Melba Moore
Encyclopedia
Beatrice Melba Smith known by her stage name, Melba Moore is an American
disco
, R&B
singer and actress. She is the daughter
of saxophonist
Teddy Hill
and R&B singer Bonnie Davis
.
to parents Teddy Hill and Gertrude Melba Smith, later known as Bonnie Davis. She initially was raised in Harlem, New York until the age of nine when her mother remarried a jazz pianist named Clement Moorman. Moore attended Newark Arts High School
in Newark
, New Jersey
. Her mother, Bonnie Davis
had a No. 1 R&B hit with "Don't Stop Now", prior to Melba's birth. Although her biological father was legendary Big Band
leader and saxophonist Teddy Hill
, it was her stepfather Moorman (who played on "Don't Stop Now") who became a prime influence and encouragement in Moore's musical pursuits and talent, insisting she learn to play the piano. Initially, Moore graduated from college and worked as a music teacher, but soon opted to switch careers. Moore chose her stage name by shortening her stepfather's surname from Moorman to Moore and using her middle name, "Melba".
along with Ronnie Dyson
and Diane Keaton
. Moore replaced Keaton in the role of Sheila. In 1970, Moore won a Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical
for her role in Purlie
(she portrayed Lutiebelle). She would not return to Broadway afterwards until 1978 when she appeared (as Marsinah) with Eartha Kitt
in Timbuktu!
, but left the show after a few weeks and was replaced by Vanessa Shaw. Following the success of Purlie, Moore landed two big screen film roles, released two successful albums including 1970's I Got Love and Look What You're Doing to the Man and co-starred with actor Clifton Davis
in the then-couple's own successful variety television
series in 1972. Both Moore and Davis revealed that the show was canceled after its brief run when their relationship came to an end. Moore's career faced problems after Moore's managers and accountants left her in 1973. Moore returned to Newark and began singing for benefits. Her career picked up after meeting record manager and business promoter Charles Huggins following a performance at the Apollo Theater
in 1974. Marrying in 1975, Moore and Huggins formed Hush Productions, signing notable R&B artists such as Freddie Jackson
and Meli'sa Morgan
.
and released the critically successful R&B album, Peach Melba, which included the minor hit, "I Am His Lady". The following year, in 1976, Moore scored her first significant hit with the Van McCoy
-penned "This Is It", which reached the Billboard Hot 100, the top twenty position on the R&B chart and also reached the top ten in the UK, becoming her biggest success in that country. In 1976, she scored her third Grammy nomination with the R&B ballad, "Lean on Me", which had been recorded originally by Vivian Reed
and later by Moore's idol Aretha Franklin
who recorded the song as a b-side to her 1971 hit, "Spanish Harlem
". The song is most notable for Moore's extended long note at the end of the track. In 1983, she re-recorded the song as a tribute to McCoy, who died four years earlier of illness. Throughout the rest of the 1970s, Moore struggled to match the success of This Is It with minor R&B/dance hits, gaining another hit with 1979's "You Stepped Into My Life", which was released on Epic Records
and hit the top 20 on the R&B charts and also became one of her biggest pop hits.
It wouldn't be until 1982 when Moore started to gain huge success as a singer signing with Capitol Records
and reaching the top 5 on the R&B charts with the dance pop/funk
single, "Love's Comin' At Ya", which also hit the top 20 in the UK and became a sizable hit in some European countries for its post-disco
sound. A string of R&B hits would follow during this decade including 1983's "Keepin' My Lover Satisfied" and "Love Me Right", 1984's "Livin' For Your Love", 1985's "Read My Lips", which later won Moore a fourth Grammy nomination for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance, making her just the third black artist after Donna Summer
and Michael Jackson
to be nominated in the rock category, and 1985's "When You Love Me Like This". In 1986, she scored two number-one R&B hits, including the duet, "A Little Bit More
", with Freddie Jackson and "Falling
". She scored other popular R&B hits including "Love the One I'm With (A Lot of Love)
" and "It's Been So Long". In 1986, Moore also headlined the CBS
television sitcom, Melba (TV show) that debuted the same night as the Challenger explosion and was abruptly canceled shortly thereafter. Her success began to wane as the decade closed, although she managed two further Top 10 R&B hits, "Do You Really (Want My Love)" and "Lift Every Voice and Sing" (which featured such artists as Jackson, Stevie Wonder
, Aretha Franklin
, Jeffrey Osborne
, Anita Baker
and Stephanie Mills
).
