She really does have a lovely voice once you get beyond that awful "You Don't Have to be a Star Baby" song.

YES!!!!!!!!

underrated x 10.

I like the 5th Dimension, and have several of their albums (the original members only), but I've never paid much attention to the solo stuff. I see Marilyn and Billy on one the church channels every once in awhile now. I mostly remember Marilyn hosting Solid Gold. The 5th Dimension and The Rotary Connection are a big influence on Swing Out Sister.

Good material, not a fan of her singing.

Love the voice and love to LOOK AT HER

Q: how do we post youtube vids that have "related" at the end of the url?

Harlepolis said:

Good material, not a fan of her singing.

That's kind of the way I feel about her. I loved a lot of the 5th Dimension material, as well as a lot of the material that she did with her husband, but when she did Solid Gold, she almost became a gimmick act. Expecially the way she used to cover other people's songs. She would take a great song and turn it into a cruise ship lounge act.

Perfect Example:

She's the R&B version of Barbara McNair, if that makes sense she made R&B a lil' bit "vegasy".

But like I said, her original material are top notch. "I'm Saving All My Love For You" is an example.

My mother used to call her and Andy Gibb "the odd couple" when they hosted Solid Gold.

I'm with breese..I used to LOVE Marilyn when I was a kid. I just thought she was beautiful.

..she also needs to tell Billy to stop wearing those terribile toupees.

Harlepolis said:

She's the R&B version of Barbara McNair, if that makes sense she made R&B a lil' bit "vegasy".

But like I said, her original material are top notch. "I'm Saving All My Love For You" is an example.

Makes a lot of sense and i AGREE WHOLEHEARTEDLY!!!!!!

Anyone over 30 pretty much Loved Marilyn in the 80's.....If you want to say she's "Underrated" then you also have to say it's her own fault. It certainly isnt the Public or Media fault.

There's a lot of Entertainers that didnt hold on to their Fame & Popularity when the 80's was DONE...Those that made it through the 80's & the 90's WANTED "Fame" bad enough to SCRATCH and FIGHT for every bit of Photo-ops, Radio-bookings, Plays, Recordings and on & on....

"Where do I see myself in the Entertainment Industry and how hard am I willing to work to sustain a Career?"

It's a NEVER ending cycle for EVERY Entertainer that DARES to think they got something special to share with the world...You gotta HUSTLE till the day you die...That's showbizness......

Chancellor said:

Anyone over 30 pretty much Loved Marilyn in the 80's.....If you want to say she's "Underrated" then you also have to say it's her own fault. It certainly isnt the Public or Media fault.

There's a lot of Entertainers that didnt hold on to their Fame & Popularity when the 80's was DONE...Those that made it through the 80's & the 90's WANTED "Fame" bad enough to SCRATCH and FIGHT for every bit of Photo-ops, Radio-bookings, Plays, Recordings and on & on....

"Where do I see myself in the Entertainment Industry and how hard am I willing to work to sustain a Career?"

It's a NEVER ending cycle for EVERY Entertainer that DARES to think they got something special to share with the world...You gotta HUSTLE till the day you die...That's showbizness......

I agree with you, but I think they had a great 20+ year run. In the 70s, she and Billy were REALLY BIG in the mid to late 70s. I would hope they invested and saved their money properly. They were on every show in the 70s and when she did Solid Gold, she blew up even more. Even though she didn't release a big hit, she did have a great run on a top rated show.

If I'm not mistaken, I remember them saying that she and Billy wanted to raise their family after they left the spotlight.

Chancellor said:

Anyone over 30 pretty much Loved Marilyn in the 80's

My mom never liked her. She says singers like 5th Dimension, Johnny Mathis, and Sammy Davis Jr sound "white" to her and she can't listen to them. My mom is strictly soul & gospel music and doesn't really like anything else.

Marilyn McCoo = very UNDERrated

But I don't think she had a solo career in a classic sense. Marilyn was always known as either a member of a group (The 5th Dimension) OR one-half of a duo with her husband Billy.

TonyVanDam said:

But I don't think she had a solo career in a classic sense. Marilyn was always known as either a member of a group (The 5th Dimension) OR one-half of a duo with her husband Billy.

She did release some gospel and Christmas songs as a solo act.

I'll admit it, I purchased this about 10 years ago at a thrift store. It's pretty bad.

scriptgirl said:

She really does have a lovely voice once you get beyond that awful "You Don't Have to be a Star Baby" song.

I love that song! I remember in 1976,it was all over the radio.Major hit!

I don't think Marilyn had any other big hits (solo or with her husband) but in 1978,she recorded a song that later became a HUGE SMASH for another artist in the 80s

I bet Vain Andy feels about Marilyn the way he does about Whitney

scriptgirl said:

I bet Vain Andy feels about Marilyn the way he does about Whitney

scriptgirl said:

I bet Vain Andy feels about Marilyn the way he does about Whitney

Vainandy only blames Whitney for f***ing up everyone else's song she covered over the years.

TonyVanDam said:

scriptgirl said:

I bet Vain Andy feels about Marilyn the way he does about Whitney

Vainandy only blames Whitney for f***ing up everyone else's song she covered over the years.

Not only that, he blames her for killing funk and up tempo dance music. He has a point. When Whitney, Anita Baker and Luther Vandross really blew up, the funk was gone.