Melvin Bliss

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Melvin Bliss
Birth nameMelvin McClelland
Born(1945-06-01)June 1, 1945
Origin Chicago, Illinois [1]
DiedJuly 7, 2010(2010-07-07) (aged 65)
Genres Soul [2]
Years active1973 (1973) [2] –2010 (2010) [3]
LabelsSunburst Records [2]

Melvin McClelland [4] (June 1, 1945 [2] -July 26, 2010 [3] ) was a rhythm and blues singer known for his 1973 song "Reward/Synthetic Substitution", [5] the B-side of which was heavily sampled [3] in at least 94 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 1945 [2] in Chicago [1] as Melvin McClelland, [4] his career didn't begin with music; rather, in the Armed Forces. [7] After spending a few years singing in Naval bands, he departed the Navy 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. [7] 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. [7] After an informal discussion with Rooney himself, Bliss hit the studio to record it; [7] the result was Reward. That song's B-side, "Synthetic Substitution", became one of the most sampled songs of all time. [8] Bliss' label, Sunburst Records, was a sister company of Opal Productions, and in 1974 it went bankrupt, taking Sunburst Records with it; [7] 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. [1]

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. [9] Just over a week later, on July 26, 2010, it was announced that Bliss had died. [3]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 ""Synthetic Substitution" Singer / Sample Icon Melvin Bliss Dies". Hiphopdx.com. Archived from the original on 16 October 2013. Retrieved 13 May 2013.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "Introducing Melvin Bliss". Blues & Soul . Retrieved 8 June 2013.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Melvin Bliss, R.I.P. Hua Hsu. The Atlantic. Jul 27 2010
  4. 1 2 Batey, Angus (23 June 2011). "Recycled riffs:samples of music biz justice". The Guardian . London. Retrieved 12 May 2013.
  5. "Melvin Bliss". Wax Poetics . Retrieved 12 May 2013.
  6. "RIP Melvin Bliss". Pastemagazine.com. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 Holder, Earl (2011). Synthetic Substitution: The Life Story of Melvin Bliss (Motion picture). Peripheral Enterprises.
  8. "Melvin Bliss - Synthetic Substitution (Documentary)". Cratekings.com. 10 May 2010. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
  9. "MELLE MEL (LAMBSTAR)". Twitter . Retrieved 14 May 2013.