Thelma Houston
Encyclopedia
Thelma Houston is an American
singer-songwriter
and actress. She scored a number-one hit
in 1976 with her cover version
of the song
"Don't Leave Me This Way
", which won the 1978 Grammy Award
for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance
.
picking mother. She and her three sisters
grew up primarily in Long Beach
, California
. After marrying
and having two children, she joined the Art Reynolds Singers gospel
group and was subsequently signed as a recording artist with Dunhill Records
.
In 1969, Houston released her debut album
, entitled Sunshower
, produced
by Jimmy Webb
. In 1971 she signed with Motown Records
but her early recordings
with them were largely unsuccessful. Her most notable single
during that period was "You've Been Doing Wrong for So Long" which peaked at #64 on the U.S.
Billboard
R&B
chart
in 1974. However Houston's vocal prowess on that track secured her a nomination for a Best Female R&B Vocal Performance
. In April 1974 Houston joined the cast of The Marty Feldman Comedy Machine
, playing various characters during the shows skits. The show was canceled in August and for the next several years her work was limited to demo
recordings and performing at small venues.
Houston took acting classes and received her first role in the 1975 made-for-television film Death Scream
. In that same year Sheffield Lab released "I've Got the Music in Me" a recording by Thelma Houston and Pressure Cooker that went on to become a benchmark vinyl recording for audiophiles. The following year she recorded songs for the soundtrack
to the film
The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings
starring Billy Dee Williams
and James Earl Jones
. In 1975 Houston appeared on the Golden Globe Award
broadcast performing the nominated song "On & On" and also was featured in a tribute to Berry Gordy
on that year's American Music Award broadcast singing "You've Made Me So Very Happy
". That year Houston's version of "Do You Know Where You're Going To
" was being set for single release when it was pulled and the song given to Diana Ross
to serve as the theme song for the movie Mahogany. In 1976 Houston sang backing vocals
for Motown labelmate Jermaine Jackson
on his album My Name Is Jermaine.
in 1976. The first single released was her version of Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes
' 1975 song "Don't Leave Me This Way
". In February 1977 the track hit #1 in the U.S. on both the Billboard Hot 100
and R&B
charts as well as on the Club Play Singles
chart. "Don't Leave Me This Way" won Houston the Best Female R&B Vocal Performance
at the Grammys for 1977. Besides its US success "Don't Leave Me This Way" became a hit in at least twelve countries, including the UK
where it reached #13 despite the concurrent single release of the Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes which reached #5. Also in 1977 Houston teamed up with Jerry Butler
to record the album Thelma & Jerry
and that November 1977 she co-starred in the film Game Show Models. It was announced in February 1977 that Houston would star as Bessie Smith
in a filmation of the play Me and Bessie
, to be produced by Motown; after an announcement that December that Houston was set to portray Bessie Smith in a biopic to be produced in 1978 by Columbia Pictures
nothing more was heard of the project.
The second single from Any Way You Like It was Houston's rendition of "If It's the Last Thing I Do", a standard written by Saul Chaplin
and Sammy Cahn
; the track had been recorded and prepped for single release in 1973 but canceled. The impact of "If It's the Last Thing I Do" was far less than that of "Don't Leave Me This Way", as the former fell short of both the R&B Top Ten and the Pop Top 40. With the lead single from her 1978 album The Devil in Me
: "I'm Here Again", Houston returned to the style of "Don't Leave Me This Way" without recapturing the earlier single's success. Houston did enjoy considerable commercial success in 1978 via the inclusion of her track "Love Masterpiece" on the Thank God It's Friday soundtrack album which sold double platinum but her own album release that year Ready to Roll
again failing to consolidate the stardom augured by "Don't Leave Me This Way". The album's second single: "Saturday Night, Sunday Morning", gradually accrued airplay entering the national charts in March 1979 and ascending as high as #34 (#19 R&B) that June. "Saturday Night, Sunday Morning" was issued on a new album by Houston: Ride to the Rainbow
but the track's relative success was not enough to forestall Houston's planned departure from Motown.
release Breakwater Cat
which reunited her with Jimmy Webb who'd produced her debut Sunshower and which like their earlier collaboration was a commercially overlooked critical success. In the 22 December 1984 Billboard magazine interview, Houston admitted to "'no real commercial success' since the single 'Don't Leave Me This Way' broke on the Pop charts in late 1976" indicating that the disco backlash had left her with "no real base of audience support" and that her current album Qualifying Heat, executive produced by Houston herself, was a concentrated initiative to restore her as a viable chart presence; the album featured three cuts from Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis
- including the single "You Used to Hold Me So Tight
" - and production work from Glen Ballard
, Dennis Lambert, Cliff Magness and - in his first known recording work - Lenny Kravitz
(then billed as Romeo Blue), who each produced a cut apiece. "You Use to Hold Me So Tight" became Houston's most successful post-'70s' release with a #13 R&B peak but it parent album was a comparative failure - charting #41 R&B - and Houston would not cut another album for six years.
The constant ranking of her '80s releases of the '80s as moderate or minor R&B hits led Houston to concentrate on alternate exposure: having appeared in the independent film The Seventh Dwarf in 1979, Houston made guest-starring appearances into the mid-1980s in several popular television program
s including Cagney & Lacey
, Simon & Simon
- a January 1986 appearance that featured her performing "You Used to Hold Me So Tight" - and Faerie Tale Theatre
. Houston also appeared in the 1987 CBS
after school special
Little Miss Perfect (1987) - as "Prison Singer" - in the 1988 film And God Created Woman
.
On the 19 May 1985 NBC
broadcast Motown Returns to the Apollo Houston performed "What a Diff'rence a Day Makes
" in the guise of Dinah Washington
. Houston continued to contribute to movie soundtracks, recording "Keep It Light" for the 1985 film Into the Night and she remade Bill Withers
' "Lean on Me
" for the 1989 film entitled Lean on Me
. Houston also co-wrote and sang back-up on the song "Be Yourself" for Patti LaBelle
's 1989 album of the same title.
, a long-planned collaboration with producer Richard Perry
which briefly extended Houston's career as a minor R&B chart presence. The title song reached #5 on the U.S. dance chart. A remix of "Don't Leave Me This Way" was released, and once again charted on the Hot Dance Club Play chart at #19 in 1995. Subsequent singles include "I Need Somebody Tonight" and "All of That".
In 1994, Houston participated in an AIDS benefit at New York’s Algonquin Hotel
, performing gospel music with Phoebe Snow
, Chaka Khan
and CeCe Peniston
as "Sisters of Glory
". Intended as a one-off performance troupe, the Sisters of Glory
remained together - with the addition of Mavis Staples
and Lois Walden, and without Chaka Khan - to perform at Woodstock '94
. Houston performed with the Sisters of Glory
for the Pope in Vatican City
and in 1995 Houston, Phoebe Snow
, CeCe Peniston
, Lois Walden and Albertina Walker
recorded the Warner Brothers
album Good News In Hard Times as the Sisters of Glory
.
