Mel Cheren  

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Mel Cheren (January 21, 1933 - December 7, 2007) was a New York gay entrepreneur and owner of West End Records. Mel was romantically involved with Michael Brody, the owner of the famous Paradise Garage club, for which Mel also provided financial backing. He died of complications of AIDS.

Cheren got his first job in the record industry at ABC-Paramount Records, where he rose to head of production. At Scepter Records, he pioneered the twelve inch and broke early disco hits including "Do It ('Til You're Satisfied)" by B. T. Express. When Scepter went bankrupt in 1976, Cheren and another Scepter executive, Ed Kushins, founded West End Records. The label's first release was "Sessomato," a disco mix of the film score of the Italian film How Funny Can Sex Be?, famously used as the first record scratched by Grandmaster Flash.

In 1977, Cheren and his companion, Michael Brody, opened the Paradise Garage.