Maxine Nightingale

Last updated

Maxine Nightingale
Maxine Nightingale 2.png
Nightingale on the Dutch TV programme The Eddy Go Round Show, 1976
Background information
Born (1952-11-02) 2 November 1952 (age 71)
Wembley, Middlesex, England
Genres R&B, soul, disco
Occupation(s) Singer
Years active1968–present
Labels
Website Official Website

Maxine Nightingale (born 2 November 1952) [1] is a British R&B and soul music singer. She is best known for singing hits in the 1970s, with the million seller "Right Back Where We Started From" (1975, UK #8 & 1976, U.S. #2), "Love Hit Me" (1977), and "Lead Me On" (1979).

Contents

Early life and career

One of the three children of Guyanese-born comedian Benny Nightingale and his wife Iris (they also had daughter Rosalind and son Glenn), 1 Maxine Nightingale first sang with her school band: she attended Barham Primary (in Wembley, Middlesex), Ealing Grammar School, and Guildhall School of Music and Drama. [2] When she was thirteen, she and a friend visited a neighbourhood house where Unisound, a band, was rehearsing. They asked her to sing with them; she joined them in performing extensively on the British cabaret circuit. The manager of one of the clubs where they performed asked Nightingale to cut a demo and shipped it to Pye Records. [3] She made her first recordings for them. Although Cyril Stapleton, the label A&R's head was in charge, Nightingale's three Pye single releases—issued in June and July 1969 and on 26 March 1971—went unnoticed. [4]

In 1969 Nightingale began a tenure of roughly 18 months in the West End production of Hair in London playing a supporting role and understudying the female lead role of Sheila; she relocated to Germany, having formed a relationship with an actor from the German production of Hair whom she had met when he visited the West End production. In Germany, Nightingale continued her stage musical career in Hair (as Sheila), Jesus Christ Superstar , and GodspellShe began a relationship with Minoru Terada Domberger, the director of the German production of Hair. They married and had a daughter, Langka Veva Domberger, born in 1973. [5]

First hit

Maxine Nightingale (1969) Maxine Nightingale (1969).jpg
Maxine Nightingale (1969)

Nightingale returned to London with her husband and daughter appearing in the West End production of Savages , after which she withdrew from professional performing. According to Nightingale, "I started doing session singing. I didn't do a lot but it was easy to go out in the evening when the baby was sleeping." [6] Her singing on the recording of Al Matthews' "Fool" caught the attention of the session's producer Pierre Tubbs; he asked composer J. Vincent Edwards, who had worked with Nightingale in the West End production of Hair, to co-write a song for her which became "Right Back Where We Started From". Tubbs asked her to sing on the demo; as she told the story in 2013, "he took it straight to United Artists Records [in London], and they loved it too. They paid me 100 pounds (and after that) they (offered) me an advance and a contract to finish recording the single." [7]

After being released on United Artists Records (in Nightingale's true name), "Right Back Where We Started From" reached #8 in the UK in the autumn of 1975. It was released in the US early 1976 to enthusiastic reaction, reaching #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 in May 1976. Nightingale, who had accompanied her husband to his native Japan, was motivated by her single's US success to go to London to record an album, Right Back Where We Started From . She went to the US which has since remained her home base.[ citation needed ]. After the song was used in Slap Shot , a hockey comedy 1977 movie, NHL teams including the New York Islanders and Toronto Maple Leafs adopted the song as their victory tune played following every win at home.

Later career

Nightingale's only significant UK hit in the period following the success of "Right Back Where We Started From" was with "Love Hit Me," the title cut from her second album. Promoted by Nightingale in a Top of the Pops appearance broadcast 17 March 1977, "Love Hit Me" peaked at #11 on the UK chart dated 9 April 1977.

Her third album Love Lines was a 1978 release in the UK and Europe with UK single releases "Lead Me On" and "(Bringing Out) The Girl in Me". Both were overlooked despite her promotion of the latter in another Top of the Pops appearance on 8 June 1978. The US release of "Lead Me On" early in 1979 met with a favorable reception, especially in the easy listening market, and the track reached #1 on Billboard's Easy Listening chart that July; 2 the track gradually accrued enough mainstream pop support to reach #5 on the Hot 100 that September. As with "Right Back Where We Started From", she was unable to follow up her US Top Ten success, "(Bringing Out) The Girl in Me" subsequently marking her final Hot 100 appearance peaking at #73. Lead Me On is a re-packaged and slightly remixed version of the previous European LP with the addition of a new song, the disco-styled "Hideaway". The songs "Lead Me On" and "Hideaway" were extended for a promotional 12-inch record.