Houston provided backing vocals
on guitarist
Scott Henderson
's 1997 Atlantic
album, Tore Down House
. and in 1998 she made cameo appearance
s in two films: in 54
Houston portrayed herself singing "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas
" supposedly at Studio 54
, and in Beloved
Houston played 'One of The Thirty Women'.
in the stage musical
version of Fame
. Upon returning to the U.S. Houston toured with Nile Rodgers
and Chic
, and with was among the opening acts of the originally intended finale of Cher
's Farewell Tour
in Toronto on 31 October 2003. Houston regularly performs at Teatro ZinZanni
in Seattle and San Francisco.
Her version of "Don't Leave Me This Way" continues to be popular today. In recent years she has been invited to sing this song on dozens of TV shows and specials including NBC
's Today Show, ABC
's Motown 45 and The Disco Ball...A 30-Year Celebration, and PBS
' specials American Soundtrack: Rhythm, Love and Soul, Soul Superstars, and Old School Superstars. "Don't Leave Me This Way" was mentioned by VH1
as being among the greatest dance songs in 2000, and was ranked number eighty-six on the channel's countdown of The 100 Greatest One-Hit Wonders. She won an episode of the NBC
show Hit Me, Baby, One More Time with her renditions of her own hit and "Fallin'
" by Alicia Keys
. On September 20, 2004, Houston's rendition of "Don't Leave Me This Way" was inducted into the Dance Music Hall of Fame
in New York City
.
On August 14, 2007, Houston released her first studio album in seventeen years, A Woman's Touch
. The album features cover versions of songs by male artists such as Luther Vandross
, Marvin Gaye
, and Sting that Houston had been inspired by. The first single from the album was "Brand New Day". On August 20, 2007, Houston's 1984 album Qualifying Heat
was reissued as an import title in the U.S. with a bonus track.
She sang "Don't Leave Me This Way" on American Idol
Wednesday April 22, 2009 and on
"America's Got Talent" on September 16, 2009.
Motown releases
Sheffield Lab release
RCA releases
MCA releases
Reprise release
Italian-only release (Fonit Cetra CDL378)
Shout Factory release
Other
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
and actress. She scored a number-one hit
Hit record
A hit record is a sound recording, usually in the form of a single or album, that sells a large number of copies or otherwise becomes broadly popular or well-known, through airplay, club play, inclusion in a film or stage play soundtrack, causing it to have "hit" one of the popular chart listings...
in 1976 with her cover version
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
of the song
Song
In music, a song is a composition for voice or voices, performed by singing.A song may be accompanied by musical instruments, or it may be unaccompanied, as in the case of a cappella songs...
"Don't Leave Me This Way
Don't Leave Me This Way
"Don't Leave Me This Way" is an R&B/soul/disco song written by Kenneth Gamble, Leon Huff, and Cary Gilbert. First charting as a hit for Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes, an act on Gamble & Huff's Philadelphia International label in 1975, "Don't Leave Me This Way" was later a hit single for both...
", which won the 1978 Grammy Award
Grammy Awards of 1978
The 20th Grammy Awards were held February 23, 1978, and were broadcast live on American television. They were hosted by folk music legend John Denver, and recognized accomplishments by musicians from the year 1977.- Award winners :*Record of the Year...
for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance
Grammy Award for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance
The Grammy Award for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance was an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to female recording artists for quality R&B songs...
.
Early life & career
Houston is the daughter of a cottonCotton
Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective capsule, around the seeds of cotton plants of the genus Gossypium. The fiber is almost pure cellulose. The botanical purpose of cotton fiber is to aid in seed dispersal....
picking mother. She and her three sisters
Sibling
Siblings are people who share at least one parent. A male sibling is called a brother; and a female sibling is called a sister. In most societies throughout the world, siblings usually grow up together and spend a good deal of their childhood socializing with one another...
grew up primarily in Long Beach
Long Beach, California
Long Beach is a city situated in Los Angeles County in Southern California, on the Pacific coast of the United States. The city is the 36th-largest city in the nation and the seventh-largest in California. As of 2010, its population was 462,257...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. After marrying
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
and having two children, she joined the Art Reynolds Singers gospel
Gospel music
Gospel music is music that is written to express either personal, spiritual or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music....
group and was subsequently signed as a recording artist with Dunhill Records
Dunhill Records
Dunhill Records was started by Lou Adler, Al Bennett, Pierre Cossette and Bobby Roberts in 1964 as Dunhill Productions, originally for the purpose of releasing Johnny Rivers recordings on Imperial Records. It became a record label in 1965 and was distributed by ABC Records...
.
In 1969, Houston released her debut album
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
, entitled Sunshower
Sunshower (Thelma Houston album)
Sunshower is the debut album of Thelma Houston released in 1969 on Dunhill Records. It was produced by Jimmy Webb and became a critically acclaimed album, it charted at #50 on the Billboard R&B charts....
, produced
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
by Jimmy Webb
Jimmy Webb
Jimmy Webb is an American songwriter, composer, and singer. He wrote numerous platinum selling classics, including "Up, Up and Away", "By the Time I Get to Phoenix", "Wichita Lineman", "Galveston", "The Worst That Could Happen", "All I Know", and "MacArthur Park"...
. In 1971 she signed with Motown Records
Motown Records
Motown is a record label originally founded by Berry Gordy, Jr. and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation in Detroit, Michigan, United States, on April 14, 1960. The name, a portmanteau of motor and town, is also a nickname for Detroit...
but her early recordings
Sound recording and reproduction
Sound recording and reproduction is an electrical or mechanical inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects. The two main classes of sound recording technology are analog recording and digital recording...
with them were largely unsuccessful. Her most notable single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
during that period was "You've Been Doing Wrong for So Long" which peaked at #64 on the U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
R&B
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,...
chart
Record chart
A record chart is a ranking of recorded music according to popularity during a given period of time. Examples of music charts are the Hit parade, Hot 100 or Top 40....
in 1974. However Houston's vocal prowess on that track secured her a nomination for a Best Female R&B Vocal Performance
Grammy Award for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance
The Grammy Award for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance was an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to female recording artists for quality R&B songs...
. In April 1974 Houston joined the cast of The Marty Feldman Comedy Machine
The Marty Feldman Comedy Machine
The Marty Feldman Comedy Machine was a 1971 comedy-variety sketch show starring British comedian, Marty Feldman. Co-produced by ABC TV in America and ATV in England and filmed at Elstree Studios, it featured opening and closing credits by Terry Gilliam, as well as featuring guest appearances by...
, playing various characters during the shows skits. The show was canceled in August and for the next several years her work was limited to demo
Demo (music)
A demo version or demo of a song is one recorded for reference rather than for release. A demo is a way for a musician to approximate their ideas on tape or disc, and provide an example of those ideas to record labels, producers or other artists...
recordings and performing at small venues.
Houston took acting classes and received her first role in the 1975 made-for-television film Death Scream
Death Scream
Death Scream is a made-for-television film first aired in the USA on September 26, 1975. The film is based on an actual event concerning the real-life account of "a young woman whose murder was witnessed by fifteen of her neighbors who did nothing to help and refused to cooperate with the...
