Music you've never heard….'til now! A blog of rare, hardly-heard or remembered pop, hip-hop, R&B, freestyle, dance and country music from the '70s to the 2000s. From one-hit wonders to no-hit wonders, this blog has it all!!
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The Kane Gang were a pop music trio from North East England that consisted of singers Martin Brammer (born on May 13, 1957 in Seaham Country Derham, North East England) & Paul Woods along with multi-instrumentalist Dave Brewis. They got their name from the 1944 film, “Citizen Kane”. The trio met in 1982 while in small local bands and signed to a small record label. In 1983, they released their debut single, “Brother Brother” on Kitchenware Records which didn’t make the charts. In 1984, The Kane Gang signed a record deal with London Records and released their follow-up single, “Small Town Creed” which peaked at #60 on the U.K. Singles chart. Their third single, “Closest Thing to Heaven” peaked at #12 on the U.K. Singles chart. The song also peaked at #57 on the music charts in Australia. The trio’s fourth single, a cover version of The Staples Singers’ 1971 song, “Respect Yourself” peaked at #21 on the U.K. Singles chart and #19 on the music charts in Australia. In March of 1985, they released their debut studio album, “The Bad and Lowdown World of the Kane Gang” (or “Lowdown” in the United States). The album peaked at #21 on the U.K. Albums chart and #65 on the album charts in Australia. The last single released from the album, “Gun Law” peaked at #53 on the U.K. Singles chart. It was also released as a single in the United States, but it didn’t make the charts. In March of 1987, The Kane Gang released their sophomore and last studio album, “Miracle” which peaked at #115 on the Billboard 200, #41 on the U.K. Albums chart and #82 on the album charts in Australia. The lead single, “Motortown” peaked at #45 on the U.K. Singles chart and #36 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song also peaked at #12 on Billboard’s Adult Contemporary chart. The follow-up single, a cover version of Dennis Edwards and Siedah Garrett’s 1984 song, “Don’t Look Any Further” topped Billboard’s Hot Dance Music\Club Play chart for a week, staying on the chart for 9 weeks. The song also peaked at #54 on the U.K. Singles chart, #64 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #28 on Billboard’s Hot Dance Music\Maxi-Singles Sales chart. Another track from the album, “What Time Is It?” was released as the album’s final single, but didn’t make the charts at all. Paul Woods left The Kane Gang in 1991 to pursue a solo career; he and Dave Brewis worked on an album which was never released.
After The Kane Gang disbanded, Martin Brammer went on to work as a songwriter & producer which he still continues today; he has worked with artists including Tina Turner, Nick Carter, Sheena Easton, Melanie C, Beverley Knight, Foxes, Josh Kumra, Mr. Hudson, Rachel Stevens, Ronan Keaning and Olly Murs. He was also nominated for an Ivor Novello Award.
These days, Martin is currently the manager of a British punk rock band called Vant. He is also married with two daughters and has his own recording studio.
David Brewis runs a business called Rock Star Guitars along with former roadie Greg Dorsett which has been in business since 1996. He was also a part-time college lecturer and released a solo album called “AutoLeisureLand” in 2017. It’s unknown what Paul Woods is currently up to these days.
Melody (born Melody Huster) is a freestyle\dance music singer from the late ’80s. Not much information is given about this artist, but she was signed to the First Class Records label. In 1987, she released her only single, “Heartbreaker” which didn’t make any music charts at all. Afterwards, it seems as if Melody has faded into obscurity. Nothing much has been heard from her since the ’80s.
Okay, I know that Aileen Quinn (known as the star of the 1982 film, “Annie”) isn’t considered a rare and obscure musician, but her first album is considered “rare and obscure” because this album is really hard to find nowadays.
In November of 1982, Aileen released an album called “Bobby’s Girl” on Columbia Records after she finished filming “Annie.”
The album mostly consisted of cover songs such as Leo Sayer’s “You Make Me Feel Like Dancing,” Crystal Gayle’s “Songs” (from the “Sesame Street Country” album), “I’m Going to Go Back There Someday”(from “The Muppet Movie”) and of course, the title song, “Bobby’s Girl” (which was originally sung by Marcie Blaine in 1962).
