is a British R&B and soul music singer. She is best known for her hits in the 1970s, with the million seller "Right Back Where We Started From" (1975), "Love Hit Me" (1977), and "Lead Me On" (1979).
The daughter of comedian Benny Nightingale, Maxine Nightingale began singing at age 16 with her school band, displaying sufficient vocal prowess to begin performing in London area venues with her brother Glen on guitar. In 1969 - the year she turned 17 - Nightingale joined the cast of the West End production of Hair; the same year she made her first recordings, vocalizing on the Pye singles "Talk to Me" and "Don't Push Me Baby" which were released under the name Nightime Flyer. "Don't Push Me Baby" was issued by Pye's Australian distributor Astor in Nightingale's own name; her first UK release as Maxine Nightingale was in 1971 with the Pye single "Love on Borrowed Time".
In the early 1970s Nightingale relocated to Germany, having become affianced to Minoru Terada Domberger, the Japanese-born director of the German production of Hair whom she'd met when he visited the London production. In Germany Nightingale continued her stage musical career in Hair, Jesus Christ Superstar and Godspell. After dropping out of performing to marry her fiancé and give birth in 1973 to their daughter Langka Veva Domberger, Nightingale returned to London in the summer of 1975 to appear in the West End production of Savages; at this time she also provided background vocals on recording sessions including that for Al Matthews' "Fool".
Matthews' producer Pierre Tubbs was struck by Nightingale's voice and asked composer J. Vincent Edwards to write a song for her. Edwards, who had worked with Nightingale in the West End production of "Hair", convinced her to record this song: "Right Back Where We Started From" overcoming Nightingale's initial refusal occasioned by her disinterest in a second attempt at a recording career; however she recorded "Right Back..." on the understanding it would be issued under a pseudonym. (Nightingale also had to be convinced to take a royalty rather than a onetime session fee.)
After being released on United Artists Records - in Nightingale's true name - "Right Back..." reached #8 in the UK in the autumn of 1975, "Right Back... was released in the US early 1976 to enthusiastic reaction, reaching #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 in May of 1976. Nightingale, who had returned to Germany, was motivated by her single's US success to complete a Right Back Where We Started From album in London and then precede to the US, which has remained her home base ever since. However her only significant hit in the period following the success of "Right Back..." was in the UK, where she reached #11 in 1977 with "Love Hit Me" the title cut from her second album (aka Night Life).
Nightingale's third album Love Lines was a 1978 release in the UK and Europe with UK single releases "Lead Me On" and "(Bringing Out) The Girl in Me" both overlooked despite Nightingale making her sole TOTP appearance 8 June 1978 to promote the latter. The US release of "Lead Me On" early in 1979 met with a favorable reception especially in the Easy listening market with the track reaching #1 on Billboard's Easy Listening chart that July2; the track gradually accrued enough mainstream Pop support to reach #5 on the Hot 100 that September. As with "Right Back..." Nightingale was unable to follow-up her US Top Ten success, the subsequent "(Bringing Out) The Girl in Me" marking Nightingale's final Hot 100 appearance with a #73 peak.
After reaching the Top 20 on Billboard's R&B chart for the first time in 1982 with "Turn to Me", a duet with Jimmy Ruffin, Nightingale dropped out of the Pop mainstream working for some twenty years as a more jazz oriented live performer. She has reportedly recorded an album of her live performance at B.B. King's Club at Universal Studios Hollywood although it remains unreleased. Since 2000 Nightingale has become active on the retro music circuit, appearing in the 2004 PBS music special Superstars of Seventies Soul: Live. In February 2008 Nightingale undertook a club tour of Australia.
1Glen (aka Glenn) Nightingale subsequently played guitar in Boy George's band; his session credits include guitar work on recordings by Des'ree, Terence Trent D'Arby, the Gap Band, Jamiroquai and Junior co-writing the last named's "Do You Really (Want My Love)".
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