Tasha Thomas ( – November 8, 1984) was an American singer and actress, known for her role as

Aunt Em Aunt Em is a fictional character from the Oz books. Jack Snow, ''Who's Who in Oz'', Chicago, Reilly & Lee, 1954; New York, Peter Bedrick Books, 1988; p. 10. She is the aunt of Dorothy Gale and wife of Uncle Henry, and lives together with them on ...

in the original Broadway production of ''

The Wiz ''The Wiz: The Super Soul Musical "Wonderful Wizard of Oz"'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Charlie Smalls (and others) and book by William F. Brown. It is a retelling of L. Frank Baum's children's novel '' The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' ...

''. Thomas also had a hit single, "Shoot Me (With Your Love)", from her 1979 album, ''Midnight Rendezvous''. Her birthplace is often cited as "Jeutyn, Alaska", though no such town exists.

Music career

Thomas' breakthrough came when she was cast in the original Broadway production of ''

'' in the role of

. Her performance on the

cast album A cast recording is a recording of a stage musical that is intended to document the songs as they were performed in the show and experienced by the audience. An original cast recording or OCR, as the name implies, features the voices of the sho ...

, singing her soulful rendition of the ballad "The Feeling We Once Had", earned her wide critical acclaim. In 1972 Tasha sang backup vocals along with singer-songwriter &

Songwriters Hall of Fame The Songwriters Hall of Fame (SHOF) is an American institution founded in 1969 by songwriter Johnny Mercer, music publisher/songwriter Abe Olman, and publisher/executive Howie Richmond to honor those whose work, represent, and maintain, the her ...

Ellie Greenwich Eleanor Louise Greenwich (October 23, 1940 – August 26, 2009) was an American pop music singer, songwriter, and record producer. She wrote or co-wrote "Da Doo Ron Ron", "Be My Baby", "Maybe I Know", "Then He Kissed Me", "Do Wah Diddy Diddy", ...

(1949–2009) for

Jim Croce James Joseph Croce (; January 10, 1943 – September 20, 1973) was an American folk and rock singer-songwriter. Between 1966 and 1973, he released five studio albums and numerous singles. During this period, Croce took a series of odd jobs to p ...

's debut album ''

You Don't Mess Around With Jim ''You Don't Mess Around with Jim'' is the third studio album by American singer-songwriter Jim Croce, released in April 1972. History and release The album was recorded over a three to four-week period for approximately $18,000, with most fundi ...

''. She appears on

Slade Slade are an English rock band formed in Wolverhampton in 1966. They rose to prominence during the glam rock era in the early 1970s, achieving 17 consecutive top 20 hits and six number ones on the UK Singles Chart. The ''British Hit Singles ...

's 1976 ''

Nobody's Fools ''Nobody's Fools'' is the sixth studio album by the British rock group Slade. It was released in March 1976 and reached No. 14 in the UK. The album was produced by Chas Chandler. Musically, the album showed the band dropping their "loud" and "r ...

'' LP providing backing vocals on several songs including the

title track A title track is a song that has the same name as the album or film in which it appears. In the Korean music industry, the term is used to describe a promoted song on an album, akin to a single, regardless of the song's title. Title track may a ...

. Tasha also provided backup vocals on the 1977

Kiss A kiss is the touch or pressing of one's lips against another person or an object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely. Depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sexual attraction, ...

album ''

Love Gun ''Love Gun'' is the sixth studio album by American hard rock band Kiss, released on June 30, 1977. Casablanca Records and FilmWorks shipped one million copies of the album on this date. It was certified platinum and became the band's first top ...

'', as one of the "KISSettes". In 1978, on the basis of her growing popularity as a singer capable of performing in many different styles and genres, producers James R. Glaser (aka Jimmi Hood) and Peter Rugile signed Thomas to their company, Orbit Record Productions. Her first record release on the producer's independent label, Orbit Records, was the international dance hit, "Shoot Me (With Your Love)", written by James R. Glaser. Unable to keep pace with the demand for the record, producers Glaser/Rugile took Thomas and their production company to Atlantic Records to complete Thomas's first

solo album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records co ...

''Midnight Rendezvous''. Recorded in 1979, ''Midnight Rendezvous'' included the track, "Shoot Me (With Your Love)", which was the biggest hit from the album. The ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' music critic Robert Palmer, described the song as "...one of the grittiest and most rousing disco records of the year destined to become a classic of erotic dance music." Robert Palmer, ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'', June 21, 1979

Television appearances

Following the success of "Shoot Me (With Your Love)", Thomas was frequently invited to guest star on television music and talk shows, including appearances on ''

Don Kirshner's Rock Concert ''Don Kirshner's Rock Concert'' is an American television music variety show that ran during the 1970s and early 1980s, created and produced by Don Kirshner and syndicated to television stations, initially through Viacom Enterprises, and later ...

,'' '' Soul Train'' (season 8, episode 32 – air date: March 24, 1979), ''

The Merv Griffin Show ''The Merv Griffin Show'' is an American television talk show starring Merv Griffin. The series ran from October 1, 1962 to March 29, 1963 on NBC, May 10, 1965 to July 4, 1969 in first-run syndication, from August 18, 1969 to February 11, 1972 ...

'', (season 11, episode 2395) '' The Midnight Special'' (season 7, episode 25 – air date: May 4, 1979) and ''

Dance Fever ''Dance Fever'' is an American musical variety television series that aired weekly in syndication from January 1979 to September 1987. The series was technically created by Merv Griffin but his agent Murray Schwartz actually conceived the idea o ...

'' (May 1979).

Death

Thomas died of cancer in 1984, at the age of 39.

Awards

"Shoot Me (With Your Love)" was nominated for "Best R&B Single of the Year" at the 1979 BMA Awards.

Discography

Albums

*''The Wiz'' (Atlantic Records, ASIN: B000V6AS46) *''Midnight Rendezvous'' (Atlantic Records, ATLANTIC SD 19223 1)

Singles

*"Rock-A-Bye, Baby" (2011) *"Shoot Me (With Your Love)" – U.S. No. 91 Pop, No. 25 R&B; UK No. 59 *"Hot Buttered Boogie" *"Street Fever"

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Tasha American singer-songwriters 1984 deaths Year of birth uncertain Place of birth missing Place of death missing African-American actresses Atlantic Records artists Buddah Records artists Roulette Records artists American rhythm and blues singers American soul singers American disco singers American women singer-songwriters 20th-century American women singers 20th-century American singers 20th-century African-American women singers 1945 births