Molly Ringwald

Everyone it seems has his favorite Molly Ringwald film moments.

For some, she's remembered as the girl who got felt up by her grandmother or as the girl who gave her panties to a geek in "Sixteen Candles." For others, she will always be the girl who chooses Blaine over Duckie at the prom in "Pretty in Pink" or as the spoiled and somewhat coddled princess Claire Standish in "The Breakfast Club."

All three are iconic coming-of-age films from the '80s that find new, younger audiences with each passing year. Ringwald will forever be remembered for those roles, and that is something she is more than happy about. She is also happy about her "new" singing career. She will be performing "An Evening With Molly Ringwald" on Sunday, Jan. 19, at Hiwassee College in Madisonville, Tenn., as part of the Monroe Area Council for the Arts' 2013-14 Performance Series.

"I've actually been singing longer than I've done anything else," she said. "I started with my dad's band when I was 3. When I was a teenager, I sort of chose film over everything else."

Her resume also includes numerous musicals on Broadway. She released her debut album, "Except Sometimes," in April of last year. Life, including a husband and three kids, delayed the release, she said.

The CD is an homage to the Great American Songbook and features a collection of numbers that people "haven't heard as much," Ringwald said.

"They are all standards, of course, and they've been done by a lot of great people, but I wanted to stay away from 'Funny Valentine' or 'Embraceable You' and things like that that I've heard too many times."

She worked with producer Peter Smith in choosing and arranging the songs based on what worked best for her and the band. Ringwald said she has been "struck by the wide range of fans" who come to her shows. And if fans come to her shows because of the movie Molly, but are introduced to jazz or songs that are new to them, that's more than OK by her.

"I love that," she said. "Those films represent a wonderful part of their life, and I love that. I'm associated with a wonderful, care-free time in their life."

One of the numbers on the CD is "Don't You (Forget About Me)," a complete reworking of the Simple Minds number so easily recognizable to fans of "The Breakfast Club."

Ringwald chose the song in tribute to writer/director John Hughes, the man largely behind the above-mentioned trilogy.

"I think it was something that I started to do. I never thought about doing that song, but John Hughes passed away as we were starting to do the album, and I asked Peter if it was possible. He started working with it. It's funny, I never even knew all the lyrics to that song, and I don't even do all the lyrics, because there are a couple that I thought, uh ... I just thought it would be a nice tribute for him and a bridge for people who only know me for those movies.

"I thought it was nice, and I'm really happy how it turned out."

Contact Barry Courter at bcourter@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6354.