"I'm very old-fashioned," American-born singer Marcia Hines made known in 1981. "I really believe in marriage – and that is why I have never been married. I do plan to get married one day – not twice, but once. That’s extremely idealistic of me, but I believe one has to be semi-idealistic in this world, even if not totally." By 2014, Marcia told 'News Corp Australia', "Life is interesting right now. I am divorcing my (4th) husband. Am I all right? I had to make a decision. Things weren't sticking anymore, for me. When I make a decision about something like that, then I’m cool. No one is to blame because I don’t believe in that but it’s just what has to be."
Marcia Hines was 16 years old when she came to Sydney Australia in 1970 after she answered Jim Sharman's advertisement in a Boston newspaper auditioning black people to join the Australian cast of the musical 'Hair'. "I was a black chick so I went along and got the job," Marcia said. "They just hired me to be me – a little black girl." At the time Marcia was also pregnant with daughter Dohnyale and had dropped out of high school.
Marcia Hines was regarded an Australian singing success story. She told Edith Lederer of the Associated Press, "I think it's extremely strange because it's been a chain of events – and a very strange chain of events. It wasn’t contrived that I’d come here and take over." But Marcia did by becoming at the time "the biggest selling female vocalist in the history of the Australian recording industry." Marcia enthused, "I have conquered the continent. I adopted Australia and now Australia has adopted me. I am so grateful for the opportunities in Australia and my color has probably been a great help to me." Marcia became the first black to play Mary Magdalene in the musical production of 'Jesus Christ Superstar'.
Had Marcia stayed in Brookline, "I never would have accomplished this. I wish I'd done it in the States because if I did, I would have been set for life. But now (in 1978) I have a good track record and people in the States are interested." Pointing out "I stayed because Australians embraced me as one of their own," Marcia told 'The Australian' in January 2016, "I came to Sydney to work with Harry M. Miller in his production of 'Hair'.
"I was 16 years old and I remember flying in and seeing Sydney Harbour and the Opera House, still under construction. I was collected and taken to my accommodation to drop off my luggage and then I went straight to the Metro Theatre in Kings Cross to meet the people in the show. I arrived on my own and I found it to be very different to my home town of Boston. Everything seemed to close early and shopping on weekends was unheard of."
At one time Marcia told the press, "I'm not interested in having No. 1 hits. Once you have one, people expect them all the time, and if you don’t produce one, they say, 'Oh, she's slipping.' I want to build up credibility. I would rather be a stayer, like Frank Sinatra. I'd hate to be a jack of all trades and master of none. You have to know what you're good at. And, if you feel a bit shaky doing something, bow out. I don't know if I'm really a natural actress.
"I would have to have a good coach, one who was honest enough to tell me straight from the shoulder if I didn’t have what it takes. I couldn't accept being lied to, because the most important thing is to be good at what you do. I know I am a clown. I just love clowning. Singing is acting, I guess. It requires emotional commitment. And I won’t sing songs I don’t like, because I couldn’t project the right feeling through them.
"The ABC-TV variety series I did a couple of years back (in 1977) taught me a lot about this. It taught me to project warm before a lens and that's helped me with other TV and photographic work. I try to do the best I can with my work, but I am not a gambler. I like to be professionally sure of things. It would be terribly boring being No. 1 forever. You've got to move over and make room for others. If you didn't step aside, you would be a very greedy person."
Marcia told Jill Fraser 1981 "was the sweetest and the sourest year of my life, but I’ll be damned if I’ll let it get the better of me. I’ve seen it through, and I can only hope that it will make me a better person professionally and personally. I know I have grown up a lot. My brother encouraged me tremendously in my career. I miss him very much. At the time of his death I was in England recording my latest (5th) album, 'Take It From The Boys.' It was the first time my recording ban ended, and I had to push myself on regardless of the ban.
