Marcia Elaine Hines was born in Boston (USA) in 1953 and arrived in Australia in April 1970 at the age of 16 to appear in the Sydney production of Hair.
That, in turn, led to her taking the role of Mary Magdalene in the Australian production of Jesus Christ Superstar.
When Superstar ended in 1974, Hines became the vocalist for the Daly-Wilson Big Band and undertook a tour of Australia, the USA and the Soviet Union.
Signing a solo record deal with the Wizard label in 1974, she began to release a string of hit records that saw her elevated to the position of Australia’s top female performer during the late 70s. Hines was crowned Australia’s Queen Of Pop for three consecutive years (1976 – 1978), and her albums sold in excess of 500,000 copies.
Her singles on the Wizard label were; Fire And Rain (May 1975), From The Inside (Nov 75), Don’t Let The Grass Grow (May 76), I Just Don’t Know What To Do With Myself (Sept 76), Until Your Love Broke Through (Dec 76),What I Did For Love (June 77), You (#1 in November 1977), Music Is My Life (April 78), Imagination (June 78), Let The Music Play (Oct 78), Something’s Missing In My Life (April 79), Dance You Fool, Dance (August 79) and Where Did We Go Wrong? (Nov 79).
Marcia enjoyed hit albums with Marcia Shines (#10 in 1975), Shining (#4 in 1976), Ladies & Gentlemen . . . (1977), Live Across Australia (#6 in 1978) and Ooh Child (#15 in 979).
In 1978 she starred in her own ABC TV series, Marcia Hines Music, which was so successful that she returned for a second season in 1979.
She also reprised her role of Mary Magdalene in the Sydney club circuit revival of Jesus Christ Superstar but was forced to miss many performances due to throat and respiratory problems.
In 1980 Marcia left Wizard and signed with the Midnight label (through WEA). Her singles on Midnight were Your Love Still Brings Me To My Knees (1981), What A Bitch Is Love (1981), Take It From The Boys (1982), Jokers and Queens (shared with Jon English in 1982), Love Side (1982), Heart Like A Radio (1983) and Shadow in the Night (1983).
Her fifth studio album, Take It From The Boys, reached #16 nationally in October 1981, while her Greatest Hits Volume 1 reached #2 the following February.
Marcia reprised her role in Jesus Christ Superstar yet again in the 1983 Melbourne season and then concentrated on raising her daughter Deni, remaining quiet on the recording front for more than a decade.
She returned to the stage in 1993 and issued her first album for twelve years in 1994, Right Here and Now, featuring a mix of gospel and soul tunes with big production ballads.
The album spawned the singles Rain (Let The Children Play) and Give It All You’ve Got. In March 1994, Marcia Hines toured nationally for the first time in seven years.
Video
