another interesting one

Was she really that big a deal back in the day?

This show is so good. It's on right now where I'm at. They're doing Minnie Ripperton's story and I'm about to cry my lil eyes out over her. I heard about the Melba Moore one and I can't wait to see the whole thing. I tell ya, this show really digs deep into the history of these artists.

scriptgirl said:

How old are you? Melba was one of the Top R&B vocalists of the 80s. It was pretty impressive what she managed to achieve without any support from Pop radio and consumers.

I am 26

scriptgirl said:

Oh! That explains a lot. You were still a baby when Melba was riding the top of the charts.

I heard of Melba and I see why she got "unsung" so to speak. Should be a GREAT episode tomorrow!

And I vaguely remember her show with Clifton Davis

But I know that was the first time I heard her name


If that make sense

She didn't age well

Yeah she was an actress and a singer. She worked with freddie jackson
and producer-singer Paul Laurence in the 80's. Freddie, Paul Laurence,
Melba Moore, and Lillo Thomas all recorded for capitol records. I know
she had some bad fortune in the 90's as she lost a lot of money and
had to go on welfare.
[Edited 6/13/09 20:50pm]

phunkdaddy said:

wow, didn't know it was as bad as that.

phunkdaddy said:

Yup! Bad fortune as in her loving husband/manager (Charles Huggins, owner of Hush Productions) screwed her, black-balled her from the industry and took every dime she had. Then, when she talked about it to the press, he had the nerve to sue her for defamation!!!!!

I read a couple of years ago where she said she is no longer interested in men and is vowing a life of celibacy. Can you blame her?
[Edited 6/14/09 7:00am]
[Edited 6/14/09 7:21am]

scriptgirl said:

Her voice is gone, too. She's released some CDs over the past 10 years or so that were very painful to listen to.

But she sounds alright in that one clip that shows her singing recently

I am 40 years old and I can only name two Melba Moore songs off the top of my head...My Love Is Coming At You and Just A Little Bit More (duet with Freddie Jackson). I was never a fan of her music, but I will watch her Unsung episode.

I was shocked to read an article last about her going bankrupt in the early 90s and relying at some point on welfare I'm curious about what led to that,,,,,then again, I already have an idea about how this industry could flip the table on somebody.

I love this woman btw,,,,her rendition of "Lean On Me" is impeccable. And she looks good to me for somebody who's 63

My fave songs from her are ALL in the 3 Kashif-produced albums in the early 80s

I really enjoy all the Unsung documentaries. Gotta check this one too.

Harlepolis said:

I agree. I don't see where she's "aged bad".

Timmy84 said:

Right. Looks fine. You know how critical folks can get.

NMuzakNSoul said:

Ya know?

"Unsung" on in a few minutes!

Can't wait

Watching it now

Heavy stuff

Melba is one hot mess. She wasn't screwed over once...twice...but three damn times. You think she would learned not to let the men in her lift control her destiny.

...and what is up with her singing execution now? Wow, after the beautiful Minnie Ripperton story, this one was a big disappointment. Not for the quality of the episode but because Moore is not a very sympathetic character.

Yeah, I don't know. This Unsung is the only one that I couldn't really get into-this one and the Clark Sisters. For some reason, it is hard for me to feel empathy for Melba and also to convince me that she really is an important person in the world of music who has been unjustly overlooked.

sosgemini said:

I was thinking the same thing. At what point do you wise up and take charge of your own finances? I can somewhat understand being screwed over by the husband though. I mean, you are married and have a child together, and they were married for 15 years before she was unexpectedly served with divorce papers--a FINAL decree of divorce???!!! That means dude had been on top of the divorce for more than a minute. Why do I get the idea she let it slide when he said, "Oh, don't worry about that. That's just a piece of paper"? She comes off as an easy mark to me--even at 63 when she's supposed to be much wiser.

And yes, hot azz mess is exactly what I thought she was, too.

I mean, the judge threw her in jail, and to this day she thinks he did it as some kind of favor?

I think there's more to the story about her participation in the destruction of her marriage. I mean, she was thrown in jail, lost custody of her daughter...obviously she was misbehaving in order for the courts to go against her like that.

She seems to want so badly to be seen as a victim that it destroyed her. I'll bet she became obsessed with her husband's betrayal and got lost in it--instead of allowing it to make her stronger and more determined. I get on some "Success is the best revenge" when someone tries to come at me. Trust and believe, the next time you see me I'm going to be 10 times better off than the last time we crossed paths.

As far as the show, I wasn't feeling the cuts to the Still Standing show. It seemed so discombobulated.

Can't wait to see Shalamar.

sosgemini said:

yeah, really wasn't feeling this one...

the scenes of her show felt like they didn't quite belong either. This seemed to be a bit of a letdown after that great episode on Minnie Riperton