Melissa Tkautz

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Template:Infobox musical artist 2 Melissa Tkautz (born January 24, 1974) is an Australian actress, singer, song writer and model of Austrian and Maltese heritage.

Early Career

Born in Sydney, Tkautz began her career at age 3. She appeared in television and print commercials and later began acting in soap operas Richmond Hill and Home & Away in the late 1980s. Tkautz also had a supporting role in the mini-series The Girl from Tomorrow. During this time she attended the Academy of Dramatic and Social Arts in Sydney, graduating in 1991.

E-Street

At age 17, Melissa was cast in the role of Nikki Spencer on the hit Australian soap opera E Street.

Nikki Spencer had moved to Westside (the fictitious Sydney suburb where the show took place) with her brother Zac. She was sent their to live with her aunt and uncle, George and Martha Sullivan. Nikki soon became involved in a relationship with the local police constable, Max Simmons (played by Bruce Samazan).

Tkautz soon became one of the show's main stars due to the popularity of her character. Due to this popularity, the producers decided to have Melissa record a song, which would be used in the show as part of a dream sequence, where Nikki had dreamed she was a pop star. This resulted in a recording career for Melissa however the pressures of juggling two full time career's, Melissa left E Street to concentrate on her music career.

In 2007, a New Idea Magazine article revealed Melissa had relationships with E Street co-stars Marcus Graham and Simon Baker. Baker also appeared in her video for her single Read My Lips.

Read My Lips

The idea of recording a song (as part of a dream sequence for her character) was put forward by the makers of E-Street. Melissa was signed to the record label Westside Records that had been created by the shows producer's, and recorded the single Read My Lips. The single was launched via the show and soon shot to the number one position on the ARIA Charts, the highest selling single in Australia for the year ending 1991. So popular was the song, Gina Riley, Kim from Kath & Kim parodied Read My Lips on the comedy show, Fast Forward. The send up was titled Pout Your Lips. In 1991, Melissa was voted as the Hottest female on the earth by readers of TV Hits Magazine. John Stamos was voted hottest male. Melissa has Re-Recorded Read My Lips, and the song will hopefully be featured on her 2008 Album "GLAMOROUS LIFE". The new version has a faster beat, much like the newer Sexy (Is The Word) *05 Radio Edit.

Sexy (Is The Word)

Due to the massive success of Read My Lips, a follow up single was recorded, and like the first single, it made its debut on an episode of E Street. Released in 1991 also, the song reached number 3 on the Australian charts. At the end of the year, Melissa performed Sexy (Is The Word) at the 1991 Rugby League Grand final, and also sang parts of Tina Turner's The Best with other performers, it being the Rugby League's anthem that year. Also in 1991, Melissa toured the country, as a support act for C & C Music Factory's Australian Tour. Melissa would re-record the song for her [2005] album "Lost & Found".

Fresh

In 1992, having left ‘’E Street’’, Melissa’s debut album ‘’Fresh’’ was released. Containing 10 tracks, including the hits ‘’Read My Lips’’ and ‘’Sexy (Is The Word)’’, the album peaked at number 13 on the ARIA Album Charts. The single ‘’Skin To Skin’’ was released and became a top 20 hit. Tkautz also performed a National tour showcasing her talents and the album. Due to her diverse fan base, Tkautz would often perform two shows a day, a show during the day for her younger fans, and then evening concerts for her adult audience. In December 1992 the final single from the album ‘’My House’’ was released, however failed to chart due to little airplay.

Return To E-Street

In 1993, due to bad management of her music career, Melissa decided to return to E Street. Producers of the show, and fans were thrilled to have her back, and Nikki’s return to Westside was one of the shows main drawcards and major focuses for the lead in to the 1993 season. However despite the good ratings the show was delivering, the show had declined in story lines and due to budget issues the network decided to axed E Street in May 1993.

Guest Roles And Is It..?

After E Street ended, Tkautz continued acting, with guest roles in Paradise Beach and Echo Point and also persisted in her music career with the release of the single Is it...?. The release of this single saw a new direction for Tkautz. She had a new look, and a some what funkier sound and the single was received well critically, yet again due to limited air play the single failed to chart well, peaking at number #39.


Pacific Drive

In 1996 Tkautz joined the series Pacific Drive, where she played a model named Bethany Daniels. Dubbed as an ‘‘Australian version of Melrose Place’’ the series was filmed on the Gold Coast, Queensland. Despite the series never really taking off, this role was a major career move for Tkautz, playing the first ever long term HIV Positive character on Australian Television and the series has since gained a cult following. When the show was cancelled after 2 seasons, Tkautz then joined the cast of Medivac as Nurse Evie Morrison. Tkautz later appeared in the series All Saints. Over the years, Tkautz continued working as a model doing local and international projects.

