R.I.P. Mel Cheren

[Videoskooter]

The MySpace community has announced that the legendary Mel Cheren has passed away today.

Can somebody confirm this please?

Edit: the sad news is confirmed. Mel has left us!

Mr. Cheren, thank you for all the music and rest in peace. RESPECT!

[Simon White]

I though I had West End in my friends list but seems not. haven't seen anything Skoots

[Videoskooter]

It's Raven Fox who has annouced it, Simon, check the bulletins. The West End page hasn't been updated since November.

[keefelc]

Yes, sadly I received some news yesterday from a DJ friend that Mel was gravely ill from AIDS. Apparently, it hit him fast and furiously. I thought that didn't happen very much anymore with all of the medicines and treatments. Reminded me so much of how we used to hear such news in the 80s.

[Videoskooter]

People, I'm double checking with all my friends in the biz and they all confirm it. I'm sorry but it's true.

[Simon White]

Very sad news.

[Dayna]

Taana Gardner called and told me that Mel did pass away from a long battle with an undisclosed illness.
"Rip" Mel..
Dayna

[the disco kid]

There will be a party in Heaven tonight!
God Bless you Mel Cheren

[Bernie]

Mel Cheren, one of the founding fathers of Disco has indeed left us. I came home this morning only to be greeted by several somber e-mails from people who knew him telling me of his passing last night. Condolences to his family and friends. Rest in peace Mel.

[wever]

whoooot????? OH NO!!!!!
i'm just "discovering" all this stuff now and YESTERDAY I said to myself "luckily, Mel is still alive with us!" like if some day i would see him live.... but..... what a sad news!!!!

Rest In Peace!!! :icon_rolleyes:

i don't know how it was in the 80s but ..... what a year :icon_cry: (if we include JB's death)

[Videoskooter]

Mel Cheren has done so much for Disco that maybe it's impossible to get the full picture but I'll try some with this little docu where you can here the man himself commenting on many aspects of the Scene, especially HIS West End Records label. It has probably been posted before here but it's great :

Guys, girls, feel free to add if you find interesting material!!!

INDAMIXWORLDWIDE.COM - The Disco to House Music Daily Update - I BELIEVE IN G.O.D. !!!

[qdearl]

...A lot of songs, which bring back a lot of good memories.

Thanks, for the vision you had.

R.I.P

you will be missed.

[kdavid13]

This is a very sad day indeed.

Mel was such a true disco pioneer...Believing in the beat and going above & beyond to spread the music that we all love & cherish.

He will be missed

Rest in peace and have a blast in heaven with all the others
Keep the flame alive

Respect

[Zef]

Sad to hear this news.

Had the pleasure of hanging out with him a few years ago in london for the launch of the Larry Levan live CD & Paradise Garage exhibition and getting a signed copy of Mels book My life and the Paradise Garage.

A great loss
gone to join Michael and all the others who have sadly passed.

R.I.P

[hotshotakb]

I met Mel for the first time in 1978 on the day I took "Hot Shot" by Karen Young to him at West End. Within three minutes of listening, Mel asked us to stop the tape. Without missing a beat, he informed DJ Kurt Borusiewicz and me that West End simply had to have this record. Period! That was his final answer. How could we refuse? The rest of the "Hot Shot" story is Disco History. What others could not hear, Mel heard. What others could not see, Mel saw. What others did not know, Mel knew.

FACT: Mel Cheren was one of those rare individuals in the music business who was a true Mensch. This was a man who simply got it. I am thrilled that I got to meet with Mel a few months ago, with decades in between our last rendezvous. How ironic that "Hot Shot - The Karen Young Reheat" remixes that I just released were selected by Billboard as a "Breakout for Hot Dance Club Play" on December 7, the same day that Mel died. There's gonna be some fabulous dance party at Disco Heaven, the ultimate dance club that Mel Cheren is likely already putting together. I only hope that Mel is finally in Paradise surrounded by the music he loved and promoted like no one else on this planet.

[RenanSanson]

That's a pity, this guy made a very good job in the Disco Music. Rust in peace...

[phillygroove]

Hi Everyone,

Some of you hear from me daily, others weekly, others haven’t in a long time, some and it’s your first time. All of you have one thing in common though – your love for music, and an even stronger love for DISCO.