Due to lack of promotion (which Aileen should’ve gotten), the album isn’t recognized at record stores and today, it’s a rarity. If you’re trying to look for this album, you can try your luck on Ebay.com or Discogs.com, but like I’ve said, it’s really hard to find.
Once again, I know that Aileen Quinn isn’t considered an “rare and obscure” artist; however, her debut album is a rarity, so I figured I might as well post this to see if any other music lovers know about this album.
To see a video for “Bobby’s Girl,” go to:
To see a video for “You Make Me Feel Like Dancing,” go to:
Boy Meets Girl is a pop music duo that consisted of George Merrill (born on January 10, 1956) and Shannon Rubicam (born on October 11, 1951 in Seattle, Washington).
The duo was formed when George and Shannon moved from Seattle, Washington to Los Angeles, California where they were writing music and recording on a little four-track deck in the living room of a rental house. They wrote for Thom Bell’s publishing company, Mighty Three Music and provided backing vocals on Deniece Williams’ 1984 number-one song, “Let’s Hear It For the Boy.”
In 1985, Boy Meets Girl released their self-titled debut album on A&M Records which peaked at #76 on the Billboard 200.
The lead single from the album, “Oh Girl” peaked at #39 on the Billboard Hot 100 in May of 1985; their follow-up single, “The Touch” didn’t make the charts at all.
The duo later gained success writing Whitney Houston’s number-one hit songs “How Will I Know” and “I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me).” They also wrote Dolly Parton & Smokey Robinson’s song, “I Know You By Heart” from Dolly’s 1987 album, “Rainbow” and provided backing vocals for other artists.
Three years later in 1988, Boy Meets Girl released their sophomore album, “Reel Life” peaked at #50 on the Billboard 200.
The lead single, “Waiting for a Star to Fall” became their biggest hit to date, peaking at #5 on the Billboard Hot 100 and topped Billboard’s Adult Contemporary chart for a week in December of 1988. It was also moderately successful in Australia, Belgium, Canada, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand and the United Kingdom
The song was originally written for Whitney Houston, but it was rejected and given to Belinda Carlisle, who made a demo of it for her album, “Heaven on Earth” at the insistence of her record label; however, she disliked the song and it was not featured on the album.
The music video featured George and Shannon’s daughter, Hilary and was also featured in the 1990 film, “Three Men and a Little Lady.”
The follow-up single from the album, “Bring Down the Moon” was a moderate hit, peaking at #49 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #28 on Billboard’s Adult Contemporary chart. The last single, “Stormy Love” failed to chart at all.
Boy Meets Girl’s third album, “New Dream” was supposed to be released in 1990, but it ended up being shelved by RCA Records during a label reorganization; it was finally released in 2004 on their own website and is also available on Amazon.com.
By the early 2000s, Shannon and George divorced, but they continued collaborating musically. In 2003, they released the album, “The Wonderground” on their own record label, BoyMeetsGirl Music.
In 2005, the duo’s song, “Waiting for a Star to Fall” was involved in a “sample battle” between two electronic music groups, Cabin Crew and Sunset Strippers, who both wanted to sample the song and remix it to make it a hit again; in the end, Sunset Strippers won the right to sample the song.
These days (according to research), Shannon and George are still working together as Boy Meets Girl; in 2021, they released the EP, “5.”
Michael Morales (born on April 25, 1963 in San Antonio, Texas) is a pop-rock singer from the late ’80s/early ’90s who scored two Top 40 hits in his career.
Michael grew up in a musical family; his father, Henry met his mother, Felicia when they were set to perform together on a radio broadcast. As a child, he played guitar, drums and piano in several bands. In 1980, he was a member of a band called The Max and remained with them until he signed his first record contract with PolyGram Records in 1988.
In 1989, Michael released his self-titled debut studio album on PolyGram Records which peaked at #113 on the Billboard 200.
The lead single from the album, “I Don’t Know” peaked at #81 on the Billboard Hot 100, making it his first appearance on the Hot 100.
The follow-up single, a cover version of the Romantics’ song, “What I Like About You” fared better, peaking at #28 on the Billboard Hot 100.
