| Flack, the daughter of a church organist, started playing piano early enough to get a music scholarship and eventual degree from Howard University. After a brief period of teaching, Flack was discovered singing at a club by jazz musician Les McCann and signed to Atlantic Records. Her first two albums were well-received but produced no hit singles; however, that all changed when a version of Ewan MacColl's "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face," from her first album, was included in the soundtrack of "Play Misty For Me." The single zoomed to number one in 1972 and remained there for six weeks, becoming that year's biggest hit. Flack followed it with the first of several duets with Howard classmate Donny Hathaway, "Where Is The Love." She scored several more hits throughout the mid-1970's including two more #-1's, "Killing Me Softly With His Song" and "Feel Like Makin' Love." She entered the disco arena in 1979 with Hathaway and the smash club hit "Back Together Again." Sadly Hathaway jumped to his death before the album was released, devastating Flack. She took a year off to heal and contemplate her career. She rebounded in late 1981 with her second 12" club hit. "Lovin' You (Is Such An Easy Thang To Do)" was a promotional-only MCA Records 12" from the soundtrack of "Bustin' Loose." The movie, a Cicly Tyson-Richard Pryor flop, featured a complete Flack soundtrack. Roberta found a new partner to record and tour with, Peabo Bryson. They scored a major hit with "Tonight I Celebrate My Love" in 1983. She spent the next several years touring, often with Miles Davis and in Christmas packaged shows, and performing with orchestras. In 1989 she released her boldest and most successful 12" to date. "Uh-Uh-Ooh-Ooh Look Out (Here Comes)" with it's radical remix and effects shot straight to #-1 in the clubs. A second 12" single "Shock To My System" didn't fare as well. Both songs were from her "Oasis" album. She then returned to the Adult Contemporary charts in 1991 with "Set The Night To Music," a duet with Maxi Priest. A final club hit came in a surprise 1996 duet (of sorts) with The Fugees on a hip-hopping version of "Killing Me Softly With His Song." Since then Flack has released a new solo album and a long overdue Christmas album, both of which are good, but without major label promotion they have remained largely undiscovered. |
