Maureen McGovern

After leaving school Maureen McGovern became a secretary, performing vocals part-time with local band Sweet Rain. A demo tape recorded by McGovern found its way on to the desk of Russ Regan, boss of 20th Century Records and this gave the singer from Ohio her lucky break. Regan was looking for a singer for the Al Kasha and Joel Hirschhorn song The Morning After, recently awarded an Academy Award for Best Original Song after being featured in the 1972 film The Poseidon Adventure. McGovern's distinctive voice was exactly what Regan had been looking for and in May 1973, 20th Century Records released the Maureen McGovern version as a single. In August that year the song spent two weeks at number one selling over a million copies earning McGovern a gold disc in the process. Two more movie themes followed in quick succession; We May Never Love Like This Again from Towering Inferno and Wherever Love Takes Me from British disaster film Gold. Sadly McGovern never managed to capitalise on the success of these early singles, primarily due to a punitive management contract she had unwittingly signed which paid 40% of her earnings direct to her manager and included having a band on a full time salary. McGovern quietly slipped out of the limelight resuming her life as a secretary for a few years until she recorded Different Worlds, the theme to the ABC-TV sitcom Angie. This put her in the charts again and the ensuing exposure provided a springboard for an acting career when she took over from Linda Ronstadt in the Broadway hit The Pirates Of Penzance. Since then McGovern has continued with a successful career both as a musician and an actor and in 2010 performed a one woman biographical musical Carry It On.

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