Charlo Crossley: Born To Be On Stage

All Photos:  Alan Mercer    Lighting:  Eric V.

Charlo Crossley is best known for being one of Bette Midler's back up vocalists known as 'The Staggering Harlettes.'  She replaced original member Melissa Manchester and stayed with Bette for seven years, performing all over the United States and on Broadway in the "Clams On The Half-Shell Revue."

She grew up in Chicago during the Sixties.  In the Seventies she toured in the road companies with 'Hair' and 'Jesus Christ Superstar.'  Along with Ula Hedwig and Sharon Redd, Charlo released an album titled 'Formerly Of The Harlettes' on Columbia Records produced by David Rubinson.  This album may finally see a CD release in the near future.

On her own she has also recorded with Luther Vandross, Chaka Khan and Barry Manilow.  She also guest starred on 'Married With Children' starring another former Harlette, Katy Segal.  She is featured in the opening credits of the film 'Sister Act' singing with Whoopi Goldberg. 

Recently Charlo had been working as a teacher's assistant at her son's school when she got the call to audition for the Motormouth Maybelle role in 'Hairspray.'  The role was a perfect fit and she toured with this road company for a couple of years and ended up closing the production in New York City. 

I fell in love with Charlo the moment I met her.  How can you not?  She has a warm and giving spirit, and so much talent.  It was a real pleasure to photograph and visit with her for this blog.  I can easily see her back on Broadway doing what she was born to do! 

AM:  Hi Charlo!  Why don't you tell me a little about the beginning of your career?

CC:  I grew up in Chicago and started singing in church when I was seven and I sang in the choir during high school.  Then I started doing community theater in South Chicago when I was fifteen at a Jewish Community Temple.  I met Mandy Patinkin when we did shows together.  I already knew that I wanted to be in show business. 

AM:  Did you move to New York as soon as you could?

CC:  I moved to Las Vegas first. 

AM:  You never wanted to do anything else did you?

CC:  No, I tried working in a hospital because there are a lot of nurses in my family.  I cried every day that I worked in that hospital.  I was a ward clerk who was logging in drugs in the narcotic book! 

AM:  Is your family from Chicago?

CC:  My parents both came from Mississippi and my mother had artistic aspirations.  My father and everyone on his side of the family were great singers. 

AM:  Did you have a job offer to go to Vegas?

CC:  I got cast in the Chicago version of 'HAIR' and I got traded with another cast member and I went to Las Vegas to do the show.  I was there for a few months and it was good to get out of Chicago.  This was 1970 and Vegas was a sleepy little town. 

AM:  Did you ever think you'd be a secretary or something not in show business?

CC:  I had been accepted into Southern Illinois University but being on stage was my college.  I didn't want to go to college because I went down there and people were just partying.  I thought to myself that this isn't exciting.  I wanted to get on with my career and living my fantasy.

AM:   How did you do that?

CC:  I went to New York for four months then I went to France and changed everything.  There was so much unrest in the United States at that time and I was sick of it.  When I was in high school I picked my side.   I could hang out with the Black radicals, although I had bourgeoisie leanings, which was very looked down upon.  Looking back I didn't really care, it was radicals or art kids.  I could hang with the radicals intellectually but it was all dribble.  It was just someone's diatribe.  We were all very idealistic!  This wasn't interesting enough for me.  I wanted to be on stage.

AM:  Do you wonder why you wanted to be on stage so bad?

CC:  There's something about being in front of those lights.  I knew this when I was eight years old being in plays.  I felt so good in my skin.  I just wanted to travel in Europe.  I feel like I grew up there.  When I came home I was not the same person.  My father said, "Now that you've got all of this out of your system, maybe you'll settle down and get a real job!"  I said, "What's a real job?"

AM:  How did your father react to this news?

CC:  He said I couldn't live at home unless I got a real job and I said I'm not getting a real job!   I'm not going to give up my dream to work at the post office where he worked.  There's nothing wrong with that except that it wasn't me.  I remember going to the unemployment office and back then people were so mean and hateful.  That was another defining moment for me.  I didn't want to be a part of any of this. 

AM:  How did you meet Bette Midler?

CC:  I stayed with 'HAIR' in Washington DC from January to August in 1971.  All the kids from New York kept telling me that I reminded them so much of this girl named Bette Midler.

AM:  Did you know who she was at this time?

CC:  I had seen Bette Midler on 'The Tonight Show' when my sister and I stayed up late one night.  She was on TV in a black leather jacket sitting at a soda fountain singing 'Leader Of The Pack' and I said nobody is doing this.

AM:  Did you like her act right away?

CC:  I was so smitten with her.  When I got on tour everyone kept telling me I needed to meet her.  Everyone kept telling me I had to see her show and that we were so much alike.  So I went to New York and it was a dirty, gritty monster.  I found a place to stay downstairs from Bill Hennessey, who gave Bette the Miss M persona.  He nurtured it and she took a hold of it.