The final single released from the album, “Who Do You Give Your Love To” peaked at #14 on the Billboard Hot 100, making it his highest charting single to date. In 1990, he started a record label called Studio M with his brother, Ron in their hometown of San Antonio, Texas.
In 1991, he released his sophomore album, “Thump” which didn’t make the charts; however, the song, “I Don’t Wanna See You” peaked at #72 on the Billboard Hot 100.
In 2000, Michael released his third studio album, “That’s the Way” on the Meantime Music record label; it’s unknown how or if the album charted at all. His music has been nominated for six Grammy Awards, and has been heard in films such as “Picking Up the Pieces” and the 2006 Cannes Film Winner, “The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada.”
These days, Michael resides in San Antonio, Texas with his wife and children. He is still active with his record label, Studio M, who has worked with artists such as Beyoncé, Selena, Gnarls Barkley, Cee Lo Green and Def Leppard. He also runs the Michael Morales Rockstar Academy.
To see a video for “I Don’t Know,” go to:
To see a video for “What I Like About You,” go to:
To see a video for “Who Do You Give Your Love To,” go to:
To see a video for “I Don’t Wanna See You,” go to:
Broomfield (born Alfred Lamar Broomfield on September 29, 1954 in Vidalia, Georgia) is a male R&B singer who is the brother of R&B singers Eugene & Dee Dee Wilde and was also part of a family project called Simplicious with his siblings.
Broomfield first began singing in local churches and during his high school years, he began to play the tenor saxophone. He later began playing guitar which subsequently led to him becoming a drummer & an all-around musician. In 1987, Broomfield released his self-titled debut album which didn’t appear to chart at all on the Billboard charts.
The first single released from the album “She Can’t Get Serious” didn’t appear to make the Billboard music charts at all.
The last single from the album “Don’t Cover Up Your Feelings” was released, but once again, it’s unknown how or if the single ever charted.
In 1991 (four years after his debut album), he released his sophomore album “Certain Kinds of Weather” which failed to make any impact on the charts either.
After that, Broomfield took a break from the music business. In 2008, it was revealed that one of his sons had passed away and he was starting to return to music, but nothing much has been heard since then and now it’s unknown what he’s up to these days.
Warren Mills (born in Zambia) is an R&B\pop music singer from the ’80s. Not much background information is given about him, but he is the nephew of Zimbabwean singer Alton Edwards and he was signed to Jive Records. In 1984, Warren released his debut single, a cover version of Smokey Robinson & The Miracles’ 1963 song, “Mickey’s Monkey” which peaked at #83 on the U.K. Singles chart. In 1985, he released his self-titled and only studio album to date on Jive Records which didn’t make any album charts at all. One of the tracks from the album, “Sunshine” peaked at #74 on the U.K. Singles chart, making it his highest charting single to date. The follow-up singles from the album: “Tell Me What You Want” and “Don’t Tell Me About Your Boyfriend” failed to make any music charts at all. During that same year, Warren appeared in the film, “Rappin'” and was featured on the film’s soundtrack with the song, “Flame In The Fire” which was released as a single, but didn’t chart. Afterwards, nothing much was heard from Warren and it appeared as if he faded into obscurity. In 2022, he released a new single called “Luckiest Man” and is planning on releasing a new album as well.
Jill Jones (born on July 11, 1962 in Lebanon, Ohio) is a female pop/R&B singer-songwriter who was one of Prince’s protege musicians.
Jill’s mother (who is of African-American descent) was a fashion model and her father (who is of Italian descent) was a jazz drummer. She was mainly raised by her grandparents until relocating to Los Angeles, California after her mother remarried.
She began her singing career when she was 15 years old as a back-up singer for Teena Marie (whom her mother managed) and provided backing vocals on Teena Marie’s Motown albums during the early ’80s; she also co-wrote the songs, “Young Girl in Love” (for her 1980 album, “Lady T”) and “The Ballad of Cradle Rob and Me” (from her 1981 album, “It Must Be Magic”).
Jill met Prince when she was 18 years old when Teena Marie was the opening act during his “Dirty Mind” tour. Prince was infatuated with Jill’s voice, encouraged her to sing and stayed in touched with her. She became a back-up singer for Prince when he invited her to the Sunset Sound recording studios in 1982 to singing backing vocals for several tracks on his album, “1999.”
