Betty Boo

Betty Boo (born Allison Moira Clarkson on March 6, 1970 in Kensington, London, England) is an English pop\dance music singer-songwriter from the ’90s. Her nickname was originally named after the cartoon character, Betty Boop, but she changed it to avoid trademark disputes.

Prior to her music career, Betty studied sound engineering at the Holloway School of Audio Engineering. While attending school, she signed a record deal with the Music of Life record label with a hip-hop girl group called the She Rockers, whose success led her to New York and working with Public Enemy, who encouraged her to pursue a solo career.
In 1989, she got her big break when she appeared as a guest vocalist on The Beatmasters’ song, “Hey DJ, I Can’t Dance (To That Music You’re Playing)” which peaked at #7 on the U.K. Singles chart, #8 on Billboard’s Hot Dance Music\Club Play chart (staying on the chart for 11 weeks) and #13 on Billboard’s Hot Dance Music\Maxi-Singles Sales chart.
In May of 1990, Betty released her debut single, “Doin’ the Do” which peaked at #7 on the U.K. Singles chart and topped Billboard’s Hot Dance Music\Club Play chart for a week, staying on the chart for 10 weeks. The song also peaked at #90 on the Billboard Hot 100, topped Billboard’s Hot Dance Music\Maxi-Singles Sales chart and #3 on the ARIA Singles chart in Australia.
Her follow-up single, “Where Are You Baby?” peaked at #3 on the U.K. Singles chart, making it her highest charting single to date. It also peaked at #19 on the ARIA Singles chart in Australia, and was moderately successful in Ireland, New Zealand, Switzerland, Germany and the Netherlands. It was certified Silver in the United Kingdom.
In September of 1990, Betty released her debut studio album, “Boomania” on the Rhythm King Records label which peaked at #4 on the U.K. Albums chart where it was certified Platinum. It also made the album charts in New Zealand, the Netherlands and Australia.
The last single released from the album, “24 Hours” peaked at #25 on the U.K. Singles chart and #94 on the ARIA Singles chart.

At the 1991 BRIT Awards ceremony, Betty was voted that year’s “Best British Breakthrough Act.” During that same year, she contributed the song, “Why, Oh Why” to the soundtrack to the film, “A Rage in Harlem”.

In July of 1991, Betty Boo’s career suffered a setback while touring in Australia where she was revealed to be lip-syncing at a concert instead of performing live.

The 21st Century Dance Club in Frankston, Australia received “hundreds of complaints” after her performance, during which Betty fled the stage after she dropped her microphone, revealing that she was miming to a backing track. The incident was widely reported and she cancelled the rest of her tour, citing the flu and a fever.
In 1992, she signed a new record deal with WEA; in July of that same year, she released the single, “Let Me Take You There” which peaked at #12 on the U.K. Singles chart. It was also moderately successful in Australia, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand and Switzerland.
In September of 1992, she released the single, “I’m On My Way” which only peaked at #44 on the U.K. Singles chart.
In October of that same year, Betty Boo released her sophomore album, “GRRR! It’s Betty Boo” which peaked at #62 on the U.K. Albums chart. It also made the album charts in Australia and Germany.
The third single from the album, “Thing Goin’ On” was only released in the United States and peaked at #5 on Billboard’s Hot Dance Music\Club Play chart, staying on the chart for 12 weeks.
The fourth single from the album, “Hangover” was unsuccessful, peaking at #50 on the U.K. Singles chart.
The last single, “Catch Me” was only released in the United States where it peaked at #14 on Billboard’s Hot Dance Music\Club Play chart, staying on the chart for 10 weeks.

Betty Boo turned down an offer to sign with Madonna’s record label, Maverick Records and her solo career came to an end when her mother was diagnosed with terminal cancer in the early ’90s. She later turned to songwriting, writing songs for artists such as Girl Thing, Louise, Dannii Minogue and Sophie Ellis-Bextor.
In 2006, she formed a pop music duo called WigWam with Blur bassist Alex James. In April of that same year, they released their only single, “Wigwam” on the Instant Karma Records label which peaked at #60 on the U.K. Singles chart.
In August of 2007, Betty Boo released a new single called “Take Off” with London dance music act, Jack Rokka; the song peaked at #92 on the U.K. Singles chart.

In July of 2009, historian Kate Williams reported on BBC Radio 4’s Broadcasting House that she was working with her to develop a musical version of her biography, “England’s Mistress: The Infamous Life of Emma Hamilton”; however, nothing much has been heard about it.

In 2014, Betty Boo performed on stage at the Penn Festival. Since then, nothing much has been heard from Betty and it appears as if she’s faded into obscurity.

