Too Opinionated Interview: Melba Moore

While best known for her seeming nonstop flow of hit albums and singles throughout the 70’s and 80’s, Melba made cultural history long before that, beginning her performing career as Dionne in the original cast of the musical Hair while becoming the first black woman to replace a white actress (future film star Diane Keaton) in a featured role on Broadway. In 1970, the same year her debut album I Got Love earned her a Best New Artist Grammy nomination, she won a Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical for her portrayal of Lutibelle in Purlie – a role she would later reprise in the 1981 TV adaptation for Showtime. Soon after the success of “The Melba Moore/Clifton Davis Show,” she signed with Buddha Records, where she scored the Top Ten Billboard dance hits “This is It” and “Make Me Believe in You” and the Grammy nominated Top 20 R&B smash “Lean on Me.” Signing to Capitol in the early 80s, Melba enjoyed a second prolific decade of success with Billboard Top Ten R&B albums like Never Say Never and A Lot of Love and many hit singles, including “Love’s Comin’ At Ya” and the #1 hits “A Little Bit More” with Freddie Jackson and “Falling,” a hypnotic ballad featuring one of the longest held notes (nearly 20 seconds!) in recorded history. In addition, Melba’s 1985 hit “Read My Lips” earned her a third Grammy nod (for Best Female Rock Performance), making her only the third Black artist after Donna Summer and Michael Jackson to be nominated in a rock category. Some of her highlights in the 2000s include an appearance in the film The Fighting Temptations (starring Cuba Gooding Jr. and Beyonce) and a role in a production of Ain’t Misbehavin’. Imagine is the title track to Melba’s latest (and 28th overall) album offers an optimistic vision of global love and unity during a particularly fraught sociopolitical era.   Want to watch: YouTube Meisterkhan Pod (Please Subscribe)