AM:  Is this how you met her?

CC:  Our company managers name was Clayton Koontz and he invited me to a cocktail party because he wanted me to meet someone.  Soon this couple comes in the door and I recognize the guy because we were in 'HAIR' together and he says Charlo I'd like you to meet my girlfriend Bette.  I play in her band.  I didn't think anything about it and kept on talking, then I asked her if she was on 'The Tonight Show' and she said yes.  Then I said, "Oh my God!  Everyone keeps telling me I have to meet you."  That was the beginning of our friendship.

AM:  Were you close right away?

CC:  I started going to see her shows and there was nobody doing what she was doing.  We became good girlfriends and did everything together.  What a great friendship it was.  She was the first new friend I made after going to New York.  I was doing 'Jesus Christ Superstar' at the time. 

AM:  Did you have to audition to be a Harlette?

CC:  No I didn't.  I did 'Superstar' for a year and a half and kept going to see Bette, hanging out and being a devoted fan.  I left 'Superstar' and was doing a show called 'Tricks' that didn't go anywhere and the day before it opened Bette came to me and asked me to join the Harlettes to replace Melissa Manchester.  Bette was getting ready to launch a big tour and I said yes, not knowing that 'Tricks' was going to close. 

AM:  So you are on the second Bette album?

CC:  Yes I sang on the second and the third albums.  I'm on a few of them. 

AM:  I know you worked with her for a while so what happened to end it?

CC:  There was so much going on.....

AM:  You obviously did the Harlettes album at this time.

CC:  We did that album while we were still working with Bette.  Barry Manilow was our encouragement.  Barry signed with Arista and had to fight like hell.  He was there from day one with Bette.  We had the same fight to be able to open the second act.    

AM:  Did you like working with Barry Manilow?

CC:  We clicked immediately.  He was like a brother to me.  I saw him in Vegas last summer and he is phenomenal.  I'm so proud of him. 

AM:  Now back to Bette....

CC:  I can't pinpoint when things started to change.  I could blame Aaron Russo who's not with us anymore, but I think people make choices.  It depends on how badly you want stardom and recognition.  Bette wanted it more than anybody I ever knew.

AM:  Was it just all hard work?

CC:  What she demanded of us at the time was total and complete absorption into her world.  When you walked into her world of "Divadom" it's all about her.  I was struggling with a lot of my own issues at that time.  I didn't know how to deal with them properly.

AM:  Can you give me an example?

CC:  I didn't understand why when I came off the road I'd be an emotional wreck.  I'd have very little to show after being out on the road.  I would go to Long Island and hang out trying to figure out who I was and it took a long time.

AM:  When did you start figuring it all out?

CC:  I turned 25 in 1976 and I got turned on to myself being beautiful because I felt like a warhorse.  We were all just getting turned on to how to live life.  We were learning how to bring style and quality to our lives.  I was looking at the quality of my life and I didn't like it.

AM:  What did you learn about yourself at this point?

CC:  I realized I liked living on the road.  For years I didn't unpack.  Working with Bette was an incredible experience to be in the company of so many show business legends and meet everyone of my childhood fantasies.  We all worked so hard and struggled the same so we had that in common.  It's not like now where everyone is kind of half-assed.

AM: What is your opinion of the younger artists today?

CC:  This new generation doesn't have any poise or decorum.  They are not grateful and that bothers me, but I'm grateful.  I decided when I was seven or eight years old that I wanted that kind of excellence.  I knew what it took to make it and you had to be excellent.

AM:  What do you want to do now?

CC:  I want to go back to Broadway.  I loved being back on Broadway in 'Hairspray.'  I closed out the New York show.  It was great going back as an A list Actor.  They gave me my own apartment.  It was a prayer answered.  It's always been about the quality of life and it went up!  I live in California but I want to be back in New York because that's where the appreciation is.  That's where the acknowledgment for your body of work is.  This is where you have to earn your place.  I want to go back to Broadway, do my nightclub act and make some records.

Yvonne Elliman is Home Again

photos: Alan Mercer lighting: Eric Venturo

Yvonne Elliman's singing career began in 1969 in London where she performed at various bars and clubs. This led to a recording contract and later, in Miami, a close association as a backing vocalist for Eric Clapton. She performed on many of his 1970s hits including "I Shot the Sheriff" and "Lay Down Sally". She sang the role of Mary Magdalene in the original album of Jesus Christ Superstar and in the subsequent Broadway and film version, and achieved her first hit single with the ballad "I Don't Know How to Love Him." This performance led to a 1974 Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy.

