Maxine Nightingale (born November 2, 1952) – (I Think I Wanna) Possess You (1976)
This superb jam was the British singer's followup to “Right Back Where We Started From,” written by unsung songwriter Tim Moore.
Watch full video on YouTube.
View most updated version of this post on Substack.
Maxine Nightingale is a British singer best known for her 1976 international hit single “Right Back Where We Started From.”
Born in the London suburb of Wembley, she began singing with her school band. When she was 13, she dropped by a rehearsal by the British group Unisound who invited her to sing with them. Nightingale went on tour with the group and a club manager convinced her to cut a demo. Three of her singles were released between 1969-71 on Pye Records, none of which charted.
Nightingale was cast in the West End production of the musical Hair in 1969, and spent 18 months playing Sheila. She then moved to Berlin and continued playing the role in the musical’s German production, eventually marrying the show’s director. Later she appeared in Jesus Christ Superstar and Godspell in Germany.
After returning to London, Nightingale worked as a backing vocalist. At one studio session she was noticed by producer Pierre Tubbs who subsequently wrote and produced a song for her together with composer J. Vincent Edwards. She sang on the demo for “Right Back Where We Started From,” and was signed by United Artists Records to finish the single.
Released in the UK in late 1975, it caught fire in the discos and went to #8 on the singles charts. When it came out in the U.S. in January, 1976, it became a radio hit and peaked at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 that May. Nightingale went back into the studio and recorded her debut album, which was panned by critics for having been obviously thrown together fast to cash in on the success of “Right Back Where We Started From.” It had indeed been completed in only two weeks so it could be rush released in the United States in June, 1976.
Yet it contained several superb cuts, including the very funky “One Last Ride,” written by Tubbs who produced the entire LP. It was released as the B-side to the album’s superb opener “(I Think I Wanna) Possess You,” which she memorably performed live on the Austrian TV music show Spotlight. “(I Think I Wanna) Possess You” was written by unsung singer/songwriter Tim Moore, who was in a duo with Daryl Hall (before Hall & Oates) called Gulliver.
Another of the album’s gems was her cover of the Average White Band’s 1975 cut “If I Ever Lose This Heaven” which opened its second side. The track was co-written by Leon Ware and Pam Sawyer, the latter who co-wrote “Love Hangover” for Diana Ross.
For her second LP Night Life (1977), Nightingale recorded a superb cover version of “Get It Up For Love,” originally released as a single by David Cassidy in 1975. Among the album’s stellar lineup of studio musicians were guitarist Larry Carlton, saxophonist/bassist Wilton Felder of the Crusaders, and Milt Holland on drums.
“Get It Up For Love” was written by Malibu singer/songwriter Ned Doheny, the first artist signed by David Geffen to his Asylum label. It was covered again in 1978 by Táta Vega for her Try My Love LP, which became a top-20 dance hit for her.
The mellow title track to Nightingale’s third studio LP Lead Me On (1979) went to #1 on the U.S. Easy Listening charts and #5 on the Hot 100 in July of that year. It was co-written by Allee Willis (who also co-wrote “September” and “Boogie Wonderland” for Earth, Wind & Fire) and David Lasley.
Turmoil at United Artists and the company’s sale to EMI in 1979 led to her signing with RCA, who released her next album Bittersweet the following year in 1980. The songwriting duo of Willis and Lasley tried to follow up her previous hit with another ballad, the LP’s superb opening cut “Take Your Heart.” It did not chart significantly, nor did anything else from the album, and she was dropped by RCA.
Her last charting single came two years later in 1982, when her duet with Jimmy Ruffin “Turn to Me“ hit #17 R&B, from her fifth studio album It's a Beautiful Thing. It was issued by the short-lived Los Angeles-based label Highrise Entertainment Co., which was founded that same year by Marc Kreiner (who along with his former business partner Tom Cossie helped Chic get their first record deal and executive produced their debut album), but had ceased operations by 1983.
Further info:
“Single of the Week: Maxine Nightingale - Right Back Where We Started From,” by Jon Kutner, JonKutner.com, September 16, 2012.
“Maxine Nightingale is set to take Ocala 'Right Back',” interview by Rick Allen, Ocala Star Banner, October 9, 2014.
“Soul Serenade: Maxine Nightingale, “Right Back Where We Started From,” by Ken Shane, PopDose, January 28, 2016.
“Back Where He Started From with singer & songwriter Vinny Edwards,” interview by Gary Alikivi, garyalikivi.com, August 1, 2020.
“Right Back Where She Started From...Maxine Nightingale,” PopBopRockTilUDrop, July 16, 2022.
#soul #funk #disco #MaxineNightingale