| Mel Street | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | King Malachi Street |
| Born | October 21, 1933 |
| Origin | Grundy, Virginia |
| Died | October 21, 1978 (aged 45) |
| Genres | Country |
| Occupations | Singer-songwriter |
| Instruments | Guitar |
| Years active | 1972-1978 |
King Malachi Street (October 21, 1933 – October 21, 1978), commonly known as Mel Street, was an American country music singer.
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Street was born in Grundy, Virginia to a coal mining family. Publications cite his year of birth as 1933, although his family maintains that he was born in 1935.[1] He began performing on western Virginia and West Virginia radio shows at the age of sixteen. Street subsequently worked as a radio tower electrician in Ohio and as a nightclub performer in the Niagara Falls area. He moved back to West Virginia in 1963 to open up an auto body shop.[2]
From 1968 to 1972, Street hosted his own show on a Bluefield, West Virginia television station.[3] He recorded his first single, "Borrowed Angel," in 1970 for a small regional record label. 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 the Back Streets", in 1973.
Street continued to flourish throughout the mid-1970s, recording several hits 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 in 1978, but he gave in to clinical depression and alcoholism, committing suicide on October 21, 1978, his 45th birthday. Sadly he had a record debut on the country charts on October 21 as well, a prophetic song called "Just Hangin' On".[4]
| Year | Album | US Country | Label |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1972 | Borrowed Angel | 14 | Metromedia Country |
| 1973 | The Town Where You Live / Walk Softly On the Bridges |
37 | |
| 1974 | Two Way Street | 37 | GRT |
| 1975 | Smokey Mountain Memories | 16 | |
| 1976 | Mel Street's Greatest Hits | 26 | |
| Country Colors | |||
| 1977 | Mel Street | 45 | Polydor |
| 1978 | Country Soul | 47 | |
| Mel Street | Mercury | ||
| 1980 | Many Moods of Mel | 61 | Sunbird |
| Year | Single | US Country | Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1972 | "Borrowed Angel" | 7 | Borrowed Angel |
| "Lovin' On Back Streets" | 5 | ||
| 1973 | "Walk Softly On the Bridges" | 11 | The Town Where You Live / Walk Softly On the Bridges |
| "The Town Where You Live" | 38 | ||
| "Lovin' On Borrowed Time" | 11 | Two Way Street | |
| 1974 | "You Make Me Feel More Like a Man" | 15 | |
| "Forbidden Angel" | 16 | Smokey Mountain Memories | |
| 1975 | "Smokey Mountain Memories" | 13 | |
| "Even If I Have to Steal" | 17 | ||
| "(This Ain't Just Another) Lust Affair" | 23 | ||
| 1976 | "The Devil in Your Kisses (And the Angel in Your Eyes)" | 32 | Mel Street's Greatest Hits |
| "I Met a Friend of Your's Today" | 10 | Country Colors | |
| "Looking Out My Window Through the Pain" | 24 | ||
| 1977 | "Rodeo Bum" | 56 | |
| "Barbara Don't Let Me Be the Last to Know" | 19 | Mel Street (1977) | |
| "Close Enough for Lonesome" | 15 | ||
| 1978 | "If I Had a Cheating Heart" | 9 | Country Soul |
| "Shady Rest" | 24 | ||
| "Just Hangin' On" | 68 | Mel Street (1978) | |
| 1979 | "The One Thing My Lady Never Puts Into Words" | 17 | Many Moods of Mel |
| 1980 | "Tonight Let's Sleep On It Baby" | 30 | |
| "Who'll Turn Out the Lights" | 36 | ||
| 1981 | "Slip Away" (w/ Sandy Powell) | 48 |
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