So, this is the first time i've watched TV One...and following this show was an episode of TV One on One...why the hell is Cathy Hughes the host? She is horrible.

I can't wait to see Shalamar as well. I am shocked that they got Jody to talk. Jeffrey looked high as a kite.

bboy87 said:

Yeah it was disappointing. Melba fell on hard times because she allowed herself to be victimized.

scriptgirl said:

She was an accomplished actress more so than a singer. Her acting in
television, movies, and plays made her more of a celebrity than her music.
Musically she didn't have many signature hits and was under the radar.

phunkdaddy said:

Basically.

sosgemini said:

She owns TvOne... from what my mother said.

phunkdaddy said:

The pop audience ignored her,but she was extremely popular in the R&B world.From about 1976-86,she had numerous hit singles on the R&B charts.A good 10-year run.

Harlepolis said:

Her husband was her manager and he proved to be a shady character...hiding profits from her and mismanaging her career.When they split up in 1990,she was completely broke and had to go on welfare.

80s mellow R&B jam of the day:"Falling" by Melba Moore (1986)

- Melba is an interesting character; wasn't feeling this one as much either

Since the premise of this show is r&b acts that never crossed over, Melba Moore is as deserving of being profiled as others. I, too had a problem feeling empathetic towards her because the pacing of the show was off AND there was too much interjection from the subject herself. I agree with a comment that Melba was more of a 2nd or 3rd tier r&b diva behind the likes of Aretha, Gladys, Chaka, etc because growing up I heard her name a lot but was never moved to buy any of her music, which is a shame. I loved her outfits in the photos with her & Clifton Davis (and she never spoke truer words when she declared him as FOINE! )

I really like this series and hope that in the future episodes when the subject is still alive they do a better job of incorporating current interviews with archival footage.

o now i FEEL BAD.



The only thing i can remember about melba moore is my mom had one cd of her. i use to take some of my moms cds ( she use to have abut 500-1000 cds) and i would sell them to a music store for some quick cash.


melba was one of em.



sorry melba

I can't believe that she got a FINAL divorce decree w/o having any knowledge of any divorce filing. The cat she was married to probably didn't just up and become shady like this, so I feel like I was missing out on a ton of info here. Where was Freddie Jackson?

brooksie said:

Sounds like it, doesn't it?

Timmy84 said:

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black don't crack. She looks good for her age.

Timmy84 said:

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Damm you guys are some cold bicthes.
When your married you assume your husband is working for the benefit of the family. Not plotting and planning to ruin you financially.


I liked to see what some of you genius would do if you received a forged divorce decree in the mail and found all your money quickly spent trying to hire a lawyer to undo the phony divorce and at the same time your husband is blackballing you all over town making it hard for you to earn money to get a attorney on the case.

brooksie said:

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Her husband forged her name on the documents and this type of crap happens more often than you think.

laurarichardson said:

Nah don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to bash Melba. I just don't understand how she thought everything was cool until it was too late especially after she was duped the first time?

Timmy84 said:

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It happens I know a young lady who was divorced via a newspaper add.
Found her self without a home because her name was not on the deed.
Her husband made her think that despite some maritial disagreements that they were going to work it out.

I would not be surprised if Melba husband did not lead her to believe the same thing. In addtion, they had a child and you can't always do what you want when children are involved.

laurarichardson said:

Yeah I see your's (and Melba's) point. I guess in a way, I just wanted to know more of it. It seemed like it was glossed over to me. That's why I was like "well what happened?" It just make you think "oh she knew" but maybe there was more to it than what the show revealed. Sorry if I seemed insensitive but the show was a little off. Least Melba's still performing tho.

Well, I'm UNAPOLOGETIC in saying that there is CLEARLY something off in Melba's version of events.

I too find it hard to believe he just woke up one day and decided to become shady after a child and 15 years of marriage.

The guy was LOOOONG past shady before she got the FINAL divorce decree and was FORCED to act. (I would say she was forced to wake up, but I don't think she's done that yet.)

As I said earlier, I think she's an easy mark. She likely wore blinders throughout the marriage.

And I'm starting to not buy the story of him being such a snake. If he was, why would the courts rule against her, put her in jail, take custody of her daughter? Why would her daughter continue to have a positive relationship with the man who left her and her mother in such a state? Father be damned! Children choose one parent over the other all the time.

There's a reason Cosby's family never spoke to her about the fact that her daughter was safe with them--cause they knew she was a LOON that they were protecting her daughter from.

She admitted to being over dramatic by taking cameras down to the welfare office and the jail. I suspect he dealt with a lot of zaniness from her during the marriage.

In fact, he looks like a class act compared to her. His silence makes him look like a stand up guy, as if he's taken her public bashings over the years for their daughter's sake--and b/c he knows she's INSANE!!!