Jill was featured in Prince’s music videos for his songs, “Little Red Corvette” and “1999.” After joining his “1999” concert tour, she relocated to Minneapolis, Minnesota, becoming Prince’s on-and-off again girlfriend. She also had a bit part as a waitress in the 1984 film, “Purple Rain.”
In 1987, she released her self-titled debut studio album on Prince’s Paisley Park Records label; however, the album didn’t make a lot of impact on the charts at all.
The lead single from the album, “Mia Bocca” was a top 10 hit in Italy, but failed to make any impact in the United States at all.
The follow-up singles: “G-Spot” and “For Love” failed to make any music charts. After that, Jill recorded several demos for a second album, but it was never released due to Prince and Jill disagreeing on the direction of the album. A music video for the song, “Boom Boom (Can’t U Feel the Beat of My Heart)” was filmed, but never released either.
Jill later had a falling out with Prince which ended her tenure at Paisley Park Records, leaving her without a record contract, but she continued to collaborate with various artists such as Nile Rodgers, Lisa Lisa and Ryuichi Sakamoto.
After leaving Prince, she returned to England to work on demos with Tim Simenon of Bomb the Bass which led to front a band called Baby Mother, who became very popular throughout the club scene in England. The band decided to sign a record deal with London Records, but they disbanded without releasing a single. At the time, Jill was busy in New York helping her mother, who was fighting cancer and asked to be released from the project.
After giving birth to her daughter, Jill’s mother lost her battle with cancer; her marriage also ended and at one point, she ended up hospitalized with a blood clot in her heart. By the mid to late ’90s, she re-emerged back into the music scene and toured with Chic as the co-lead vocalist.
In the following years, Jill began working with bassist/guitarist Chris Bruce on an album called “Two” which was released in 2001 on the Dav Music record label under the name Jill Jones & Chris Bruce.
In 2004, she formed a music duo called the Grand Royals with Ian Ginsberg and released an album called “Wasted” on the Peace Bisquit record label.
In 2009, Jill released the single, “Living for the Weekend” which peaked at #20 on Billboard’s Dance Club Songs chart, staying on the chart for 13 weeks.
In 2016, she released her second solo album, “I Am” on the Peace Bisquit record label. After Prince’s death in April of that same year, she wrote a tribute song to him called “I Miss You” which was released as a single.
These days (according to research), it appears as if Jill is somewhat active with her music career and is still signed to the Peace Bisquit record label; she also appears to work as a journalist for Ubikwist Magazine and her daughter, Azusena is a singer as well.
Five Star are a British pop\R&B group that consist of the Pearson siblings from Romford, Greater London, England: Stedman (born Stedman Pearson Jr. on June 29, 1964), Doris (born Doris May Pearson on June 8, 1966), Lorraine (born Lorraine Samantha Jean Pearson on August 10, 1967), Denise (born Denise Lisa Maria Pearson on June 13, 1968), and Delroy (born on April 11, 1970).
The group was formed by their father, Buster Pearson, who toured as a guitarist for musicians such as Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett, Desmond Dekker and Jimmy Cliff while their mother, Delores handled the business side of things.
Buster started his own record label called Tent Records. In October of 1983, Five Star released their first single “Problematic” which they performed on BBC TV’s “Pebble Mill At One” show that gave the group public attention. According to Buster Pearson, RCA Records were on the phone offering Five Star a record deal before the end of their performance; however, the single failed to make the music charts at all.
In 1984, the group released two singles from their upcoming debut album: “Hide and Seek” and “Crazy.” The singles failed to make any impact on the U.K. Singles chart, but “Hide and Seek” was covered by New Edition on their 1984 self-titled album.
In 1985, Five Star released their debut album “Luxury of Life” which peaked at #12 on the U.K. Albums chart, #57 on the Billboard 200 and #14 on Billboard’s Top R&B Albums chart. It was certified Platinum in October of 1986, selling over 300,000 copies in the United Kingdom.
