In September 1990, at the age of 16 years, Tkautz was cast in the role of Nikki Spencer on the popular Australian soap opera, E Street. She described her role, "Nikki is everything I don't want to be ... She smokes and she's really the sort of girl most parents would be horrified to have their daughters associating with". Tkautz soon became one of the show's main stars due to the popularity of her character. During this time, she attended the Australian Academy of Dramatic Art in Sydney, graduating in 1991. During that year she appeared on numerous Australian editions of magazine covers including Vogue, Cosmopolitan, TV Week, Smash Hits and Dolly. In 1991 readers of TV Hits voted her as the Hottest Woman on Earth. Tkautz also had a supporting role in the mini-series, The Girl from Tomorrow (1992).
Due to her popularity, the producers of E Street decided to have Tkautz record a song, which would be used in the show as part of a dream sequence, where her character imagines she is a pop star. This resulted in a recording career for Tkautz, she later recalled "I loved singing and I had trained as a singer, but everything happened so quickly, it was just a crazy whirlwind. One minute I'm watching E Street in my lounge room, the next minute I’m starring in E Street and I've got a number one single in the charts". Tkautz was signed to Westside Records, a label created by E Street 's producers, and recorded her debut single, "Read My Lips".
Redlich described why Tkautz was chosen ahead of her fellow actresses "I thought it was too raunchy for Toni Pearen and too teeny-bopper for Alyssa-Jane Cook". It was promoted via the show and released in June 1991, which reached the #1 position on the ARIA Singles Chart in July. The track was written by Tony King and Roy Nicolson and was produced by Leon Berger. At the ARIA Music Awards of 1992 it won Highest Selling Single for the previous year. The song was parodied by Gina Riley on the comedy TV series, Fast Forward, as "Pout Your Lips". The single's B-side is "Say Goodbye" and was written by Berger, Alston Koch and Doug Henderson. Since 1991, Tkautz has re-recorded "Read My Lips" twice: the first version as the "Read My Lips (Electro Pushers Remix)", which was to be included as a bonus track on her proposed third album, Glamorous Life; and the second version as the "Read My Lips (Neon Stereo Remix)", which was performed live by Tkautz on Channel 7's The Morning Show.
Tkautz' second single from her debut album, "Sexy (Is the Word)", was issued in September 1991 and peaked at #3. It was written by Berger, King and Nicholson and produced by Berger, Koch and Henderson. She performed the track at the 1991 Rugby League Grand Final. At the end of that year Tkautz toured nationally as a support act on American dance-pop and hip-hop group, C+C Music Factory's Australian Tour. Her third single, "Skin to Skin", appeared in April the next year, which reached #16, and was written and produced by the same team as "Sexy (Is the Word)". In June that year, having left E Street, Tkautz released her debut album, 'Fresh', which peaked at #15 on the ARIA Albums Chart. Tkautz promoted the album by a national tour, a further single, "Is It...?", was issued in July 1993 and reached the top 40, but a proposed second album was shelved and Tkautz refocused on her acting career.
In September 2005, Tkautz released a new single, a cover version of "The Glamorous Life", a 1984 song by Sheila E and written by Prince, which peaked at #31 on the ARIA Singles Chart. Her second album, 'Lost & Found', was issued on 4 December that year. Also, that year, she re-recorded "Sexy (Is the Word)", which was included as a bonus track on 'Lost & Found'. Tkautz travelled to Sweden in early 2006 to work with 2N and while there she recorded her next single, "Easily Affected", and "Not Enough". Her version of "The Glamorous Life" had some success internationally. It was released in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Poland, South Africa, Sweden, Russia, Dubai and UAE, and Canada. In February 2008 she performed "Easily Affected", "True Love", "Read My Lips (Neon Stereo Remix)" and her new single, "I Want Your Love" at the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Fair Day.
In January 2012 Australian comedian, Sam Kekovich, released a music video as an ad for Australian lamb meat, which was a rendition of Aqua's hit "Barbie Girl"; it featured vocals by Tkautz and an appearance by hip-hop dance and pop music group, Justice Crew. Meat and Livestock Australia's marketing manager, Andrew Cox, declared "it's the most successful lamb campaign ever in terms of lamb sales ... people were able to share our 'Barbie Girl' song on Facebook and Twitter". In August that year Tkautz issued a compilation album, 'The Hits and More', and followed with a tour promoting its appearance. Tkautz released a single "The Key" on 26 May 2017.
SINGLES
Read My Lips
| 9 JUN '91 | #1 |
Sexy (Is the Word)
| 15 SEP '91 | #3 |
Skin to Skin | 19 APR '92 | #16 |
I Feel Love | 22 NOV '92 | #66 |
Is It...?
| 11 JUL '93 | #39 |
This Glamorous Life
| 12 SEP '05 | #31 |
All I Want
| 28 NOV '05 | #72 |
Easily Affected
| 6 NOV '06 | #86 |
References
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melissa_Tkautz
http://top100singles.blogspot.com.au/
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