I’ve never been to the Philippines. I’d love to meet my fans and perform live before the Filipino audience!” – Melissa Manchester
by Vance Madrid
Nowadays, the definition of a famous celebrity or singer has evolved a bit. With the presence of social media, one gets fast-tracked right away to his or her dream. We still have the traditional movie stars and musicians, but then there are also the YouTube personalities or the Instagram sensations. This trend is making it easier for aspiring artists to succeed in the fastest way possible. One can even produce an album by means of crowdfunding. And that’s how award-winning singer-songwriter and actress Melissa Manchester recorded her 20th studio album. She subsequently launched an Indigogo (a popular social media platform) campaign to raise funds to independently release an album in 2013. “It is the democracy of music on a certain level. Anyone with a flashlight and a microphone can show up on YouTube. You can have a big career and never be played on the radio,” shares Manchester.
Two years after she has launched her crowdfunding project, Manchester was able to release ‘You Gotta Love the Life’ in January 9, 2015 and it has made it to #17 on the Billboard magazine Jazz Albums chart for the week of February 28, 2015. The new album features a duet with Dionne Warwick and collaborations with Al Jarreau and Stevie Wonder. “We took a big leap with the crowdfunding project where everyone has contributed to the campaign. It’s pretty amazing! I am grateful to the generous donors, it meant so much to me as an artist to gain their support,” she reveals.
Melissa Manchester may not exactly ring a bell to the younger generations. But her songs are still very popular. In fact, you can practically hear them being played everywhere, particularly in the Philippines. Manchester’s biggest hits are ‘Don’t Cry Out Loud’, ‘Midnight Blue’, ‘If This Love’ and ‘Looking Through the Eyes of Love’ (theme song from Ice Castles). Melissa also co-wrote the popular song “Whenever I Call You Friend”. Her greatest hit “You Should Hear How She Talks About You” won her a Grammy for Best Female Vocal Performance and peaked at No.5 on the Billboard charts.
Back in 2009, she was supposed to do a concert in the Philippines with Imelda Papin. Unfortunately, that didn’t pan out. Machester said in an interview that she has never been to the country where she remains quite popular. “I’ve never been to the Philippines, please get me there! I’d love to meet my fans and perform before the Filipino audience.”
Melissa grew up in the performing arts world. Her father, David Manchester, was a bassoonist with the New York Metropolitan Opera. “I was raised around the likes of Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Judy Garland and orchestras,” she recalled.
It was during the ‘80s that Melissa Manchester took some time off in favor of building a family. “I had left the industry for a while to raise my kids,” recounted the mother of two, Nathan, 26, and Hannah, 28. People would still recognize her, “One day, I was checking out at the grocery store. I was in line, my daughter was a baby and she was in the shopping cart seat. The cashier turned to me and said, ‘Oh, Melissa Manchester. Do you still sing?’ “You have to know how to shift that inner gear of humility and be able to say, ‘I do, indeed. All the time, every day.”
The artist, whose songs have been recorded by a diverse roster of singers, from Barbra Streisand to Alison Krauss, considers three major highlights in her career: “When I got a chance to play in ‘Sweeney Todd.’ I got a chance to sing some music that had been taken out from the Broadway version, so that was thrilling. Working with Ella Fitzgerald and doing an advertisement with her also made me feel elated. The night I won a Grammy, it was also where I met Leontyne Price. She changed my life completely after she extended her hand and said, ‘Diva.’
With her latest album, You Gotta Love The Life, Melissa Manchester celebrates not only 40 years as a Grammy-winning performer and songwriter, but a renewed independence and vitality. For the past five years, Melissa is still very much active as she teaches The Art of Conversational Singing at the University of Southern California.
“You Gotta Love The Life is made up of a wide variety of classics and original songs. “These are some songs I’ve been performing for years and my fans have said to me, over and over, “Record these, already!” So here they come.”
“I’ve dedicated half of this new album to saluting other great singers and songwriters. The second half reflects my own journey with new original songs. The first single, which live audiences always sing along with (to my delight), is the fabulous “Be My Baby”, made famous by the Ronettes.”
For Melissa Machester’s loyal fans, she’s got some good news too, “Be My Baby” is available for free download on her website, www.melissamanchester.com.”
PSR.ph hopes that Melissa Manchester would be able to perform live before her Filipino fans someday. Again, with the power of the social media, anything is possible. Who knows, a Filipino fan may start doing another crowdfunding project for Melissa Manchester so that she may have a concert in the Phillippines.