The third single from the album, “All Fall Down” peaked at #15 on the U.K. Singles chart, #65 on the Billboard Hot 100 (making it their first pop hit in the United States), #9 on Billboard’s Hot Dance Music\Maxi-Singles Sales chart, #16 on Billboard’s Hot Black Singles chart (staying on the chart for 19 weeks) and #6 on Billboard’s Hot Dance Music\Disco Club Play chart (staying on the chart for 13 weeks).
The fourth single, “Let Me Be The One” peaked at #18 on the U.K. Singles chart (making it their second top 20 single), #59 on the Billboard Hot 100, #19 on Billboard’s Hot Dance Music\Maxi-Singles Sales chart, #2 on Billboard’s Hot Black Singles chart (staying on the chart for 19 weeks) and #9 on Billboard’s Hot Dance Music\Disco Club Play chart (staying on the chart for 12 weeks).
The fifth single from the album, “Love Take Over” peaked at #25 on the U.K. Singles chart, #9 on Billboard’s Hot Black Singles chart (staying on the chart for 14 weeks) and #30 on Billboard’s Hot Dance\Disco Club Play chart (staying on the chart for 8 weeks).
The last two singles from the album: “RSVP” (which peaked at #45) and “System Addict” (which peaked at #3, becoming their first top 10 song) managed to make at the U.K. Singles chart, but didn’t make any music charts in the United States.
In 1986, Five Star released their sophomore album, “Silk & Steel” which topped the U.K. Albums chart and internationally; it also peaked at #122 on the Billboard 200 and #22 on Billboard’s Top R&B Albums chart.
The first single from the album, “Can’t Wait Another Minute” peaked at #7 on the UK Singles chart, #41 on the Billboard Hot 100, #19 on Billboard’s Hot Dance Music\Maxi-Singles Sales chart, #5 on Billboard’s Hot Dance Music\Disco Club Play chart (staying on the chart for 13 weeks) and #7 on Billboard’s Hot Black Singles chart (staying on the chart for 18 weeks).
The two follow-up singles from the album: “Find the Time” (which peaked at #7) and “Rain or Shine” (which peaked at #2) reached the top 10 on the U.K. Singles chart.
The fourth single, “If I Say Yes” peaked at #15 on the U.K. Singles chart, #67 on the Billboard Hot 100, #26 on Billboard’s Hot Dance\Club Play chart (staying on the chart for 6 weeks) and #13 on Billboard’s Hot Black Singles chart, (staying on the chart for 14 weeks).
The fifth single from the album, “Stay Out of My Life” (which was written by Denise and co-produced with her father, Buster) peaked at #9 on the U.K. Singles chart.
The sixth single, “The Slightest Touch” peaked at #4 on the U.K. Singles chart, making it the group’s last top 10 hit song to date in the United Kingdom. Five Star chose producer Shep Pettibone to remix the track for release as a single.
The final single from the album, “Are You Man Enough” (which was only released in the United States) peaked at #15 on Billboard’s Hot Black Singles chart, staying on the chart for 12 weeks. Five Star received a BRIT Award for “Best British Group.
In 1987, Five Star released their third studio album ,”Between the Lines” which peaked at #7 on the U.K. Albums chart, but didn’t make the Billboard 200.
The lead single from the album, “Whenever You’re Ready” peaked at #11 on the U.K. Singles chart and #39 on Billboard’s Hot Black Singles chart, staying on the chart for 11 weeks.
The second single, “Strong as Steel” (which was written by Diane Warren) peaked at #16 on the U.K. Singles chart; in 1990, the song was covered by Tina Arena for her album of the same name which peaked at #30 on the ARIA Charts in Australia.
The final single released from the album, “Somebody Somewhere” peaked at #23 on the U.K. Singles chart. The live performance of the song became the official music video since a promotional one wasn’t made due to Five Star’s involvement in the “Children of the Night” tour.
In 1988, Five Star released their fourth studio album, “Rock the World” which peaked at #17 on the U.K. Albums chart and #91 on Billboard’s Top R&B Albums chart. The group changed their clean-cut image to a “leather-clad” look with a slightly harder-edged dance sound to their music.
The lead single from the album, “Another Weekend” peaked at #18 on the U.K. Singles chart and #23 on Billboard’s Hot Black Singles chart, staying on the chart for 10 weeks.