Her recording career began to take off from this point and she scored several hit singles throughout the world, including cover versions of the Barbara Lewis hit "Hello Stranger" and the Bee Gees' "Love Me." Her biggest success came in 1977 with her #1 hit from the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack, "If I Can't Have You" which was also written by the Bee Gees. The song was a big hit, rising to #1 in the Billboard Hot 100. Its success has resulted in Elliman being remembered as a disco artist, though this style of music was an exception to the medium-tempo ballads that she specialized in.

She appeared in a two-part episode of the television action series Hawaii Five-O during this period as an aspiring singer, performing the song "I Can't Get You Out of my Mind" with co-star James Darren. The single "Savannah" was also a hit and demonstrated Elliman's attempts to move away from disco music and create music that focused more on her vocal abilities.

After a considerable hiatus, Elliman reappeared on the music scene. An album titled Simple Needs, with all songs written by Elliman, was released globally on June 12, 2007. She has continued performing in music festivals, benefits and concerts throughout the country and around the world while calling Hawaii home again for the past nine years. She lives a peaceful life taking care of her elderly parents and cooking for her long-time boy friend, Allen Alexander, when she is not on the road.

I have always been able to appreciate the beauty of Yvonne Elliman's voice and music, as well as her obvious physical beauty. She can linger on a note, and sustain a purity of tone, that gets warmer, the longer she goes. She is raw and edgy in true 'rocker chick' style on songs like 'Can't Find My Way Back Home.' Check out the Youtube video of her singing this song. It's also available on her CD "20th Century Masters - The Millennium Collection: The Best of Yvonne Elliman." She recently played in Los Angeles where I had a chance to finally meet up with, and work with, one of my long-time musical heroes. There was an instant connection. Hawaii's New First Lady of Song is an out-going, fun, warm, and beautiful soul with so much musical talent. As it happens Eric Venturo is a major fan of Miss Elliman as well, so we had a lot of fun getting these shots and talking to her before she went on stage at the Hollywood Bowl.

AM: Do you perform a lot in Hawaii?

YE: They don't pay very well. All the musicians who live there have to have day jobs. I don't know why that is because you would think that the tourists would bring a lot of money into Hawaii.

AM: Would you ever take a day job?

YE: If the truth be known I do not want a regular job.

AM: Would you ever go back to Broadway?

YE: I don't want to repeat myself. That is why I was only on Broadway for six months. The producers knew I was too young to be doing eight shows a week. It can get to you. I wanted to change the blocking! (laughing)

AM: Is it true that you took a flat fee instead of a percentage for the original Jesus Christ Superstar album?

YE: Yes I took $240.00. They spread it out on the desk like a deck of cards. I thought, 'Damn!' My manager and I were hungry. She told me, 'Darling, it's not very good. Take the money.' (laughing) We took the money and ran. We bought a case of Matusse wine and a bunch of steak. Then we had a party on top of the roof. It was the best time.

AM: What do you remember about recording 'I Don't Know How To Love Him' and "Everything's Alright' for that small amount of pay?

YE: We thought I would just do the songs real quick and I did record them in one take!?! In and out so we thought it was great money for one hour of work. If I had received a lot of money in those days I might not be here today. I was a naughty girl.

AM: You were wild.

YE: Well I was an only child, a latch key kid, and when you are left-handed as well, watch out!

AM: I understand that. It's only logical that when you were hanging out with Eric Clapton and people like that. There is no way you would not be 'living the life.'

YE: Yes, you had to be one of the boys. It all went hand in hand. I couldn't be a rock 'n roller and not have a drink in one hand and a coke spoon in the other.

AM: Do you feel more like a Rocker or a Pop star?

YE: I've always been tagged 'Pop' but the 'Rock 'n Roll' heart was always there. When I went to London it was to be the first kick-ass, female electric guitar player. That's what I wanted to be.

AM: What happened?

YE: I got discovered! (more laughing) I used to go all around all the double-decker buses with just a fret board made of paper and practice the scales so I would know where the notes are. I heard Jimmy Hendrix did that with his fret board in his desk at school. I really wanted to play. I was learning Jimmy Page licks and getting it all together and of course that's when 'Superstar' came along, and it was a total different direction.

AM: Aren't you glad you did it?

YE: 'Jesus Christ Superstar' ended up being totally brilliant, especially for Christianity. It brought a lot of young kids into the Church. I thought Mary Magdalene was Mary's Mom. That's the level of my education at the time. It did teach a lot of people that at least Jesus was a man. It was a good thing.

AM: Many young people learned about the Bible from that show.

YE: Is that right? I went to hospitals and actually had to touch this girl who had been in an accident and she wanted me there. The parents were praying for her to make it through...and she did. They gave me the credit. It was getting too heavy. I did that twice and I thought, no I can't do this anymore. I became an Agnostic actually. I was getting so much flack from people who were Buddhists and Krishna's. The 'God' thing was getting on my nerves.

AM: It's called art.

