The weekend looms ever closer...
...and it's time for a celebration! Another notable "birthday girl" this week was the very lovely disco queen Miss Melba Moore, who was 80 on Wednesday.
Facts about Miss Moore:
- Her mother was a singer, her birth father was a bandleader and her step-father was a jazz pianist, so it was inevitable that music would be her chosen career.
- She started out as a backing vocalist for the likes of Frank Sinatra and Aretha Franklin.
- She succeeded Diane Keaton in the lead role in Hair on Broadway in 1969.
- In her long career, she won a Tony for her role in the musical Purlie, three Grammy nominations for her music, and in 2023 received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Not exactly a "household name" here in the UK, admittedly - she only ever had two Top 20 hits - but this one is the one for which she will be eternally remembered. Thank Disco It's Friday!
Many happy returns, Melba Moore (born Beatrice Melba Smith, 29th October 1945)!
Meanwhile...
Today is Samhain, Calan Gaeaf, Dziady, Allantide, Hop-tu-Naa, The Season of the Witch - it's Hallowe'en!
Even the Pet Shop Boys have got into the spirit...
...however, it is this clip that is my unending tradtion at this time of year, knowing full well that is scares my dear sister witless, every time:
Careful who you bite, dear reader - and a have a fab, spooky weekend!
Lip synching on Soul Train! Loved Melba Moore.
ReplyDeleteDid anybody play live on such shows? Jx
DeleteI don’t think so. I know some shows had a policy of no live performances (so they could control what was being aired). Ed Sullivan did that and Michele Phillips was so annoyed that she ate a banana on stage when she was supposedly singing.
DeleteI remember our own Top of the Pops going through a similar phase, and Bob Geldof blatantly pretending to play a candelabra(!) over the sax part in Rat Trap to demonstrate that no-one was playing any live instruments... Jx
DeleteI was listening to the Melba Moore song thinking "I heard this the other day, but I'm sure it wasn't Melba Moore singing it?" Then I remembered that it was Dannii Minogue's version I was listening to in the car on my way home from work!
ReplyDeleteThat Monster Mix of "It's A Sin" goes very well with the Hils scaring clip if you start Yorga a few seconds after the Pet Shop Boys.
Dear Dannii. She never has quite escaped the shadow of her more talented, prettier sister, has she?
DeleteThanks for the tip about the PSB/Count Yorga mash-up - I'll give that a try later... Jx
I'm definitely ready to take a bite out of something, whether it be some sort of sweet or a piece of meat!
ReplyDeleteA Pet Shop Boy, perhaps? Jx
DeleteMelba Moore is a household name in this house. I have always loved her music
ReplyDeleteA very OTT mix of the pet shop boys. I think Sin should be a bit more fun.
Vampire or Boston Strangler? or perhaps he just wasn't hungry but Hey it's tradition and the Lady Hils is hiding behind the sofa as we speak.
I hope she's still hiding there! 🤣🤣 Jx
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