Lost And Found

In 2005, Tkautz relaunched her music career with a new single, a cover version of "The Glamorous Life", a song originally performed by Sheila E and written by Prince. Tkautz's re-working featured heavy guitars and a strong electro beat, however its release was marred by another cover of the same track by fellow Australian, producer Mr Timothy featuring Inaya Day on vocals.

Naturally having two versions of the same song released at the same time, compromised airplay, however Tkautz toured the country promoting the single with her dancers gaining the track some success on the charts. It debuted at its peak position - #31 on the ARIA charts top 100. It also reached #6 on ARIA club chart, #8 on ARIA dance chart and #8 on ARIA Australasian chart.

It had been a 15 year gap between album releases for Tkautz, yet her second album Lost & Found was released on December 4, 2005.

Tkautz's second single from this era, "All I Want", was released in November 2005, and peaked at #72 on the ARIA charts. The video for this single was not released, yet the song gained much attention in clubs around Australia with its various remixes.

In 2006, Tkautz's travelled to Sweden to work on new material. It was reported her next single would be a song called "Fake It Good", however it was changed in favour of "Easily Affected", released in October 2006. Unfortunately, due to very limited airplay, the song only reached #86 on the ARIA chart.

Tkautz's third album, Glamorous Life, was scheduled for release in early 2007. The album was to contain both new tracks and reworked versions of tracks from Lost and Found. "Fake it Good" was to be included, as well as another track "Not Enough" which was recorded whilst in Europe. Unfortunately the album was not released, presumably due to the lacklustre chart performance of "Easily Affected". However, bootlegs of the CD have circulated quietly among Sydney's gay community.

Meanwhile the single ‘’Glamorous Life’’ has had success internationally, and in July 2007, the single was released in parts of Europe, such as the Netherlands.

I Want Your Love

Melissa performed at the Annual Gay And Lesbian Mardi Gras Fair Day in February 2008. Her set included 4 songs, easily affected, True Love (From the Lost and Found Album) and a remixed version of "Read My Lips". Also performed was a new cover version of the Transvision Vamp Classic song, "I Want Your Love", which is touted to be Melissa's New single released in early April 2008.


Discography

Albums

Singles

Year Title Album Australia ARIA Charts Positions
Singles Chart Australasian Chart Dance Chart Club Chart
1991 "Read My Lips" Fresh #1 #1
1991 "Sexy (Is The Word)" Fresh #3
1992 "Skin to Skin" Fresh #16
1992 "My House" Fresh
1993 "Is It...?" Single-only #39
2005 "The Glamorous Life" Lost & Found #31 #8 #8 #6
2005 "All I Want" Lost & Found #72 #19 #10 #28
2006 "Easily Affected" Glamorous Life #86 #17 #11

Misc

Compilations

Compilations containing Melissa Tkautz songs.

  • 1991: 100% Hits - "Read My Lips"
  • 1991: 100% Hits Volume 2 - "Sexy (Is The Word)"
  • 1992: 100% Hits Volume 4 - "Skin To Skin"
  • 1993: E-Street The Music (TV Soundtrack) - "Read My Lips", "Sexy (Is The Word)" and "Skin To Skin"
  • 1995: Take 40 No. 1's - "Read My Lips"
  • 2005: Pepsi More Music - Best Of 2005 (DVD/Video compilation) - "The Glamorous Life"
  • 2006: Wild Summer 2006 - "The Glamorous Life"
  • 2006: Stonewall The Addiction (Mixed By Luke Leal) - "All I Want"
  • 2006: Dance Hits Vol.2 - Eurodance Music Videos (Russian DVD/Video compilation) - "The Glamorous Life"
  • 2006* Stonewall - The Addiction - "All I Want (Lost Knowledge Remix)"
  • Clubworx 2 - (South Africa DVD/Video compilation) - "The Glamorous Life"
  • Video Hits 20 Years of Australian Hits - "Sexy (Is The Word)

Awards and recognition

Year Award-giving Body Award Result
1992 ARIA Award Highest Selling Single (Read My Lips) Won
1992 ARIA Award Best New Talent (Read My Lips) Nominated
1991 Logie Award Best New Talent (E-Street) Nominated

References

  • "CelebritiesTime.com". Biography information. Retrieved April 23. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)

See also

External links

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