Chart entered : 7 July 1990
Chart peak : 68
The Pearson family's hot streak quickly burned itself out in the new decade.
Five Star peaked in 1986-87 when six singles from the "Silk and Steel" made the Top 20 including the number 2 hit "Rain Or Shine" . They controversially won the Best British Group Award at the 1987 Brits. After that they suffered something of a backlash with none of the singles from their next two LPs reaching the Top 10. In 1989 their "Greatest Hits" set had peaked at number 53 and the group were denounced as "fucking crap" by a caller on Going Live. Their Berkshire mansion was repossessed in a blaze of unwelcome publicity.
Dad Buster Pearson moved them to Epic Records to try and reverse the downward trend but their first single for the new label "Treat Me Like A Lady" failed to reach the Top 40.
"Hot Love" was their next single. Predictably, it's trying to get on the new jack swing bandwagon but it's holed below the waterline by Doris Pearson's inept vocals. She sounds more like a little girl asking for sweeties than someone offering steamy bedroom action and the lyrics are just a string of sexual cliches. It sounds like a Janet Jackson B-side at best.
Epic shelved plans for another single from their forthcoming album "Five Star" ( their first entirely self-written effort ) which was only released in the US. In October, Stedman Pearson was convicted of public indecency after an incident at a public toilet and the group fled to America despite interest in the group there having faded much earlier than in the UK.
Denise Pearson began work on a solo album at a studio owned by Michael Jackson but the others contributed so much it eventually became another group effort , "Shine". Epic were persuaded to put out the title track as a single in 1991. Written by producer Ian Prince and Marva King, it's a much more convincing attempt at contemporary R & B with Prince coaxing out an impressive vocal performance from Denise. Alas, it failed to chart, Epic again refused to release the album in the UK and dropped them from the label. The whole album is similarly polished but I guess there was a "coals to Newcastle" resistance going on in America.
Though no longer supported by RCA, Buster Pearson still had his Tent label and the next Five Star album "Heart and Soul" was released on that in 1994 in the US and 1995 in the UK. There were three singles " I Love You ( For Sentimental Reasons )" an attempt to move into Mariah Carey territory bereft which fails through Denise's inadequacy and an absence of hooks. " I Give You Give" is anonymous dance pop and "Surely" even more so despite the inclusion of some dancehall toasting. No one was interested at the height of Britpop and the group decided to disband.
Denise got married and started a family. She recorded a duet with Matt Goss of Bros in 1997 but it was never released. Delroy Pearson had some success in the US as a writer and producer for the boy band Immature. Stedman ran a limousine hire service.
Buster kept the fan club going and encouraged all his offspring to pop into the studio. By 2001 he had enough material along with remixes from the previous album to scrape together an album "Eclipse" which was made available through the fan club. The new material consisted mainly of slow jams like the single "Funktafied ". It was released in the teeth of opposition from Doris and Delroy who had no desire to revive the group. Denise , Stedman and Loraine Pearson toured as a trio in 2002 playing the Here and Now tour.
Gradually the group returned to the UK. Stedman started running a dance school in London while Denise moved her children here in 2005. She masterminded a remix of "System Addict" along with her friend Ryan Tedder which is to date the last Five Star single.
The following year Stedman started a reality TV career with an appearance on Channel 5's The All Star Talent Show.
In 2007 Denise started a decade of trying to make it as a solo performer with the release of a track on itunes "Here I Am", a reasonable piano ballad. The next year she and Stedman did some gigs at Butlins to mark the group's 25th anniversary with three anonymous dancers filling the gaps in the line up. In 2009 Denise began a more reliable career in musical theatre with a run in Thriller-Live at the Lyric Theatre in London.
In 2012 Denise appeared on The Voice and got through to Tom Jones's team though he eventually dropped her. There was some criticism for her competing as an ex-pro. In the summer the full group reunited to play a couple of Rewind festivals in the UK. In October that year Buster Pearson died. Lorraine decided to leave the line up at that point. The other four have been playing summer festivals since then.
Denise has kept plugging away since her appearance on The Voice. In 2014 she finally got a solo album, "Imprint " out after a run of one-off singles like the Beyonce-ish "Freak Dance". It's a competent R & B set, mainly of pre-released material, but didn't make any impression. Denise does solo gigs as well and supported The Jacksons on their Unity tour in 2013.
No comments:
Post a Comment