Sunday Divas / Three From the Hip: Melissa Manchester

Sunday Divas / Three From the Hip: 

Melissa Manchester

In my own, personal, big gay church, there is a wing dedicated to Those of the Heart. These are the singers, songwriters and muses who have spent a lifetime capturing various aspects of the human condition. Frequently, due to the whims of the music industry, their lives were not always their own... but they persevered... ultimately remaining true to their roles as seers of the heart. One such soul?

Melissa Manchester.

Hers was a struggle to preserve her voice and vision in the face of a frequently indifferent industry. That she came through it all without having a very public meltdown or catastrophic life event is a testament to just how strong a human being she is and how vital her talent. 

She began where most end up... as an earth mother. Wise beyond her years, her early releases on Bell Records were organic, funky, tender and wise. But when Bell became Arista and Clive Davis came into the picture, she began to be pressured to conform to whatever was standard in the industry at the time. 

Suddenly, her artistry became a secondary consideration. She morphed. She was a singer/songwriter. Then a vocalist. Then a glamor girl. Then a dance diva. 

She struggled with it. Fearing what was getting lost in the process, she even did her best to terminate her recording contract. 

Because she treasured the opportunity to be creative and needed music to be a part of her life, she was more than willing to explore new sounds, images and avenues. Sadly, life doesn't come with a road map, so its easy to get lost. 

And she did. 

Then she went away. And she looked down that road... 

And found herself staring back. 

She came home to herself, again.

The gospel according to her? 

Well, here's three from the hip, dropping from her lips.

The topic: Living the life...

"I left because I could no longer make records that sounded less and less like me. I tried to please people instead of believing in my own strength, until the only thing I could do was walk away. I was in such despair because I just - if I didn't have my music to connect with, I couldn't figure out what I was supposed to be doing. There was never a 'B' plan here; it was just this. So it took me a long time to find my way."

"Some of the songs really didn’t hold up and they didn’t move forward the point-of-view I had established earlier in my career: songs about affirmation, songs about not surrendering, songs about speaking your peace, songs about reaching out to a partner and saying, 'How do we get through this?' That was always my struggle. I couldn’t reconcile a lot of that, and there was nobody to talk to about it. It got harder and harder to make sense. While you’re busy being grateful for being given the shot, you also have to deal with what’s in front of you; and if it’s not good, it’s just difficult."

"The blessing for me of ageing and being a veteran artist and being a working artist still, very much so, is that I know what I know and I realize now what I didn't know. As I jokingly say, it's amazing how much you can accomplish while you're unconscious! That was me to a tee! I had enough intuitive sense to make the journey and surrender to those who knew more about the scene at the time. So I don't really have regrets about it because I couldn't have changed anything. I was in the state that I was in. What really kicks in later is your power of discernment, your ability to slow down, your ability to reframe. It's fantastic. That is the hard-won getting of wisdom that I so appreciate."

Midnight Blue - Melissa Manchester

Energy - Melissa Manchester

You Gotta Love The Life - Melissa Manchester

And one more parting shot...

"I see myself... As an artist, I’ve lived my life in chapters. I have been a composer, I have been a lyricist, I have been a substantial singer of beautiful songs, and some not-so-beautiful songs. I’m also a survivor of the ebbs and flows of a career."

If you would like to learn more about this extraordinary human being and songwriter, please read this exquisite article and interview regarding her years dabbling in electronic music during her final days at Arista and the creation of her lone album at MCA, Mathematics. 

And here's another... as she revisits a good portion of her career.