The follow-up single, “Rock My World” peaked at #28 on the U.K. Singles chart, making it their last top 40 hit in the United Kingdom. The b-side on the single, “Sweet Innocence'” received a BPI Award for “Best Instrumental.”
The third single from the album, “Someone’s in Love” peaked at #36 on Billboard’s Hot Black Singles chart, staying on the chart for 9 weeks. On the song, Doris sang the lead vocals instead of Denise, who had been the lead singer on all of Five Star’s singles up to this point.
The fourth single, “There’s a Brand New World” peaked at #61 on the U.K. Singles chart, making it Five Star’s first single since 1985 not to make the U.K. top 40.
The final single from the album, “Let Me Be Yours” peaked at #51 on the U.K. Singles chart; it was released in November of 1988 as their intended Christmas single.
In 1989, Five Star released their greatest hits album which peaked at #53 on the U.K. Albums chart. The album featured two new tracks and one of them, “With Every Heartbeat” peaked at #49 on the U.K. Singles chart.
The release of the group’s greatest album marked the end of their association with RCA Records; after that, they signed a new record deal with Epic Record and began working on their next album.
In 1990, Five Star released their fifth self-titled studio album which was only released in the United States, but didn’t make the charts.
The two singles released from the album: “Treat Me Like a Lady” (which peaked at #54) and “Hot Love” (which peaked at #68) failed to make the top 40 on the U.K. Singles chart. A planned third single, “What About Me Baby” was shelved and plans to release the album in the United Kingdom were scrapped after the singles flopped on the charts.
In October of 1990, Stedman pleaded guilty to a charge of public indecency after he was arrested in a public toilet in New Malden in London. Following this, Five Star relocated to the United States.
In 1991, the group released their sixth studio album, “Shine” which was only released in the United States, but was released on import to the United Kingdom. It was recorded at Michael Jackson’s recording studio, MMJ Studios in California.
The album and the title song (which was released as a single) failed to make any impact on the charts and Epic Records later dropped the group from the label.
In 1995, Five Star released their seventh album, “Heart and Soul” independently on their father’s own record label, Tent; however, the album didn’t appear to attract much attention. During that same year, the group disbanded.
In the years after Five Star broke up, Denise later got married and had children; Delroy went into music production; Stedman pursued other business ventures such as running a limousine service and teaching dance in London; Lorraine became an author, and Doris focused on personal projects & other interests.
In 2001, Five Star released a new single called “Funktafied” which peaked at #99 on Billboard’s Hot R&B\Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart, staying on the chart for a week, making it their first appearance on the chart since 1989.
In June of that same year, the group released their eighth album, “Eclipse” which didn’t generate a lot of success on the charts and is their final studio album to date. During that same year, Lorraine left Five Star and later started working at a clothing shop.
In 2002, Five Star returned to the United Kingdom as a trio which consisted of Stedman, Denise and Lorraine where they performed on various tours, including the “Here and Now” nostalgia tour. In 2005, their song, “System Addict” was re-recorded and released as a single. In October of 2006, they were booked to perform a gig at Butlins where all five members were billed; however, three impersonators were used to mime to backing tapes.
For the group’s 25th anniversary in 2008, Denise joined Stedman and backing singers for gigs at Butlins during October and November during that same year. From January to December 2009, she performed in the West End Theatre show, “Thriller: Live.”
In 2011, Lorraine was diagnosed with breast cancer, but has since recovered. In the summer of 2012, all five of the Pearson siblings performed at the Rewinds Festivals. In October of that same year, their father and manager, Buster died at the age of 71.
After 2012, Five Star became a four-piece group which consisted of Delroy, Denise, Stedman and Doris, performing every summer at festivals in the United Kingdom such as Rewind, Let’s Rock and Lytham. During that same year, Denise appeared on the BBC talent show, “The Voice UK” as a contestant, but she was chosen over Ruth Brown in the second round of the contest. In 2014, she released her debut solo album, “Imprint.”
Throughout 2015, Denise, Stedman, Doris and Delroy performed at ’80s revival gigs. In 2018, Denise announced tour dates in the United Kingdom under the Five Star name, but was supported by four supporting artists and not her siblings. The new line-up went on to perform at numerous gigs and concerts throughout the summer.
