“Wake Up Everybody – Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes”

Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes were an American singing group, one of the most popular Philadelphia soul groups of the 1970s. The group’s repertoire included soul, R&B, doo-wop, and disco.

Founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in the early 1950s as The Charlemagnes, the group is most noted for several hits on Gamble and Huff’s Philadelphia International label between 1972 and 1976, although they performed and recorded until Melvin’s death in 1997. However, the remaining members, the Blue Notes, were reunited in 2013 for the Soul Train Cruise, and will reunite again in 2015, during the fourth sailing.

Despite group founder and original lead singer Harold Melvin’s top billing, the Blue Notes’ most famous member was Teddy Pendergrass, their lead singer during the successful years at Philadelphia International.

History

The group formerly known as The Charlemagnes took on the name “The Blue Notes” in 1954, with a lineup consisting of lead singer Harold Melvin (June 25, 1939—March 24, 1997), Bernard Williams, Roosevelt Brodie, Jesse Gillis, Jr., and Franklin Peaker.

The group recorded for a number of labels without success from its inception into the 1960s. The 1960 single “My Hero” was a minor hit for Val-ue Records, and 1965’s “Get Out (and Let Me Cry)” was an R&B hit for Landa Records. During this period, the group’s lineup changed frequently, with Bernard Wilson leaving the act to start a group called “The Original Blue Notes”, and Harold Melvin bringing in new lead singer John Atkins.

In 1970, the group recruited Teddy Pendergrass as the drummer for their backing band. Pendergrass had been a former member of Philadelphia R&B group The Cadillacs (not the New York group that had hits in the late 1950s) and was promoted to lead singer when John Atkins quit the same year.

Philadelphia International successEdit
This line-up of the group, featuring Melvin, Pendergrass, Bernard Wilson, Lawrence Brown, and Lloyd Parks, was signed to Gamble & Huff’s Philadelphia International label in 1972, scoring several major R&B and pop hits including million-selling singles and albums over the next four years.

Among the Blue Notes’ most important and successful recordings are love songs such as 1972’s “If You Don’t Know Me By Now” (#1 Billboard R&B, #3 pop), their breakout single, “I Miss You” (#7 R&B, #58 pop), “The Love I Lost” (#1 R&B, #7 pop, 1973) and socially conscious songs such as “Wake Up Everybody” (#1 R&B, #12 pop) and “Bad Luck” (#4 R&B, #15 pop), both in 1975. “Bad Luck” holds the record for the longest-running number-one hit on the Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart: 11 weeks. A fourth #1 R&B hit for the group was 1975’s “Hope That We Can Be Together Soon” which featured female vocalist Sharon Paige.

A 1976 cover of “Don’t Leave Me This Way” by Motown artist Thelma Houston was a number-one hit on the US pop chart; her version is one of the defining recordings of the disco era. The Blue Notes’ version on the album,

“Wake Up Everybody”

was not released as a single in the USA at the time, but proved to be the group’s biggest hit in the UK (#5) when released there as a single in 1977. The track was finally issued as a single in the US on 12-inch in 1979, coupled with “Bad Luck”. The group recorded four albums with Gamble & Huff, all of them going gold (over 500,000 copies), according to RIAA, including “To Be True (#26, Billboard Top 40 albums) and “Wake Up Everybody” (#9), both in 1975.

“Wake Up Everybody”

and a greatest hits compilation released in 1976 called “Collector’s Item” have now sold over a million copies.

Despite success, the Blue Notes’ lineup continued to change regularly. In 1974, Melvin brought in Jerry Cummings to replace Lloyd Parks and Sharon Paige was added to the lineup at that time, providing solo performances on several recordings. While at the top of their success in 1976, Pendergrass quit after an argument over the money he earned. A year earlier, he had gained billing recognition by having the act renamed to “Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes featuring Theodore Pendergrass”, starting from the “Wake Up Everybody” album.

Pendergrass went on to a successful solo career, with four consecutive million-selling albums with Philadelphia International between 1977 and 1980. His career was almost tragically cut short by a paralyzing 1982 car accident. He made a triumphant comeback in 1984, signing with Asylum/Elektra Records, and recording the hit LP Love Language and then the platinum selling Joy LP, released in 1988, which featured the Grammy nominated title song, an R&B number 1; his comeback was cemented by an appearance at the Live Aid concert in 1985.

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