. In that same year Sheffield Lab released "I've Got the Music in Me" a recording by Thelma Houston and Pressure Cooker that went on to become a benchmark vinyl recording for audiophiles. The following year she recorded songs for the soundtrack
Soundtrack
A soundtrack can be recorded music accompanying and synchronized to the images of a motion picture, book, television program or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack of a film or TV show; or the physical area of a film that contains the...
to the film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings
The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings
The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings is a comedic sports film about a team of enterprising ex-Negro League baseball players in the era of racial segregation. Loosely based upon William Brashler's novel of the same name, it starred Billy Dee Williams, James Earl Jones and Richard Pryor...
starring Billy Dee Williams
Billy Dee Williams
William December "Billy Dee" Williams, Jr. is an American actor, artist, singer, and writer.-Early life:Williams was born in New York City, New York, the son of Loretta...
and James Earl Jones
James Earl Jones
James Earl Jones is an American actor. He is well-known for his distinctive bass voice and for his portrayal of characters of substance, gravitas and leadership...
. In 1975 Houston appeared on the Golden Globe Award
Golden Globe Award
The Golden Globe Award is an accolade bestowed by the 93 members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association recognizing excellence in film and television, both domestic and foreign...
broadcast performing the nominated song "On & On" and also was featured in a tribute to Berry Gordy
Berry Gordy
Berry Gordy, Jr. is an American record producer, and the founder of the Motown record label, as well as its many subsidiaries.-Early years:...
on that year's American Music Award broadcast singing "You've Made Me So Very Happy
You've Made Me So Very Happy
"You've Made Me So Very Happy" is a song written by Brenda Holloway, Patrice Holloway, Frank Wilson and Berry Gordy, and was released first as a single in 1967 by Holloway on the Tamla label...
". That year Houston's version of "Do You Know Where You're Going To
Theme from Mahogany (Do You Know Where You're Going To)
"Theme from Mahogany " is a song written by Michael Masser and Gerald Goffin, and recorded by American singer Diana Ross as the theme to the 1975 Motown/Paramount film Mahogany...
" was being set for single release when it was pulled and the song given to Diana Ross
Diana Ross
Diana Ernestine Earle Ross is an American singer, record producer, and actress. Ross was lead singer of the Motown group The Supremes during the 1960s. After leaving the group in 1970, Ross began a solo career that included successful ventures into film and Broadway...
to serve as the theme song for the movie Mahogany. In 1976 Houston sang backing vocals
Backing vocalist
A backing vocalist or backing singer is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists...
for Motown labelmate Jermaine Jackson
Jermaine Jackson
Jermaine La Jaune Jackson is an American singer, bassist, composer, a member of The Jackson 5, older brother of American pop stars Michael Jackson and Janet Jackson and occasional film director...
on his album My Name Is Jermaine.
Don't Leave Me This Way & aftermath
Houston released her third album Any Way You Like ItAny Way You Like It
Any Way You Like It is the third album by Thelma Houston, released in 1976 on Motown Records. The album features energetic Disco songs with fierce vocal performances by Houston. Includes the major hit singles, "Don't Leave Me This Way", "If It's The Last Thing I Do" and the title track, which...
in 1976. The first single released was her version of Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes
Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes
Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes were an American singing group, one of the most popular Philadelphia soul groups of the 1970s. The group's repertoire included soul, R&B, doo-wop, and disco...
' 1975 song "Don't Leave Me This Way
Don't Leave Me This Way
"Don't Leave Me This Way" is an R&B/soul/disco song written by Kenneth Gamble, Leon Huff, and Cary Gilbert. First charting as a hit for Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes, an act on Gamble & Huff's Philadelphia International label in 1975, "Don't Leave Me This Way" was later a hit single for both...
". In February 1977 the track hit #1 in the U.S. on both the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
and R&B
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,...
charts as well as on the Club Play Singles
Hot Dance Club Play
The Hot Dance Club Songs chart is a weekly national survey of the songs that are most popular in U.S. dance clubs...
chart. "Don't Leave Me This Way" won Houston the Best Female R&B Vocal Performance
Grammy Award for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance
The Grammy Award for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance was an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to female recording artists for quality R&B songs...
at the Grammys for 1977. Besides its US success "Don't Leave Me This Way" became a hit in at least twelve countries, including the UK
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
where it reached #13 despite the concurrent single release of the Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes which reached #5. Also in 1977 Houston teamed up with Jerry Butler
Jerry Butler (singer)
Jerry Butler is an American soul singer and songwriter. He is also noted as being the original lead singer of the R&B vocal group, The Impressions, as well as a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee.Butler is also an American politician...
to record the album Thelma & Jerry
Thelma & Jerry
Thelma & Jerry is Thelma Houston's fourth album for Motown Records, released in 1977. It is also the first of two vocal duet albums Houston did with Jerry Butler. Includes the R&B chart hit, "It's A Lifetime Thing."-Track listing:...
and that November 1977 she co-starred in the film Game Show Models. It was announced in February 1977 that Houston would star as Bessie Smith
Bessie Smith
Bessie Smith was an American blues singer.Sometimes referred to as The Empress of the Blues, Smith was the most popular female blues singer of the 1920s and 1930s...
in a filmation of the play Me and Bessie
Me And Bessie
Me and Bessie is a musical revue about the life and career of blues singer Bessie Smith. The basically one-woman show, conceived and written by Will Holt and Linda Hopkins and performed by Hopkins, features songs by Lil Green, Clarence Williams, Henry Creamer, Andy Razaf, and Jimmy Cox, among...
, to be produced by Motown; after an announcement that December that Houston was set to portray Bessie Smith in a biopic to be produced in 1978 by Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production and distribution company. Columbia Pictures now forms part of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. It is one of the leading film companies...
nothing more was heard of the project.
The second single from Any Way You Like It was Houston's rendition of "If It's the Last Thing I Do", a standard written by Saul Chaplin
Saul Chaplin
Saul Chaplin was an American composer and musical director.He was born Saul Kaplan in Brooklyn, New York.He had worked on stage, screen and television since the days of Tin Pan Alley...
and Sammy Cahn
Sammy Cahn
Sammy Cahn was an American lyricist, songwriter and musician. He is best known for his romantic lyrics to films and Broadway songs, as well as stand-alone songs premiered by recording companies in the Greater Los Angeles Area...
; the track had been recorded and prepped for single release in 1973 but canceled. The impact of "If It's the Last Thing I Do" was far less than that of "Don't Leave Me This Way", as the former fell short of both the R&B Top Ten and the Pop Top 40. With the lead single from her 1978 album The Devil in Me
The Devil in Me
The Devil in Me is the fifth album by Thelma Houston released in 1978. While this album did not duplicate the commercial success of the Any Way You Like It album, it became a modest commercial success...
: "I'm Here Again", Houston returned to the style of "Don't Leave Me This Way" without recapturing the earlier single's success. Houston did enjoy considerable commercial success in 1978 via the inclusion of her track "Love Masterpiece" on the Thank God It's Friday soundtrack album which sold double platinum but her own album release that year Ready to Roll
Ready to Roll
Ready to Roll is the sixth album by Thelma Houston, released in 1978 on Motown Records. Unlike some of the singles on her previous album The Devil in Me, Ready to Rolls singles "Midnight Mona", "I Wanna Start My Life All Over Again", "Can't We Try" and "Am I Expecting Too Much" did not receive much...
again failing to consolidate the stardom augured by "Don't Leave Me This Way". The album's second single: "Saturday Night, Sunday Morning", gradually accrued airplay entering the national charts in March 1979 and ascending as high as #34 (#19 R&B) that June. "Saturday Night, Sunday Morning" was issued on a new album by Houston: Ride to the Rainbow
Ride to the Rainbow
Ride to the Rainbow is Thelma Houston's eighth studio album. The album was not the commercial success it deserved to be initially because the albums' most compelling songs never were released as singles. Lax promotion also played a role in the albums' slow sales upon its original release...
but the track's relative success was not enough to forestall Houston's planned departure from Motown.