During that same year, Lorraine conducted a live interview on the UK Television show, “Loose Women” where she revealed that she was offended by the new line-up and was no longer friends with Denise; however in an interview on the Classic Pop Mag blog in 2020, Denise revealed that she was back on good terms with her family.
These days, Denise continues to be active with her own music career and Delroy continues to work as a record producer in Los Angeles, California. The group periodically reunite to play on the nostalgia circuit, but Doris (who works as a songwriter) is not part of the touring line-up.
The Kane Gang were a pop music trio from North East England that consisted of singers Martin Brammer (born on May 13, 1957 in Seaham Country Derham, North East England) & Paul Woods along with multi-instrumentalist Dave Brewis. They got their name from the 1944 film, “Citizen Kane”.
The trio met in 1982 while in small local bands and signed to a small record label. In 1983, they released their debut single, “Brother Brother” on Kitchenware Records which didn’t make the charts.
In 1984, The Kane Gang signed a record deal with London Records and released their follow-up single, “Small Town Creed” which peaked at #60 on the U.K. Singles chart.
Their third single, “Closest Thing to Heaven” peaked at #12 on the U.K. Singles chart. The song also peaked at #57 on the music charts in Australia.
The trio’s fourth single, a cover version of The Staples Singers’ 1971 song, “Respect Yourself” peaked at #21 on the U.K. Singles chart and #19 on the music charts in Australia.
In March of 1985, they released their debut studio album, “The Bad and Lowdown World of the Kane Gang” (or “Lowdown” in the United States). The album peaked at #21 on the U.K. Albums chart and #65 on the album charts in Australia.
The last single released from the album, “Gun Law” peaked at #53 on the U.K. Singles chart. It was also released as a single in the United States, but it didn’t make the charts.
In March of 1987, The Kane Gang released their sophomore and last studio album, “Miracle” which peaked at #115 on the Billboard 200, #41 on the U.K. Albums chart and #82 on the album charts in Australia.
The lead single, “Motortown” peaked at #45 on the U.K. Singles chart and #36 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song also peaked at #12 on Billboard’s Adult Contemporary chart.
The follow-up single, a cover version of Dennis Edwards and Siedah Garrett’s 1984 song, “Don’t Look Any Further” topped Billboard’s Hot Dance Music\Club Play chart for a week, staying on the chart for 9 weeks. The song also peaked at #54 on the U.K. Singles chart, #64 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #28 on Billboard’s Hot Dance Music\Maxi-Singles Sales chart.
Another track from the album, “What Time Is It?” was released as the album’s final single, but didn’t make the charts at all. Paul Woods left The Kane Gang in 1991 to pursue a solo career; he and Dave Brewis worked on an album which was never released.
In 1987, she released her only single, “Heartbreaker” which didn’t make any music charts at all. Afterwards, it seems as if Melody has faded into obscurity. Nothing much has been heard from her since the ’80s.
Okay, I know that Aileen Quinn (known as the star of the 1982 film, “Annie”) isn’t considered a rare and obscure musician, but her first album is considered “rare and obscure” because this album is really hard to find nowadays.:format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-2717651-1297884865.jpeg.jpg)
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In 1984, Warren released his debut single, a cover version of Smokey Robinson & The Miracles’ 1963 song, “Mickey’s Monkey” which peaked at #83 on the U.K. Singles chart.
In 1985, he released his self-titled and only studio album to date on Jive Records which didn’t make any album charts at all.
One of the tracks from the album, “Sunshine” peaked at #74 on the U.K. Singles chart, making it his highest charting single to date.
The follow-up singles from the album: “Tell Me What You Want” and “Don’t Tell Me About Your Boyfriend” failed to make any music charts at all.
During that same year, Warren appeared in the film, “Rappin'” and was featured on the film’s soundtrack with the song, “Flame In The Fire” which was released as a single, but didn’t chart.
Afterwards, nothing much was heard from Warren and it appeared as if he faded into obscurity. In 2022, he released a new single called “Luckiest Man” and is planning on releasing a new album as well.
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rareandobscuremusic 