YE: It's called will the real God please stand up. I was so confused.

AM: From 'Jesus Christ Superstar' to disco is a long way.

YE: Don't forget there was Clapton in between. He was my idol and he asked me to be in his band. Talk about a freaking moment when you cannot speak! I had just been on an album of his and he featured me in two songs. I was riding an incredible wave. I'm on the road with Clapton for three and a half years and Robert Stigwood said to me, 'You have to leave the band and get a band of your own. You have two singles and they are climbing the charts. You have to go out and tour.'

AM: How did Clapton react to this?

YE: I had to tell him I was leaving and he got very mad. I did not want to leave. I'd be there today if I could. I'd be very happy if I was still doing that today. I love the man's music, but he got mad and I got to do my own thing which was totally different from his. There were no more Lear jets and trains waiting to take us to our five star hotels. I was on a bus and we shared rooms in hotels and played little bars when it was a freezing cold winter. It was very hard. I paid my dues. But then 'Saturday Night Fever' came along.

AM: I remember a photo of you in Billboard magazine when you had your number one hit. You were with a group of executives and you were all holding up champagne flutes, celebrating.

YE: Oh really!?! That was a 'trippy' day. I got a call early in the morning, 'You are number one with a bullet.'

AM: Was it a dream come true?

YE: Yes I had been waiting and waiting. I was watching that thing climb the charts and then get stuck. There was some heavy competition. So it was a relief when it made it to number one. I don't know if there was any payola going on and I didn't want to know if there was. Then I got the 'Hawaii 5-O' part because I had a number one hit. I was Yvonne Kanekoa! (laughing)

AM: I remember that. I may have even seen some of it on YouTube. Now why did you move back to Hawaii?

YE: I mainly just had to get out of LA. I was living on top of Decker Canyon in a decrepit house and we were being evicted. Time to go. I took that opportunity. It was like God answering a prayer. I also decided to stop singing songs that I wasn't crazy about. I want to just do songs that I love. I don't want to waste my time doing that and then what if something I do hits? If I don't like it I am stuck. That's how I got stuck in disco for so long.

AM: Do you appreciate disco more now?

YE: I can see now what the power of it is. It is very positive and that's great to have in this day and age when everything is so negative. Back then I was not as into it because I was a Rock 'n Roller' so I was ready to leave the disco thing behind.

AM: What have you been doing musically the past few years?

YE: I started to write music. I liked what I was doing. I was kind of scolding people.

AM: What do you mean?

YE: My songs are about being more aware. I don't know why. I have things to say I suppose, right? I did write a great love song for my boyfriend called, 'Just Right.' I'm really hot on that stuff. I have an album's worth of material ready to go. I don't know why I can't just make that my priority and work on that. People want to record me over there for free. Come on let's just do it. I'm just not organized.

AM: So you do have some music that you have already recorded?

YE: I have demos of some songs that I am really excited about. It's just me and a guitar playing in the studio. I am also in the process of writing a song called 'Elephant' because I love the elephant. I was called 'Yvonne Elephant' in school which was really terrible. It was a real drag.

AM: Do you think we will hear some of this new music in 2010?

YE: Thank you so much. I need a little encouragement because I am the perfectionist. The mood has to be right, the inspiration has to be right, I have to be in the right place. That's not good. Sometimes you have to push yourself and force yourself because you can get surprises. I've got to finish the 'Elephant' song and 'Leave Lefty Alone' and then I'll be ready to record. There's nothing holding me back except myself.

AM: Why don't you get into acting?

YE: I don't know about acting.

AM: You are a great actress.

YE: I did the Hawaii 5-O part and of course I was in 'Superstar' but there was no talking, so when I did have to talk for the first time I thought it was really uncomfortable. I don't think I am going to pursue any acting. I have a hard enough time getting the music out.

EV: Your voice has remained strong and clear.

YE: They say it is the tone of my voice. For years I didn't know what people liked about my voice. I don't have a huge range. I don't have the gymnastics that Whitney does.

AM: Whatever is in your voice I know it is a warmth that I like.

YE: Oh really. Thank you.

EV: What was it like working with (photographer) Norman Seef?

YE: Oh he was fast. He was about trying something different. He said, 'Let's take it outside.' He got me running down a hill where one boob is up.

AM: Do you feel like Hawaii inspires you as an artist and are you there for the rest of your life?

YE: Oh yes. I have been given such warmth and such a welcome. It's like being a big fish in a small pond. They fed me when I was at my most insecure point. I needed to rebuild the confidence and that was the best place for me to be. I feel comfortable to be in my own skin there. I know what they are saying when they talk Pidgen. My Mom and Dad are there. They are going through the old age stuff so it's a good time for me to be there for them.

Learn more about Yvonne Elliman on her MySpace page http://www.myspace.com/yvonneelliman