In the mid-1990s Melba Moore traveled with Gospel Play called "Mama I'm Sorry" aside Gospel's sisterly duo of Erica and Tina Atkins that was written and Produced by Michael Matthews.
. A year later, she started her long-running one-woman show, Sweet Songs of the Soul, later renamed I'm Still Standing.
In 2003, Moore was featured in the film
, The Fighting Temptations
, which starred Cuba Gooding, Jr.
and Beyoncé Knowles
. In 2007, she landed a role in the Broadway revival of Ain't Misbehavin'.
In 2009 independent label Breaking Records released the EP Book of Dreams, in which Moore was featured. That same year Moore told her life story on TV-One's Unsung and later that year released her first R&B album in nearly 20 years, a duet release with Phil Perry
called The Gift of Love.
Moore is currently working on a new album which is scheduled to be released in 2011. The album is being produced by Rahni Song and Dominic McFadden, son of the late Gene McFadden
of McFadden & Whitehead
. Her song called "Love Is" debuted on the R&B charts in 2011 at #87.
Moore is a born-again Christian.
, Moore music career brought additional accolades. She was nominated for a Grammy Award
in 1971 for 'Best New Artist'. Her 1975 second album, Peach Melba, saw her get a Grammy
nomination. In 1976, she earned another Grammy nomination for Best Rhythm & Blues Vocal Performance - Female
for the song "Lean on Me",. Moore was also nominated for Best Female Rock Vocal in 1986 for "Read My Lips".
"Let's Stand Together" and "Take My Love" charted together on the U.S. Billboard Dance chart, but charted separately elsewhere.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
disco
Disco
Disco is a genre of dance music. Disco acts charted high during the mid-1970s, and the genre's popularity peaked during the late 1970s. It had its roots in clubs that catered to African American, gay, psychedelic, and other communities in New York City and Philadelphia during the late 1960s and...
, R&B
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
singer and actress. She is the daughter
Daughter
A daughter is a female offspring; a girl, woman, or female animal in relation to her parents. The male equivalent is a son. Analogously the name is used on several areas to show relations between groups or elements.-Etymology:...
of saxophonist
Saxophone
The saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
Teddy Hill
Teddy Hill
Teddy Hill was a big band leader and the manager of Minton's Playhouse, a seminal jazz club in Harlem...
and R&B singer Bonnie Davis
Bonnie Davis
Bonnie Davis , was an American R&B singer most popular in the 1940s.She was born Melba Smith in Bessemer, Alabama, and initially planned to become a school teacher. However, in the late 1930s she started working as a singer in New York, initially in saxophonist Teddy Hill's band...
.
Early life
Melba Moore was born in 1945 in New York City, New YorkNew York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
to parents Teddy Hill and Gertrude Melba Smith, later known as Bonnie Davis. She initially was raised in Harlem, New York until the age of nine when her mother remarried a jazz pianist named Clement Moorman. Moore attended Newark Arts High School
Newark Arts High School
Newark Arts High School is a four-year magnet public high school, serving students in grades 9 through 12 in Newark, New Jersey, United States, operating as part of the Newark Public Schools. In 2010, the 6th graders of William Brown Academy is housed there as its venue is currently being built...
in Newark
Newark, New Jersey
Newark is the largest city in the American state of New Jersey, and the seat of Essex County. As of the 2010 United States Census, Newark had a population of 277,140, maintaining its status as the largest municipality in New Jersey. It is the 68th largest city in the U.S...