Sadly this weekend we indeed lost one of the greatest disco Pioneers on the planet, Mel Cheren, the Godfather of Disco, it was unfortunate news to wake up to on the eve of his death that he was not long for this world. I reacted by contacting my one of my disco brothers, Bryan; who I do a radio show with and we agreed that we had to celebrate the life of Mel on Saturday's "Disco Juice" radio show on Kiss FM in Melbourne. I've included here the announcements I made in relation to Mel's passing earlier today to my disco colleagues.

"Mel indeed paved the way not only for disco, but also for the ‘Instrumental’ mix to be included on vinyl releases, along with later pushing the 12” vinyl format into the music market. Mel fought long, hard and against the odds to get these crucial elements of dance music across to the mainstream market and more importantly, accessible for DJ’s in what was later to be known as nightclubs. In our eyes, the music industry is eternally grateful to Mel, some say we owe the remix to him. Dance music definitely wouldn’t have had the success it has enjoyed over the years without Mel’s contribution."

- this is all something us serious disco afficiondoes know, but not many do and many take the 12" single and the 'dub' for granted - Mel was truly IS the Godfather of these prodcuts and he certainly nutured the way for them into our lives. Something no one else in the industry ever attempted to do with the success he had. Tom Moulton created the 12" and Mel fostered it into it's palce in disco history. Tom was also by Mel's side in last days from what I hear too.

Bryan and I decided to pay tribute to Mel on Saturday afternoon when we heard he was ill. We learnt later the following day that he did in fact pass away just hours before our show went to air. The radio show is part 1 of a 3 part series that Bryan I will cover in memory of Mel, his contribution, his activism, his survival, his legacy and passion for disco or as he preferred to call it, danceable R&B.

I struggled at the start of the show when I had to read the following announcement:

“Mel Cheren’s role in the music industry commenced in 1959 at ABC Paramount records and lasted close to 50 years, concluding only a few months ago, just after he finished completion of his last project, a documentary aptly titled: Godfather Of Disco (G.O.D.); a documentary based on his book: Keep On Dancin’ – My Life and the Paradise Garage. Coming up in today’s show ..we celebrate the Godfather of Disco, his life, his achievements, his success, his survival, his legacy”

I then played tracks from Philadelphia International Records, one of Mel’s most loved labels of the early 70’s, opening with “Don’t Leave Me This Way” by Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes and MFSB’s “Love Is The Message” – I was a mess during this time. We then commenced part 1 of 3 of our Disco Juice special:


DISCO JUICE TRIBUTE TO MEL CHEREN – PART 1

This week we covered Part 1 of Westend Records, next week will be more of Westend and the week after will be songs that Mel had a strong passion for and songs that he had a significant role in their production or promotion. Please bear in mind we constructed this show in under an hour and at the time were praying for him to pull through, with no news of had recently passed on.

We don’t encourage uploads/downloads & file sharing of music (neither did Mel) however this is a special occasion and I’m sure most of you would really love to hear the show, some of you may even have stories you want to contribute towards the following 2 weeks shows, if so, please feel free to do so here and we’ll do our best to air them.

If you want to tune in live to the show next week and the week after, it will be airing on Saturday afternoon (Australian Eastern Daylight Savings Time 1pm – 2.30pm) via www.kissfm.com.au – if you miss the show, don’t fret, we’ll post the links for Part 2 and 3.

Rest In Peace Mel, Thank You for the Music and ALL of your efforts, you’re an inspiration to us all and we’ll NEVER FORGET YOU and we’ll KEEP ON DACNIN’.


Enjoy everyone,

Phillip Mezzatesta & Bryan Bergman

ON ANOTHER NOTE:
It's also alarming that this week another vinyl distributor in the UK collapsed. it raises the question: "Is the vinyl industry that Mel helped to create, nurture and develop into a world for DJ's to enjoy starting to fade and die it's own death with him?" Who else do we have in the industry now that will succeed and follow in Mel's steps, with his courage, determination and wisdom? Who will save the DJ? Who will save the "Message of Love" that's today’s dance floors are crying out for? - Maybe this could be another thread...

[Dayna]

Taana's new song she wrote for Mel
"Cry Of The Brokenhearted"
Lyrics and music by Taana Gardner
Title by Dayna
On her myspace page

MySpace.com - Taana Gardner Official Myspace - New Jersey - Disco House - www.myspace.com/httpwwwmyspacecomworktaanagardner

[wever]

oh, that's a beautiful tribute!
thanx Dayna for posting! (your collaboration is priceless!)

[STEPHEN L FREEMAN]

I can't add much to what's already been written.
But I can't be silent, either.

