Melissa Manchester is one of the most underrated talents of the last 50 years

I was at a benefit concert last year and talked to her after. She was just lovely. I agree-she should have had a bigger career. Gorgeous voice.

Agreed

Great voice but i always thought her material was horrible.

Oh, it's the OP of False Grievance About Old Talents.

Again.

Melissa Manchester was a former Staggering Harlette (backup singer) for Bette Midler.

She studied songwriting at New York University with Paul Simon when she was 19. Manchester played the Manhattan club scene, where Barry Manilow, a friend and fellow singer of jingles, introduced her to Bette Midler. In 1971, she became a member of the Harlettes, the back-up singers for Midler, which she co-created with Manilow.

Yes, Ms. Manchester is a great singer/songwriter. She's has a great career. In 2023, she played Mrs. Brice in the US national tour of the Broadway musical Funny Girl, the same role Kay Medford played in the movie.

Her songs were everywhere in the early 80s. Don't Cry Out Loud, Almost Over You...

'Midnight Blue'...love it.

Don’t cry out loud is a wretched song.

She was much better than I expected her to be in the tour of Funny Girl. She really did a great job as Mrs. Brice

Terrible singer, she knows nothing about breathing or technique.

At one time, she was considered the queen of movie theme songs, with two movie themes she sang being nominated for Oscars in the same year, "Through the Eyes of Love" from Ice Castles and "The Promise" from the movie of the same name.

Mason Reese too!

R10 - Montserrat Fucking Caballé

MCA really screwed her over when they released "Nice Girls" as the single from her 'Greatest Hits' album in the 1980s instead of 'My Boyfriend's Back / Runaway' as originally planned.

Two years before Streisand released "Higher Ground", Manchester recorded the song - and sang it much, much better.

Streisand probably would have killed to introduce this one. It would have been perfect for her.

It's has a big fat melodramatic melody that a voice can really dig in to.

Melissa Manchester co-wrote and does a fine job with it.

Toni Tennille does a knock out version of it.

What a shame we no longer have voices like any of these ladies.

As Melissa Mynchester she would have been huge.

One of my favorites

I have this weird recollection of Bette Davis on The Tonight Show telling Johnny Carson that she spent New Year’s Eve at Melissa Manchester’s house. Not sure why that’s stuck with me all these years.

My apologies - Arista was her label in 1983 and released her "Greatest Hits' Album. She signed with MCA in 1985, when her Arista contract expired (still angry with Clive Davis for not spinning of MBB/R as a single in 1983).

Another masterpiece from 1995 which went ignored:

Here's the 1983 single which Manchester wanted released to radio, but Arista dropped right before release. It was released as a 12" to clubs and was a huge hit - especially the gay dance clubs that summer.

Mathematics was a really good pop album. The problem was the label chose the title track for lead single with no music video for it. All Tied Up, Victims of a Modern Hear or Energy would have been much better choices to promote it.

And the cover art really overdid it trying to sell her as a pop diva.

Rotate your tires.

Love this minor hit of hers but the performance here is like she had a bad bump of coke before coming out to entertain. Like the younger sister of Lainie Kazan doing Copacabana on the Jerry Lewis Telethon …

[quote]Terrible singer, she knows nothing about breathing or technique.

You have to laugh at the posters who always show up in a discussion about pop singers and start going on about breathing and technique or whatever. That's not what pop singing is about.

We even had one criticizing Frank Sinatra's "upper register". Frank Fucking SINATRA.

OP, you should hear how she talks about YOU.

"Wouldn't you give your heart to a friend? Think of me as your friend."

Midnight Blue

She’s the ‘sweet Melissa’ in Barry Manilow’s ‘Could it be Magic’. He had to come up with a female name and she was with the same label at the time.

R24 Was she performing at a frat party in that one?

"Don't Cry Out Loud" is a song Clive Davis forced on her, she didnt write it. The rest of that album was mostly written by Manchester and produced by Leon Ware and is outstanding. Before her debut LP she wrote "Easy" for Bette Midler. Midler recorded it but never released it. It became an early concert staple for Manchester.

Another great song is her cover of the song 'Johnny and Mary' from her 1983 album, 'Emergency'. Why it wasn't released as a single is beyond me.

Robert Palmer originally wrote the song, recorded it and released it in 1980. It didn't chart on the Hot 100 in the US.

Tina Turner covered the song in 1982, for the motion picture soundtrack 'Summer Lovers'. It was never released as a single.

Manchester's is the best.

I think “Thief of Hearts” is a fantastic bop from a stupid movie that sums up the 1984 sound. Plus, it has Steven Bauer from the movie doing the video.

My fave MM song is "You Should Hear How She Talks About You" - total early #80s bop - dig Melissa's "New Romantic" ensemble in this clip

R22...Totally agree, "Energy" was the obvious lead single. Why it wasn't actually chosen as the lead single made no sense. The title track not hitting as hard as was expected lost interest & momentum in a really terrific album that deserved better. Mathematics is as competent as any other album released by a female in '85. Manchester's voice is at its finest, each song stand on its own with its own hook & it still sounds good today. She definitely showed up to make a top level hit record. So weird that MCA just wasn't there for the hand-off & failed to realize the album's potential. Again, what a missed opportunity without "Energy" kicking the whole thing off.

Don't Cry Out Loud was used to great effect in Drop Dead Gorgeous, when the anorexic girl lip synched to it on stage.

She’s wonderful.

Melissa Manchester? Was she on British Drag Race? I prefer Sally Sheffield.

I still remember hearing Don't Cry Out Loud as a long distance dedication on Casey Kasem from a woman to her recently deceased cat.

It was the MARY!est moment of MARY! that ever MARY!ed.

Carol King was a much better songwriter.

The movie "Dirty Girl" with Juno Temple is about a gay boy in the 1980s obsessed with Melissa Manchester. The final scene features Juno singing "Don't Cry Out Loud," and Manchester herself has a blink or you'll miss it cameo at the end as her piano accompanist.

It's a cute movie that should've gotten more attention.

I think what happened to Manchester starting in 1983 is the same thing which happened to her other hit-making peers (Streisand, ONJ, Donna Summer, Carly Simon, Diana Ross, Dionne Warwick, etc.) : Top 40 pushed them all aside to make way for Madonna, Laura Brannigan, Cyndi Lauper, Whitney Houston). Even though Manchester was delivering some of the best pop / dance music in her career, radio had their eyes on the new gals.

In 1989, Manchester delivered 'Tribute' - and album dedicated to the singers which influenced her singing career. One of the most beautiful albums in her career - her rendition of Piaf's "La Vie En Rose" will bring tears to your eyes.