Maxine Nightingale
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| Maxine Nightingale | |
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| Background information | |
| Born | November 2, 1952 |
| Origin |  Wembley, London, United Kingdom |
| Genre(s) | R&B, Soul |
| Occupation(s) | Singer |
| Years active | 1975-present |
| Label(s) | Pye Records, United Artists |
Maxine Nightingale (born 2 November 1952, Wembley, London) is a British R&B and soul music singer, best known for her hits in the 1970s.
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[edit] Career
First signed to Pye Records in the early 1970s, she recorded such singles as "Love on Borrowed Time" while appearing in the West End productions of Hair, Jesus Christ Superstar, and Savages. In 1975, she switched labels to United Artists, and with the collaboration of record producers J. Vincent Edwards and Pierre Tubbs, she recorded the album Right Back Where We Started From, which yielded the titular hit single. United Artists took time trying to gain her recognition in the United States (she was only moderately known in the UK), and scheduled her appearances on American Bandstand and The Mike Douglas Show. As a result, "Right Back Where We Started From" rose to #2 in the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 in the beginning of May 1976, and peaked at #8 in the UK Singles Chart.
Other Top 40 hits followed, including the song "Love Hit Me" (which reached #11 in the UK in 1977) and a cover of the Delfonics' song "Didn't I (Blow Your Mind This Time)", which entered the dance charts. In the U.S., however, Nightingale found it initially difficult to match the success of "Right Back Where We Started From". Then in 1979, Nightingale released the single "Lead Me On", which rose to #5 in the United States and spent seven weeks at number one on Billboard's Adult Contemporary singles chart. The follow-up, "(Bringing Out) The Girl in Me," was her last entry on the U.S. pop charts. Nightingale released one album a year until 1980, when she decided to retire from regular recordings. While compiling a greatest hits album in 1982, she performed a duet called "Turn to Me" with Jimmy Ruffin which entered the U.S. R&B Top 20.
Nightingale more recently recorded a jazz CD, based on her performances at B.B. King's Club at Universal Studios Hollywood.
She appears in the PBS music special My Music, alongside Patti LaBelle, the Commodores, Heatwave and many more. Her song, "Right Back Where We Started From", has appeared in numerous films including Slap Shot; Yours, Mine and Ours; Starsky and Hutch and most recently The Family Stone.
As of February 2008[1], Maxine Nightingale is touring to all parts of Australia to perform her 1970s hits. In May 2008 Nightingale rehearsed at Sydney's Stagedoor Studios to prepare for her upcoming gig with Guy Sebastian, who has penned the theme song for World Youth Day 2008.
[edit] Discography
[edit] Albums
- Right Back Where We Started From (1975)
- Night Life (1977)
- Love Lines (1978)
- Lead Me On (1979)
- Bittersweet (1980)
- It's a Beautiful Thing (1982)
- Cry for Love (1986)
[edit] Singles
- "Right Back Where We Started From" (UK #8, U.S. #2, Canada #5) (1976)
- "Gotta Be the One" (U.S. #53) (1976)
- "Love Hit Me" (UK #11) (1977)
- "Lead Me On" (U.S. #5, U.S. #1 Adult Contemporary/7 wks.) (1979)
- "(Bringing Out) The Girl in Me" (U.S. #73) (1979)
- "Turn to Me" (U.S. R&B #19) (1982)
