Maxine Nightingale--Right Back Where We Started From (1975)

     Maxine Nightingale had a good run on London's West End for several years. "Hair", "Jesus Christ Superstar", and "Godspell" among others. She had cut a few singles in the early 70's that went nowhere on the charts...and from that point made it clear she wasn't interested in recording solo again.

     It was in 1975 that Maxine went to the studio to lay backing vocals on a record for Al Matthews. The producer for the sessions, Pierre Tubbs was enamored by her voice and sought a friend, J. Vincent Edwards, to write a song for her. Edwards, who had worked with Nightingale before during the production of "Hair" convinced her to give the song a shot. It took quite a bit of convincing to bring her back, and in fact at first was insisting on being paid the normal studio rate (45.00 at the time) rather than getting a royalty. Thankfully, she was talked out of that because upon it's release, "Right Back Where We Started From" shot up the UK charts to #8, and #2 on later release in the US.

     Maxine had another top 10 hit in 1979 with, "Lead Me On", but has since spent more time with jazz oriented materials, and in the last several years, on the oldies circuit.