The 1980s
Houston continued recording into the 1980s, beginning with the RCARCA Records
RCA Records is one of the flagship labels of Sony Music Entertainment. The RCA initials stand for Radio Corporation of America , which was the parent corporation from 1929 to 1985 and a partner from 1985 to 1986.RCA's Canadian unit is Sony's oldest label...
release Breakwater Cat
Breakwater Cat
Breakwater Cat is the tenth album by Thelma Houston and was released in 1980 on RCA Records. The 12" released of "Suspicious Minds" became a popular club hit.- Track listing :# "Suspicious Minds"# "Down The Backstairs of My Life"# "Understand Your Man"...
which reunited her with Jimmy Webb who'd produced her debut Sunshower and which like their earlier collaboration was a commercially overlooked critical success. In the 22 December 1984 Billboard magazine interview, Houston admitted to "'no real commercial success' since the single 'Don't Leave Me This Way' broke on the Pop charts in late 1976" indicating that the disco backlash had left her with "no real base of audience support" and that her current album Qualifying Heat, executive produced by Houston herself, was a concentrated initiative to restore her as a viable chart presence; the album featured three cuts from Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis
Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis
James Samuel "Jimmy Jam" Harris III and Terry Steven Lewis are an American R&B and pop-music songwriting and record production team...
- including the single "You Used to Hold Me So Tight
You Used To Hold Me So Tight
"You Used to Hold Me So Tight" is a song written and produced by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis for American singer Thelma Houston's 1984 album Qualifying Heat. Released as a single in mid-1984, "You Used to Hold Me So Tight" became a success on the U.S...
" - and production work from Glen Ballard
Glen Ballard
Glen Ballard is an American songwriter and record producer, best known for co-writing and producing Alanis Morissette's Jagged Little Pill , which won Grammy Award for "Best Rock Album", and "Album of the Year" amongst others, and is ranked by the Rolling Stone amongst The 500 Greatest Albums of...
, Dennis Lambert, Cliff Magness and - in his first known recording work - Lenny Kravitz
Lenny Kravitz
Leonard Albert "Lenny" Kravitz is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and arranger, whose "retro" style incorporates elements of rock, soul, R&B, funk, reggae, hard rock, psychedelic, folk and ballads...
(then billed as Romeo Blue), who each produced a cut apiece. "You Use to Hold Me So Tight" became Houston's most successful post-'70s' release with a #13 R&B peak but it parent album was a comparative failure - charting #41 R&B - and Houston would not cut another album for six years.
The constant ranking of her '80s releases of the '80s as moderate or minor R&B hits led Houston to concentrate on alternate exposure: having appeared in the independent film The Seventh Dwarf in 1979, Houston made guest-starring appearances into the mid-1980s in several popular television program
Television program
A television program , also called television show, is a segment of content which is intended to be broadcast on television. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series...
s including Cagney & Lacey
Cagney & Lacey
Cagney & Lacey is an American television series that originally aired on the CBS television network for seven seasons from October 8, 1981 to May 16, 1988...
, Simon & Simon
Simon & Simon
Simon & Simon is an American detective television series starring Gerald McRaney and Jameson Parker.-History:The original 1978 pilot called Pirate's Key was set in Florida...
- a January 1986 appearance that featured her performing "You Used to Hold Me So Tight" - and Faerie Tale Theatre
Faerie Tale Theatre
Faerie Tale Theatre is a live-action children's television anthology series retelling popular fairy tales. Shelley Duvall serves as narrator, host and executive producer of the program, and occasionally stars in episodes...
. Houston also appeared in the 1987 CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
after school special
After school special
The American Broadcasting Company coined the term after school special in 1972 with a series of made for television movies, usually dealing with controversial or socially relevant issues, that were generally broadcast in the late afternoon and meant to be viewed by school age children, particularly...
Little Miss Perfect (1987) - as "Prison Singer" - in the 1988 film And God Created Woman
And God Created Woman (1988 film)
And God Created Woman is a 1988 film that starred Rebecca De Mornay and Vincent Spano. It is a remake of the 1958 French film Et Dieu… créa la femme starring Brigitte Bardot....
.
On the 19 May 1985 NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
broadcast Motown Returns to the Apollo Houston performed "What a Diff'rence a Day Makes
What a Diff'rence a Day Makes!
What a Diff'rence a Day Makes! is a 1959 album by Dinah Washington, arranged by Belford Hendricks, featuring her hit single of the same name.The title track won Washington the Grammy Award for Best Rhythm & Blues Recording at the Grammy Awards of 1960....
" in the guise of Dinah Washington
Dinah Washington
Dinah Washington, born Ruth Lee Jones , was an American blues, R&B and jazz singer. She has been cited as "the most popular black female recording artist of the '50s", and called "The Queen of the Blues"...
. Houston continued to contribute to movie soundtracks, recording "Keep It Light" for the 1985 film Into the Night and she remade Bill Withers
Bill Withers
William Harrison "Bill" Withers, Jr. is an American singer-songwriter and musician who performed and recorded from 1970 until 1985. Some of his best-known songs are "Lean on Me", "Ain't No Sunshine", "Use Me", "Just the Two of Us", "Lovely Day", and "Grandma's Hands"...
' "Lean on Me
Lean on Me (song)
"Lean on Me" is a song written and released by Bill Withers in 1972.It was his first and only number one on both the soul singles and the Billboard Hot 100. It is ranked number 205 on the Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. Numerous cover versions have been recorded, and it is one of...
" for the 1989 film entitled Lean on Me
Lean on Me (film)
Lean on Me is a 1989 dramatized biographical written by Michael Schiffer, directed by John G. Avildsen and starring Morgan Freeman. Lean on Me is loosely based on the story of Joe Louis Clark, a real life inner city high school principal in Paterson, New Jersey, whose school is at risk of being...
. Houston also co-wrote and sang back-up on the song "Be Yourself" for Patti LaBelle
Patti LaBelle
Patricia Louise Holte-Edwards , better known under the stage name, Patti LaBelle, is a Grammy Award winning American singer, author and actress who has spent over 50 years in the music industry...
's 1989 album of the same title.
The 1990s
The fall of 1990 saw the release of Houston's first album in six years, Throw You DownThrow You Down
Throw You Down is Thelma Houston's fourteenth studio album. It was her only album for Reprise Records, released in mid 1990. Although the lyrics of the songs are production by Richard Perry is solid and very catchy, the album got lost in the shuffle. Houston is in excellent form, turning in one of...