, New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
. Her mother, Bonnie Davis
Bonnie Davis
Bonnie Davis , was an American R&B singer most popular in the 1940s.She was born Melba Smith in Bessemer, Alabama, and initially planned to become a school teacher. However, in the late 1930s she started working as a singer in New York, initially in saxophonist Teddy Hill's band...
had a No. 1 R&B hit with "Don't Stop Now", prior to Melba's birth. Although her biological father was legendary Big Band
Big band
A big band is a type of musical ensemble associated with jazz and the Swing Era typically consisting of rhythm, brass, and woodwind instruments totaling approximately twelve to twenty-five musicians...
leader and saxophonist Teddy Hill
Teddy Hill
Teddy Hill was a big band leader and the manager of Minton's Playhouse, a seminal jazz club in Harlem...
, it was her stepfather Moorman (who played on "Don't Stop Now") who became a prime influence and encouragement in Moore's musical pursuits and talent, insisting she learn to play the piano. Initially, Moore graduated from college and worked as a music teacher, but soon opted to switch careers. Moore chose her stage name by shortening her stepfather's surname from Moorman to Moore and using her middle name, "Melba".
Early career
Moore began her performing career in 1967 as Dionne in the original cast of the musical HairHair (musical)
Hair: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical is a rock musical with a book and lyrics by James Rado and Gerome Ragni and music by Galt MacDermot. A product of the hippie counter-culture and sexual revolution of the 1960s, several of its songs became anthems of the anti-Vietnam War peace movement...
along with Ronnie Dyson
Ronnie Dyson
Ronnie Dyson was an American singer and actor.-Career:Born in Washington, D.C., Dyson grew up in Brooklyn, New York where he sang in church choirs. At just 18 years of age, he won lead part in the Broadway production of Hair debuting in New York in 1968...
and Diane Keaton
Diane Keaton
Diane Keaton is an American film actress, director, producer, and screenwriter. Keaton began her career on stage, and made her screen debut in 1970...
. Moore replaced Keaton in the role of Sheila. In 1970, Moore won a Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical
Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical
This is a list of the winners and nominations of the Tony Award for the Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical. The award, introduced in 1950, was previously named as Best Performance by a Featured or Supporting Actress in a Musical until 1976....
for her role in Purlie
Purlie
Purlie is a musical with a book by Ossie Davis, Philip Rose, and Peter Udell, lyrics by Udell, and music by Gary Geld. It is based on Davis' 1961 play Purlie Victorious, which was later made into the 1963 film Gone Are the Days! and which included all of the original Broadway cast, including Ruby...
(she portrayed Lutiebelle). She would not return to Broadway afterwards until 1978 when she appeared (as Marsinah) with Eartha Kitt
Eartha Kitt
Eartha Mae Kitt was an American singer, actress, and cabaret star. She was perhaps best known for her highly distinctive singing style and her 1953 hit recordings of "C'est Si Bon" and the enduring Christmas novelty smash "Santa Baby." Orson Welles once called her the "most exciting woman in the...
in Timbuktu!
Timbuktu!
Timbuktu! is a musical, with lyrics by George Forrest and Robert Wright, set to music by Borodin, Forrest and Wright. The book is by Luther Davis. It is a resetting of Forrest and Wright's musical Kismet...
, but left the show after a few weeks and was replaced by Vanessa Shaw. Following the success of Purlie, Moore landed two big screen film roles, released two successful albums including 1970's I Got Love and Look What You're Doing to the Man and co-starred with actor Clifton Davis
Clifton Davis
Clifton Duncan Davis is an American actor, songwriter and minister. He has appeared on the television shows as A World Apart, That's My Mama and Amen...
in the then-couple's own successful variety television
Variety show
A variety show, also known as variety arts or variety entertainment, is an entertainment made up of a variety of acts, especially musical performances and sketch comedy, and normally introduced by a compère or host. Other types of acts include magic, animal and circus acts, acrobatics, juggling...
series in 1972. Both Moore and Davis revealed that the show was canceled after its brief run when their relationship came to an end. Moore's career faced problems after Moore's managers and accountants left her in 1973. Moore returned to Newark and began singing for benefits. Her career picked up after meeting record manager and business promoter Charles Huggins following a performance at the Apollo Theater
Apollo Theater
The Apollo Theater in New York City is one of the most famous, and older, music halls in the United States, and the most famous club associated almost exclusively with Black performers...
in 1974. Marrying in 1975, Moore and Huggins formed Hush Productions, signing notable R&B artists such as Freddie Jackson
Freddie Jackson
Frederick Anthony "Freddie" Jackson is an American soul singer. He was an important figure in R&B during the 1980s and early 1990s...
and Meli'sa Morgan
Meli'sa Morgan
Meli'sa Morgan is an African American R&B singer born in Queens, New York who had a string of urban contemporary and house music hits in the 1980s and 1990s. She got her start in the music industry whilst singing with a church gospel choir called the Starlets of Corona...
