King Malachi "Mel" Street (October 21, 1933 – October 21, 1978) was an American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

singer who had 13 top-20 hits on the

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

country charts.

Biography

Street was born near

Grundy, Virginia Grundy is a town in Buchanan County, Virginia, Buchanan County, Virginia, United States, an area located within the Appalachian Mountains region. It is the county seat of Buchanan County. The town is home to the Appalachian School of Law. The pop ...

, United States.Nelson, Dick (August 27, 2017)
"Sunday Morning Country Classic Spotlight to Feature Mel Street"
98.1 Minnesota's New Country. Retrieved March 7, 2020. Publications cite his year of birth as 1933 and his family also maintains that he was born in 1933. However, his gravestone gives the year as 1936. He began performing on western Virginia and

West Virginia West Virginia is a mountainous U.S. state, state in the Southern United States, Southern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.The United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau and the Association of American ...

radio shows at the age of sixteen. Street subsequently worked as a radio tower electrician in

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

, and as a

nightclub A nightclub or dance club is a club that is open at night, usually for drinking, dancing and other entertainment. Nightclubs often have a Bar (establishment), bar and discotheque (usually simply known as disco) with a dance floor, laser lighti ...

performer in the

Niagara Falls, New York Niagara Falls is a City (New York), city in Niagara County, New York, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a total population of 48,671. It is adjacent to the Niagara River, across from the city of Niagar ...

area. He moved back to West Virginia in 1963 to open an auto body shop. From 1968 to 1972, Street hosted a show on a

Bluefield, West Virginia Bluefield is a city in Mercer County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 9,658 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Bluefield micropolitan area extending into Virginia, which had a populatio ...

television station. He recorded his first single, "Borrowed Angel" – which he also wrote – in 1969 for a small regional record label, Tandem Records. A larger label, Royal American Records, picked it up in 1972 and it became a top-10 Billboard hit. He recorded the biggest hit of his career, "Lovin' on Back Streets", in 1972. Street's last television appearance was in 1977, in which he performed his 1976 hit "I Met A Friend Of Yours Today" on ''That Good Ole Nashville Music''. Street recorded several hits in the mid-1970s, such as "You Make Me Feel More Like a Man," "Forbidden Angel," "I Met a Friend of Yours Today," "If I Had a Cheatin' Heart," and "Smokey Mountain Memories". He signed with

Mercury Records Mercury Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It had significant success as an independent operation in the 1940s and 1950s. Smash Records and Fontana Records were sub labels of Mercury. Mercury Records released ...

in 1978, but suffering from clinical depression and alcoholism, he killed himself by a self-inflicted gunshot on October 21, 1978, his 45th birthday. He had a record debut on the country charts on October 21 as well, called "Just Hangin' On",Schuler and Delp 2002, p. 243. and later charted four posthumous songs. Street's idol,

George Jones George Glenn Jones (September 12, 1931 – April 26, 2013) was an American Country music, country musician, singer, and songwriter. He achieved international fame for a long list of hit records, and is well known for his distinctive voice an ...

, sang "

Amazing Grace "Amazing Grace" is a Christian hymn written in 1772 and published in 1779 by English Anglican clergyman and poet John Newton (1725–1807). It is possibly the most sung and most recorded hymn in the world, and especially popular in the Unit ...

" at his funeral. His posthumous album, ''Mel Street's Greatest Hits'', was promoted via television advertisements in 1981, and sold 400,000 copies.

Discography

Albums

Singles

Footnotes

References

* Huey, Steve. (2003). Edited by Vladimir Bogdanov, Chris Woodstra, & Stephen Erlewine. "Mel Street (King Malachi Street)." ''All Music Guide to Country'', 2nd ed. San Francisco: Backbeat Books, 2003. *Schuler, Dennis Sr. and Larry J. Delp. ''Mel Street – A Country Legend'', Charleston, WV: Mountain State Press, 2002.

External links

Mel Street @ Last.fm
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Street, Mel 1933 births 1978 deaths 1978 suicides People from Grundy, Virginia American male singer-songwriters American country singer-songwriters Mercury Records artists Polydor Records artists 20th-century American singer-songwriters Singer-songwriters from Virginia 20th-century American male singers Suicides by firearm in Tennessee Musicians from Bluefield, West Virginia