, a long-planned collaboration with producer Richard Perry
Richard Perry
Richard Perry is an American music producer. Perry began as a performer in his adolescence, but shifted gears after graduating college and rose through the late 1960s and early 1970s to become a highly successful and popular record producer with over a dozen gold records to his credit by 1982...
which briefly extended Houston's career as a minor R&B chart presence. The title song reached #5 on the U.S. dance chart. A remix of "Don't Leave Me This Way" was released, and once again charted on the Hot Dance Club Play chart at #19 in 1995. Subsequent singles include "I Need Somebody Tonight" and "All of That".
In 1994, Houston participated in an AIDS benefit at New York’s Algonquin Hotel
Algonquin Hotel
The Algonquin Hotel is a historic hotel located at 59 West 44th Street in Manhattan . The hotel has been designated as a New York City Historic Landmark....
, performing gospel music with Phoebe Snow
Phoebe Snow
Phoebe Snow was a fictional character created by Earnest Elmo Calkins to promote the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad. The advertising campaign, based on a live model, using impressionistic techniques and a fictional character, was one of the first of its kind.-The advertising...
, Chaka Khan
Chaka Khan
Chaka Khan , frequently known as the Queen of Funk, is a 10-time Grammy Award winning American singer-songwriter who gained fame in the 1970s as the frontwoman and focal point of the funk band Rufus. While still a member of the group in 1978, Khan embarked on a successful solo career...
and CeCe Peniston
CeCe Peniston
CeCe Peniston is an African American recording artist and former beauty queen. At the beginning of the nineties, she was considered to be one of the most successful dance club artists in the history of the U.S...
as "Sisters of Glory
Sisters of Glory
The Sisters of Glory was a US gospel band that included Thelma Houston, CeCe Peniston, Phoebe Snow, Lois Walden, and Albertina Walker.After performing for the Pope John Paul II in Rome at the Vatican, the quintet released their only album entitled Good News in Hard Times, which scored at number...
". Intended as a one-off performance troupe, the Sisters of Glory
Sisters of Glory
The Sisters of Glory was a US gospel band that included Thelma Houston, CeCe Peniston, Phoebe Snow, Lois Walden, and Albertina Walker.After performing for the Pope John Paul II in Rome at the Vatican, the quintet released their only album entitled Good News in Hard Times, which scored at number...
remained together - with the addition of Mavis Staples
Mavis Staples
Mavis Staples is an American rhythm and blues and gospel singer, actress and civil rights activist who recorded with The Staple Singers, her family's band.-Biography:...
and Lois Walden, and without Chaka Khan - to perform at Woodstock '94
Woodstock '94
Woodstock '94, often called the "commercial Woodstock" or "Mudstock", was a music festival organized to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the original Woodstock Festival of 1969...
. Houston performed with the Sisters of Glory
Sisters of Glory
The Sisters of Glory was a US gospel band that included Thelma Houston, CeCe Peniston, Phoebe Snow, Lois Walden, and Albertina Walker.After performing for the Pope John Paul II in Rome at the Vatican, the quintet released their only album entitled Good News in Hard Times, which scored at number...
for the Pope in Vatican City
Vatican City
Vatican City , or Vatican City State, in Italian officially Stato della Città del Vaticano , which translates literally as State of the City of the Vatican, is a landlocked sovereign city-state whose territory consists of a walled enclave within the city of Rome, Italy. It has an area of...
and in 1995 Houston, Phoebe Snow
Phoebe Snow
Phoebe Snow was a fictional character created by Earnest Elmo Calkins to promote the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad. The advertising campaign, based on a live model, using impressionistic techniques and a fictional character, was one of the first of its kind.-The advertising...
, CeCe Peniston
CeCe Peniston
CeCe Peniston is an African American recording artist and former beauty queen. At the beginning of the nineties, she was considered to be one of the most successful dance club artists in the history of the U.S...
, Lois Walden and Albertina Walker
Albertina Walker
-Early years:Walker was born in Chicago, Illinois, to Ruben and Camille Coleman Walker. Her mother was born in Houston County, Georgia, and her father in Bibb County, Georgia. They moved to Chicago between 1917-1920 where they lived out their lives. Albertina had four siblings born in Bibb County...
recorded the Warner Brothers
Warner Bros. Records
Warner Bros. Records Inc. is an American record label. It was the foundation label of the present-day Warner Music Group, and now operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of that corporation. It maintains a close relationship with its former parent, Warner Bros. Pictures, although the two companies...
album Good News In Hard Times as the Sisters of Glory
Sisters of Glory
The Sisters of Glory was a US gospel band that included Thelma Houston, CeCe Peniston, Phoebe Snow, Lois Walden, and Albertina Walker.After performing for the Pope John Paul II in Rome at the Vatican, the quintet released their only album entitled Good News in Hard Times, which scored at number...
.
Houston provided backing vocals
Backing vocalist
A backing vocalist or backing singer is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists...
on guitarist
Guitarist
A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...
Scott Henderson
Scott Henderson
Scott Henderson is a fusion and blues guitarist best known for his work with the band Tribal Tech.-Early days:Born in West Palm Beach, Florida, Henderson began playing guitar at an early age...
's 1997 Atlantic
Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...
album, Tore Down House
Tore Down House
Tore Down House is a 1997 album from guitarist Scott Henderson. For this second solo-album , he once again wrote and recorded a collection of blues music. The album features mostly vocal tunes, mixed with three instrumental tracks...
. and in 1998 she made cameo appearance
Cameo appearance
A cameo role or cameo appearance is a brief appearance of a known person in a work of the performing arts, such as plays, films, video games and television...
s in two films: in 54
54 (film)
54 is a 1998 drama film written and directed by Mark Christopher, starring Ryan Phillippe, Salma Hayek, and Neve Campbell...
Houston portrayed herself singing "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas
Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas
"Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" is a song introduced by Judy Garland in the 1944 MGM musical Meet Me in St. Louis. Frank Sinatra later recorded a version with modified lyrics, which has become more common than the original. The song was written by Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane...
" supposedly at Studio 54
Studio 54
Studio 54 was a highly popular discotheque from 1977 until 1991, located at 254 West 54th Street in Manhattan, New York, USA. It was originally the Gallo Opera House, opening in 1927, after which it changed names several times, eventually becoming a CBS radio and television studio. In 1977 it...
, and in Beloved
Beloved (film)
Beloved is a 1998 film based on Toni Morrison's 1987 novel of the same name. It was directed by Jonathan Demme, and was produced by Oprah Winfrey's Harpo Productions. The film stars Oprah Winfrey and Danny Glover.-Plot:...
Houston played 'One of The Thirty Women'.
Recent times
In 2000, Houston toured successfully throughout AustraliaAustralia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
in the stage musical
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
version of Fame
Fame (musical)
A stage musical based on the 1980 musical film Fame has been staged under two titles. The first, 'Fame – The Musical' conceived and developed by David De Silva, is a musical with a book by Jose Fernandez, music by Steve Margoshes and lyrics by Jacques Levy. The musical premiered in 1988 in Miami,...
. Upon returning to the U.S. Houston toured with Nile Rodgers
Nile Rodgers
Nile Gregory Rodgers is an American musician, producer, composer, arranger, and guitarist.-Biography:...
and Chic
Chic (band)
Chic was an African American disco and R&B band that was organized during 1976 by guitarist Nile Rodgers and bassist Bernard Edwards. It is known best for its commercially successful disco songs, including "Dance, Dance, Dance " , "Everybody Dance" , "Le Freak" , "I Want Your Love" , "Good Times"...
