Her songs have been covered extensively by artists such as Phyllis Hyman, Kenny Rankin, Patti Austin, Diane Schuur and Cleo Laine.
His family knew the singer Cleo Laine, who worked as a babysitter for the young Michael.
Cleo Laine - Return to Carnegie - "Direction" (co-writer)
Frankie Laine | Cleo Laine | Cleo Demetriou | CLEO | Paul Laine | Papa Jack Laine | Letters to Cleo | Denny Laine | Cleo Paskal | Cleo (magazine) | Paper Giants: The Birth of Cleo | North Laine | Michelle Laine | James Laine | Frankie Laine (wrestler) | CLEO (router) | Cleo Odzer | Cleo Lemon | Cléo | Cleo | Betty Laine |
He was noted for his impersonations of Shirley Bassey, Eartha Kitt, Lena Horne, Cleo Laine and Dorothy Squires in full drag and no mike and was booked into the working men’s clubs throughout the North of England as well as the cabaret club circuit.
They recorded 'inserts' for the many music and chat shows on Radio 2 and Radio Scotland, recording with artists including Cleo Laine, Georgie Fame, Carol Kidd and trombonist Don Lusher.
The opening night cast of the Broadway production starred George Rose, Cleo Laine, John Herrera, Howard McGillin, Patti Cohenour, and Jana Schneider, who were all nominated for 1986 Tony Awards for their performances, as well as Betty Buckley in the title role.
Among those with whom Nightingale has played with are John Dankworth, Cleo Laine, Urbie Green, Carl Fontana, Jiggs Whigham, Clark Terry, Slide Hampton, Thilo Berg, Alan Barnes, Bill Holman, Claire Martin, John Wilson (conductor), Clark Tracey, and Stan Tracey.
It was during this spell that she played for - and rubbed shoulders with - artistes like Sammy Davis, Jr., Tony Bennett, Dame Cleo Laine, Dizzy Gillespie, Oscar Peterson, and renewed an old and rather special friendship with legendary bass player, Ray Brown.
She made numerous appearances on The Morecambe & Wise Show in 1973 and 1974 and played Julie in a West End production of Showboat, taking over from Cleo Laine.