Many people recognize Mel's name, and a few even remember him as the popular singer who, in the early 1950's, became known as "The Velvet Fog" because of his mellow vocal quality.  What's scandalous is the ignorance of so many of those same listeners (including musicians) who simply write Mel off, as though his voice were interchangeable with Chet Baker's or any singer with an "andrognyous" timbre.