.
Music career
In 1975, Moore signed with Buddah RecordsBuddah Records
Buddah Records was founded in 1967 in New York City. The label was born out of Kama Sutra Records, an MGM Records-distributed label, which remained a key imprint following Buddah's founding...
and released the critically successful R&B album, Peach Melba, which included the minor hit, "I Am His Lady". The following year, in 1976, Moore scored her first significant hit with the Van McCoy
Van McCoy
Van Allen Clinton McCoy was an accomplished musician, music producer, arranger, songwriter, and orchestra conductor. He is known best for his 1975 internationally successful song "The Hustle", which is still played in dance halls and on radio to this day more than thirty years since his death...
-penned "This Is It", which reached the Billboard Hot 100, the top twenty position on the R&B chart and also reached the top ten in the UK, becoming her biggest success in that country. In 1976, she scored her third Grammy nomination with the R&B ballad, "Lean on Me", which had been recorded originally by Vivian Reed
Vivian Reed
Vivian Reed is an African-American actress, singer, and dancer.BIOGRAPHYVivian Reed is a multi-award winner with two TONY nominations, Drama Desk Award, Theatre world Award, Outer Critics Circle Award, Dance Education of America Award, NAACP Award and several others...
and later by Moore's idol Aretha Franklin
Aretha Franklin
Aretha Louise Franklin is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Although known for her soul recordings and referred to as The Queen of Soul, Franklin is also adept at jazz, blues, R&B, gospel music, and rock. Rolling Stone magazine ranked her atop its list of The Greatest Singers of All...
who recorded the song as a b-side to her 1971 hit, "Spanish Harlem
Spanish Harlem
East Harlem, also known as Spanish Harlem and El Barrio, is a section of Harlem in the northeastern part of the New York City borough of Manhattan. East Harlem is one of the largest predominantly Latino communities in New York City. It includes the area formerly known as Italian Harlem, in which...
". The song is most notable for Moore's extended long note at the end of the track. In 1983, she re-recorded the song as a tribute to McCoy, who died four years earlier of illness. Throughout the rest of the 1970s, Moore struggled to match the success of This Is It with minor R&B/dance hits, gaining another hit with 1979's "You Stepped Into My Life", which was released on Epic Records
Epic Records
Epic Records is an American record label, owned by Sony Music Entertainment. Though it was originally conceived as a jazz imprint, it has since expanded to represent various genres. L.A...
and hit the top 20 on the R&B charts and also became one of her biggest pop hits.
It wouldn't be until 1982 when Moore started to gain huge success as a singer signing with Capitol Records
Capitol Records
Capitol Records is a major United States based record label, formerly located in Los Angeles, but operating in New York City as part of Capitol Music Group. Its former headquarters building, the Capitol Tower, is a major landmark near the corner of Hollywood and Vine...
and reaching the top 5 on the R&B charts with the dance pop/funk
Funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in the mid-late 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground...
single, "Love's Comin' At Ya", which also hit the top 20 in the UK and became a sizable hit in some European countries for its post-disco
Post-disco
Post-disco refers to a historically significant period in popular music history beginning with the commercial death of disco music in the late 1970s and ending with the mainstream appearance of house music in late 1980s.The stripped-down musical trends followed from the DJ- and producer-driven,...
sound. A string of R&B hits would follow during this decade including 1983's "Keepin' My Lover Satisfied" and "Love Me Right", 1984's "Livin' For Your Love", 1985's "Read My Lips", which later won Moore a fourth Grammy nomination for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance, making her just the third black artist after Donna Summer
Donna Summer
LaDonna Adrian Gaines , known by her stage name, Donna Summer, is an American singer/songwriter who gained prominence during the disco era of the 1970s. She has a mezzo-soprano vocal range. Summer is a five-time Grammy winner and was the first artist to have three consecutive double albums reach...
and Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. Referred to as the King of Pop, or by his initials MJ, Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records...
to be nominated in the rock category, and 1985's "When You Love Me Like This". In 1986, she scored two number-one R&B hits, including the duet, "A Little Bit More
A Little Bit More (Melba Moore song)
"A Little Bit More" is a 1986 R&B single by Melba Moore. The single, with added vocals by her former back-up singer, Freddie Jackson, was her most successful on the R&B/soul charts, where it spent one week at number one. The single failed to make the Hot 100.....
", with Freddie Jackson and "Falling
Falling (Melba Moore song)
"Falling" is a 1986 single by Melba Moore. The single was a follow up to "A Little Bit More" her number one soul single with Freddie Jackson. Just as she had done with her previous single, "Falling" peaked at number one on the soul singles chart, for one week. The single failed to chart on the...
". She scored other popular R&B hits including "Love the One I'm With (A Lot of Love)
Love the One I'm With
"Love the One I'm With " is a 1987 single by Melba Moore on the Capitol label. It peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard Hot Black Singles chart and features Kashif, released from her hit album, A Lot of Love...
" and "It's Been So Long". In 1986, Moore also headlined the CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
television sitcom, Melba (TV show) that debuted the same night as the Challenger explosion and was abruptly canceled shortly thereafter. Her success began to wane as the decade closed, although she managed two further Top 10 R&B hits, "Do You Really (Want My Love)" and "Lift Every Voice and Sing" (which featured such artists as Jackson, Stevie Wonder
Stevie Wonder
Stevland Hardaway Morris , better known by his stage name Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and activist...
, Aretha Franklin
Aretha Franklin
Aretha Louise Franklin is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Although known for her soul recordings and referred to as The Queen of Soul, Franklin is also adept at jazz, blues, R&B, gospel music, and rock. Rolling Stone magazine ranked her atop its list of The Greatest Singers of All...
, Jeffrey Osborne
Jeffrey Osborne
Jeffrey Linton Osborne is an American funk and R&B musician, songwriter, lyricist, and former lead singer of the band, L.T.D.-Early life and career:...
, Anita Baker
Anita Baker
Anita Baker is an American R&B/soul jazz singer-songwriter. To date, Baker has won eight Grammy Awards, and has four platinum albums and two gold albums to her credit....
and Stephanie Mills
Stephanie Mills
Stephanie Dorthea Mills is an American R&B and soul singer, and a former Broadway star.-Career:Mills began her career appearing in her first play at the age of nine. Two years later, Mills won Amateur Night at the Apollo Theater a record six times...
).
In the mid-1990s Melba Moore traveled with Gospel Play called "Mama I'm Sorry" aside Gospel's sisterly duo of Erica and Tina Atkins that was written and Produced by Michael Matthews.
Current work
Moore returned to Broadway in 1995 landing a part in Les MisérablesLes Misérables (musical)
Les Misérables , colloquially known as Les Mis or Les Miz , is a musical by Claude-Michel Schönberg, based on the novel of the same name by Victor Hugo....
. A year later, she started her long-running one-woman show, Sweet Songs of the Soul, later renamed I'm Still Standing.
In 2003, Moore was featured in the film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
, The Fighting Temptations
The Fighting Temptations
The Fighting Temptations is a 2003 American musical dramedy film produced by Paramount Pictures and MTV Films. It stars Cuba Gooding, Jr. as the film's protagonist as he attempts to revive a church choir in order to enter a gospel competition with the help of a beautiful lounge singer with whom he...
, which starred Cuba Gooding, Jr.
Cuba Gooding, Jr.
