Years active 1970s - present Name Melvyn Taub | Role Singer Associated acts The Jetset | |
Melvyn J Taub (born 7 September 1960) is a London-based pop/rock singer and some-time actor, primarily known for his role as singer in 1980s bubblegum pop band The Jetset and as a part of Mari Wilson's touring revue band The Wilsations.
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Early life
Melvyn Jeremy Taub was born in London, the only son of Wilfred Taub (originally Schlachtaub) and Adela Robin. He attended the Clapton Jewish Day School (now Simon Marks Jewish Primary School), where he met his future Jetset band mate Angus Nanan, before continuing his education at Central Foundation Boys' School.
The Jetset
Along with teenage friend Paul Bevoir, Taub formed the Jetset in July 1981 the band developed their style under the guidance of former Advertising and Secret Affair drummer Paul Bultitude, playing their first gig at the Rock Garden in Covent Garden, London, in 1981, and gaining valuable live experience as a touring support act to Secret Affair later the same year and during 1982.
The band set about crafting perfectly executed and packaged bubblegum pop, inspired by the music and merchandising of The Monkees and The Beatles. From the beginning The Jetset presented themselves as already every bit as famous as their Sixties heroes. The band’s marketing sowed the seeds of Jetset myth before they were even well known. An eye-catching EP sleeve included the band clowning around in stills “from their forthcoming TV series”, hanging out of the Monkee-influenced ‘Jetsetmobile’ (a very English Ford Capri with customised ‘JETSET’ number plates). They even had a suitably barmy Jetset cartoon strip that appeared in Shadows & Reflections, the underground magazine of long-time Jetset champion Chris Hunt.
Melvyn J added the trademark nasal vocals to The Jetset's authentic Sixties pop sound and the band went on to record five albums before their acrimonious split in 1988. As Paul Bevoir started to assume more control of the band's direction and sound, and took on more of the singing duties, Bultitude and Taub quit the band, leaving Bevoir to finish the final Jetset album without them. Bevoir had occasionally appeared live as The Jetset without Taub, most notably on a tour of the United States in 1986.
Mari Wilson's Wilsations
Through their connection with Bultitude, Bevoir and Taub had temporarily joined Mari Wilson's Wilsations as backing vocalists in 1981. Bevoir soon left to focus on his own music, while Melvyn J went on to enjoy chart success with the Wilsations, before returning to work with Bevoir in The Jetset.
Actor
As an actor, Melvyn J appeared in It's All True, a highly acclaimed Arena television film in the early 1980s, starring alongside Koo Stark and directed by Julien Temple, as well as in a number of TV commercials worldwide.
Later career
Early demos recorded by Melvyn J have subsequently been released under the name of Melvyn And the Smarties, but after the demise of The Jetset he turned his back on the legend of the band and continued to work in the mainstream music industry as an international press & promotions manager for EastWest Records and Sony Music.
Upon leaving Sony in 2003, he continued to work with Oasis, Travis, Simple Minds, Big Audio Dynamite, Craig David, Taio Cruz, Orbital and Simply Red on a freelance basis. He later went on to form The International Department Link label, an international music promotion and marketing company, with Paul Bultitude and Doe Phillips. He continues to work closely with Manic Street Preachers, Beady Eye and Mick Hucknall, to name but a few, in promotional and tour management roles.