| Thelma Houston |
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Thelma Houston (born May 7 1946 ) is an African - American R&B singer. She scored a #1 hit in 1977 with her cover of the song "Don't Leave Me This Way". BIOGRAPHY The daughter of a Cotton picker mother, Houston was born in Leland, Mississippi . She and her three sisters grew up primarily in Long Beach, California . After marrying and having two children, she joined the Al Reynolds Singers band. There, she met Marc Gordon, who signed her as a recording artist with Dunhill Records . In 1969 , Houston released her first Album . In 1971 , she went on to sign with Motown Records , but she failed to score any big hits for some time. In April of that same year she joined the cast of The Marty Feldman Comedy Machine , playing various characters during the shows skits. However, the show was canceled in August and for the next several years Thelma's work was limited to demo recordings and performing at small venues. So she went into acting in 1975, appearing in the made-for-TV movie ''Death Scream''. Then in 1976 she appeared in ''The Bingo Long Travelling All Stars and Motor Kings'', alongside Billy Dee Williams and James Earl Jones . That same year she sang backgrounds for Motown labelmate Jermaine Jackson . 1976 was the year that she recorded her ''Any Way You Like It'' album. In February of 1977, the album's single "Don't Leave Me This Way" hit #1 on the U.S. '' Billboard '' pop and R&B charts. It had been a hit previously with Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes . Her version incorporated some elements of the current Disco style, and it became a popular hit in dance clubs, and has come to be regarded as one of the major songs of the disco era. Later on that year she teamed-up with Jerry Butler to record the album ''Thelma & Jerry''. In November of 1977 she co-starred in the film ''Game Show Models''. The following year she recorded the single "Love Masterpiece" for the disco/comedy film ''Thank God It's Friday'' (1978) starring disco queen Donna Summer and funk group The Commodores . In 1979 Houston released her 2nd biggest single, "Saturday Night, Sunday Morning" (#17 R&B, #34 Pop), from the ''Ride To The Rainbow'' album. Although Houston went on to record other albums, none of the singles from those albums were able to match the success of "Don't Leave Me This Way". So she decided to concentrate on her acting career, appearing in the 1979 independent film ''The Seventh Dwarf''. During the early-to-mid 80's she extended her acting career to television, guest starring on '' Cagney & Lacey '', '' Simon & Simon '', '' Fairy Tale Theater '', and the afterschool special ''Little Miss Perfect'' (1987), before returning to the silver screen, appearing as a prison singer in the 1988 film '' And God Created Woman '', starring Rebecca De Mornay . Houston decided to return to music in 1989 , when she recorded a new version of Bill Withers classic " Lean On Me " for the Morgan Freeman film of the same name. Then she co-wrote and sang back-up on the song '' Be Yourself '' for Patti LaBelle 's album of the same title. In the fall of 1990 she released her first album in over 5 years, entitled ''Throw You Down''. The title song reached #5 on Billboard 's Dance chart. By the mid-90's anything retro-disco was in demand and so a remix of Houston's anthem, " Don't Leave Me This Way ", was released and once again charted on Billboard's Dance chart at #19. She briefly returned to acting in 1998 with small roles in the films '' 54 '' (about the famed nightclub Studio 54 ) and Oprah Winfrey 's '' Beloved ''. In recent years Houston has kept herself busy, touring with Nile Rodgers & CHIC and with Cher on her ''Farewell'' concert tour. Her version of "Don't Leave Me This Way" continues to be popular today. In recent years she has been invited to sing her signature song on dozens of TV shows and specials including NBC's '' as being among the greatest dance songs in 2000 , and also being featured on a VH1 show about 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. DISCOGRAPHY Albums ; Dunhill release:
; Motown releases:
; RCA releases:
;Sheffield Lab release:
; MCA releases:
;Reprise release:
Singles
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