WSTalk Fall Winter 2023 - Flipbook - Page 11
Marvelous Melba Moore, Exclusive Interview with Womenz Straight Talk Magazine
Continued...
duo, who were dating, were given the choice to bring their
mass appeal into Middle America. Soon after the success
of the ‘The Melba Moore/Clifton Davis Show,” it was time
for her soaring soprano to take her foray into the recording
studio.
First signed to Buddah Records, Melba had hits like “This
Is It,” “Lean On Me”
and “You Stepped Into
My Life,” garnering
Grammy nominations
and international success. Later signed to
Capitol Records, she
followed that success
with “Love’s Comin At
Ya” and then a string
of R&B hits followed,
including “Read My
Lips”—which
later
won Moore a third
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.
Hits like the #1 “A
Little Bit More” with
Freddie Jackson and
“Falling,” a hypnotic ballad that features
one of the longest held
notes in recorded history. Moore would
also record “Lift Every
Voice And Sing” (the
Negro National Anthem) at the behest of
Dr. Dorothy Height, the president of the National Council
of Negro Women, who wanted Moore to use her formidable talent to ensure that the song would reach a new
generation. “It reached me too because I didn’t know the
song either. And I asked so many of my friends (Dionne
Warwick, Stephanie Mills, The Clark Sisters and a rousing
introduction from actor Louis Gossett, Jr., and the video
was directed by Debbie Allen) to join me because I didn’t
want a new generation to hear the song and think it was
mine. IT IS OURS!”
All of this is the history and legacy that Melba Moore
brings to her new project IMAGINE. Rahni Song and
Chantel Hampton wrote So In Love and also co-wrote
Take Me Way, which will be the next single from the album. Melba and her team also brought on writers/producers Janice Dempsey and Danny Pickering, who both
co-wrote four tracks - Since I Took My Heart Back, Take
Her Picture Down, Joy and Pain, and Forever. Melba’s
rich and soulful sound harkens back to her chart-topping
successes the 1970s and 1980s. However, “I have lots of
younger people bringing me new music,” Melba says, but
stands soundly on his musical history, noting that “we’re
the foundation of it.”
Since God has given me my good health and ability to
continue to do my work, it’s my privilege now to say,
‘This is where it came from, this is how it was, and I’m
here to pass it on to you.’ It is not only the foundation of
Afrocentric culture, but it’s part of America and world history.” And Melba Moore is soundly rooted in that history!
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