Play was a Swedish girl group that formed during the early 2000s.
The original line-up consisted of Anais Lameche (born Anais Helena Kretz Lameche on August 19, 1987 in the French Alps in France), Anna Sundstrand (born Anna Maria Carolina Sundstrand on February 22, 1989 in Stockholm, Sweden), Faye Hamlin (born Fanny Matilda Dagmar Hamlin on October 23, 1987 in Stockholm, Sweden) and Rosanna “Rosie” Munter (born Rosanna Bella Victoria Eriksdotter-Munter on September 26, 1987 in Stockholm, Sweden).
The group began as a result of a nationwide talent search that was lead by recording artist\dance studio owner Laila Bagge. The original line-up for Play consisted of four girls. Two girls (then 11-year-old Anna and then 13-year-old Anais) were discovered at Laila’s dance studio.
The other two girls that were found through the auditions were then 13-year-old Faye and Rosie. Rosie & Faye had been best friends before they were selected to be in the group. Rosie had starred in a popular Swedish film called “Eva och Adam.” 
In September of 2001, Play’s first single “Us Against the World” was released in the United States.
The song (along with a cover version of The Supremes & the Temptations’ song “I’m Gonna Make You Love Me” featuring Chris Trousdale from boy band Dream Street) received frequent airplay on Radio Disney from 2002 to late 2003, but didn’t appear to make the Billboard charts.
In Sweden, “Us Against the World” managed to peak at #14 on the music charts. It was also moderately successful in France & Germany. In the United States, the song managed to peak at #20 on Billboard’s Hot 100 Singles Sales chart. It was also featured in the Olsen Twins’ movie “Holiday in the Sun” and on the television soundtrack to the Disney Channel television series “Lizzie McGuire.” 
During that same year, Play’s full-length English-language debut album “Us Against the World” which peaked at #108 on the album charts in France.
When the album was released in the United States on June 25, 2002, it was released as a self-titled mini-album (consisting of only seven songs). The album managed to peak at #74 on the Billboard 200. It was certified Gold by the RIAA on March 24, 2003, for sales of 500,000 copies. 
Another single from the album “Cinderella” was released, but it didn’t appear to make the charts at all.
Play toured in the United States, often partnering up with girls’ clothing chain Limited Too. Their song “M.A.S.T.E.R. Part 2” (featuring Lil’ Fizz from R&B group B2K) was featured in the soundtrack for the 2002 film “The Master of Disguise.”
In November of 2002, the group appeared at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade where they stood atop of a Build-a-Bear float, performing “I’m Gonna Make You Love Me.” 
On January 28, 2003, Play released a CD\DVD called “Playin’ Around.” The DVD contains about an hour of video segments featuring the group as they perform their songs in concert, rehearse for their music videos, talk about their life performing & living on their tour bus & preparing for their sophomore album by recording tracks in the studio. 
On June 10, 2003, Play released their sophomore album “Replay” which peaked at #67 on the Billboard 200 chart, staying on the chart for seven weeks. During that time, Faye was the lead singer of the group.
On the day of the album’s release, Play made several appearances to promote it, even appearing on the popular daytime talk show “Live With Regis and Kelly.” 
The first single from the album “I Must Not Chase the Boys” peaked at #52 on the ARIA charts in Australia.
The music video for the song aired on MTV’s “Total Request Live” & made the top ten requested videos countdown. It was also featured on Carson Daly’s radio show as one of his “picks of the week.” The group continued touring throughout 2003 and also appeared on several TV specials on Nickelodeon. 
The follow-up single “Whole Again” (which was originally a hit song for British girl group Atomic Kitten a year earlier) didn’t appear to make the charts at all.
In October of 2003, Faye decided to leave the group to pursue a college education. She continued to make appearances with Play until December of 2003 & appeared in the group’s music video for “It’s a Hard Knock Life” (which was featured in a DVD re-release of the musical film “Annie”).
On December 15, 2003, a formal press release on Play’s official website informed fans of the new line-up change and introduced new member Janet Leon (born Janet Ava Leon on October 19, 1990 in Gothenburg, Sweden) who became the new lead singer of the group along with Anais. 
On March 9, 2004, Play released their third album “Don’t Stop the Music.” The album was decidedly more aimed at a younger crowd. It was the only album that was recorded with the group’s second line-up and the first album to feature vocals from Janet.
Many of the tracks from the album are believed to have been recorded with Faye as years later, an alternate version of their song “Another Love Story” was released featuring Faye’s vocals. The album didn’t appear to make the charts and received a mixed reception by the group’s fans.
During that same year, Play became affliated with Kohl’s new girls’ clothing brand everGirl. They recorded a song and filmed a music video to promote the clothing line. 
In November of 2004, the group released their fourth album “Play Around the Christmas Tree” which failed to chart at all. 
After that, not much was heard from Play until April of 2005 when their compliation album “Girl’s Mind” was released. Play never promoted the album in the United States, it wasn’t widely released in stores across the countries and never made the charts at all.
