Meli'sa Morgan
Encyclopedia
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. She cites Chaka Khan
as a major influence.
group
, Shades of Love
. They had a single entry on Billboard
magazine
's Hot Dance Club Play
chart
in 1982, the #26 "Body to Body (Keep in Touch)". This was re-popularized in 1994 by new remix
es, "Body to Body (Keep in Touch)", and reached number 1 on the Hot Dance Club Play chart.
That same year, music entrepreneur Jacques Fred Petrus
asked her to join his newly created studio group, High Fashion, that featured Morgan and two other New York vocalists, Eric McClinton and Alyson Williams
. High Fashion's sole hit, "Feelin' Lucky Lately", reached #32 on the U.S.
Black Singles
chart. In 1983 Morgan left, and was replaced in the group by the jazz
vocalist, Marcella Allen.
As a solo
artist
she topped the R&B
chart with her cover version
of Prince's "Do Me, Baby", (the title track from her debut album
) which also became her only Billboard Hot 100
entry, peaking at #46 in 1986. She had several solo hits on the U.S. dance chart as well, including "Still in Love With You," which hit #3 in 1992.
and Donny Hathaway
, received moderate airplay on urban contemporary
radio station
s during early 2006 and peaked at number 46 on Billboard's R&B chart. The follow-up singles included "I Remember", "Will You?" and "High Maintenance" which was released in September 2006. New material by Meli'sa Morgan can be heard on a German release by Cool Million, which features Meli'sa Morgan on lead vocals on the opening track Sweet Baby. This proves she is still vocally on top condition.
as the chorus to the 1996 Jay-Z
single "Can't Knock the Hustle
".
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
R&B
Contemporary R&B
Contemporary R&B is a music genre that combines elements of hip hop, soul, R&B and funk.Although the abbreviation “R&B” originates from traditional rhythm and blues music, today the term R&B is most often used to describe a style of African American music originating after the demise of disco in...
singer
Singing
Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
born in Queens
Queens
Queens is the easternmost of the five boroughs of New York City. The largest borough in area and the second-largest in population, it is coextensive with Queens County, an administrative division of New York state, in the United States....
, New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
who had a string of urban contemporary
Urban contemporary
Urban contemporary is a music radio format. The term was coined by the late New York DJ Frankie Crocker in the mid 1970s. Urban contemporary radio stations feature a playlist made up entirely of hip hop/rap, contemporary R&B, pop, electronica such as dubstep and drum and bass and Caribbean music...
and house music
House music
House music is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in Chicago, Illinois, United States in the early 1980s. It was initially popularized in mid-1980s discothèques catering to the African-American, Latino American, and gay communities; first in Chicago circa 1984, then in other...
hits
Hit record
A hit record is a sound recording, usually in the form of a single or album, that sells a large number of copies or otherwise becomes broadly popular or well-known, through airplay, club play, inclusion in a film or stage play soundtrack, causing it to have "hit" one of the popular chart listings...
in the 1980s and 1990s. She got her start in the music industry whilst singing with a church gospel
Gospel
A gospel is an account, often written, that describes the life of Jesus of Nazareth. In a more general sense the term "gospel" may refer to the good news message of the New Testament. It is primarily used in reference to the four canonical gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John...
choir
Choir
A choir, chorale or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform.A body of singers who perform together as a group is called a choir or chorus...
called the Starlets of Corona. She cites Chaka Khan
Chaka Khan
Chaka Khan , frequently known as the Queen of Funk, is a 10-time Grammy Award winning American singer-songwriter who gained fame in the 1970s as the frontwoman and focal point of the funk band Rufus. While still a member of the group in 1978, Khan embarked on a successful solo career...
as a major influence.
Early successes
Her initial chart entry was as the lead singer of the danceDance music
Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement...
group
Musical ensemble
A musical ensemble is a group of people who perform instrumental or vocal music. In classical music, trios or quartets either blend the sounds of musical instrument families or group together instruments from the same instrument family, such as string ensembles or wind ensembles...
, Shades of Love
Shades of Love
Shades of Love can mean:* Shades of Love - a series of made-for-television movies* Shades of Love - dance-music group in which Meli'sa Morgan sang...