Cuba M. Gooding, Jr. is an American actor. He is perhaps best known for his Academy Award-winning portrayal of Rod Tidwell in Cameron Crowe's 1996 film Jerry Maguire, and his critically acclaimed performance as Tré Styles in John Singleton's 1991 film Boyz n the Hood.-Early life:Gooding was born...
and Beyoncé Knowles
Beyoncé Knowles
Beyoncé Giselle Knowles , often known simply as Beyoncé, is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. Born and raised in Houston, Texas, she enrolled in various performing arts schools and was first exposed to singing and dancing competitions as a child...
. In 2007, she landed a role in the Broadway revival of Ain't Misbehavin'.
In 2009 independent label Breaking Records released the EP Book of Dreams, in which Moore was featured. That same year Moore told her life story on TV-One's Unsung and later that year released her first R&B album in nearly 20 years, a duet release with Phil Perry
Phil Perry
Phil Perry is an American R&B singer, songwriter, musician and a former member of the soul group The Montclairs from 1971 to 1975.- Biography :...
called The Gift of Love.
Moore is currently working on a new album which is scheduled to be released in 2011. The album is being produced by Rahni Song and Dominic McFadden, son of the late Gene McFadden
Gene McFadden
Gene McFadden was an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known as one of the key members of the Philadelphia International record label, and was one-half of the successful team of McFadden & Whitehead with John Whitehead.-Biography:McFadden met John Whitehead as a teenager...
of McFadden & Whitehead
McFadden & Whitehead
McFadden and Whitehead were an American songwriting, production, and recording duo, best known for their signature tune "Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now"...
. Her song called "Love Is" debuted on the R&B charts in 2011 at #87.
Moore is a born-again Christian.
Awards
In addition to her Tony AwardTony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
, Moore music career brought additional accolades. She was nominated for a Grammy Award
Grammy Award for Best New Artist
The Grammy Award for Best New Artist has been awarded since 1959. Years reflect the year in which the Grammy Awards were handed out, for records released in the previous year. The award was not presented in 1967...
in 1971 for 'Best New Artist'. Her 1975 second album, Peach Melba, saw her get a Grammy
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
nomination. In 1976, she earned another Grammy nomination for Best Rhythm & Blues Vocal Performance - Female
Grammy Award for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance
The Grammy Award for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance was an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to female recording artists for quality R&B songs...
for the song "Lean on Me",. Moore was also nominated for Best Female Rock Vocal in 1986 for "Read My Lips".
Albums
| Label | Year | Album | Chart positions | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists... |
U.S. R&B Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a chart published by Billboard magazine that ranks R&B and hip hop albums based on sales compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The name of the chart was changed from Top R&B Albums in 1999... |
|||
| Mercury Records Mercury Records Mercury Records is a record label operating as a standalone company in the UK and as part of the Island Def Jam Motown Music Group in the US; both are subsidiaries of Universal Music Group. There is also a Mercury Records in Australia, which is a local artist and repertoire division of Universal... |
1970 | I Got Love I Got Love I Got Love is the debut album by singer Melba Moore, released in 1970. starting this album, which the singer was nominated for new artist at the Grammy Awards in 1971... |
— | — |
| 1971 | Look What You're Doing to The Man Look What You're Doing to The Man Look What You're Doing to the Man is the second album by singer Melba Moore, released in 1971.-Track listing:#"Look What You're Doing to the Man" Look What You're Doing to the Man is the second album by singer Melba Moore, released in 1971.-Track listing:#"Look What You're Doing to the Man" Look... |
