#18: You You You by Mel Carter

City: St. John’s, NL
Radio Station: VOCM
Peak Month: August 1966
Peak Position in St. John’s ~ #7
Peak Position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #49
YouTube: “You You You”
Lyrics: “You You You”

Mel Carter was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1939. As a child he was in a choir at New Prospect Baptist Church. In 1954, Carter began studying under jazz singer Little Jimmy Scott. Carter went to Chicago and met Sam Cooke when Cooke was part of the Soul Stirrers. Mel Carter was also part of a street corner doo-wop group. In the late 50’s and early 60’s, Mel Carter appeared on stage with Dinah Washington at Ciros. In 1960 Carter released his first single on Arwin Records titled “I’m Coming Home”. In 1961 he switched labels to Mercury and released “I Need You So”. Then in 1962, he released a duet with Clyde King titled “The Wrong Side of Town”, which was a minor hit in California and West Virginia. In the spring of 1963, Mel Carter released “When A Boy Falls In Love” on the Derby label.

A followup release on the Derby label was a double-sided hit “Wonderful Love”/”Time Of The Young”. One or both sides of the single were hits in radio markets in Arizona, California, Florida, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, New York, Pennsylvania, Texas and Washington. As well, Carter’s cover of the Johnny Mathis 1957 hit “Twelfth Of Never” also got chart action in several radio markets. Another track from When A Boy Falls In Love titled “After The Parting The Meeting Is Sweeter” was a Top 30 hit in Seattle in early 1964.

Carter switched to the Imperial label. In the winter of 1964-65 he released the single titled “The Richest Man Alive”. While the single charted, Mel Carter appeared on American Bandstand on January 16, 1965. It was a Top 20 hit in San Bernardino (CA) and Los Angeles.

This was followed by his biggest hit “Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me”. The song climbed to #2 in Vancouver, #4 in Toronto, #5 in Edmonton (AB), and #8 on the Billboard Hot 100. On his album Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Mel Carter recorded covers of several pop standards from the early 50s. These included Frankie Laine’s “High Noon”, Patti Page’s “Detour”, and Perry Como’s “Wanted”. Between April and August 1965, Mel Carter toured with the Dick Clark Caravan of Stars.

Carter had a followup titled “(All Of A Sudden) My Heart Sings”. The single climbed to #18 in Vancouver and #38 on the Billboard Hot 100. Next, Carter had a minor Top 30 hit in Vancouver titled “Love Is All We Need” which stalled at #66 on the Billboard Hot 100 in early 1966. Later in the spring of 1966, Mel Carter released a cover of the 1955 Don Cherry hit “Band Of Gold”. Carter’s topped the Adult Contemporary chart in the USA, but stalled at #32 on the Billboard Hot 100. Subsequently, Carter covered the Ames Brothers 1953 hit “You You You”.

“You You You” was written by Robert Mellin and Lotar Olias. Lotar Olias was born in 1913 in the Kingdom of Prussia. He composed soundtracks for eighteen films between 1949 and 1964. He also wrote music recorded by Les Baxter and Vera Lynn. Olias died in Hamburg, Germany at the age of 76 in 1990, just 18 days after German reunification.

