The group formerly known as The Charlemagnes took on the name "The Blue Notes" in 1954, with a line-up consisting of lead singer Franklin Peaker, Bernard Williams, Roosevelt Brodie, Jesse Gillis, Jr., and Harold Melvin.
[1] 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.
[1] Shortly after the arrival of Cummings, the Notes scored several major R&B and pop hits including million-selling singles and albums over the next four years.
[3] "Bad Luck" holds the record for the longest-running number-one hit on the Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart: 11 weeks.
A 1976 remake of "Don't Leave Me This Way" by Motown artist Thelma Houston was a number-one hit on the US pop chart.
In 1972, Melvin brought in Jerry Cummings to replace Lloyd Parks and Sharon Paige was added to the line-up at that time, providing solo performances on several recordings.
[1] 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 To be True album.
With Gil Saunders, the group had success in the United Kingdom with the Philly World album Talk It Up (Tell Everybody), and singles such as "Today's Your Lucky Day" and "Don't Give Me Up".
Saunders left the act in 1992, and Harold Melvin continued to tour with various line-ups of Blue Notes, until suffering a stroke in 1996.
[7] And just five months later in that year, Bernard Wilson died on December 26, 2010, at age 64 from complications of a stroke and a heart attack.
Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes hits have been re-recorded by other artists, including David Ruffin, Simply Red, Jimmy Somerville, Sybil, the Three Degrees and John Legend, while dance music DJ Danny Rampling cites "Wake Up Everybody" as his favorite song of all time.
In the intro for "Doggy Dogg World" Snoop says "Bitch, you without me is like Harold Melvin without the Blue Notes, you'll never go platinum!"
"I Miss You" was also sampled by Kanye West on Jay-Z's song "This Can't Be Life", featuring Beanie Sigel and Scarface.