Previous Vocal Group Record of the Week
#818 (7/19/14 - 8/1/14)

DEDICATED TO TOMMY HAMM

"Goin' Home"/"You've Got My Heart Talkin' Double Talk"
by The Mello-Larks
on Melodisc M 1014[sic]/M 1015
released in 1946


Above: Melodisc advertisement from The Billboard dated 7/13/46 for The Mello-Larks. (L-R) Tommy Hamm, Ginny O'Conner, Jack Biermann, Bob Smith. Did Melodisc misspell the group's name in order to match the label name?

A SHORT HISTORY OF THE MELLO-LARKS
BY TOMMY HAMM

(Provided exclusively to The Vocal Group Harmony Web Site from the author.)

© 2005

(Will open in a separate window)





Melodisc Recording Company owner and President was Daniel O'Brien. General Sales Manager was Bob Goodman. The label, located in Hollywood, CA, existed from 1945 to 1946* and specialized in r&b and jazz. Previously, O'Brien had operated a booking agency. The first two releases on Melodisc were by The Flennoy Trio circa May/June 1945. The Counts And The Countess also had two early releases on Melodisc.

In November 1946, a fire razed the Melodisc pressing plant. O'Brien stated that the rebuilding process would begin at once and be ready in about four weeks. However, this seems to have been too much to overcome and, apparently, resulted in the demise of Melodisc.

*There is a February 1947 Billboard distributor advertisement, "The Latest Hit Records," which includes Melodisc, among many other labels. However, this could have been for surplus stock.






Above:Partial Melodisc discography from 10/6/45 Billboard advertisement. Also released in 1945, No. 115 Night Mist/Sweet Potato and No. 116 Blues a la King/Hoggin', both by Howard McGhee Orchestra. Melodisc switched to 4-digit record numbers in 1946. King Perry Pied Pipers had three releases on Melodisc, M-1005, M-1006 and M-1007, circa April 1946. The Four Blazes had three releases, M 1009, M 1010 and M 1011, on Melodisc. And, of course, there were at least two releases by The Mello-Larks, M-1014 and M 1015, circa July/August 1946.

An article in March 1946 stated that comic George Givet had been signed by Melodisc and had already waxed four sides of the eight contracted. The article indicated that Melodisc was also trying to sign other comedy characters, such as Artie Auerbach and Bert Gordon.

If anyone knows other releases on this label, please e-mail me.


Above: The Mello-Larks circa 1959. (Back L-R) Dick Harvey, Bob Wollter, (Front L-R) Tommy Hamm, Adele Castle. This is the last "official" Mello-Larks line-up.



The Mello-Larks....

Above: 11/12/53 (L-R) Bob Wollter, Jamie Dina, Joe Eich, Tommy Hamm.

Right: 9/12/61 Although The Mello-Larks broke up in 1960, Adele Castle found three replacement male singers and kept the group going for a couple more years. This appears to be an out-dated picture of the group. The Empire Room was located in Milwaukee.




Above: Label image of Melodisc M 1014[sic]. Apparently, the "M 1014" (which had already been used for The Mello-Larks' previous record) should be "M 1015." The flip label has "M 1015". The Mello-Larks also had releases on the RCA Victor, United Artist and Epic labels.

(ABOVE: The Three Dons From April 1953)

The Three Dons provided the instrumental accompanyment (piano, bass and guitar) on this record. The "...Double Talk" side shows "Roseland-Hamm" as composers of that song. Don Roseland (center in above picture) was the piano player in The Three Dons. Don Eagle was their guitar player.

Listen to this week's selections by The Mello-Larks on Melodisc from 1946:
[Audio restoration by Dave Saviet.]

     A. Stream RealAudio (DO NOT USE...LISTEN USING DOWNLOAD REALAUDIO)...
 
          1. Goin' Home
          2. You've Got My Heart Talkin' Double Talk
 
          BOTH played in sequence

     B. Download RealAudio...
 
          1. Goin' Home
          2. You've Got My Heart Talkin' Double Talk

     C. Stream/Download Media Player...
 
          1. Goin' Home
          2. You've Got My Heart Talkin' Double Talk

     [To download audio files, right-click on link and then select "Save (Link) Target As..."]


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