Maxine Nightingale

All Music Guide:

Born in November 1952, in the west London suburb of Wembley, England, Maxine Nightingale was just 16 years old when she began singing in her school band. Enjoying the spotlight so much, she swiftly made the transition to singing in a more professional capacity, appearing in a handful of local clubs and ultimately coming to the attention of Pye Records. Signing with the label, she recorded a handful of singles, including "Do Not Push Me Baby" and 1971's "Love on Borrowed Time." While neither song became a commercial hotshot, the experience only furthered the young singer's drive to succeed in her field.

Stepping out of the clubs, Nightingale spent the early '70s in theater, exploring her vocal development through roles in the era's hottest musical stage shows, including Jesus Christ Superstar, Hair, Godspell, as well as the well-received London play Savages, before pairing with the songwriter/production team J. Vincent Edwards and Pierre Tubbs in 1975. They proved the perfect pair to showcase her outstanding vocals, and after she signed to United Artists and debuted with their "Right Back Where We Started From," she found herself with a Top Ten U.K. hit in November 1975. The song proved even more popular in the States as the disco sizzler scored Nightingale a number two pop hit in early 1976.

Backed by an outstanding assortment of session musicians and continually partnered with songwriters who were able to best direct her voice, Nightingale's 1976 debut LP, Right Back Where We Started From, also proved to be a hit in the United States, although, oddly, it fell far short of expectations in England. With four singles, including the title track and fellow chartmate "Gotta Be the One," the album reached number 65 in the U.S. The following year brought the Denny Diante-produced Night Life album, which placed "Love Hit Me" (another U.K. hit) and a cover of the Delfonics' "Didn't I Blow Your Mind This Time" into heavy club rotation. Lead Me On followed in 1979, bringing her another U.S. chart appearance, this time at number five with the title single, released on Windsong. The Bittersweet LP followed the next year, leaving room for a fine compilation, It's a Beautiful Thing, to round up all the hits in 1982.

That same year also saw Nightingale reach further peaks when she paired with R&B singer Jimmy Ruffin, best known for his 1966 standard "What Becomes of the Brokenhearted," for the tender duet "Turn to Me." The song never registered on the pop charts, but in November gave Nightingale her first R&B Top 20 debut.

Continuing to perform live, Nightingale's focus shifted through the 1980s and 1990s from disco and pop to sultry, smoky jazz vocals. But, always conscious of her fans, she continued to pepper her live sets with some of her finest hits.

Wikipedia:

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

Career

One of the three children of comedian Benny Nightingale and his wife Iris - the couple having another daughter Rosalind & a son Glen - Maxine Nightingale began singing at age 16 with her school band, displaying sufficient vocal prowess to begin performing in London area venues with her brother Glen on guitar. In 1969 — the year she turned 17 — Nightingale joined the cast of the West End production of Hair; the same year she made her first recordings, vocalizing on the Pye singles "Talk to Me" and "Don't Push Me Baby" which were released under the name Nighttime Flyer. "Don't Push Me Baby" was issued by Pye's Australian distributor Astor in Nightingale's own name; her first UK release as Maxine Nightingale was in 1971 with the Pye single "Love on Borrowed Time".

In the early 1970s Nightingale relocated to Germany, having become affianced to Minoru Terada Domberger, the Japanese-born director of the German production of Hair whom she'd met when he visited the London production. In Germany Nightingale continued her stage musical career in Hair, Jesus Christ Superstar and Godspell. After dropping out of performing to marry her fiancé and give birth in 1973 to their daughter Langka Veva Domberger, Nightingale returned to London in the summer of 1975 to appear in the West End production of Savages; at this time she also provided background vocals on recording sessions including that for Al Matthews' "Fool".

Matthews' producer Pierre Tubbs was struck by Nightingale's voice and asked composer J. Vincent Edwards to write a song for her. Edwards, who had worked with Nightingale in the West End production of "Hair", convinced her to record this song: "Right Back Where We Started From" overcoming Nightingale's initial refusal occasioned by her disinterest in a second attempt at a recording career; however she recorded "Right Back Where We Started From" on the understanding it would be issued under a pseudonym. (Nightingale also had to be convinced to take a royalty rather than a onetime session fee.)

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, "Right Back Where We Started From" was released in the US early 1976 to enthusiastic reaction, reaching #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 in May 1976. Nightingale, who had returned to Germany, was motivated by her single's US success to complete a Right Back Where We Started From album in London and then proceed to the US, which has remained her home base ever since. However her only significant hit in the period following the success of "Right Back Where We Started From" was in the UK with "Love Hit Me" the title cut from her second album (aka Night Life): promoted by Nightingale in a TOTP appearance broadcast March 17 1977, "Love Hit Me" peaked at #11 on the UK chart dated April 9 1977 following a further TOTP showcasing without Nightingale's participation on the April 7 1977 broadcast via a boxing-themed dance number featuring Legs & Co. performing to the track.

Nightingale's 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 overlooked despite Nightingale promoting the latter in the second of her two TOTP appearances on the June 8 1978 broadcast. The US release of "Lead Me On" early in 1979 met with a favorable reception especially in the Easy listening market with the track reaching #1 on Billboards Easy Listening chart that July; 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", Nightingale was unable to follow-up her US Top Ten success, the subsequent "(Bringing Out) The Girl in Me" marking Nightingale's final Hot 100 appearance with a #73 peak. Lead Me On is a re-packaged and slighty 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 promo 12 inch record.

After reaching the Top 20 on Billboard's R&B chart for the first time in 1982 with "Turn to Me", a duet with Jimmy Ruffin, Nightingale dropped out of the Pop mainstream working for some 20 years as a more jazz-orientated live performer. She has reportedly recorded an album of her live performance at B.B. King's Club at Universal Studios Hollywood although it remains unreleased. Since 2000 Nightingale has become active on the retro music circuit, appearing in the 2004 PBS music special Superstars of Seventies Soul: Live. In February 2008 Nightingale undertook a club tour of Australia.