My sleeve tattoo is a tight collage of the logos from some of the companies I had a legitimate connection to, whether in promotion or mixing, during my career.
Halfway-up, surrounded by Unidisc, Casablanca, Megatone and Rei-Vera, sits my pink & orange tatt of the West End logo.
From his days at Scepter, through the revival of West End, Mel was one of my greatest Heros. With him goes a piece of my heart.

"Speak Well..."

[wever]

I can't add much to what's already been written.
But I can't be silent, either.

My sleeve tattoo is a tight collage of the logos from some of the companies I had a legitimate connection to, whether in promotion or mixing, during my career.
Halfway-up, surrounded by Unidisc, Casablanca, Megatone and Rei-Vera, sits my pink & orange tatt of the West End logo.
From his days at Scepter, through the revival of West End, Mel was one of my greatest Heros. With him goes a piece of my heart.

"Speak Well..."

oops maybe this is the wrong place to ask but...can u show us? :)

[STEPHEN L FREEMAN]

Just stumbled across this, on the net...

"Motown Records was the first to market these (promo 12" singles) through their "Eye-Cue" label, but these and other 12-inch singles were the length of the original 45s until Scepter/Wand released the first 12-inch extended-version single in 1976: Jesse Green 's "Nice and Slow" b/w Sweet Music 's "I Get Lifted" (engineered by Tom Moulton )."

"Nice and Slow" brings back some of my most cherished memories of rope-light dance-floors and long gone, "bestest friends". It was, also, the first record I'd ever edited. Combining the vocal & intrumental 7" versions, (in hindsight, spawning my career as an editor) and segueing into the edited reel at work. Then Joel Silver gave me the Rick Gianatos edit, on a Disco Queen Records acetate.

Then I got the 12" from Scepter.
The label reads: "Special Disco Mix: Mel Cheren & Howard Metz"
And I still have my perfect Scepter promo.

Thanks Mel, for playing a part in some of the greatest nights of my life.

[phillygroove]

Hi everyone,

Here I am. back again with part 2 as promised:

Last week we aired part 2 of our tribute to the GODFATHER OF DISCO.

Part 2 can be heard by downloading this link:
MEL CHEREN / WEST END RECORDS TRIBUTE SHOW (PART 2)

Part 3 will be going to air this weekend and will feature the remainder of the West End catalogue and some of Mel's earlier works - including We're on the Right Track and Nice N Slow.

Take care everyone and happy holidays!

disco kisses from down under,

Phill Mezzatesta (and Bryan Bergman - where are you miss thing??)

[needlefingers]

His passing was (finally) reported in today's New York Times.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/21/ar...es&oref=slogin

[hotshotakb]

I attended Mel Cheren’s memorial service on January 17 in NYC. It was Standing Room Only with the Glitterati of Disco days gone by and just as many newcomers who had only an inkling of who Mel Cheren was. There were speakers and performers, filling two hours with stories, songs, music and visual images that had all of us spellbound from the moment it began. The service was held at the extraordinary St. Peter’s Church. This ultra-modern facility boasts high-end audio and video gear, a grand piano and a soaring pipe organ that looks like it came out of a Star Wars movie. Several hundred people filled the seats and stood around the sunken amphitheatre-style auditorium housed below 54th and Lexington in Midtown Manhattan. We got to hear Mel’s life story. We were reacquainted with his personality. We learned how he fiercely supported the music of the Disco Era. We heard how he pioneered philanthropy for AIDS in New York City. Mel was a founding member of several AIDS foundations which he continued to support until December 7, 2007, the day he died.

There was laughter. There were tears. Mel’s life-size poster looked out at all of us while we were showered with the magic that was his life. Mel was ALWAYS ready to either throw or go to a party. This night, we were at the party that celebrated the life of a man who figured prominently into the development of Disco music. A man who stayed committed to its artists and the music from Day One. We all pledged in our hearts and minds to save a place on the dance floor for Mel, something he always said he wanted done for him. Mel Cheren gave us so much of the music that swirled around those dance floors we couldn’t ever get enough of, always promoting the contagious effect that Disco had upon all of our lives.

To Mel: Please give a kiss to Karen Young for me. While you’re at it, give one to Kurt Borusiewicz, also. With the recent re-release of my song “Hot Shot,” I feel as though our musical team is back together once again. How sweet it was for me to be part of the adoring crowd that paid tribute to you, “The Godfather of Disco,” and the legacy you left behind for all of us. We will always remember you.

Andy Kahn
MaxRoxx Music