She claimed she never saw crack??? A half hour prior she was talking about how she and Clifton got into that scene early in their careers.

Melba, please!

laurarichardson said:

Newspaper ads are the norm. If they can't find the person any other way, they'll place the ad in the paper so that they can say they took all steps to find and serve the person allowing the other to move forward with the divorce.

Her name wasn't on the deed? That mkes her a FOOL. If she knew she didn't show up at the closing to sign the damn thing, why was she surprised to find her name wasn't there?

This is the point that was made about Melba--women being too STUPID to protect themselves.

P.S: Why would Melba try to CONTEST the divorce if he was such a nasty being? I would've GLADLY divorced, filing an answer that showed why I also wanted it (his piggish ways) and fighting for my monetary settlement--through lawyers and the courts.

Nooooo, she wanted to play the public victim and make her husband look bad.

All she did was embarrassed her daughter and took valuable years off of her own life.

I didn't get to see the episode because i don't have TVone
but hopefully i'll get to see next week's episode with Shalimar.
Karen provided some interesting comments. I would love to see
this episode.

laurarichardson said:

I know he forged her name and that's just it....who else did he get over on like this? I'm not judging her because I know marriage is a strange thing and people are far more vulnerable there, but according to this doc this would have been her second time being taken to the cleaners. It sounds like he got EVERYTHING...kid, money, property, etc. All this makes me think that the forged divorce was the LAST of the long con, not the beginning.

I'd like to know more about Hush and if those shady dealings showed up there. I can't believe they did not. If he'd rip off his wife and baby mama like this, why not his artists?
[Edited 6/15/09 11:41am]

Karen71 said:

These are all great points. Losing the kid was like . I found it odd that she didn't know where her kid was and from what I saw, never suspected she was at Bill Cosby's. Hello...Bill Cosby! Then the rumors of drug use (I recall those myself)...so was that just a lie or was there truth behind it? I suspect there was some truth to the drug thing, but that's pretty common in the biz. It doesn't mean she was a crackhead, but apparently someone believed these rumors for some reason.

Her explanation for the jail time was just People just aren't sent to jail so they can perform.

This doc has too many holes in the story and so many things aren't adding up.
[Edited 6/15/09 11:34am]

Quite frankly, Melba seems like a crackhead or former crackhead. Her mouth is almost as twisted up a Bobby Brown's and we ALL know what he's been up to. Plus, when she was doing that little stage show, she seemed high. I honestly don't buy Melba's events. She seems like a sharp eyed character-one that fakes being dumb, but in reality is a lot smarter than she looks. Also, Me'lisa Morgan kept saying how great that production company was that Melba's hubby ran-she and that Paul Laurence guy praised it. Never a bad word. I think Melba's crazy and this special shows her in a really bad light.

Karen71 said:

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Newspaper ads are the norm when a spouse has disappeared. Not when you have temporality separated and are still in touch on a daily basis. !!!!

This person was a not a fool and of course she knew her name was not on the deed. Her husband purchased the home for the both of them to live in and once again, you do not expect your husband to throw you out into the streets or divorce you via the papers. If you expect to be divorces at all, which most people don’t expect to be divorced? It is called love and unless you are married you really have no idea what you talking about.

It is interesting that you are attacking woman for being stupid and letting men off the hook for not honoring their marital commit. (LOL)

She tried to stop the divorce I am guessing so she could file for a real divorce in which she would be able to obtain the assets from their business, child support, and alimony.
If dude had a divorce drawn up and forged her name why would anyone let that divorce stand.

brooksie said:

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I know that none of the artist on Hush every really recovered from the whole mess. So it kind of makes me wonder if they got ripped off as well.

laurarichardson said:

I'm not even sure the fake divorce story is real. Melba seems as though she either exaggerates or doesn't know the truth. At some point a lawyer would want to SEE his client. Melba was probably HIGH as a kite when she signed and didn't remember.

I am married, actually. And I'm not letting men off for being snakes. As I said, I'm not sure this is the case given her scattered version of events. Maybe SHE'S the one trying to do all the lying and slandering--something about a woman scorned. There's a reason the judge told her to shudditup and threw her in jail for not doing so!!! Also, the point is not playing VICTIM!!! WISE UP!!! How many times are you going to accuse others of ruining your career by running off with your money.

Let's be honest: How much money could she have really had? Everyone here noted her career was marginal at best. She was NOT rolling in dough to begin with.

And yes, courts will resort to newspapers if they can't get serve the person. She may have refused to sign, wasn't around when they attempted to serve her..

And sorry, but if Ms. Thang did not ensure her name was on the deed and assumed that he'd play nice and take care of her in the event of a divorce, she's a certifiable FOOL!!! Hopefully, this is a lesson learned and she won't be telling the same story 20 years from now about the 2nd and 3rd husbands who left her homeless.

I remember Melba Moore from the play Purlie from back in the day.