Marcia Hines

Bostonian Marcia Hines landed in Australia at 16 for a part in the local staging of the musical Hair and soon established herself as one of the country’s most popular and accomplished dance artists of the 1970s. Once Hair closed, she took the role of Mary Magdalene in Jesus Christ Superstar and remained with the production until its final performance in February 1974. She next joined the Daly-Wilson Big Band for an extensive tour that covered Australia, the United States, and Russia. A solo recording contract followed in July 1974; the resulting albums sold more than half a million copies and earned her the title Australia’s Queen of Pop for three consecutive years beginning in 1976.

Between 1975 and 1979 she placed several singles in the national Top Ten, among them James Taylor’s “Fire and Rain” / “&You” (May 1975, number nine), “From the Inside” / “Jumping Jack Flash” (November 1975, number eight), the Burt Bacharach–Hal David composition “I Just Don’t Know What to Do with Myself” / “&Trilogy” (September 1976, number three), “What I Did for Love” / “&A Love Story” (June 1977, number seven), “You” / “&In a Mellow Mood” (November, number one), and “Something’s Missing in My Life” / “&Moments” (April 1979, number ten). Her long-player releases proved equally strong: Shining reached number four in December 1976 and surpassed 150,000 copies, while the double album Live Across Australia climbed to number six in March 1978 and exceeded 100,000 units. Additional charting albums included Marcia Shines (November 1975, number ten), Ladies and Gentlemen…Marcia Hines (September 1977, number five), and Ooh Child (June 1979, number 15).

From 1978 to 1979 she hosted her own television program, Marcia Hines Music, and briefly returned to the part of Mary Magdalene in Jesus Christ Superstar before throat and respiratory ailments forced the tour to end early. In 1980 she left the Wizard label for Midnight via WEA and registered a modest success with “Your Love Still Brings Me to My Knees” / “&Till It’s Too Late” (August 1981, number ten); the album Take It from the Boys followed, reaching number 16 in October 1981. A compilation, Greatest Hits, Vol. 1, performed better, peaking at number two in February 1982. After the disappointing reception of Love Sides in May 1983, Hines again appeared as Mary Magdalene in Jesus Christ Superstar.

She spent the ensuing decade raising her daughter Deni, then resurfaced on stage in 1993 with The Masters of Rhythm and Taste. The following year she issued her first album in twelve years, Right Here and Now, which yielded the singles “Rain (Let the Children Play)” (August 1994) and “Give It All You’ve Got” (October) and supported a national tour in March 1994. In 1998 Hines traveled to the United Kingdom to record a new album whose opening single was a cover of Irene Cara’s “What a Feeling.” Its successor, “Time of Our Lives,” reached number 31 in June 1999 and ranked number 29 on the year-end list of Australia’s most-played radio tracks.

Time of Our Lives itself entered the chart at number 17 in July 1999; a third single, “Making My Way,” appeared in September. Her interpretation of “The Lord’s Prayer” was included on the charity collection Spirit of Christmas in December, after which “Woo Me” was released in January 2000. The Queen of Pop album arrived on BMG in 2000, and in 2001 Warner issued the anthology DIVA, promoted by the single “(I’ve Got To) Believe.” A fully authorized biography, Diva: The Life of Marcia Hines, was published in October 2001.