To see a video for “Doin’ the Do,” go to:

To see a video for “Where Are You Baby?,” go to:

To see a video for “24 Hours,” go to:

To see a video for “Let Me Take You There,” go to:

To see a video for “I’m On My Way,” go to:

To see a video for “Thing Goin’ On,” go to:

To see a video for “Hangover,” go to:

To see a video for “Catch Me,” go to:

To see a video for “Take Off” (with Jack Rokka), go to:

To see a video for “Hey DJ, I Can’t Dance (To That Music You’re Playing)” (with The Beatmasters), go to:

Miss Jones

Miss Jones (born Tarsha Nicole Jones in Brooklyn, New York) is a former R&B singer from the 90s. She graduated with honors from the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts, majoring in classical music.

Miss Jones also received a Bachelor’s degree in music from Syracuse University. After completing college, she worked as a long-distance operator. She later met rapper Doug E. Fresh who admired her vocal skills & invited her to his Get Fresh Crew tour. She later signed a record deal with Tommy Boy Records.

In 1994, Miss Jones released her first single “Don’t Front” which featured Doug E. Fresh. The song peaked at #73 on Billboard’s Hot R&B Singles chart, staying on the chart for 11 weeks.

Her second single “Where I Wanna Be Boy” peaked at #79 on the Billboard Hot 100, #24 on Billboard’s Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales chart and #21 on Billboard’s Hot R&B Singles chart, staying on the chart for 20 weeks.

After that, Miss Jones left her record label to take a job as a radio DJ for New York radio station Hot 97. She eventually returned to performing, signed to Motown Records and began recording her debut album.

In 1998, Miss Jones released her only album “The Other Woman” whcih peaked at #51 on Billboard’s R&B Albums chart and #40 on Billboard’s Heatseekers Albums chart. The album featured production from Mario Winans & Rashad Smith and guest appearances from Craig Mack & Mobb Deep.

The only single to chart was “2 Way Street” which peaked at #62 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #27 on Billboard’s Hot R&B Singles chart, staying on the chart for 20 weeks. Miss Jones was later released from Motown Records and by 2001, she eventually left the music scene.

Miss Jones became the host of her own radio show on Hot 97 entitled “Miss Jones in the Morning” until 2008. In 2007, she wrote an autobiography entitled “Have You Met Miss Jones?: The Life and Loves of Radio’s Most Controversial Diva.”

These days, Miss Jones is the founder and CEO of Jonesyradio.com where she broadcasts “Jonesy in the Morning” from 7:00 to 10:00 a.m. daily.

To follow Miss Jones on Twitter, go to:
https://twitter.com/MorningJonesy

To see the music video for “Don’t Front,” go to:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8VI3uo0pOk

To see the music video for “Where I Wanna Be,” go to:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FdEBKpaekRQ

To see the music video for “2 Way Street,” go to:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGamMsfTGIs

[updated on 06/18/13]

Pure Sugar Singer Found

When I first made the Pure Sugar blog entry, I was unable to find anything about where lead singer Jennifer Starr was…….until now!

The good people at Milk Carton Pop Stars were able to find Jennifer Starr and interview her. To read the full interview, go to:
http://milkcartonpopstars.blogspot.com/2010/01/shes-delicious.html

If you wanted to know what Jennifer Starr’s up to these days, check out the above link to find out.

Choice

Choice (born Kim Davis) was a female rapper from Texas. She made her first appearance on musician Willie D’s album, “Controversy” and her stint on the album paved the way for Choice’s solo album.

In 1990, Choice released her debut album, “The Big Payback.” Even though it didn’t chart, the album is best known for the track “Payback” in which she disses rap artists such as Too Short, the late Eazy-E, Ice Cube, the Geto Boys, Willie D and N.W.A.

In 1992, Choice released her sophomore album, “Stick-N-Moove” which managed to peak at #83 on Billboard’s R&B Albums chart. The album included sexually explicit songs which no female rapper has ever taken to the extremes.

The only single released from the album was, “HIV Positive” which failed to chart at all on the Billboard charts. After that, it seemed as if Choice faded into obscurity. Nothing much has been heard from her since.

To see a fan-made video for “Payback,” go to:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZIi63dmpA0

To see a fan-made video for “HIV Positive,” go to:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMNWSAF9nqI

[updated on 06/18/13]

Cookie Crew

Cookie Crew were an English hip-hop\dance music duo from Clapham, South London that consisted of MC Remedee (born Debbie Pryce on December 4, 1966) and Susie Q (born Susan Banfield on March 10, 1967).