, and with was among the opening acts of the originally intended finale of Cher
Cher
Cher is an American recording artist, television personality, actress, director, record producer and philanthropist. Referred to as the Goddess of Pop, she has won an Academy Award, a Grammy Award, an Emmy Award, three Golden Globes and a Cannes Film Festival Award among others for her work in...
's Farewell Tour
Living Proof: The Farewell Tour
Living Proof: The Farewell Tour is the seventh concert tour by American singer, Cher. The tour supported her twenty-fourth studio album, Living Proof and eleventh compilation album, The Very Best of Cher...
in Toronto on 31 October 2003. Houston regularly performs at Teatro ZinZanni
Teatro ZinZanni
Teatro ZinZanni is a circus dinner theater that began in the neighborhood of Lower Queen Anne in Seattle, Washington. It has since expanded to a site on the waterfront at Pier 29 on the San Francisco, California The Embarcadero....
in Seattle and San Francisco.
Her version of "Don't Leave Me This Way" continues to be popular today. In recent years she has been invited to sing this song on dozens of TV shows and specials including NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
's Today Show, ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
's Motown 45 and The Disco Ball...A 30-Year Celebration, and PBS
Public Broadcasting Service
The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....
' specials American Soundtrack: Rhythm, Love and Soul, Soul Superstars, and Old School Superstars. "Don't Leave Me This Way" was mentioned by VH1
VH1
VH1 or Vh1 is an American cable television network based in New York City. Launched on January 1, 1985 in the old space of Turner Broadcasting's short-lived Cable Music Channel, the original purpose of the channel was to build on the success of MTV by playing music videos, but targeting a slightly...
as being among the greatest dance songs in 2000, and was ranked number eighty-six on the channel's countdown of The 100 Greatest One-Hit Wonders. She won an episode of the NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
show Hit Me, Baby, One More Time with her renditions of her own hit and "Fallin'
Fallin'
"Fallin" is a song recorded, written, and produced by American recording artist Alicia Keys for her debut album, Songs in A Minor. Released to radio and music video outlets in 2001, it is generally considered her signature song. "Fallin'" became Keys' first number-one single in the United States...
" by Alicia Keys
Alicia Keys
Alicia Augello Cook , better known by her stage name Alicia Keys, is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and occasional actress. She was raised by a single mother in the Hell's Kitchen area of Manhattan in New York City. At age seven, Keys began playing the piano...
. On September 20, 2004, Houston's rendition of "Don't Leave Me This Way" was inducted into the Dance Music Hall of Fame
Dance Music Hall of Fame
The Dance Music Hall of Fame was created in 2003 when music industry veteran John Parker thought that something needed to be done to honor the creators and innovators of dance music...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
.
On August 14, 2007, Houston released her first studio album in seventeen years, A Woman's Touch
A Woman's Touch
A Woman's Touch is the seventeenth studio album by singer-songwriter, Thelma Houston. A Woman's Touch is an album that consists of her renditions of vintage R&B and Pop songs by male singers such as Luther Vandross, Marvin Gaye and Sting...
. The album features cover versions of songs by male artists such as Luther Vandross
Luther Vandross
Luther Ronzoni Vandross was an American singer-songwriter and record producer. During his career, Vandross sold over twenty-five million albums and won eight Grammy Awards including Best Male R&B Vocal Performance four times...
, Marvin Gaye
Marvin Gaye
Marvin Pentz Gay, Jr. , better known by his stage name Marvin Gaye, was an American singer-songwriter and musician with a three-octave vocal range....
, and Sting that Houston had been inspired by. The first single from the album was "Brand New Day". On August 20, 2007, Houston's 1984 album Qualifying Heat
Qualifying Heat
Qualifying Heat is the 13th album by Thelma Houston. While the back failed to make much impact in the Pop market, the album became a success in both the Urban and Club/Dance music markets...
was reissued as an import title in the U.S. with a bonus track.
She sang "Don't Leave Me This Way" on American Idol
American Idol
American Idol, titled American Idol: The Search for a Superstar for the first season, is a reality television singing competition created by Simon Fuller and produced by FremantleMedia North America and 19 Entertainment...
Wednesday April 22, 2009 and on
"America's Got Talent" on September 16, 2009.
Albums
Dunhill release- 1969: SunshowerSunshower (Thelma Houston album)Sunshower is the debut album of Thelma Houston released in 1969 on Dunhill Records. It was produced by Jimmy Webb and became a critically acclaimed album, it charted at #50 on the Billboard R&B charts....
Motown releases
- 1973: Thelma HoustonThelma Houston (1972)Thelma Houston is the second album by Thelma Houston, recorded in 1972 and released in 1973. The album includes the single, "Me and Bobby McGee"...
- 1976: Any Way You Like ItAny Way You Like ItAny Way You Like It is the third album by Thelma Houston, released in 1976 on Motown Records. The album features energetic Disco songs with fierce vocal performances by Houston. Includes the major hit singles, "Don't Leave Me This Way", "If It's The Last Thing I Do" and the title track, which...
- 1977: Thelma & JerryThelma & JerryThelma & Jerry is Thelma Houston's fourth album for Motown Records, released in 1977. It is also the first of two vocal duet albums Houston did with Jerry Butler. Includes the R&B chart hit, "It's A Lifetime Thing."-Track listing:...
– Thelma Houston and Jerry ButlerJerry Butler (singer)Jerry Butler is an American soul singer and songwriter. He is also noted as being the original lead singer of the R&B vocal group, The Impressions, as well as a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee.Butler is also an American politician... - 1978: The Devil in MeThe Devil in MeThe Devil in Me is the fifth album by Thelma Houston released in 1978. While this album did not duplicate the commercial success of the Any Way You Like It album, it became a modest commercial success...
- 1978: Ready to RollReady to RollReady to Roll is the sixth album by Thelma Houston, released in 1978 on Motown Records. Unlike some of the singles on her previous album The Devil in Me, Ready to Rolls singles "Midnight Mona", "I Wanna Start My Life All Over Again", "Can't We Try" and "Am I Expecting Too Much" did not receive much...
- 1978: Two to OneTwo to OneTwo to One is Thelma Houston's eighth studio album released on Motown Records in 1978. It was her second duets album with Jerry Butler.- Track listing :#"If It Would Never End"#"Find A Way"#"We Owe It To Yourselves"...
– Thelma Houston and Jerry Butler - 1979: Ride to the RainbowRide to the RainbowRide to the Rainbow is Thelma Houston's eighth studio album. The album was not the commercial success it deserved to be initially because the albums' most compelling songs never were released as singles. Lax promotion also played a role in the albums' slow sales upon its original release...
- 1982: Reachin' All AroundReachin' All AroundReachin' All Around is the tenth album by Thelma Houston released in 1982. The album consists of previously unreleased material recorded while at Motown Records. While the album did not become a major seller, it is well liked by her fans...
