk Softly On the Bridges |
37 | |
| 1974 | Two Way Street | 37 | GRT |
| 1975 | Smokey Mountain Memories | 16 | |
| 1976 | Mel Street's Greatest Hits | 26 | |
| Country Colors | — | ||
| 1977 | Mel Street | 45 | Polydor |
| 1978 | Country Soul | 47 | |
| Mel Street | — | Mercury | |
| 1980 | Many Moods of Mel | 61 | Sunbird |
[edit] Singles
| Year | Single | Chart Positions | Album | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Country | CAN Country | |||
| 1972 | "Borrowed Angel" | 7 | 9 | Borrowed Angel |
| "Lovin' On Back Streets" | 5 | 8 | ||
| 1973 | "Walk Softly On the Bridges" | 11 | 6 | The Town Where You Live / Walk Softly On the Bridges |
| "The Town Where You Live" | 38 | 58 | ||
| "Lovin' On Borrowed Time" | 11 | 7 | Two Way Street | |
| 1974 | "You Make Me Feel More Like a Man" | 15 | — | |
| "Forbidden Angel" | 16 | 47 | Smokey Mountain Memories | |
| 1975 | "Smokey Mountain Memories" | 13 | 43 | |
| "Even If I Have to Steal" | 17 | 17 | ||
| "(This Ain't Just Another) Lust Affair" | 23 | — | ||
| 1976 | "The Devil in Your Kisses (And the Angel in Your Eyes)" | 32 | — | Mel Street's Greatest Hits |
| "I Met a Friend of Your's Today" | 10 | — | Country Colors | |
| "Looking Out My Window Through the Pain" | 24 | — | ||
| 1977 | "Rodeo Bum" | 56 | — | |
| "Barbara Don't Let Me Be the Last to Know" | 19 | — | Mel Street (1977) | |
| "Close Enough for Lonesome" | 15 | — | ||
| 1978 | "If I Had a Cheating Heart" | 9 | — | Country Soul |
| "Shady Rest" | 24 | — | ||
| "Just Hangin' On" | 68 | — | Mel Street (1978) | |
| 1979 | "The One Thing My Lady Never Puts Into Words" | 17 | — | Many Moods of Mel |
| 1980 | "Tonight Let's Sleep On It Baby" | 30 | — | |
| "Who'll Turn Out the Lights" | 36 | — | ||
| 1981 | "Slip Away" (w/ Sandy Powell) | 48 | — | |
[edit] Footnotes
- ^ Huey, Steve. "Mel Street". Allmusic. http://allmusic.com/artist/mel-street-p30180/biography. Retrieved 13 February 2011.
- ^ Schuler and Delp 2002, p. 23.
- ^ Schuler and Delp 2002, p. 46.
- ^ Schuler and Delp 2002, p. 51.
- ^ Schuler and Delp 2002, p. 243.
[edit] References
- Huey, Steve. (2003). Edited by Vladimir Bogdanov, Chris Woodstra, & Stephen Erlewine. "Mel Street (King Malachi Street)." All Music Guide to Country, 2nd ed. San Francisco: Backbeat Books, 2003. ISBN 0-87930-760-9
- Schuler, Dennis Sr. and Larry J. Delp. "Mel Street - A Country Legend", Charleston, WV: Mountain State Press, 2002. ISBN 0-941092-47-X
