Chicago soul duo Mel & Tim were cousins — Mel Hardin and Tim McPherson — who actually hailed from Holly Springs, MS, and made their way to Chicago via St. Louis. They were discovered by Gene Chandler and signed to his Bamboo label in 1969, when they scored a Top Ten pop and R&B single with the good-humored classic “Backfield in Motion.” The follow-up, “Good Guys Only Win in the Movies,” supplied the title for their first album and hit the R&B Top 20 later that year.
Mel & Tim subsequently moved to Stax, where they landed a second Top Five R&B smash with the ballad “Starting All Over Again” (also the title track of their second album). Mel & Tim performed at the late-1972 charity concert Wattstax and were featured in the documentary film of the same name, singing “I May Not Be What You Want.” Their self-titled final album appeared in 1973, after which the cousins faded away from the music scene.