Sheffield Lab release
- 1975: I've Got the Music in MeI've Got the Music in Me (album)I've Got the Music In Me is the third album by Thelma Houston featuring Pressure Cooker.It was recorded live to master disc and was released by Sheffield Lab in 1975, Cat# Lab-2....
– with Pressure Cooker
RCA releases
- 1980: Breakwater CatBreakwater CatBreakwater Cat is the tenth album by Thelma Houston and was released in 1980 on RCA Records. The 12" released of "Suspicious Minds" became a popular club hit.- Track listing :# "Suspicious Minds"# "Down The Backstairs of My Life"# "Understand Your Man"...
- 1981: Never Gonna Be Another OneNever Gonna Be Another OneNever Gonna Be Another One is Thelma Houston's eleventh studio album, released in 1981. While the album did not make an impact on the pop charts, the album performed better in the urban and club/dance music markets. It includes the two major Hot Dance/Club Play chart hits, "If You Feel It" and "96...
MCA releases
- 1983: Thelma Houston (1983)Thelma Houston (1983)Thelma Houston 1983 is Thelma Houston's twelfth studio album and was her debut album on MCA Records. The album only generated commercial interest in the Urban music market...
- 1984: Qualifying HeatQualifying HeatQualifying Heat is the 13th album by Thelma Houston. While the back failed to make much impact in the Pop market, the album became a success in both the Urban and Club/Dance music markets...
Reprise release
- 1990: Throw You DownThrow You DownThrow You Down is Thelma Houston's fourteenth studio album. It was her only album for Reprise Records, released in mid 1990. Although the lyrics of the songs are production by Richard Perry is solid and very catchy, the album got lost in the shuffle. Houston is in excellent form, turning in one of...
Italian-only release (Fonit Cetra CDL378)
- 1994: Thelma Houston (1994)
Shout Factory release
- 2007: A Woman's TouchA Woman's TouchA Woman's Touch is the seventeenth studio album by singer-songwriter, Thelma Houston. A Woman's Touch is an album that consists of her renditions of vintage R&B and Pop songs by male singers such as Luther Vandross, Marvin Gaye and Sting...
Other
- 2010: Divas of Disco: LiveDivas of Disco: Live-Credits and personnel:* Linda Clifford - lead vocal* Janice Marie Johnson - lead vocal* Thelma Houston - lead vocal* France Joli - lead vocal* CeCe Peniston - lead vocal* Jean McClain - back vocal* Sabrina Sloan - back vocal* Ed Roth - music director, piano...
(with CeCe PenistonCeCe PenistonCeCe Peniston is an African American recording artist and former beauty queen. At the beginning of the nineties, she was considered to be one of the most successful dance club artists in the history of the U.S...
, Linda CliffordLinda CliffordLinda Clifford is an American R&B, disco and house music singer and actress, who scored hits from the 1970s to the 1980s, most notably "If My Friends Could See Me Now", "Bridge over Troubled Water", "Runaway Love" and "Red Light"....
, A Taste of HoneyA Taste of Honey (band)A Taste of Honey was the name of an American recording act, formed in 1971 by associates Perry Kibble and Donald Ray Johnson. In 1978 they had one of the best known chart-toppers of the disco era, "Boogie Oogie Oogie"...
and France JoliFrance JoliFrance Joli is a Canadian singer, born 1963, who is best known for the disco classic "Come to Me."-Teen stardom:A native of Montreal, Quebec, Joli grew up in the Montreal suburb of Dorion...
)
Singles
| Year | Single | Chart positions | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| U.S. United States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district... Billboard Hot 100 Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday... *** Cash Box Top 100 |
U.S. R&B Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,... |
U.S. Dance Hot Dance Club Play The Hot Dance Club Songs chart is a weekly national survey of the songs that are most popular in U.S. dance clubs... |
U.S. Dance airplay Hot Dance Airplay Dance/Mix Show Airplay is a monitored electronic dance music radio chart that is featured weekly in Billboard magazine. The chart came about as a result of the small but influential impact of electronic dance music on the radio in the United States and the stations that program it... |
Various | ||
| 1966 | "Baby Mine" | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1967 | "Don't Cry, My Soldier Boy" | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1969 | "Everybody Gets to Go to the Moon" | — | — | — | — | — |
| "Sunshower" | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "Jumpin' Jack Flash Jumpin' Jack Flash "Jumpin' Jack Flash" is a song by English rock band The Rolling Stones, released as a single in 1968. Called "supernatural Delta blues by way of Swinging London" by Rolling Stone, the song was perceived by some as the band's return to their blues roots after the psychedelia of their preceding... " |
— | — | — | — | — | |
| 1970 | "Save the Country" | 70 *** 83 | — | — | — | — |
| "The Good Earth" | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 1972 | "I Want to Go Back There Again" | — | — | — | — | — |
| "Me and Bobby McGee" | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "Piano Man" | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "What If?" | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "I'm Just a Part of Yesterday" | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 1974 | "You've Been Doing Wrong for So Long" | — | 64 | — | — | — |
| 1976 | "Don't Leave Me This Way Don't Leave Me This Way "Don't Leave Me This Way" is an R&B/soul/disco song written by Kenneth Gamble, Leon Huff, and Cary Gilbert. First charting as a hit for Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes, an act on Gamble & Huff's Philadelphia International label in 1975, "Don't Leave Me This Way" was later a hit single for both... " |
1 *** 3 | 1 | 1 | — |  #6  #18  #4  #13  #5  #15  #4  #17  #1  #11  #4 #13 |
| "Any Way You Like It" | — | — | 1 | — | — | |
| "If It's the Last Thing I Do" | 47 *** 85 | 12 | — | — | #81 |
|
| 1977 | "I'm Here Again" | — | 21 | 18 | — | #34 #9 |
| "I Can't Go on Living Without Your Love" | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "It's a Lifetime Thing" | — | 84 | — | — | — | |
| "Don't Pity Me" (with Jerry Butler Jerry Butler (singer) Jerry Butler is an American soul singer and songwriter. He is also noted as being the original lead singer of the R&B vocal group, The Impressions, as well as a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee.Butler is also an American politician... ) |
— | — | — | — | — | |
| 1978 | "I'm Not Strong Enough (To Love You)" | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1979 | "Love Masterpiece" (from Thank God It's Friday Thank God It's Friday The triple album was, unlike the movie, a commercial success. It contained contributions from some of the biggest names in disco at the time, including Donna Summer, Diana Ross, Thelma Houston, The Commodores, and many others.... ) |
— | — | — | — | — |
| "Saturday Night, Sunday Morning" | 34 *** 44 | 19 | 33 | — | #38 #14 |
|
| "Love Machine Love Machine (The Miracles song) "Love Machine" is a 1976 number-one single recorded by Motown group The Miracles, taken from their album City of Angels. This single was one of two Billboard Hot 100 Top 40 hits recorded by The Miracles with Billy Griffin as lead vocalist; the other is 1973's "Do It Baby". Griffin had replaced... " |
— | — | — | — | — | |
| 1980 | "Suspicious Minds" | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1981 | "If You Feel It" | — | 35 | 6 | — | #27 #42 #48 |