In September of 2005, it was announced that the group was on an “indefinite break.” During their hiatus, the girls pursued individual projects.
The members of Play hadn’t seen each other for several years until one day Anais managed to get a hold of Faye on the phone & the girls talked over lunch about reuniting the group.
On November 26, 2009, Anais & Faye appeared on Swedish radio stations NRJ & RIXFM along with another singer, Sanne Karlsson (born Sanne Anna Sofie Karlsson on November 11, 1985 in Vendelso, Sweden). They announced they would return as Play as a trio & were planning on filming the reality show “Made In Sweden.”
Anna wasn’t included in the reunion because she moved to the United States. Rosie was supposed to be in the reunion, but she dropped out three weeks before filming “Made in Sweden” to pursue a solo career as a singer\songwriter, so Sanne was added to the line-up. Sanne was a member of the band Ghost vs. Sanne & joined Play after recording a demo song for them.
On November 27, 2009, Play made their first public appearance in over four years since they disbanded in 2005. A month later, “Made in Sweden” aired on television.
The show followed the girls as they searched for a new member, recorded the music video to their song “Famous” and followed them as they made their comeback to the music scene. The reality show consisted of four episodes.
During that same year, Play was also a judge for the 8th Annual Independent Music Awards (which supports the careers of independent artists). 
On February 15, 2010, the group released their new single “Famous” which topped the Swedish Singles chart, making it their only highest chart appearance to date. The song was later covered by American boy band Big Time Rush. 
On April 21, 2010, Play released their fifth (and last) album “Under My Skin.” The album peaked at #7 on the Swedish Albums charts and was recorded in four weeks.
In October of 2010, the trio recorded a song called “Destiny” for the Disney Channel Original Movie “Avalon High,” but before the girls were about to record the song, Faye decided to leave Play again & it was later announced that she wouldn’t be joining Sanne & Anais for the promotion of the song.
On October 26, 2010, “Destiny” premiered on Radio Disney. Faye wasn’t mentioned at all in the group’s blog or seen with the other two girls since late September which made some people doubt her place in Play.
There were multiple sources that stated Faye was writing & recording her own solo album. Faye’s decision to leave Play wasn’t announced until February of 2011.
Sanne’s best friend Emelie Norenberg (born Emelie Catharina Leontine Norenberg on February 21, 1985 in Stockholm, Sweden) was later added to the line-up, leaving Anais as the only original member of Play to appear in every line-up of the group.
In 2011, Anais, Emelie & Sanne were planning to return to the United States, hoping to release an EP in August of that same year, but on May 23, 2011, it was announced that the plans made for Play were not going to happen & that Play had disbanded for the second & last time.
It was later revealed through an official statement that the members of Play were no longer on speaking terms due to a variety of reasons. The reason was apparently due to the girls not meeting after their trip to Los Angeles & there were some things said about the commitment of some of the girls.
These days, the girls have gone their separate ways, pursuing individual interests.
After the band’s first break-up, Anais attended the University of Stockholm & the University of Lund. In 2011, she began working at Assefa Kommunikation (which is one of the leading PR-firms in Sweden). She is currently residing in Stockholm with her boyfriend of six years.
Anna pursued a modeling career, signing with Model Management Group in New York City. She also began her solo music career and her debut album was supposed to be released in 2007, but the production was cancelled due to unknown reasons.
In 2009, Anna completed a film called “The Sacred Journey” alongside Chris Trousdale. She also starred in the film “The Truth About Layla.” She is also writing a fictional book based on her life about the struggles of a child star in the entertainment business.
The reason that Anna didn’t appear in Play’s reunion was because she disagreed with the way the reunion was handled & that she was focused on her film & music career in the United States, but she wished the girls well.
In February of 2010, Anna released her debut solo single “Brand New Me” on iTunes. As of June of 2012, she resides in New York City where she continues to occasionally model.
Rosanna pursued modeling in New York City before moving back to Sweden where she enrolled in college & majored in music. In 2007, she partnered up with Swedish artist\producer Kocky & provided vocals on Kocky’s debut album “Kingdom Came” on three tracks. Rosanna was featured in the music video for the song “Tricks.”
Rosanna worked with Kocky again on his sophomore album “Stadium Status,” singing on four tracks. In order to promote the album, she & Kocky performed together on various Swedish television shows such as the morning news show “Nhyetsmorgon.”
In 2009, she launched her official MySpace page and her official website (which are now disbanded).
Rosanna released several demo songs such as “The First Time,” “Gameboy,” “Heart Attack,” “Tick Tock,” “Under Attack” & “Flashing Lights” (where she posted a homemade music video for the song).
By 2009, Rosanna was residing between Stockholm and London, England, pursuing her solo music career. In 2010, she signed with Popjustice Hi-Fi Records (in the U.K. which worked out distribution with Virgin Records).
On August 22, 2010, Rosanna released the single “Waterfall.” Throughout 2010 and 2011, she formed a DJ group called XOXO with her friends Malin Cumzelius, Aino Jawo and Caroline Hjelt (who would later become music duo Icona Pop).