Nightingale reached the top 20 on Billboard's R&B chart for the first time in 1982 with "Turn to Me", a duet with Jimmy Ruffin. She then dropped out of the pop mainstream, working for some 20 years as a more jazz-oriented live performer. She reportedly recorded an album of her live performance at B.B. King's Club at Universal Studios Hollywood although it remains unreleased. Since 2000, she has become active on the retro music circuit, appearing in the 2004 PBS music specials Superstars of Seventies Soul: Live and My Music: 70s Soul Superstars in 2012. [8]

Discography

See also

Notes

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gloria Gaynor</span> American singer (born 1943)

Gloria Fowles, known professionally as Gloria Gaynor, is an American singer, best known for the disco era hits "I Will Survive" (1978), "Let Me Know " (1979), "I Am What I Am" (1983), and her version of "Never Can Say Goodbye" (1974).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Donna Summer</span> American singer (1948–2012)

Donna Adrian Gaines, known professionally as Donna Summer, was an American singer and songwriter. She gained prominence during the disco era of the 1970s and became known as the "Queen of Disco", while her music gained a global following.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Stylistics</span> American music group

The Stylistics are an American Philadelphia soul group that achieved their greatest chart success in the 1970s. They formed in 1968, with a lineup of singers Russell Thompkins Jr., Herb Murrell, Airrion Love, James Smith and James Dunn and Edwin Miller. All of their US hits were ballads characterized by the falsetto of Russell Thompkins Jr. and the production of Thom Bell. During the early 1970s, the group had twelve consecutive R&B top ten hits, including "Stop, Look, Listen", "You Are Everything", "Betcha by Golly, Wow", "I'm Stone in Love with You", "Break Up to Make Up" and "You Make Me Feel Brand New", which earned them 5 gold singles and 3 gold albums.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Freda Payne</span> American singer and actress (born 1942)

Freda Charcilia Payne is an American singer and actress. Payne is best known for her career in music during the mid-1960s through the mid-1980s. Her most notable record is her 1970 hit single "Band of Gold". Payne was also an actress in musicals and film as well as the host of a TV talk show. Payne is the older sister of Scherrie Payne, a former singer with the American vocal group the Supremes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gloria Jones</span> American singer-songwriter

Gloria Richetta Jones is an American singer and songwriter who first found success in the United Kingdom, being recognized there as "The Queen of Northern Soul". She recorded the 1965 hit song "Tainted Love" and has worked in multiple genres as a Motown songwriter and recording artist, backing vocalist, and as a performer in musicals such as Hair. In the 1970s, she was a keyboardist and vocalist in Marc Bolan's glam rock band T. Rex. She and Bolan were also in a committed romantic relationship and had a son together.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yvonne Elliman</span> Hawaiian singer, songwriter, and actress

Yvonne Marianne Elliman is an American singer, songwriter, and actress who performed for four years in the first cast of the stage musical Jesus Christ Superstar. She scored a number of hits in the 1970s and achieved a US #1 hit with "If I Can't Have You". The song also reached #9 on the Adult Contemporary chart and number 4 in the UK Chart. Her cover of Barbara Lewis's "Hello Stranger" went to #1 on the Adult Contemporary chart, and "Love Me" was #5; at the time she had 3 top 10 singles. After a long hiatus in the 1980s and 1990s, during which time she left music to be with her family, she made a comeback album as a singer-songwriter in 2004.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thelma Houston</span> American singer

Thelma Houston is an American singer. Beginning her recording career in the late 1960s, Houston scored a number-one hit record in 1977 with her recording of "Don't Leave Me This Way", which won the Grammy for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vicki Sue Robinson</span> American singer (1954–2000)

Vicki Sue Robinson was an American singer, closely associated with the disco era of late 1970s pop music; she is most famous for her 1976 hit, "Turn the Beat Around".

Tina Charles is an English singer who achieved success as a disco artist in the mid to late 1970s. Her most successful single was the UK no. 1 hit "I Love to Love " in 1976.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Syreeta Wright</span> American singer-songwriter (1946–2004)

Syreeta Wright, who recorded professionally under the mononym Syreeta, was an American singer-songwriter, best known for her music during the early 1970s through the early 1980s. Wright's career heights were songs in collaboration with her ex-husband Stevie Wonder and musical artist Billy Preston.

