Byron Melcher

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Byron Melcher (1929–2012) was an executive with the Thomas Organ Company, a concert organist, and a recording artist on electronic organs and pipe organs.

Thomas Organ Company

The Thomas Organ Company is an American manufacturer of electronic keyboards and a one-time holder of the manufacturing rights to the Moog synthesizer. The Company was a force behind early electronic organs for the home. It went out of business in 1979 but reopened in 1996.

Pipe organ wind instrument that produces sound by driving pressurized air (called wind) through pipes selected via a keyboard

The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurized air through the organ pipes selected via a keyboard. Because each pipe produces a single pitch, the pipes are provided in sets called ranks, each of which has a common timbre and volume throughout the keyboard compass. Most organs have multiple ranks of pipes of differing timbre, pitch, and volume that the player can employ singly or in combination through the use of controls called stops.

Melcher was a district manager for the Thomas and Vox lines in Texas. In 1968, he was promoted to manager of promotions for the Thomas Organ division [1] and was a featured artist on the Thomas Company "A Fair to Remember" tour the next year, with Dick Clark as MC. [2] That summer, he became head of publicity for Thomas. [3] In 1970, he was the Los Angeles Theater Organ Society monthly artist. His featured piece was the Overture to The Virgin of Macarena. [4]

Dick Clark American radio and television personality

Richard Wagstaff Clark was an American radio and television personality, television producer and film actor, as well as a cultural icon who remains best known for hosting American Bandstand from 1957 to 1988. He also hosted the game show Pyramid and Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve, which transmitted Times Square's New Year's Eve celebrations. Clark was well known for his trademark sign-off, "For now, Dick Clark — so long!", accompanied by a facsimile of a military salute.

He recorded for Concert Recording Records, Replica Records [4] and United Artists Records. [5]

United Artists Records American record label

United Artists Records was a record label founded by Max E. Youngstein of United Artists in 1957 to issue movie soundtracks. The label expanded into other genres, such as easy listening, jazz, pop, and R&B.

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References

  1. Billboard , June 1, 1968, page 87.
  2. Billboard, June 7, 1969 page 55.
    - Billboard, August 2, 1969, page 38.
  3. Billboard, August 9, 1969, page 110.
  4. 1 2 Los Angeles Theater Organ Society. "History – Fall 1970" Archived 2012-03-10 at the Wayback Machine .. Retrieved August 17, 2010.
  5. The Blade (Toledo, Ohio), October 27, 1968, page 4.