157 | 43 | |
| 1972 | Melba Moore Live! Melba Moore Live! Melba Moore Live is the third album by singer Melba Moore, released in 1972. This album was recorded live at the New York Philharmonic Hall on November 7, 1971-Track listing:#"New World Coming" #"Blue Skies"... |
— | — | |
| Buddah Records Buddah Records Buddah Records was founded in 1967 in New York City. The label was born out of Kama Sutra Records, an MGM Records-distributed label, which remained a key imprint following Buddah's founding... |
1975 | Peach Melba Peach Melba (album) Peach Melba is the fourth album by singer Melba Moore, released in 1975. This was her first album on the Buddah Records label.-Track listing:#"Must Be Dues"#"Get Into My Mind"#"If You Can Believe"#"Sunshine Superman"#"My Soul is Satisfied"... |
176 | 49 |
| 1976 | This Is It | 145 | 32 | |
| 1976 | Melba '76 Melba (album) Melba '76 is the sixth album by singer Melba Moore, released in late 1976.-Track listing:#"The Way You Make Me Feel" #"Good Love Makes Everything Alright"... |
177 | 30 | |
| 1977 | A Portrait of Melba A Portrait of Melba A Portrait of Melba is the seventh album by singer Melba Moore, released in 1977.-Track listing:#"You Are My River"#"Promised Land"#"I Don't Know No One Else to Turn To"#"Standing Right Here"#"Just Another Link"#"Living Free"#"Is This the End"... |
— | — | |
| Epic Records Epic Records Epic Records is an American record label, owned by Sony Music Entertainment. Though it was originally conceived as a jazz imprint, it has since expanded to represent various genres. L.A... |
1978 | Melba '78 Melba (1978 album) Melba '78 is the eighth album by singer Melba Moore, released in 1978. This was her first LP with Epic Records.-Track listing:#"You Stepped Into My Life"#"There's No Other Like You"#"It's Hard Not to Like You"#"Together Forever"... |
114 | 35 |
| 1979 | Burn Burn (Melba Moore album) Burn is the ninth album by singer Melba Moore, released in 1979.-Track listing:#"Burn" #"Hot and Tasty" #"If You Believe in Love"... |
— | 71 | |
| 1980 | Closer Closer (Melba Moore album) Closer is the tenth album by singer Melba Moore, released in 1980. It was also her final album on Epic Records before moving to EMI in 1981.-Track listing:#"Everything So Good About You" #"You Got Me Loving You"#"Closer"#"Something On Your Mind"... |
— | — | |
| EMI America Records EMI America Records EMI America Records was started in 1978 by EMI as a second US label next to Capitol Records. It absorbed Liberty Records in 1984. In the late 1980s EMI America was consolidated with Manhattan Records to form EMI Manhattan Records, which later became known simply as EMI in 1990, then part of EMI... |
1981 | What a Woman Needs What a Woman Needs What a Woman Needs is the eleventh album by singer Melba Moore, released in 1981. This is her first album on the EMI America-Capitol Records imprint.-Track listing:#"Let's Stand Together"... |
201 | 46 |
| Capitol Records Capitol Records Capitol Records is a major United States based record label, formerly located in Los Angeles, but operating in New York City as part of Capitol Music Group. Its former headquarters building, the Capitol Tower, is a major landmark near the corner of Hollywood and Vine... |
1982 | The Other Side of the Rainbow The Other Side of the Rainbow (album) The Other Side of the Rainbow is the twelfth album by singer Melba Moore, released in 1982. This was released on Capitol Records proper. It also featured her hit "Love's Comin' At Ya".-Track listing:#"Love's Comin' At Ya"... |
152 | 18 |
| 1983 | Never Say Never Never Say Never (Melba Moore album) Never Say Never is the thirteenth album by singer Melba Moore, released in 1983. This album featured the hits "Keeping My Lover Satisfied", "Livin' for Your Love" and "Love Me Right"... |
147 | 9 | |
| 1985 | Read My Lips Read My Lips (Melba Moore album) Read My Lips is the fourteenth album by singer Melba Moore, released in 1985. This album featured the hit title track and "When You Love Me Like This"... |
130 | 30 | |
| 1986 | A Lot of Love A Lot of Love A Lot of Love is the fifteenth album by singer Melba Moore, released in 1986. This album featured two number-one R&B hits, including the duet, "A Little Bit More", with Freddie Jackson and "Falling"... |
