Melvin Bliss
Melvin Bliss | |
---|---|
Birth name | Melvin McClelland |
Born | June 1[1], 1935Cite error: The <ref> tag has too many names (see the help page). |
Genres | Soul[1] |
Years active | 1973[1]–2010[2] |
Labels | Sunburst Records[1] |
Melvin McClelland[3] (June 1, 1935[1]-July 26, 2010[2]) was a rhythm and blues singer known for his 1973 song "Reward/Synthetic Substitution",[4] the B-Side of which was heavily sampled[5] in at least 370 hip hop songs such as "Real Niggaz Don't Die" and Alwayz into Somethin' by N.W.A., O.G. Original Gangster by Ice-T, O.P.P. by Naughty by Nature and more recently "My Life" by 50 Cent, Eminem and Adam Levine.[6]
Born in 1935[1] in Chicago[7] as Melvin McClelland,[3] his career didn't begin with music; rather, in the Armed Forces.[8] After spending a few years singing in Naval bands, he departed the Army in the mid-1950s. From there, he went from stage to stage until the early 1970s, when in an attempt to boost his career prospects he visited a Queensbridge concert hall intending to use it for self-promotion.[8] Whilst awaiting a meeting with the hall's owner, he encountered the mother of Herb Rooney and it emerged that he wanted a singer to record one of his compositions.[8] After an informal discussion with Rooney himself, Bliss hit the studio to record it;[8] the result was Reward. That song's B-Side, Synthetic Substitution, became one of the most sampled songs of all time.[9] Unfortunately, Bliss' label, Sunburst Records, was a sister company of Opal Productions, and in 1974 it went bankrupt, taking Sunburst Records with it;[8] in doing so rendering Bliss a one-hit wonder.
In 2011, a documentary about him, Synthetic Substitution: The Life Story of Melvin Bliss, was released by Peripheral Enterprises. It was produced by Earl Holder.[10]
Death
On July 17, 2010, it was announced by Melvin Bliss, Jr. that Bliss had suffered a heart attack and had been rushed to NewYork–Presbyterian Hospital.[11] Just over a week later, on July 26, 2010, it was announced that Bliss had died.[2]
References
- ^ a b c d e f "Introducing Melvin Bliss". Blues & Soul. Retrieved Saturday, 8th June 2013.
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(help) - ^ a b c "Died On This Date (July 26, 2010) Melvin Bliss / Heavily Sampled '70s Soul Singer". The Music's Over. Retrieved Sunday, 12th May 2013.
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(help) - ^ a b "Recycled riffs:samples of music biz justice". The Guardian. Retrieved Sunday, 12th May 2013.
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(help) - ^ "Melvin Bliss". Wax Poetics. Retrieved Sunday, 12 May 2013.
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(help) - ^ Melvin Bliss, R.I.P. Hua Hsu. The Atlantic. Jul 27 2010
- ^ "Melvin Bliss Music Sampled by Others". Whosampled.com. Retrieved Sunday, 12th May 2013.
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(help) - ^ Cite error: The named reference
hiphopdx
was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ a b c d e ""Synthetic Substitution" ~ Melvin Bliss". GeniusRap.com. Retrieved Tuesday, 14th May 2013.
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(help) - ^ "R.I.P Melvin Bliss". Flea Market Funk. Retrieved Tuesday, 14th May 2013.
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(help) - ^ Melvin Bliss at IMDb
- ^ "MELLE MEL (LAMBSTAR)". Twitter. Retrieved Tuesday, 14th May 2013.
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