. They had a single entry on Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
magazine
Magazine
Magazines, periodicals, glossies or serials are publications, generally published on a regular schedule, containing a variety of articles. They are generally financed by advertising, by a purchase price, by pre-paid magazine subscriptions, or all three...
's Hot Dance Club Play
Hot Dance Club Play
The Hot Dance Club Songs chart is a weekly national survey of the songs that are most popular in U.S. dance clubs...
chart
Record chart
A record chart is a ranking of recorded music according to popularity during a given period of time. Examples of music charts are the Hit parade, Hot 100 or Top 40....
in 1982, the #26 "Body to Body (Keep in Touch)". This was re-popularized in 1994 by new remix
Remix
A remix is an alternative version of a recorded song, made from an original version. This term is also used for any alterations of media other than song ....
es, "Body to Body (Keep in Touch)", and reached number 1 on the Hot Dance Club Play chart.
That same year, music entrepreneur Jacques Fred Petrus
Jacques Fred Petrus
Jacques Fred Petrus was a French-Italian businessman and a pioneer of Italian Disco music.-Early years:...
asked her to join his newly created studio group, High Fashion, that featured Morgan and two other New York vocalists, Eric McClinton and Alyson Williams
Alyson Williams
-Career:The daughter of bandleader / trumpeter Bobby Booker, she began her career by singing background vocals for various artists including, Curtis Hairston, Melba Moore , B. B. & Q. Band, Cashflow, Unlimited Touch, Bobby Brown and Barbara Mitchell before joining the group High Fashion, which also...
. High Fashion's sole hit, "Feelin' Lucky Lately", reached #32 on the U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Black Singles
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,...
chart. In 1983 Morgan left, and was replaced in the group by the jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
vocalist, Marcella Allen.
As a solo
Solo (music)
In music, a solo is a piece or a section of a piece played or sung by a single performer...
artist
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
she topped the R&B
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,...
chart with her cover version
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
of Prince's "Do Me, Baby", (the title track from her debut album
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
) which also became her only Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
entry, peaking at #46 in 1986. She had several solo hits on the U.S. dance chart as well, including "Still in Love With You," which hit #3 in 1992.
2005 to present
After a lengthy hiatus, Morgan released her fifth solo album, I Remember. The first single, "Back Together Again", a song originally recorded by Roberta FlackRoberta Flack
Roberta Flack is an American singer, songwriter, and musician who is notable for jazz, soul, R&B, and folk music...
and Donny Hathaway
Donny Hathaway
Donny Edward Hathaway was an American soul singer-songwriter and musician. Hathaway contracted with Atlantic Records in 1969 and with his first single for the Atco label, "The Ghetto, Part I" in early 1970, Rolling Stone magazine "marked him as a major new force in soul music."His collaborations...
, received moderate airplay on urban contemporary
Urban contemporary
Urban contemporary is a music radio format. The term was coined by the late New York DJ Frankie Crocker in the mid 1970s. Urban contemporary radio stations feature a playlist made up entirely of hip hop/rap, contemporary R&B, pop, electronica such as dubstep and drum and bass and Caribbean music...
radio station
Radio station
Radio broadcasting is a one-way wireless transmission over radio waves intended to reach a wide audience. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast a common radio format, either in broadcast syndication or simulcast or both...
s during early 2006 and peaked at number 46 on Billboard's R&B chart. The follow-up singles included "I Remember", "Will You?" and "High Maintenance" which was released in September 2006. New material by Meli'sa Morgan can be heard on a German release by Cool Million, which features Meli'sa Morgan on lead vocals on the opening track Sweet Baby. This proves she is still vocally on top condition.