| "96 Tears 96 Tears "96 Tears" is a popular song recorded by ? in 1966. It hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in the U.S. and on the RPM 100 in Canada and is ranked #210 on the Rolling Stone list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.-History:... " |
— | 76 | 22 | — | — | |
| 1983 | "Working Girl" | — | 46 | — | — | — |
| "Just Like All the Rest" | — | 80 | — | — | — | |
| 1984 | "You Used to Hold Me So Tight You Used To Hold Me So Tight "You Used to Hold Me So Tight" is a song written and produced by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis for American singer Thelma Houston's 1984 album Qualifying Heat. Released as a single in mid-1984, "You Used to Hold Me So Tight" became a success on the U.S... " |
— | 13 | 7 | — | #49 |
| "What a Woman Feels Inside"/"Fantasy and Heartbreak" | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 1985 | "I'd Rather Spend the Bad Times with You, Than the Good Times with Someone New" | — | — | 4 | — | — |
| "(I Guess) It Must Be Love" | — | 59 | — | — | #80 | |
| "Why Do People Fall in Love" (with Dennis Edwards Dennis Edwards Dennis Edwards is a soul and R&B singer, most noted for being one of Motown act The Temptations' lead singers replacing David Ruffin. He is the father of Issa Pointer, whose mother is Ruth Pointer of The Pointer Sisters.-Career:... ) |
— | — | — | — | — | |
| "Moonlight Serenade" | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "In the Mood" (from Into the Night) | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "My Lucille" (with B. B. King B. B. King Riley B. King , known by the stage name B.B. King, is an American blues guitarist and singer-songwriter.Rolling Stone magazine ranked him at No.3 on its list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time. According to Edward M... )/"Keep It Light" |
— | — | — | — | — | |
| 1989 | "Lean on Me Lean on Me (song) "Lean on Me" is a song written and released by Bill Withers in 1972.It was his first and only number one on both the soul singles and the Billboard Hot 100. It is ranked number 205 on the Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. Numerous cover versions have been recorded, and it is one of... " |
— | 73 | — | — | — |
| 1990 | "Hold On" | — | — | — | — | — |
| "Out of My Hands" | — | 82 | — | — | — | |
| "Throw You Down"/"What He Was" | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 1991 | "High" | — | 66 | — | — | — |
| "Throw You Down" | — | — | 6 | — | — | |
| 1996 | "Don't Leave Me This Way" (Junior Vasquez Junior Vasquez Junior Vasquez, , is an American club DJ and remixer/producer.-Career:... '96 Version) |
— | — | 19 | — | #35 |
| "I Need Somebody Tonight" | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 1998 | "All of That" | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1999 | "Let It Be" (with Roger Daltrey Roger Daltrey Roger Harry Daltrey, CBE , is an English singer and actor, best known as the founder and lead singer of English rock band The Who. He has maintained a musical career as a solo artist and has also worked in the film industry, acting in a large number of films, theatre and television roles and also... ) |
— | — | — | — | — |
| 2004 | "Don't Leave Me This Way" (Soultans Soultans Soultans is an all-male, r&b band notable predominantly in Europe, but also for signing on for a short contract with BMG. The Soultans originally consisted of three members and is based in Germany, although two of its members have English ties. The group resides under the German label, Coconut... Mix) |
— | — | — | — | — |
| 2007 | "Brand New Day" | — | — | 20 | 30 | — |
Films
- 1975: Death ScreamDeath ScreamDeath Scream is a made-for-television film first aired in the USA on September 26, 1975. The film is based on an actual event concerning the real-life account of "a young woman whose murder was witnessed by fifteen of her neighbors who did nothing to help and refused to cooperate with the...
— Lady Wing Ding - 1977: Game Show Models — Dana Sheridan
- 1979: The Seventh Dwarf
- 1988: And God Created WomanAnd God Created Woman (1988 film)And God Created Woman is a 1988 film that starred Rebecca De Mornay and Vincent Spano. It is a remake of the 1958 French film Et Dieu… créa la femme starring Brigitte Bardot....
— prison singer - 1998: 5454 (film)54 is a 1998 drama film written and directed by Mark Christopher, starring Ryan Phillippe, Salma Hayek, and Neve Campbell...
— herself - 1998: BelovedBeloved (film)Beloved is a 1998 film based on Toni Morrison's 1987 novel of the same name. It was directed by Jonathan Demme, and was produced by Oprah Winfrey's Harpo Productions. The film stars Oprah Winfrey and Danny Glover.-Plot:...
— one of The Thirty Women
Television (guest)
- 1969: The Price of Fame - Guest singer, singing "Jumpin' Jack Flash"
- 1971: The Marty Feldman Comedy MachineThe Marty Feldman Comedy MachineThe Marty Feldman Comedy Machine was a 1971 comedy-variety sketch show starring British comedian, Marty Feldman. Co-produced by ABC TV in America and ATV in England and filmed at Elstree Studios, it featured opening and closing credits by Terry Gilliam, as well as featuring guest appearances by...
— various characteres - 1980: The Two Ronnies - Guest singer, singing " The Candyman"
- 1985: Cagney & LaceyCagney & LaceyCagney & Lacey is an American television series that originally aired on the CBS television network for seven seasons from October 8, 1981 to May 16, 1988...
— Ellie Hendricks - 1986: Simon & SimonSimon & SimonSimon & Simon is an American detective television series starring Gerald McRaney and Jameson Parker.-History:The original 1978 pilot called Pirate's Key was set in Florida...
— Venutia - 1986: Tall Tales & LegendsTall Tales & LegendsTall Tales & Legends is a series created by Shelley Duvall, following her success with her first series, Faerie Tale Theatre. It ran from 1985-1987 on Showtime and comprised nine episodes, adapted from various American-based stories of bravery....
— Edna - 1987: Little Miss Perfect — Ms. Bonner
Soundtracks
- 1976: The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor KingsThe Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor KingsThe Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings is a comedic sports film about a team of enterprising ex-Negro League baseball players in the era of racial segregation. Loosely based upon William Brashler's novel of the same name, it starred Billy Dee Williams, James Earl Jones and Richard Pryor...
— "Steal on Home", "Razzle Dazzle" - 1976: Norman... Is That You? — "One Out of Every Six"
- 1978: Thank God It's FridayThank God It's FridayThe triple album was, unlike the movie, a commercial success. It contained contributions from some of the biggest names in disco at the time, including Donna Summer, Diana Ross, Thelma Houston, The Commodores, and many others....
— "Love Masterpiece" - 1984: Getting Physical — "Hot Dance", "To Be Free"
- 1985: Into the Night — "Keep It Light"
- 1989: Lean on MeLean on Me (film)Lean on Me is a 1989 dramatized biographical written by Michael Schiffer, directed by John G. Avildsen and starring Morgan Freeman. Lean on Me is loosely based on the story of Joe Louis Clark, a real life inner city high school principal in Paterson, New Jersey, whose school is at risk of being...
— "Lean on MeLean on Me (song)"Lean on Me" is a song written and released by Bill Withers in 1972.It was his first and only number one on both the soul singles and the Billboard Hot 100. It is ranked number 205 on the Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. Numerous cover versions have been recorded, and it is one of...
"
See also
- List of number-one hits (United States)
- List of artists who reached number one on the Hot 100 (U.S.)
- List of number-one dance hits (United States)
- List of artists who reached number one on the U.S. Dance chart