Susie Q is the sister of singer Andrew Banfield (who was a member of R&B group The Pasadenas) and MC Remedee was a former chef for the Ministry of Defence. The duo got their start in the music business after winning a national rap competition & recorded two sessions for the John Peel BBC Radio 1 show.

They later gained a record deal with U.K. dance music record label, Rhythm King and were placed in the recording studio with music production trio Beatmasters, who helped put them in a dance music direction.
In 1987, Cookie Crew released their debut single, “Rok Da House” which originally peaked at #79 on the U.K. Singles chart, but a remixed version of the song later became successful, peaking at #5 on the chart.
Their follow-up single, “Females (Get On Up)” peaked at #78 on the U.K. Singles chart and #16 on Billboard’s Hot Dance Music\Club Play chart, staying on the chart for 9 weeks.

The song also peaked at #75 on Billboard’s Hot Black Singles chart (staying on the chart for 7 weeks) and was successful in the Netherlands & Belgium. Afterwards, the duo moved on to a new record label, FFFR.
In 1989, Cookie Crew released their debut studio album, “Born This Way” which peaked at #24 on the U.K. Albums chart and #93 on Billboard’s R&B Albums chart.
The title song, “Born This Way (Let’s Dance)” peaked at #23 on the U.K. Singles chart. It was also moderately successful in countries such as Ireland, the Netherlands and New Zealand.
The follow-up single, “Got to Keep On” (featuring Edwin Starr) peaked at #17 on the U.K. Singles chart and #33 on Billboard’s Hot Dance Music\Club Play chart, staying on the chart for 4 weeks. It also peaked at #29 on the music charts in Ireland.
The last single released from the album, “Come On and Get Some” peaked at #42 on the U.K. Singles chart.
In 1991, Cookie Crew released their sophomore and last studio album to date, “Fade to Black” which didn’t chart at all.
The lead single, “Secrets (Of Success)” peaked at #53 on the U.K. Singles chart and #28 on Billboard’s Hot Rap Singles chart.
The follow-up singles from the album: “Love Will Bring Us Back Together” and “Brother Like Sister” failed to make any impact on the charts at all.

By 1992, Cookie Crew wanted to pursue a more orthodox hip-hop\rap music style; however, their record label wanted to steer them into a more pop-oriented rap style of music. Their conflicting differences eventually led to the duo leaving the label and retiring from the music business.

These days (according to research), Debbie (now Cookie Pryce) works as the director of label management at The Orchard music distribution company. It’s unknown what Susan Banfield is currently up to.

To follow Cookie Pryce on Instagram, go to:
https://www.instagram.com/cookiepryce/?hl=en

To see a video for “Rok da House”, go to:

To see a video for “Females (Get On Up)”, go to:

To see a video for “Born This Way (Let’s Dance)”, go to:

To see a video for “Got to Keep On”, go to:

To see a video for “Come On And Get Some”, go to:

To see a video for “Secrets (Of Success)”, go to:

To see a video for “Love Will Bring Us Back Together”, go to:

To see a video for “Brother Like Sister”, go to:

Wee Papa Girl Rappers

The Wee Papa Girl Rappers were a female British hip-hop/rap duo from the late 80s that consisted of twin sisters Sandra & Samantha Lawrence. The duo got their name “Wee Papa” from the Saint Lucia French Creole expression “Oui Papa” that their dad frequently uttered.

In 1988, the duo released their debut album “The Beat, The Rhyme, The Noise” which peaked at #39 on the U.K. Albums chart and #96 on Billboard’s R&B Albums chart. The first single “Faith” peaked at #60 on the U.K. Singles chart.

The second single “Heat it Up” peaked at #21 on the U.K. Singles chart, #6 on Billboard’s Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart and #24 on Billboard’s Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales chart.

The third single “Wee Rule” peaked at #6 on the U.K. Singles chart. The fourth single “Soulmate” peaked at #45 on the U.K. Singles chart.

The last single from the album “Blow the House Down” managed to peak at #65 on the U.K. Singles chart.

In 1990, the Wee Papa Girl Rappers released their follow-up and last album to date “Be Aware” which didn’t make the charts at all.

The only single to chart was “The Bump” which managed to peak at #10 on Billboard’s Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart.

In 1994, they released their last single “Wherever You Go” which didn’t appear to make the charts. After that, it seemed as if the duo has faded into obscurity. Nothing much has been heard from them since.