91 | 7 | |
| 1988 | I'm in Love | — | 45 | |
| 1990 | Soul Exposed Soul Exposed Soul Exposed is the seventeenth album by singer Melba Moore, released in 1990. It was her final release on Capitol Records. This album managed to spawn a few hits like "Do You Really Want My Love" and an all-star version of "Lift Every Voice and Sing".... |
— | 52 | |
| "—" denotes release did not chart or was not released | ||||
Singles
| Year | Single | Chart positions | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists... |
U.S. R&B Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a chart published by Billboard magazine that ranks R&B and hip hop albums based on sales compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The name of the chart was changed from Top R&B Albums in 1999... |
U.S. Dance | UK UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... |
||
| 1970 | "Look What You're Doing To The Man" | — | — | — | — |
| 1975 | "I Am His Lady" | — | 82 | — | — |
| 1976 | "This Is It" | 91 | 18 | 2 | 9 |
| "Lean On Me" | — | 14 | — | — | |
| "Free" | — | — | 14 | — | |
| "Make Me Believe In You" | — | — | 6 | — | |
| "Play Boy Scout" | — | — | 14 | — | |
| 1977 | "Good Love Makes Everything Alright (Greatest Feeling)" | — | — | 36 | — |
| "The Long and Winding Road" | — | 94 | — | — | |
| "The Way You Make Me Feel" | — | 62 | — | — | |
| 1978 | "You Stepped Into My Life" | 47 | 12 | 5 | — |
| "Standing Right Here" | — | 62 | 53 | — | |
| 1979 | "Miss Thing" | — | 90 | 41 | — |
| "Pick Me Up, I'll Dance" | — | 85 | 22 | 48 | |
| 1981 | "Let's Stand Together" | — | 44 | 12 | — |
| "Take My Love" | — | 15 | — | ||
| 1982 | "Love's Comin' At Ya Love's Comin' At Ya "Love's Comin' At Ya" is a dance-pop, funk and post-disco song recorded and released by singer Melba Moore, in 1982. Originally released on EMI America initially, it was also the first single released off her Capitol Records debut album, The Other Side of the Rainbow... " |
— | 5 | 2 | 15 |
| 1983 | "Keepin' My Lover Satisfied" | — | 14 | 57 | — |
| "Mind Up Tonight" | — | 25 | 17 | 22 | |
| "Underlove" | — | 35 | 42 | 60 | |
| 1984 | "Livin' for Your Love" | — | 6 | — | — |
| 1985 | "I Can't Believe (It's Over)" | — | 29 | — | — |
| "Read My Lips" | — | 12 | — | — | |
| "When You Love Me Like This" | — | 14 | — | — | |
| 1986 | "A Little Bit More A Little Bit More (Melba Moore song) "A Little Bit More" is a 1986 R&B single by Melba Moore. The single, with added vocals by her former back-up singer, Freddie Jackson, was her most successful on the R&B/soul charts, where it spent one week at number one. The single failed to make the Hot 100..... " (with Freddie Jackson Freddie Jackson Frederick Anthony "Freddie" Jackson is an American soul singer. He was an important figure in R&B during the 1980s and early 1990s... ) |
— | 1 | — | 96 |
| "Love the One I'm With (A Lot of Love)" | — | 5 | — | — | |
| "Falling Falling (Melba Moore song) "Falling" is a 1986 single by Melba Moore. The single was a follow up to "A Little Bit More" her number one soul single with Freddie Jackson. Just as she had done with her previous single, "Falling" peaked at number one on the soul singles chart, for one week. The single failed to chart on the... " |
— | 1 | — | — | |
| 1987 | "I'm Not Gonna Let You Go" | — | 26 | — | — |
| "It's Been So Long" | — | 6 | — | — | |
| 1988 | "I Can't Complain" | — | 12 | — | — |
| "I'm in Love" | — | 13 | — | — | |
| "Love & Kisses" | — | 68 | — | — | |
| 1990 | "Do You Really (Want My Love?)" | — | 10 | 39 | 93 |
| "Lift Ev'ry Voice and Sing" | — | 9 | — | — | |
| "—" denotes release did not chart or was not released | |||||
See also
- List of disco artists
- List of post-disco artists
- List of female movie actors by name: M
- Guests on Soul TrainGuests on Soul TrainThis is a list of performers who have appeared on the American musical dance program Soul Train.-A:-B:-C:-D:-E:-F:-G:-H:-I:-J:-K:-L:-M:-N:-O:-P:-R:-S:-T:-U:-V:-W:-XYZ:...
- List of performers on Top of the Pops
- List of Broadway musicals stars
- List of artists who reached number one on the Billboard R&B chart