"There were a lot of people banking on me to get the album out. I was away from my mother (Esmeralda), too – that's always a great loss – and I had to shoulder all the emotions of my brother's death by myself. I think it made me appreciate how much I love singing and how lucky I am, to be able to sing. And I’ve come out of that horrific period unscarred. Perhaps the 2-year break from my career was even a blessing in disguise because it has made me a better person. I appreciate everything so much more now and feel so lucky to be doing what I love."
Of the song 'What A Bitch Is Love' from the 'Take It From The Boys' album, Marcia maintained, "A lot of people have questioned the record, because they've misunderstood what it's trying to say. They think I'm putting down love but I'm not. I think love is great. I think it's euphoric and fulfilling. But love has 2 sides, and the songs are about the one we sweep under the carpet." Marcia also made the observation, "Frank Sinatra in my eyes is the biggest guy in show business. Ella Fitzgerald, Mel Torme, they’ve all lasted 3 generations. My mother knows who they are. I know who they are and my 8-year-old (in 1978) daughter knows who they are and that's how I'd like my career to go."
"I was 16 years old and I remember flying in and seeing Sydney Harbour and the Opera House, still under construction. I was collected and taken to my accommodation to drop off my luggage and then I went straight to the Metro Theatre in Kings Cross to meet the people in the show. I arrived on my own and I found it to be very different to my home town of Boston. Everything seemed to close early and shopping on weekends was unheard of."
At one time Marcia told the press, "I'm not interested in having No. 1 hits. Once you have one, people expect them all the time, and if you don’t produce one, they say, 'Oh, she's slipping.' I want to build up credibility. I would rather be a stayer, like Frank Sinatra. I'd hate to be a jack of all trades and master of none. You have to know what you're good at. And, if you feel a bit shaky doing something, bow out. I don't know if I'm really a natural actress.
"I would have to have a good coach, one who was honest enough to tell me straight from the shoulder if I didn’t have what it takes. I couldn't accept being lied to, because the most important thing is to be good at what you do. I know I am a clown. I just love clowning. Singing is acting, I guess. It requires emotional commitment. And I won’t sing songs I don’t like, because I couldn’t project the right feeling through them.
"The ABC-TV variety series I did a couple of years back (in 1977) taught me a lot about this. It taught me to project warm before a lens and that's helped me with other TV and photographic work. I try to do the best I can with my work, but I am not a gambler. I like to be professionally sure of things. It would be terribly boring being No. 1 forever. You've got to move over and make room for others. If you didn't step aside, you would be a very greedy person."
Marcia told Jill Fraser 1981 "was the sweetest and the sourest year of my life, but I’ll be damned if I’ll let it get the better of me. I’ve seen it through, and I can only hope that it will make me a better person professionally and personally. I know I have grown up a lot. My brother encouraged me tremendously in my career. I miss him very much. At the time of his death I was in England recording my latest (5th) album, 'Take It From The Boys.' It was the first time my recording ban ended, and I had to push myself on regardless of the ban.
"There were a lot of people banking on me to get the album out. I was away from my mother (Esmeralda), too – that's always a great loss – and I had to shoulder all the emotions of my brother's death by myself. I think it made me appreciate how much I love singing and how lucky I am, to be able to sing. And I’ve come out of that horrific period unscarred. Perhaps the 2-year break from my career was even a blessing in disguise because it has made me a better person. I appreciate everything so much more now and feel so lucky to be doing what I love."
Of the song 'What A Bitch Is Love' from the 'Take It From The Boys' album, Marcia maintained, "A lot of people have questioned the record, because they've misunderstood what it's trying to say. They think I'm putting down love but I'm not. I think love is great. I think it's euphoric and fulfilling. But love has 2 sides, and the songs are about the one we sweep under the carpet." Marcia also made the observation, "Frank Sinatra in my eyes is the biggest guy in show business. Ella Fitzgerald, Mel Torme, they’ve all lasted 3 generations. My mother knows who they are. I know who they are and my 8-year-old (in 1978) daughter knows who they are and that's how I'd like my career to go."