Israel Melnikoff was born in Kiev, Russian Empire, in 1902 (in what is presently part of the Ukraine). He was raised in Chicago, where he began his career as a music plugger at Remick Music. In the early 1940s, he moved to New York, where he established his own company in 1947. He took the pen name Robert Mellin at this time. Robert Mellin’s first hit record was “I’m Yours” which was a #3 hit for both Don Cornell and Eddie Fisher. Another recording by Don Cornell, “I”, was a #7 hit in 1952. After the Ames Brothers took “You You You” to number-one in 1953, Mellin had another hit single with the quartet. In 1954, the Ames Brothers took “The Man with the Banjo” to #6. Mellin wrote a number of modest hit singles recorded variously by Nat “King” Cole, Eddie Fisher, the McGuire Sisters, Jaye P. Morgan, The Platters, The Four Aces and others. However, Robert Mellin is best known for co-writing “Stranger On The Shore” with Mr. Acker Bilk. The single was a chart-topping instrumental in 1962. It was also covered with Mellin’s lyrics and vocal arrangements variously by The Drifters, Andy Williams, and Roger Whitaker. As well, Robert Mellin wrote the jazz standard published in 1953 titled “My One and Only Love”. It has been recorded by Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Vic Damone, Sarah Vaughan, Tony Martin, Johnny Mathis, Oscar Peterson, Louis Armstrong, Chick Corea, Chet Baker, Andy Williams, Ricki Lee Jones, Bob Dylan, Rod Stewart, Paul McCartney, and many others. In 1964, he wrote music for the cartoon series The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe. He died in 1994 at the age of 91 on a business trip to Rome. His gravestone in Forest Park, Illinois, has his name as Mellin Melnikoff.

Lotar Olias wrote the original lyrics for “You You You” in German, and Robert Mellin wrote the English lyrics. “You You You” is a song about two people who are meant for each other, at least according to the suitor who is singing the song. He confesses “you could make my dreams come true, say you love me too.” Listeners may have hoped the object of the singer’s affection answers “I love you too” back.

“You You You” peaked at #5 in La Crosse (WI), #6 in Knoxville (TN), #7 in St. John’s (NL), #10 in Bakersfield (CA), #12 in Louisville (KY), #15 in Allentown (PA), and Wheeling (WV), #17 in Erie (PA). It stalled at #49 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Cater’s next release, “Take Good Care Of Her”, stalled at #78 on the Billboard Hot 100. In 1967, Mel Carter covered the pop standard “As Time Goes By”. It stalled at #111 just beneath the Billboard Hot 100. That year he recorded the theme song for the film Enter Laughing. His last minor hit was his cover of the pop standard “I Only Have Eyes For You” which peaked at #104 just below the Billboard Hot 100 in 1974. His 1976 release of “My Coloring Book” climbed to #49 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart. While “You Changed My Life Again” was a Top 20 Adult Contemporary hit in Canada in 1981.

Carter’s 1985 album Willing, earned him a Grammy Award nomination for Best Male Gospel Performance. His seventh album, Live! In Hollywood, was released in 1995.

Outside of his music career Mel Carter appeared in episodes of the medical drama Quincy M.E., the situation comedy Sanford and Son, the medical drama Marcus Welby M.D., The Eddie Capra Mysteries, crime series CHiPs, the crime drama series Magnum P.I. Mel Carter also appeared in the 1975 crime drama film Friday Foster, the 1976 R-rated comedy Chesty Anderson, U.S. Navy, the 1977 film about crude airwave programming titled American Raspberry, and the 1984 film about a serial killer titled Angel.

Mel Carter also sang on TV commercials for Mountain Dew, Stag Beer, United Airlines, Ford Torino, Miller Beer, Arrow Shirts, McDonalds, Citibank of New York, Olympia Beer, Kraft Bar-B-Q Sauce, Cabbage Patch Dolls, and Yellow Pages.

Over the years Mel Carter performed on stage with Johnny Mathis, Frank Sinatra, Nancy Wilson, Dionne Warwick, Lenny Welch, and others. His tenth studio album was released in 2008 titled The Heart and Soul of Mel Carter. On his website, Mel Carter lists among his concert venues Isy’s Supper Club in Vancouver.

April 3, 2026
Ray McGinnis

References:
Tony DeAngelo, “Interview with Mel Carter,” Connecticut Morning, November 5, 2013.
Dick Clark, “Mel Carter interview,” American Bandstand, 1965.
Mel Carter, “When A Boy Falls In Love“, American Bandstand, July 30, 1963.
Dick Clark, “Mel Carter interview,” American Bandstand, 1981.

Newfoundland’s Only Official Survey VCOM 590-AM St. John’s (NFLD) | August 27, 1966