The Mel
3.7.2010 UPDATE
Information about The Mel has surfaced! A few days ago I had a back and forth comments dialogue early one morning with a guy named Rik, who provided some info about the previously mysterious Mel. He appears to have been a former member although he never confirmed this in his comments. According to Rik, The Mel were from the San Gabriel Valley in Los Angeles county. [By the way, the San Gabriel Valley is East of L.A.and includes suburbs like Pasadena, Covina, Alhambra and about 20 others].
The band might have only released that one 7" in 1983 and you’d think that means they were a short-lived outfit, but the band was actually around for 10(!) years and played out between 1976 and 1986 according to Rik. The label for the 7"- simply named "A Record Company"- was based in Hollywood and the disc came with a poster sleeve AND stickers. Rik said that 250 (?!) copies of the 7" made it to Europe ‘cuz that's how many their label’s "European Distributor" ordered at the time (sounds very official). The 7" sessions also produced two other unreleased songs, "Rainy Day People" and "Realize"- according to Rik, an idea was thrown around to release a 4-song EP or a double EP with these two other tunes on it but it never happened unfortunately. Also sitting around unreleased are music videos, many hours or live gig recordings, rehearsals and studio outtakes says he. I'd love to hear some of this unreleased stuff one day, as I'm sure other fans of The Mel 7" would too eh.
Thanks again, Rik, for providing all of the above info- you’ve helped shed some light on a previously unknown outfit! People like myself who wonder about details like these feel better now.
What I do know about this quirky, offbeat 7" is that I like both sides of it, especially the B-side, "Modest Living". I have been digging that tune for about ten years now, ever since I first heard it on the great Killed By 7 Inch #9 comp EP from late 1999/early 2000- thanks to **** for compiling and releasing that series (you know who you are!). [Speaking of the Killed By 7 Inch series, I dug most of the 10 volumes and thought it was a cool concept to include just 4-5 songs instead of an LP with a slew of tunes to wade through. A 7" comp with just 4-5 songs kind of trimmed the fat, if you will, of mediocre stuff that was inevitably on a more expensive, full-length comp LP. And the series introduced me to a lot of obscure tunes that I had never heard before, like Mel. Also a plus is that most of the volumes had nice, thick, manly vinyl (and not that flimsy shit that you always fear will warp unless you store it in a perfectly vertical position). And it was kinda fun that most volumes only had 300-400 copies pressed which kept me on my toes to find one before they all vanished.]
On "Modest Living" there is some great meat n' potatoes guitar that grabs me from the get go and the singer sounds kinda like Lee Ving of Fear at times, especially when he gets all riled up. Add to that very hummable lyrics that, thankfully, do not make it TOO melodic ‘cuz "Whoo, Oooo Oooo Oooo" choruses usually turn me off. It's that mixture of "driving and melodic" that was really in the air in early 80's Southern California (the home of Mel). But what I REALLY like about Modest Living are the two breaks during which they switch things up and create a freakout of sorts- there’s a cool interplay between the echo-y, bouncy guitar and some frantic, kinda sloppy drumming on what sounds like a kids' Fischer Price drum set. Quirky! My only complaint is like the last 20 seconds of the song which are kinda weak and during which they almost lose me- the singer and others keep repeating one line over and over and it gets slightly annoying.
While Modest Living is my favorite track, the A-side keeps growing on me now that I've finally heard it after all these years (many thanks to John for hooking me up with it!). Some might dismiss it as the dreaded "other track" but I likes it- it has an offbeat nature to it, not as wild as "Modest Living", but catchy. The drumming at points reminds me of the same style of high-hat playing found on the Effigies' Security. But don't take that to mean that the ENTIRE song reminds me of The Effigies- no, just certain drum snippets (I don't want to start any fights here amongst Effigies fans). The catchy chorus and breaks have nice guitar noodling and this weird sped-up voice on it that I find myself singing along to for some reason.
If you know anything about Mel (or have a spare copy for me), post some comments already.
Block Rock Walk.mp3
Tony,
as another "googler" I am always so happy when a band or a member has an unique name.
You pointed the dilemma quite rightly.
At least one damn copy of this THE MEL 7"
made its way somehow to Germany as one of my pals put it on KB7inch,eventually.
I guess as of Californian super-obscurities,the best way to get info´s
is Brian of GTA, Greg of ARTIFIX, the boys at DISCOURAGE or Mr.Brian from the suburbs of Chicago or or or
If you have asked everyone of them and still have no info´s about a band,then it must be another Jackie Shark-case of obscurity...
Cool record ,btw
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250 copies made it to Europe.
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I'd love to know how 250 copies made it to Europe!
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That is the quantity A Record Company's European distributor ordered.
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Ah, gotcha- thanks for the info. Did you know the band or something? Feel free to include your e-mail address in your next comment so we can chat some more "offline" (don't worry, the e-mail address will be hidden in the blog comments so no one else will see it). Thanks for posting some comments, I'd love to learn more about The Mel since they are a total mystery to me.
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The Mel was from the San Gabriel Valley in Los Angeles County. They played from 1976 to 1986. A Record Company was based in Hollywood at that time.
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Thanks much for the info! Wow, I did not realize that The Mel was around for 10 years. I will update my posting with this info that you've provided. Being that they were around for so long, do you happen to know if they recorded anything else besides their great 7"?
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The Mel also recorded two additional tracks at the same time Modest Living and Block Walk Rock were recorded. The record was to be released as a two 45 set or EP yet the record company held the other two songs for later release. The other unreleased songs were Rainy Day People and Realize. All The Mel songs were original. There were also music videos, hundreds of recorded hours of live gigs, rehearsals and studio out takes.
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Thanks again for posting another comment, I'm enjoying the dialogue we're having this early morning (but I gotta get to work soon here in the Midwest). Very cool to know about those other two unreleased songs from the 7" session, as well as all the other unreleased stuff!!! As being a big fan of the "Block Rock Walk" 7" I'd LOVE to hear some of the unreleased stuff- feel free to e-mail me offline at punkbusinessmanager-at-yahoo-dot-com if you like so we can chat some more (or just keep posting comments). Always cool to hear from people in the know. I have tried Googling The Mel many times and have come up with no information, so what you have told me just this morning is very appreciated to fans of the Mel 7" like myself.
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The Mel fans are known as Melons. Welcome to the club. Hang on to that 7 incher you have, I have seen it posted for sale on the Internet for over $170.
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Did you buy your copy new? Did it come with the poster and stickers?
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Unfortunately, I do not have a vinyl copy of The Mel 7"- I only have mp3's that someone I know passed on to me. However, I would love to own a vinyl copy if you have any extra copies!
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I have two copies. One I play and one still factory sealed.
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Ah, OK- thought I'd ask anyway.
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