Mona Richardson (February 5, 1947 – August 5, 1985) was an American-born singer and actress who had performed with

Johnny Otis Johnny Otis (born Ioannis Alexandres Veliotes (Greek language, Greek: Ιωάννης Αλέξανδρος Βελιώτης)); December 28, 1921 – January 17, 2012) was a Greek American singer, musician, composer, bandleader, record producer, ...

Ray Charles Ray Charles Robinson (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential musicians in history, and was often referred to by contemporaries as "The Gen ...

and

Ike Turner Izear Luster "Ike" Turner Jr. (November 5, 1931 – December 12, 2007) was an American musician, bandleader, songwriter, record producer, and talent scout. An early pioneer of 1950s rock and roll, he is best known for his work in the 1960s and ...

. She ended up in Australia, where she died in 1985. She released a number of singles and albums for the

Philips Koninklijke Philips N.V. (), simply branded Philips, is a Dutch multinational health technology company that was founded in Eindhoven in 1891. Since 1997, its world headquarters have been situated in Amsterdam, though the Benelux headquarter ...

RCA Victor RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic ...

and

EMI EMI Group Limited (formerly EMI Group plc until 2007; originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At t ...

labels.

Background

Mona Richardson was a blues, jazz and soul singer. She was born in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, on February 5, 1947. She came to Australia in 1980 and decided to stay. She was still in Australia when she died in 1985.

Career

1970s

Around the mid-1970s, she was being showcased at the Trophy Lounge in Las Vegas, the same venue where Judy Carp and The Rich Bono Duo appeared. In May 1967, she was in Singapore, appearing at the Shangri-La Hotel's Tiara Supper Club from the 10th to the 31st. In June 1977, Richardson was performing at the Hilton Hotel in Singapore. In 1978, her selft-titled ''Mona Richardson'' album was released on

. It was produced by Swedish born Hong Kong based musician,

Anders Nelsson Anders Nelsson is an actor and musician who emerged in the 1960s Hong Kong music scene. He was a member of the Hong Kong group The Kontinentals as well as the front man for Anders Nelson & The Inspiration. In later years he became an actor and i ...

who also contributed backing vocals. In 1979, her ''Disco Dazzler'' album was released. It was arranged and conducted by Hong Kong producer Chris Babida who would also work on albums for Andy Bautista and

Sam Sorono A Tom Jones impersonator is someone who impersonator, impersonates or imitates the look and sound of musician Tom Jones (singer), Tom Jones. Professional Tom Jones impersonators or Tom Jones tribute artists, perform all over the world as entertainer ...

1980s

She appeared on Sharifah Aini's ''Just for You'' album, which was released in 1980. The one song she contributed to was " Reunited", which was a hit for

Peaches & Herb Peaches & Herb is an American vocal duo. Herb Fame (born October 1, 1941) has remained a constant as "Herb" since the duo was created in 1966; seven different women have filled the role of "Peaches", most notably Francine Edna "Peaches" Hurd B ...

in 1978. She came to Australia that year as part of a theatrical tour and decided to stay in the city of Melbourne. In September that year she was starring alongside

Lorraine Bayly Lorraine Daphne Bayly AM (born 16 January 1937) is an Australian retired actress of film, television and theatre, narrator, presenter, singer, dancer, pianist and theatre director, stage manager and writer. Bayly has been a performer since s ...

and

Alfred Sandor Alfred Sandor (November 5, 1918 – September 22, 1983), born Alfred Sandwina, and billed early in his career as Al Sandwina, was a Hungarian-born American and Australian character actor and singer. He was also credited as Al Sander and Al Sando ...

in the stage production of ''

The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas ''The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas'' is a musical with a book by Texas author Larry L. King and Peter Masterson and music and lyrics by Carol Hall. It is based on a story by King that was inspired by the real-life Chicken Ranch in La Grang ...

'' at Her Majesty's Theatre in New South Wales, which was directed by Jerry Yoder. In January 1982, she was a cast member of the production ''Barnum'' which played at Adelaide's Festival Theater. She gave an impressive performance as Joice Heth in the first part. Later in the show she returned in a different form as the Blues Singer and made an impactful performance which was described by '' Theatre Australia'' magazine, ''"to grab the show by the scruff of the neck to strut and shake out "Black and White"''. Her performance was also noted by ''

The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published in Sydney, Australia, and owned by Nine Entertainment. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuous ...

'' and the reviewer referred to her as "a brilliant presence". In early 1985, she had landed a regular spot at the Crab Cooker Supper Club at 482 Victoria Street, North Melbourne.

Death

She died in Melbourne Australia on August 5, 1985, as a result from falling to her death from her apartment. The cause of death was deemed to be suicide.''The Sydney Morning Herald'', Sunday, August 11, 1985
Page 154 Suicide - the ultimate right that leaves the heartbreaking question
/ref>

Discography

Stage

References

External links

Vinyl Knights - Mona Richardson - The Original International Disco Queen

{{DEFAULTSORT:Richardson, Mona 1947 births 1985 deaths 1985 suicides American blues singers American soul singers American jazz singers EMI Records artists RCA Victor artists Philips Records artists Suicides by jumping in Australia 20th-century African-American women singers 20th-century American women singers 20th-century American singers American emigrants to Australia