To see the music video for “Wee Rule,” go to:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vGpdM3qG84

To see a fan-made video for “Faith,” go to:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfqrL3SNKtg

To see a fan-made video for “Heat it Up,” go to:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZ69ydj_SHo

To see a fan-made video for “Soulmate,” go to:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhnNiKLEWkg

To see a fan-made video for “Blow the House Down,” go to:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVE71FAcM6I

To see a fan-made video for “The Bump,” go to:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Fdxf-CrjHM

[updated on 06/23/13]

Riff

Riff is an R&B group from New Jersey whose members were Anthony “Chill” Fuller, Dwayne “Stylz” Jones, Michael “Nitty Green” Best, Kenny Kelly, and Steven Capers.

The group formed in high school and were originally named “Playboys.” In 1989, the group was featured in the movie, “Lean on Me” and soon after, they changed the group’s name to “Riff” and signed to SBK Records.
In 1991, Riff released their self-titled debut album which peaked at #117 on the Billboard 200 and #41 on Billboard’s Top R&B\Hip-Hop Albums chart.

The group’s first single and biggest hit to date, “My Heart is Failing Me” peaked at #25 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #6 on Billboard’s Hot R&B Singles chart, staying on the chart for 16 weeks.

The second single from the album, “If You’re Serious” peaked at #88 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #7 on Billboard’s Hot R&B Singles chart, staying on the chart for 16 weeks.

The last single from the album, “Everytime My Heart Beats” peaked at #26 on Billboard’s Hot R&B Singles chart, staying on the chart for 14 weeks.
In 1992, Riff sang the title song for the movie, “White Men Can’t Jump” which peaked at #90 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #41 on Billboard’s Hot R&B Singles chart, staying on the chart for 10 weeks.
A year later in 1993, Riff released their second album, “To Whom it May Concern” which didn’t chart at all on the Billboard charts.
The first single from the album, “Judy Had a Boyfriend” peaked at #91 on Billboard’s Hot R&B Singles chart, staying on the chart for only 3 weeks.

The last single from the album, “Baby It’s Yours” peaked at #65 on Billboard’s Hot R&B Singles chart, staying on the chart for 7 weeks.

After that, the group went their separate ways. Michael, Anthony, and Dwayne went on to join the music group, “Men of Vizion.” In 2009, the group reunited and are now working on a new album.

To see Riff’s MySpace page, go to:
www.myspace.com/riffsounds

To see the music video for “White Men Can’t Jump,” go to:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q85DlOAv3V4

To see the music video for “Everytime My Heart Beats,” go to:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELiP5hfpLRQ

To see the music video for “My Heart is Failing Me,” go to:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZf_-hKVzoY

To see the music video for “Judy Had a Boyfriend,” go to:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6RjuJ_D7ro

Partners in Kryme

Partners in Kryme were a hip-hop duo from New York City whose members consisted of James Alpern and Richard Usher.In 1990, the duo released their first single, “Turtle Power” which peaked at #13 on the Billboard Hot 100, #23 on Billboard’s Hot R&B\Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart, #37 on Billboard’s Hot Dance Music\Maxi-Singles Sales chart, and #2 on Billboard’s Rap Singles chart. The song also topped the UK music charts.

The song was featured on the “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” movie soundtrack and was featured in the movie’s ending credits.

The duo released a second single, “Undercover” which failed to make any impact on the charts.  In 1991, the duo was featured on the movie soundtrack to Vanilla Ice’s movie, “Cool as Ice” with the song, “Love 2 Love U.”

After that, they seemed to have faded into obscurity and didn’t appear to release an album, but 24 years later in 2015, the duo released a new song called “Rock the Halfshell” on their official YouTube channel.

To see Partners in Kryme’s Facebook page, go to:
https://www.facebook.com/partners.in.kryme/

To see Partners in Kryme’s YouTube page, go to:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmpidnJy88-Pkd7IidWE1qA

To see the music video for “Turtle Power,” go to:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFsTr0kGAqU

To see the music video for “Undercover,” go to:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6Yre3xHO-w

To see the music video for “Rock the Halfshell,” go to:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eoXcDLikPLA

[updated on June 19, 2017]

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Jimmy Ray

Jimmy Ray (born James Ray Edwards on October 3, 1970) is an English pop-rock singer from the mid-’90s who is known as a one-hit wonder in the United States. He was influenced by rock ‘n roll artists such as Buddy Holly, Tommy Steele and Eddie Cochran.

Jimmy’s manager was Simon Fuller (who managed The Spice Girls and produced “American Idol”). His recording career began in 1994 when he was a member of a techno-pop music act called AV (or Alternative Vision).

After that, Jimmy went on to pursue a solo music career. In 1997, he released his debut single, “Are You Jimmy Ray?” which peaked at #13 on the U.K. Singles chart and #13 on the Billboard Hot 100.

