[ No. 19 ]

Thelma Houston

by Cyclone Wehner

In the late 70s, Motown diva Thelma Houston savoured the biggest hit of her career with the classic mirrorball anthem, "Don't Leave Me This Way". While another version by Harold Melvin And The Blue Notes came out at around the same time, the glamorous disco diva was the one who scored the Grammy. Over twenty years on, she still performs this Gamble and Huff staple in cabarets the world over.

Houston is currently touring with The British Rock Symphony alongside Eric Burdon. But what else is the diva doing with herself these days?

Everything, it would seem. It just so happens that Houston is among a growing number of seasoned soul and R&B artists (Prince, Chaka Khan) who are turning their backs on a music industry with an increasingly narrow focus. Indeed, Houston is currently working on an EP, which she intends to release on her own label. It will be marketed primarily at her international concerts. Houston wouldn't necessarily turn down a deal with a major, but she will only sign on her own terms. 'In the States it's kind of weird right now for anyone over 35,' she explains. 'That is not to say that there aren't older people who are having successful careers, but it just seems to be too much hard work.'

Mind, it isn't just older artists who are falling victim to trend-fuelled mechanisations. By way of illustration, Houston tells the story of a young female singer ('I won't mention her name, because I don't want to get her into trouble'). 'She's just 21-years-old. She is a phenomenal singer. She is an original. She's beautiful. She has everything that I would think going for her. But the record company is trying to make her like everyone else out there. It's just that they have this idea of what they think people want to hear.' Houston regrets that labels no longer think long-term when it comes to artist development. Today's singers are not, for example, given the opportunity to master live performance, which goes some way to explaining the falling standards in this area. But, for Houston, it goes further. The tendency to program the music (or use samples) means that soul lacks the spontaneity live musicians bring. None of this is helped by the fact that new school producers show little sensitivity by forcing singers to repeat every phrase until they are ready to break. 'A song for me is a complete thought,' says Houston. 'It's a performance.' She feels that the quality of soul music started to deteriorate towards the late 80s -- coinciding with the advent of the video as a marketing tool.

Still, Houston isn't letting these dire circumstances affect her. 'Luckily for me, because I work a lot and because I have had a long time -- over 30 years -- to establish myself in this business, I don't rely on a record company to have work. So I can work as much as I want. And I have the opportunity to do different kinds of things. I can do projects that I really like to do.'

As a matter of fact, Houston has further pursued opportunities in theatre, television and film, with a number of impressive credits to her name. She appears in two of the year's most highly-anticipated movies. Houston pops up in the disco era "54", performing "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas" (she also wrote a song for one of the filmÕs characters: "The Night I Fly"), and cameos in the cinematic adaptation of Toni Morrison's exceptional novel, "Beloved" (starring Oprah Winfrey as Sethe).

One area of the music industry that seems unaffected by these reactionary cycles is the club scene, in which soulstresses as disparate as Gwen Dickey, Jocelyn Brown and Renee Geyer continue to be well-respected as 'dance divas'. It's perhaps odd that Houston isn't cutting more by way of garage house records. 'I would say that my widest base of support is from the dance market,' she says. 'And so the things that I am doing are primarily geared to that market, because that's where I already have some credibility and longevity, thanks to the record "Don't Leave Me This Way". That was done years ago. But it still works for me and it's still played.'

So who among soul's current generation of singers does Houston imagine will enjoy longevity? 'There's one artist that I feel has the ability to maintain a career over a long period of time. Right now she is hip-hop, but I think she has a much broader base than that. Her name is Lauryn Hill. I think she's bright. She can do so many things. She can act. She can direct. I'm sure there are others, but she's the one for me.'

And when it comes to contemporary producers, there are two names that mean something to Houston. She was one of the first artists to work in the studio with a pair of young Minnesotans known as Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. They guided part of her 1984 LP, "Qualifying Heat" (MCA), including the hit, "You Used To Hold Me So Tight". 'They didn't try to dictate to me how to sing. They were able to get to where you are and then try to bring out the best of what you are with their work. They had that wisdom and knowledge at that time, and I always knew that they were gonna be big because of that. They were very serious about what they did, but it wasn't like a laborious thing. It was lots of fun. Terry's mom went fishing, she caught some, and she would have us all over for dinner. It was a very warm working relationship.'

Although Houston must have many a tale to tell, she won't be following the likes of Aretha Franklin, Chaka Khan or Patti LaBelle by writing her autobiography anytime soon, due to a funny incident involving her son (who, incidentally, acts as her tour manager in the States). Houston takes some relish in recounting the tale. 'You know, I was just casually talking to my daughter-in-law about a couple of things that happened to me early in my days in the business that I thought was just fun stuff. At the time she says, "Oh, really!" And then she told my son, who was like, "What! Not my mother! What!" And so I thought, "hmmm". So that's the end of that, 'cause, I said to myself, if he's gonna be like that about that little simple something, what if I tell him THIS?"