In March of 2013, she debuted a new music collaborative project called South by Southwest with her friend Charles Cave. The duo plans on releasing their debut album sometime in 2014.
After Faye left Play for the first time, she returned to college, attending a music school called Rytmus and did modeling, signing with Swedish modeling agency Synkcasting. She also appeared in several photo shoots & runway shows. Faye also released occasional singles through modeling campaigns & provided background vocals.
In 2004, Faye performed a duet with singer Adam Appel called “Ready for Love” which was featured on the soundtrack to the Swedish movie “Karlekens Sprak.” In 2006, she provided background vocals on Swedish artist Velvet’s album “Finally.”
In February of 2008, Faye appeared in commercials for Swedish clothing line MQ. The commercials featured her singing a cover version of Fleetwood Mac’s song “Go Your Own Way” in a style of her own.
In November of that same year, she was again featured in an MQ campaign, performing a cover version of Supertramp’s song “Give a Little Bit” alongside other singers such as The Cardigans’ Nina Persson, Darin and Marie Serneholt.
After Faye left Play for the second time, she signed a record deal with Scandinavian record label Hybris. Her debut single “Come to Me” was released on February 29, 2012 for digital download.
In late May of 2012, she signed with the Best Fit Recordings label in the U.K. and released her second single “Water Against the Rocks” a month later.
On September 20, 2012, Best Fit Recordings announced two new singles from Faye: “Mad Dog” & “Breathe Out.” On December 12, 2012, the label released a fifth teaser track called “Silent.”
In January of 2013, Faye opened a sold-out show as support for singer Jessie Ware at the Bowery Ballroom in New York City. This was later followed by two additional performances at Pianos & Glasslands.
In March of 2013, she performed three shows in Los Angeles, California. During that same year, Faye performed a set of shows at the South by Southwest music festival in Austin, Texas. She also appeared on “Last Call with Carson Daly” which marked her debut on U.S. TV as a solo artist.
On March 9, 2014, Faye announced on Facebook that she signed to Capitol Record and has been working with music producers such as Rodney “Darkchild” Jerkins & Daniel Heath.
After Play first disbanded in 2005, Janet began her solo career, recording a song for the Build-A-Bear Workshop toy store and another for Kohl’s everGirl clothing line. She also provided vocals on the album “Rock Angelz” which promoted the Bratz dolls franchise.
In late 2008, Janet was chosen to be featured on the Swedish television show “Made in Sweden.” The show documented her progress as she worked on her debut album, did promotional work across Sweden and meeting English actor Roger Moore.
On January 30, 2009, Janet released her debut single “Let Go” which peaked at #3 on the Swedish Singles chart. Her debut album was released a month later. She had moderate success with her follow-up single “Heartache on the Dancefloor.”
In 2010, Janet embarked on a tour in Sweden as part of the musical stage production of “Grease,” portraying the role of Marty. In 2011, Janet recorded vocals for rapper Childish Gambino’s album “Camp.”
In November of 2012, she was officially confirmed as a contestant for Sweden’s Melodifestivalen songwriting competition where she performed her original song called “Heartstrings.”
Janet placed in fifth in the semi-finals of the competition, but didn’t qualify for the next round. She revealed that her sophomore album would be released shortly after she completed Melodifestivalen 2013.
On May 7, 2013, Janet announced her new single “New Colours” was chosen for the official song for Stockholm Pride 2013. The single made its debut at #10 on Svensktoppen. She also provided backing vocals for Agnetha Faltskogs’ album “A.”
In November of 2013, Janet was announced as a contestant for Melodifestivalen 2014 (which is the national selection to find the Swedish representative in the Eurovision Song Contest 2014) with the song “Hollow.” She competed in the fourth semi-final where she finished in 8th & last place, but was later eliminated from the competition.
These days, Janet resides in the Arsta borough of Stockholm and her next album has yet to be released.
Sanne appears to still be active in the music business and even auditioned for “Swedish Idol” in 2013 where she made the Top 20, but didn’t win the competition.
These days, Emelie & her husband Gustaf Torling are part of a band called AMERCIA.
To see a video for “Us Against the World,” go to:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZawZerWGXI
To see a video for “I’m Gonna Make You Love Me,” go to:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3Y3FMKkfBE
To see a video for “Cinderella,” go to:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LdKcWgXfIK8
To see a video for “M.A.S.T.E.R. Part Two,” go to:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=beWRvaaJO4U
To see a video for “I Must Not Chase the Boys,” go to:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7AFhHFCuIWo
To see a video for “Whole Again,” go to:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_YYTOAEoSk
To see a video for “Famous,” go to:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4vhGRIjYho
The Brooklyn Boyz Choir was a freestyle\dance group from the late ’80s\early ’90s. Not much information is given about them, but they were signed to the Metropolitan Recording Company label. 
In 1988, they released their first single “Say Rayo! Brooklyn” It’s unknown how or if the single made the charts.
In 1990, the group released their last single to date “Bring It On Down” which also failed to make the charts.
rareandobscuremusic 