Five Star
Five Star | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Romford, London, England |
| Genres | Pop, R&B |
| Years active | 1983–2001, 2005-2008, 2012-present |
| Labels | Tent RecordsEpic Records RCA Records |
| Members | Deniece Pearson Doris May Pearson Lorraine Samantha Jean Pearson Stedman Pearson Delroy Pearson |
| Website | http://www.fivestarofficial.com |
Five Star (also styled as 5 Star) are a British pop/R&B group, formed in 1983. Comprising siblings Stedman, Lorraine, Deniece, Doris and Delroy Pearson, they were known for their flamboyant image, matching costumes and heavily choreographed dance routines. Five Star achieved a string of Top 40 singles and albums in the UK between 1985 and 1988.
Biography
The five-piece group of siblings from Romford, London were masterminded by their father and manager, Buster Pearson, in the style of The Jackson 5. He was a former session musician who had worked with Wilson Pickett and had set up Tent Records Inc. to release the group's material, backed by RCA Records. Following the release of Five Star's debut album, Luxury of Life in 1985, the group scored their first Top 10 hit in 1986 with "System Addict". The group also began to gain a following in the United States and several singles made the Billboard Dance and R&B Charts Top 10. Their second album, Silk and Steel, released in 1986, included five UK Top 10 chart hits: "Can't Wait Another Minute", "Find The Time", "Rain Or Shine", "Stay Out Of My Life" (penned by Deniece) and "The Slightest Touch". The album itself reached number one and sold 1.2 million copies in the UK alone. In 1987, the group won the BRIT Award for Best British Group, and also saw the release of their third album, Between The Lines, which reached number seven in the UK. However, none of this album's singles made the Top 10.
In 1988 the group attempted to change their clean-cut image to a more adult-oriented "leather clad" look, matched with a slightly harder-edged dance sound. Led by the Leon Sylvers III produced single, "Another Weekend", their fourth album Rock the World met with only moderate success, and was their last Top 20 album. The album's second single, "Rock My World", became their last Top 40 hit, and further singles from the album were unsuccessful.
In 1989 their Greatest Hits collection peaked at a lowly No.53 on the UK album chart. In April of that year, the group had made an infamous appearance on the British children's TV show Going Live, when, during a live phone-in, a teenage caller called them "fucking crap". To make matters worse, amid reports of bankruptcy, the family had been forced to sell their Berkshire mansion after only two years.[1] The family then moved to Hatfield, Hertfordshire.[1]
Now at loggerheads with RCA, Buster Pearson signed the group to Epic Records in 1990, and the group's fifth studio album, Five Star, was self-produced at the family home. Despite heavy promotion, its two singles, "Treat Me Like A Lady" and "Hot Love", failed. A planned third single, "What About Me Baby" was shelved, and the UK release of the album abandoned. In October, Stedman Pearson pleaded guilty to a charge of public indecency after being arrested in a public toilet in New Malden in London.[1][2][3][4][5][6] Following this, the band relocated to the United States.
After the 1991 release of their sixth album, Shine, Epic Records dropped the group. In 1994, the group released an album on their own Tent label, Heart And Soul, which was reissued in 1995 in the UK. Again, chart success eluded them and the group informally ended. Deniece got married and had children, and Delroy went into musical production.
In 2001, a new Five Star single, "Funktafied", peaked at number 99 on the U.S. R&B Chart.[7] However, the accompanying new album Eclipse was not a success and was the group's final album to date. Five Star returned to the UK in 2002, as a trio of Stedman, Deniece and Lorraine, to perform on various tours, including the Here and Now nostalgia tour. In 2005, "System Addict" was re-recorded and re-released. Five Star were booked to perform a gig at Butlins in October 2006, in which all five members were billed. However, three impersonators were used to mime to backing tapes.[1]
Deniece revealed in 2007 that she was working on solo material,[8] although only one track has so far been officially released.
In March 2007, Sony BMG released a compilation DVD of all the group's videos, entitled Five Star Performance.
For Five Star's 25th anniversary in 2008, Deniece joined Stedman and backing dancers for gigs at Butlins during October and November 2008. Earlier that year, Deniece stated in an interview with The Guardian newspaper that if she could convince sister Lorraine to join them, then all five original members of the group would like to perform one last tour together.[1] The following year, she made her West End debut performing in Thriller - Live at the Lyric Theatre from January to December 2009.
In 2010 it was announced that Cherry Pop records would be releasing Special Edition CDs of their first two albums Luxury of Life and Silk and Steel.
The very first song recorded by Five Star from 1983, "Problematic", was released digitally on 18 July 2011, along with a previously unreleased track called "It", which is an outtake from the Heart And Soul album sessions from 1995.
Five Star are performing at the 2012 Rewind Festivals, on 21 July at Scone Palace, Perth, Scotland, and on 18 August at Henley-On-Thames.
In March 2012, Deniece Pearson appeared on BBC talent show, The Voice UK, as a contestant. She joined the team of Tom Jones after singing Fighter by Christina Aguilera.
Deniece Pearson will be appearing as the fairy godmother in Cinderella,at the Milton Keynes Theatre, from 7 December 2012 until 6 January 2013.
