Melissa Janis Lefton (born August 13, 1975) is a singer and songwriter. Lefton began playing keyboards at the age of 10. After finishing high-school she moved to New York to study communications at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

, though decided to also focus on a career in music while studying. Melissa joined the punk rock band "Product" answering an ad in ''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the crea ...

'' seeking a "theatrical female frontperson" who "wanted to be a star." Product played at venues including

CBGB CBGB was a New York City music club opened in 1973 by Hilly Kristal in Manhattan's East Village. The club was previously a biker bar and before that was a dive bar. The letters ''CBGB'' were for '' Country'', '' BlueGrass'', and '' Blues'', Kri ...

. They were signed and recorded an album though its release was cancelled. Her debut solo album, '' Melicious'', signed to

Jive Records Jive Records was an American independent record label founded by Clive Calder in 1981 as a subsidiary to the Zomba Group. In the US, the label had offices in New York City and Chicago. Jive was best known for its successes with hip hop, R&B, an ...

, was slated for release on August 21, 2001 but was also never released. ''Melicious'' took on topics like pollution, date-rape, occultism and murder, with tongue in cheek.

Stylus Magazine ''Stylus Magazine'' was an American online music and film magazine, launched in 2002 and co-founded by Todd L. Burns. It featured long-form music journalism, four daily music reviews, movie reviews, podcasts, an MP3 blog, and a text blog. Addi ...

gave Melicious a positive review and referred to Lefton as the "queen of shelved teenpop".

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

also spoke highly of the album, saying it "matches the pop sassiness of the

Go-Go's The Go-Go's are an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1978. Except for short periods when other musicians joined briefly, the band has had a relatively stable lineup consisting of Charlotte Caffey on lead guitar and keyboards, Belinda ...

and

Cyndi Lauper Cynthia Ann Stephanie Lauper Thornton (born June 22, 1953) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and activist. Her career has spanned over 40 years. Her album ''She's So Unusual'' (1983) was the first debut album by a female artist to achi ...

". Lefton was also once referred to as the "anti- Britney." ''

Seattle Weekly The ''Seattle Weekly'' is an alternative biweekly distributed newspaper in Seattle, Washington, United States. It was founded by Darrell Oldham and David Brewster as ''The Weekly.'' Its first issue was published on March 31, 1976. The newspaper ...

'' called her "cute, perky and evil incarnate." Three of Lefton's songs from 2001 were commercially released. "I Love Life" appeared on the soundtrack to ''

The Princess Diaries ''The Princess Diaries'' is a series of epistolary young adult novels written by Meg Cabot, and is also the title of the first volume, published in 2000. The series revolves around Amelia 'Mia' Thermopolis, a teenager in New York who discovers ...

''. "My Hit Song" appeared on the soundtrack to '' On the Line'' and also appeared on the compilation album ''Cool Traxx! 3''. Her cover of " He Blinded Me with Science" appeared on the soundtrack to '' Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius''. Her track "Radio Rainbow" appears in the film '' Halloweentown II: Kalabar's Revenge'', though the film did not release an accompanying soundtrack. In an attempt to salvage her career, the label set her up with a manager who sent her to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

to become an actress. Discouraged with the roles she was offered she returned to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. She spent several years working professionally as a commercial jingle writer; Lefton's vocals can be heard in the famous commercial for

Pepsi Pepsi is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by PepsiCo. Originally created and developed in 1893 by Caleb Bradham and introduced as Brad's Drink, it was renamed as Pepsi-Cola in 1898, and then shortened to Pepsi in 1961. History Pepsi was ...

Britney Spears Britney Jean Spears (born December 2, 1981) is an American singer. Often referred to as the " Princess of Pop", she is credited with influencing the revival of teen pop during the late 1990s and early 2000s. After appearing in stage productio ...

as well as ads for

T.J. Maxx TJ Maxx (stylized as T•J•maxx) is an American department store chain, selling at prices generally lower than other major similar stores. It has more than 1,000 stores in the United States, making it one of the largest clothing retailers in ...

and

Chevrolet Chevrolet ( ), colloquially referred to as Chevy and formally the Chevrolet Motor Division of General Motors Company, is an American automobile division of the American manufacturer General Motors (GM). Louis Chevrolet (1878–1941) and ous ...

. By 2006, Lefton was in a

sunshine pop Sunshine pop (originally known as soft pop) is a subgenre of pop music that originated in Southern California in the mid-1960s. Rooted in easy listening and advertising jingles, sunshine pop acts combined nostalgic or anxious moods with "an appre ...

band named ''Hello''. That year they released an album on the record label '' Frisbie''.

Discography

Studio albums

* 2001: '' Melicious'' (Unreleased)

Videos

* 2001: ''Behind The Muse: A Mockumentary''

References

External links

* * *

Melissa Lefton Melissa Janis Lefton (born August 13, 1975) is a singer and songwriter. Lefton began playing keyboards at the age of 10. After finishing high-school she moved to New York to study communications at New York University, though decided to also focus ...

Melissa Lefton
at

Discogs Discogs (short for discographies) is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. While the site was originally created with a goal of becoming the la ...

*McDonnell, Evelyn
"Melissa Lefton - musician - Brief Article - Interview"
''Gale Group'' at ''FindArticles.com''. April 2001. {{DEFAULTSORT:Lefton, Melissa 1975 births Living people Jive Records artists 21st-century American singers 21st-century American women singers