Alexander Basil Matthews was an American actor and singer, best known for his appearance as Gunnery Sergeant Apone in the James Cameron film Aliens (1986). He reprised his role 27 years later, providing the voice of Apone for the video game Aliens: Colonial Marines (2013). Matthews' portrayal of Apone was the inspiration for Sgt. Avery Johnson of the Halo franchise.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Van McCoy</span> American musician, producer and songwriter (1940–1979)

Van Allen Clinton McCoy was an American record producer, arranger, songwriter and singer. He is known for his 1975 internationally successful hit "The Hustle". He has approximately 700 song copyrights to his credit, and produced songs by such recording artists as Brenda & the Tabulations, David Ruffin, The Stylistics, The Presidents, Faith, Hope & Charity, New Censation, Gladys Knight & the Pips, Aretha Franklin, Peaches & Herb, Lesley Gore, and Stacy Lattisaw.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Melba Moore</span> American singer and actress

Beatrice Melba Hill or Beatrice Melba Smith(sources differ) known by her stage name Melba Moore, is an American singer and actress.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Lasley</span> American singer, songwriter, and actor (1947–2021)

David Eldon Lasley was an American recording artist, singer, musician and songwriter. He was best known as a touring background singer for James Taylor, as a session singer on recordings by artists including Taylor, Bonnie Raitt, Luther Vandross, Chic, Aretha Franklin, Dionne Warwick, Bette Midler, Cher, Dusty Springfield and Boz Scaggs; as a songwriter for artists including Bonnie Raitt, Whitney Houston, Anita Baker, Maxine Nightingale, Rita Coolidge, Crystal Gayle, and Luther Vandross; and for his solo albums, albums with his 1970s vocal group Rosie, and for his early years in Detroit with his vocal group The Utopias.

Ronald Dyson was an American soul and R&B singer and actor. He had a lead role in the Broadway production of Hair and scored a top ten single in 1970 with "(If You Let Me Make Love to You Then) Why Can't I Touch You?"

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Right Back Where We Started From</span> 1975 song by Maxine Nightingale

"Right Back Where We Started From" is a song written by Pierre Tubbs and J. Vincent Edwards, which was first recorded in the middle of 1975 by British singer Maxine Nightingale for whom it was an international hit. In 1989, a remake by British-American singer Sinitta reached No. 4 on the UK Singles Chart. The music features a significant repetitive sample from the song "Goodbye, Nothing to Say", written by Stephen Jameson and Marshall Doctores, which was recorded first by Jameson under the name of Nosmo King, and then by the Javells featuring Nosmo King, both in 1974.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lead Me On (Maxine Nightingale song)</span> 1979 single by Maxine Nightingale

"Lead Me On" is a popular song which was a hit single for Maxine Nightingale in 1979.

<i>Night Life</i> (Maxine Nightingale album) 1977 studio album by Maxine Nightingale

Night Life is the second album by British R&B and soul music singer Maxine Nightingale. She is best known for her hits in the 1970s, with the million-seller "Right Back Where We Started From", "Love Hit Me", and "Lead Me On" (1979).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">J. Vincent Edwards</span>

J. Vincent Edwards is a British singer. He became well known in the musical Hair in 1968, and began recording a series of singles. The most notable was a song called "Thanks" (1969), which has subsequently appeared on a number of compilation albums. Edwards also contributed to the Bloomfield soundtrack.

<i>Right Back Where We Started From</i> (album) 1976 studio album by Maxine Nightingale

Right Back Where We Started From is the debut album by British R&B and soul music singer Maxine Nightingale recorded and released in 1976 by United Artists.

References

  1. Hanson, Amy. "Biography". AllMusic . Retrieved 7 May 2010.
  2. Harrow Observer . 7 May 1976. p. 19.
  3. Arena, James (2013). First Ladies of Disco: 29 Stars Discuss the Era and Their Singing Careers. Jefferson NC: McFarland & Co Inc. p.  156. ISBN   978-0-7864-7581-0.
  4. "Maxine Nightingale - Discography". 45cat.com. Retrieved 16 July 2013.
  5. The New York Times - Style. 21 December 1997; "WEDDINGS; Mr. Treadwell, Ms. Domberger".
  6. Observer-Reporter . 12 May 1976. p. 39.
  7. Arena, James (2013). First Ladies of Disco: 32 Stars Discuss the Era and Their Singing Careers. London: McFarland. pp. 56–63. ISBN   978-1476603322.
  8. Robinson, Jennifer. "70s Soul Superstars (MY MUSIC)". KPBS Public Media.