In popular culture
On 20 November 2009, comedian Stephen K Amos chose Five Star as his specialist subject on the Children In Need edition of Celebrity Mastermind.
Discography
Albums
| Year | Album details | Peak chart positions | Certifications (sales thresholds) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK [9] |
US [10] |
US R&B [10] | |||
| 1985 | Luxury of Life | 12 | 57 | 14 | |
| 1986 | Silk and Steel | 1 | 80 | - |
|
| 1987 | Between the Lines | 7 | - | - |
|
| 1988 | Rock the World | 17 | - | 91 |
|
| 1989 | Greatest Hits | 53 | - | - | |
| 1990 | Five Star | - | - | - | |
| 1991 | Shine | - | 91 | - | |
| 1994 | Heart and Soul | - | - | - | |
| 2001 | Eclipse | - | - | - | |
Singles
| Year | Song | UK[12] | U.S.[10] | U.S. R&B[10] | U.S. Dance[10] | Album |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1983 | "Problematic" | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1984 | "Hide and Seek" | 113 | - | - | - | Luxury of Life |
| "Crazy" | 144 | - | - | - | ||
| 1985 | "All Fall Down" | 15 | 65 | 16 | 6 | |
| "Let Me Be the One" | 18 | 59 | 2 | 9 | ||
| "Love Take Over" | 25 | - | 9 | - | ||
| "R.S.V.P." | 45 | - | - | - | ||
| 1986 | "System Addict" | 3 | - | - | - | |
| "Can't Wait Another Minute" | 7 | 41 | 7 | 5 | Silk & Steel | |
| "Find the Time" | 7 | - | - | - | ||
| "Rain or Shine" | 2 | - | - | - | ||
| "If I Say Yes" | 15 | 67 | 13 | 26 | ||
| 1987 | "Stay Out of My Life" | 9 | - | - | - | |
| "The Slightest Touch" | 4 | - | - | - | ||
| "Are You Man Enough" | - | - | 15 | - | ||
| "Whenever You're Ready" | 11 | - | 39 | - | Between the Lines | |
| "Strong as Steel" | 16 | - | - | - | ||
| "Somewhere Somebody" | 23 | - | - | - | ||
| 1988 | "Another Weekend" | 18 | - | 23 | - | Rock the World |
| "Rock My World" | 28 | - | - | - | ||
| "There's a Brand New World" | 61 | - | - | - | ||
| "Someone's In Love" | - | - | 36 | - | ||
| "Let Me Be Yours" | 51 | - | - | - | ||
| 1989 | "With Every Heartbeat" | 49 | - | - | - | Greatest Hits |
| 1990 | "Treat Me Like a Lady" | 54 | - | - | - | Five Star |
| "Hot Love" | 68 | - | - | - | ||
| 1991 | "Shine" | 53 | 88 | - | - | Shine |
| 1995 | "(I Love You) For Sentimental Reasons" | - | 84 | - | - | Heart and Soul |
| "I Give You Give" | - | 83 | - | - | ||
| 1996 | "I Give You Give" (remix) | - | - | - | - | - |
| "Surely" | - | 25 | - | - | Heart and Soul | |
| 2001 | "Funktafied" | - | 99 | 26 | - | Eclipse |
| 2005 | "System Addict 2005" | 46 | - | - | - | - |
| "The Slightest Touch 2005" | - | - | - | - | - |
Videos and DVDs
| Year | Video/DVD |
|---|---|
| 1986 | Luxury of Life |
| 1987 | Silk and Steel |
| 1987 | Between the Lines |
| 1989 | Greatest Hits |
| 2007 | Five Star Performance |
References
- ^ a b c d e "Let's Go Round Again" by Dave Simpson, The Guardian, 26 June 2008 Cite error: The named reference "Guardian" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
- ^ "Sex Disgrace of 5 Star Stedman". The Sun (London). 9 October 1990 (Page 5).
- ^ "We Are Family" (Documentary interview with 5 Star). BBC Television. (7 January 2003)
- ^ Virgin Media - "80s Stars: Where Are They Now" article on Five Star
- ^ Larkin, Colin (1998). The Virgin Encyclopedia of R&B and Soul, (p.121). Virgin Books/Muze Inc. London, England. ISBN 0-7535-0241-0
- ^ Rees, Daffyd & Crampton, Luke (1991). Rock Movers and Shakers, p.172-173 (1991 Rev. Edition). ABC-CLIO, Santa Barbara, U.S. ISBN 0-87436-661-5.
- ^ "Funktafied" at Billboard.com
- ^ Deniece Pearson Official MySpace
- ^ "Chart Stats - Five Star". theofficialcharts.com. Retrieved 6 December 2011.
- ^ a b c d e Billboard.com - Five Star US Chart details
- ^ a b c d "Certified Awards Search". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved on 2011-12-06. Note: User needs to enter "Five Star" in the "Search" field, "Artist" in the "Search by" field and click the "Go" button. Select "More info" next to the relevant entry to see full certification history.
- ^ UK Chart Stats (Five Star)