Influence
A verse from Morgan's 1986 single "Fool's Paradise" was re-sung, with modified lyrics, by Mary J. BligeMary J. Blige
Mary Jane Blige is an American singer-songwriter, record producer and occasional actress. She is a recipient of nine Grammy Awards and four American Music Awards, and has recorded eight multi-platinum albums. She is the only artist with Grammy Award wins in Pop, Rap, Gospel, and R&B. Blige has...
as the chorus to the 1996 Jay-Z
Jay-Z
Shawn Corey Carter , better known by his stage name Jay-Z, is an American rapper, record producer, entrepreneur, and occasional actor. He is one of the most financially successful hip hop artists and entrepreneurs in America, having a net worth of over $450 million as of 2010...
single "Can't Knock the Hustle
Can't Knock the Hustle
"Can't Knock the Hustle" is the third single from rapper Jay-Z's debut album Reasonable Doubt. The song features a beat produced by Knobody, co-produced by Sean C and Dahoud Darien, as well as a chorus sung by Mary J. Blige.-Background:...
".
Studio albums
| Year | Album | Chart positions | US certifications |
Record label | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US 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... |
US 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... |
UK UK Albums Chart The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart... |
||||
| 1986 | Do Me Baby | 41 | 4 | — | — | Capitol 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... |
| 1987 | Good Love | 108 | 11 | — | — | |
| 1990 | The Lady in Me | — | — | — | — | |
| 1992 | Still in Love with You | — | 38 | — | — | Pendulum |
| 2005 | I Remember | — | 96 | — | — | Lu Ann |
| "—" denotes the album failed to chart or was not certified | ||||||
Compilation albums
| Year | Album | Chart positions | US certifications |
Record label | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US 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... |
US 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... |
UK UK Albums Chart The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart... |
||||
| 1996 | Do You Still Love Me?: The Best of Meli'sa Morgan | — | — | — | — | Razor & Tie Razor & Tie Razor & Tie is a New York-based corporation founded in 1990 by Cliff Chenfeld and Craig Balsam. The company encompasses a record label with major label distribution , a home video company, a media buying company, a music publishing business, a marketing, promotion and sales team, and a direct... |
| "—" denotes the album failed to chart or was not certified | ||||||
Singles
| Year | Single | Chart positions | Album | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday... |
US R&B Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,... |
US Dance Hot Dance Club Play The Hot Dance Club Songs chart is a weekly national survey of the songs that are most popular in U.S. dance clubs... |
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 ... |
|||
| 1985 | "Do Me Baby Do Me, Baby "Do Me, Baby" is a Prince ballad, the third and final U.S. single from his 1981 album, Controversy. With a running time of almost eight minutes, it is the longest track on the album. The song was written by André Cymone, but credited to Prince.... " |
46 | 1 | — | — | Do Me Baby |
| 1986 | "Do You Still Love Me?" | — | 5 | — | — | |
| "Fool's Paradise" | — | 24 | — | 41 | ||
| 1987 | "Deeper Love" | — | 74 | — | — | The Golden Child |
| "If You Can Do It: I Can Do It Too!!" | — | 2 | 27 | 86 | Good Love | |
| "Love Changes" (with Kashif Kashif (musician) Kashif Saleem is an American multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter and record producer.-Career:Kashif became well-known from playing keyboards in the renowned funk band B.T. Express. He played synthesizer bass using the miniMoog while touring with the group... ) |
— | 2 | — | — | ||
| 1988 | "Here Comes the Night" | — | 17 | — | — | |
| "Good Love" | — | — | — | 59 | ||
| 1990 | "Can You Give Me What I Want" | — | 33 | — | — | The Lady in Me |
| 1992 | "Still in Love with You I'm Still in Love with You (Al Green song) "I'm Still in Love With You" is a song originally recorded by Al Green. Released from the album of the same title, the single spent two weeks at #1 on the Hot Soul Singles chart in April 1972. It also peaked at #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart that same year... " |
— | 9 | 3 | — | Still in Love with You |
| "Through the Tears" | — | 18 | — | — | ||
| "I'm Gonna Be Your Lover (Tonight)" | — | 68 | — | — | ||
| 2000 | "How" (with JT Taylor) | — | 82 | — | — | A Brand New Me |
| 2005 | "Back Together Again" (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... ) |
— | 46 | — | — | I Remember |
| 2006 | "I Remember..." | — | 86 | — | — | |
| "—" denotes the single failed to chart | ||||||
See also
- List of number-one dance hits (United States)
- List of artists who reached number one on the US Dance chart