Melba Moore - This Is It: The Best of Melba Moore
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Free Music Notes for This Is It: The Best of Melba Moore
Free Music Review: Stellar Album
Hit: 5 Stars
Melba Moore is one of my favorite vocalists of all time. Her projection is phenomenal, her range is amazing and she is one of the few soprano vocalists that can belt out lyrics in a very high octave in a seemingly effortless yet powerful manner. This album gives the listener a sample of her mastery of multiple musical genres that include folk, soul, disco, funk and rock. Every song on this album is enjoyable and this CD is an excellent introduction to Melba Moore. Free Music Review: Another Puzzle Like Phyllis Hyman
Hit: 5 Stars
Phyllis Hyman turned out 26 Top 100 R&B single hits from 1976 to 1998, but could never achieve enough interest in the more lucrative pop field to even garner one entry in Billboard Pop Hot 100!
Melba Moore comes in at a close second. She put 32 into the R&B Top 100 from 1975 to 1990 for the Buddah [6], Epic [4], EMI America [3], and Capitol [19] labels and could only manage to get two into the mid- to lower regions of the Hot 100, while adding another six that bubbled under. What the heck was going on back then? Wasn't anyone listening?
Like Phyllis, not even her smash R&B # 1 hits, A Little Bit More in summer 1986 in a duet with Freddie Jackson, and Falling later that year, along with the solid # 6 R&B It's Been So Long in 1987, could nudge the pop charts. Her best in that regard was her second hit, This Is It, which peaked at # 18 R&B/# 91 Hot 100 in May 1976 and You Stepped Into My Life in late 1978 which, written for her by The Bee Gees, reached # 17 R&B/# 47 Hot 100. Very strange results, considering the wonderful quality of her voice.
The daughter of singer Bonnie Davis, who had one R&B hit way back in 1943 with Don't Stop Now with The Bunny Banks Trio [# 1], Melba was in both the Broadway and film versions of Hair, played the character Lutiebelle in the musical Purlie, and also had a part in the movie Def By Temptation.
Aside from the above-mentioned R&B results, the remainder of her successful singles didn't exactly burn up those charts either: I Am His Lady [# 82 R&B 1975]; Lean On Me [# 17 R&B 1976]; I Can't Complain [# 12 R&B 1988 duet with Freddie Jackson]; Keepin' My Lover Satisfied [# 14 R&B 1983]; Livin' For Your Love [# 6 R&B/# 108 Hot 100 "bubble under" in 1984]; Love Me Right [# 15 R&B 1984]; Love The One I'm With (A Lot Of Lovin') [# 5 R&B 1986 with Kashif]; Love's Comin' At Ya [# 5 R&B/# 104 Hot 100 "bubble under" 1982]; Mind Up Tonight [# 25 R&B 1982]; Read My Lips [# 12 R&B/# 104 Hot 100 "bubble under" 1985]; Take My Love [# 15 R&B 1981].
Adding to the strangeness of her chart performances, two of her lesser R&B hits were ones that almost made it to the pop charts: The Way You Make Me Feel [# 62 R&B/# 108 Hot 100 "bubble under" 1977], and Pick Me Up, I'll Dance [# 85 R&B/# 103 Hot 100 "bubble under" 1979].
In terms of some of her hits not included in this volume, these would include: When You Love Me Like This [# 14 R&B/# 106 Hot 100 "bubble under" 1985]; I'm In Love [# 13 R&B 1988 with Kashif], and her final charter, Do You Really Want My Love? [# 10 R&B 1990]. Even so, this is a fine package from the folks at Razor & Tie for one of the best, but sadly overlooked, voices of that era.
Free Music Review: Nice collection but still not complete
Hit: 3 Stars
First let me say thanks Razor & Tie for releasing this collection since there is SO little of Melba's work on cd to begin with. It's hard to believe, with this woman's 35 + year career as a top R&B and dance hitmaker, that practically none of her albums are available on compact disc. It's a very sad statement on the lack of attention and/or respect the major labels give to soul/dance artists these days.
That said, while this is a good collection of some of Melba's better material, there are definitely some noticeable holes that could have been filled if this had been a 2 disc set instead. But since Melba has had such a long and impressive career on many different labels (Buddah, Epic, EMI, Capitol), it's hard to contain all her hits on the various music charts on one cd. This cd seems to (understandably) focus more on her Capitol years in the mid 80s when she was a top 20 R&B star and neglect her earlier dance hits.
Some notable omissions are the long versions of "This Is It" (which of course most fans of her disco diva days would undoubtedly prefer) and "You Stepped Into My Life" (the 12" mix is a disco classic that only seems to appear on cd in some edited form, such as here and the "Club Epic" cd which was missing 2 of its 7+ minutes), my personal favorite of hers the John Luongo remix of "Pick Me Up I'll Dance" (Epic; #22 Dance, Billboard), "Standing Right Here" (Buddah; #53 Dance), "Miss Thing" (Epic, #41 Dance) [I remember her promoting this on "Dance Fever" and various talk shows] and "Let's Stand Together" (EMI America; #12 Dance). I would love to find these tracks on cd (as well as the title track from the "What a Woman Needs" album - a killer r&b/dance cut) but, so far, I've had no luck!
On the positive side, I must say that I was thrilled that this cd has the extended versions of "Take My Love" and "Love's Comin' At Ya" so her club hits weren't completely overlooked. While I am a fan of her soul singles (her deserved #1 "Falling" is a must!), I just hope there will be another collection in the future with all her club hits. Until then, I guess this will do.
(Note to Sony: How about doing me a favor and releasing 1978's "Melba" and 1979's "Burn" on CD? And to EMI: Please release the 1981 "What A Woman Needs" LP on CD too! This woman deserves some more recognition!)
Free Music Review: Melba has got it goin' on...
Hit: 5 Stars
Most of today's R&B divas need to take it back and listen to some of Ms. Moore. After her departure from the contemporary R&B scene, most R&B music has been somewhat lackluster in my opinion. Ms. Moore took every song she had and gave it feeling, truth, and emotion. And don't even get me started on Paul Laurence Jones III, Kashif, and Van McCoy, with their superior production and songwriting! Take the music and couple it with Ms. Moore's urgent, soulful, velvety voice and you have some of R&B's finest underrated, hidden treasures. Personal faves: Love's Comin' at Ya, Take My Love, Mind Up Tonight, Keepin' My Lover Satisfied.Free Music Review: Wonderful Collection of songs.
Hit: 5 Stars
Lean on Me is one of the best songs ever recorded. Right up there with "And I am Telling You". Melba Moore is a true Diva!!