It also peaked at #25 on Billboard’s Adult Top 40 chart, #10 on Billboard’s Mainstream Top 40 chart and #42 on Billboard’s Hot Dance Music\Maxi-Singles Sales chart. It was later certified Gold by the RIAA.

A year later, he released his self-titled debut album on Epic Records which peaked at #112 on the Billboard 200 and #2 on Billboard’s Top Heatseekers Albums chart.

The follow-up single from the album, “Goin’ to Vegas” peaked at #47 on the U.K. Singles chart, but didn’t appear to chart in the United States. Although a music video was made for the song, it was never released in the United States.

In the summer of 1998, Jimmy toured the United States with the Backstreet Boys; in the fall of that same year, he released the single, “I Got Rolled” which failed to chart at all, but it received minimal airplay.

After that, it seemed as if Jimmy Ray faded into obscurity. In 2009, he re-emerged as a member of the song production team, the Airplayers. 

In November of 2015, he announced on his official fan page, he stated that he was working on material for a comeback album; this was later confirmed in September of 2016 on his record label’s website, La Rocka Records.

In 2017, Jimmy’s sophomore album, “Live to Fight Another Day” was released in the United Kingdom; it’s unknown how or if the album ever charted at all.

In 2018, he released the singles: “Dangerous Feeling” and “Who Wants To Know?” These days, it appears if Jimmy Ray is still active with his music career and plans to release a new album in December of 2020.

To see Jimmy Ray’s official Facebook fan page, go to:
https://www.facebook.com/JimmyRayFanPage/

To see a video for “Are You Jimmy Ray?”, go to:

To see a video for “Goin’ to Vegas,” go to:

To see a video for “I Got Rolled,” go to:

[updated on 10\07\2020]

The S.O.U.L. S.Y.S.T.E.M.

The S.O.U.L. S.Y.S.T.E.M. was an R&B\dance music group from the ’90s that was formed by music producers Robert Clivillés and David Cole of C&C Music Factory).

The members consisted of Michelle Visage (who was the lead singer for girl group Seduction), Octavia Lambertis, Gary Michael Wade and Jamal Alicea.

The group was created out of a production deal for Michelle Visage as contracted by Arista Records’ founder and president, Clive Davis. Prior to their formation, Octavia had a moderately successful solo career during the ’80s.
In 1992, they released their debut single, a cover version of Bill Withers’ 1976 song, “Lovely Day” titled “It’s Gonna Be a Lovely Day” on Arista Records.

The song topped Billboard’s Hot Dance Music\Club Play chart for 3 weeks in December of that same year, staying on the chart for 14 weeks. It was featured on the soundtrack to the film, “The Bodyguard”.

It also peaked at #34 on the Billboard Hot 100, #17 on the U.K. Singles chart, #36 on Billboard’s Top 40 Mainstream chart, #13 on Billboard’s Rhythmic Top 40 chart and #44 on Billboard’s Hot R&B Singles chart, staying on the chart for 14 weeks.

The S.O.U.L. S.Y.S.T.E.M.’s debut album, “Anything Goes!” was supposed to be released during the first quarter of 1993; however, according to Michelle Visage, producers Clivillés and Cole failed to deliver the album’s original master tapes (which was completed in early 1993) to Arista Records for unknown reasons.

Because the master tapes of their debut album was never delivered to their record label, the album was never released and the group was dropped from the label, ultimately disbanding in 1993.

In the years since, Michelle Visage went on to become a television and radio talk show host. These days, she is known for being a judge on the reality competition television series, “RuPaul’s Drag Race”.

Octavia Lambertis continued to provide vocals for several other artists through the ’90s and 2000s. These days (according to research), it appears as if she is still singing.

Gary Michael Wade resides in Brooklyn, New York and has released music on his Soundcloud page. Jamal Alicea is a solo dance music artist who goes under the name Shane the Golden Voice.

To see Michelle Visage’s official website, go to:
https://michellevisage.com/

To follow Michelle Visage on Instagram, go to:
https://www.instagram.com/michellevisage/?hl=en

To follow Michelle Visage on Twitter, go to:
https://twitter.com/michellevisage

To see Michelle Visage’s Facebook page, go to:
https://www.facebook.com/officialmichellevisage/

To see Gary Michael Wade’s Soundcloud page, go to:
https://soundcloud.com/garymichaelwade

To follow Gary Michael Wade on Instagram, go to:
https://www.instagram.com/gmichael247/?hl=en

To see Jamal Alicea’s website, go to:
https://deejayran.wixsite.com/shanesgoldenvoice

To follow Jamal Alicea on Instagram, go to:
https://www.instagram.com/shanetgv/?hl=en

To see a video for “It’s Going to Be a Lovely Day,” go to: