Girls@Play

Girls@Play were a British girl group from the 2000s that consisted of members Vicky Dowdall (born on January 23, 1979) Lisa-Jay White (born Lisa Jane White on May 23, 1979), Rita Simons (born on March 10, 1977), Lynsey Shaw (born on June 15, 1980) and Shelley Nash (born on January 13, 1978).

The group was signed to GSM Records and produced by Stock & Aiken (also known as music producers Mike Stock and Matt Aiken).

Each member of Girls@Play portrayed a different character in their music videos: Vicky portrayed a cowgirl, Lisa-Jay portrayed an executive, Rita portrayed a mechanic, Lynsey portrayed a traffic cop from New York and Shelley portrayed a pilot. The group’s gimmick led to them being described as a female version of the Village People.
In February of 2001, the group released their debut single, “Airhead” which peaked at #18 on the U.K. Singles chart.
Their follow-up single, “Respectable” (a cover version of pop\dance duo Mel and Kim’s hit single) peaked at #29 on the U.K. Singles chart.

During 2000-2001, Girls@Play were the supporting acts for music acts such as Hear’Say and Steps during their arena tours.

On November 18, 2001, it was announced that the group would be disbanding, but in 2014, it was rumored that Girls@Play would be reforming, but as of 2016, that it has not been officially confirmed that the group would be getting back together.

After Girls@Play disbanded, Lisa-Jay, Rita and Shelley formed a short-lived group called Friday.

These days, Lisa-Jay is seemingly retired from the entertainment business while Shelley is focusing on a career in classical music & Lynsey runs her own boutique record label called Big Finish Records, reportedly working on a solo album.

Vicky went on to form a pop duo called Neway (which later formed into a rock music act called Purple Trap), but these days, she has moved into artist management, founding VDM Management in London, England.

As for Rita Simons, after joining another short-lived music act called Charli, she went on to pursue an acting career, starring in the BBC soap opera “EastEnders” and has performed in a pantomime version of “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs”.

To see a video for “Airhead,” go to:

To see a video for “Respectable,” go to:

MSM

MSM was the contemporary latin-pop music female version of Miami Sound Machine which was created by Emilio Estefan Jr. in 2001 and were signed to his label, SunnyLuna Records.

The trio consisted of members Carla Ramirez (who is Colombian), Lorena Pinot (who is Guatemalan) and Sohanny Gross (who is Dominican). The girls met in Miami, Florida with singer\producer Jon Secada and they began working on their debut album. They were also the opening act for *NSYNC in South Beach, Florida.
In 2002, MSM released their debut single “I’m the Only One”. It’s unknown how or if the single charted at all.

During that same year, the trio released their debut album “MSM (Miami Sound Machine)” which also failed to make any impact on the charts in the United States, but received moderately success in other European countries and the follow-up single from the album “Sobe Son” flopped on the charts.
In 2003, MSM released their last album together “Las Miami” which didn’t appear to make a lot of impact on the charts. After that, it seemed as if the new version of the Miami Sound Machine faded into obscurity.

These days, it appears as if Lorena Pinot is pursuing a solo music career, but as for Carla Ramirez and Sohanny Gross, it’s unknown what they’re up to and what their current whereabouts are.

To see Lorena Pinot’s Facebook page, go to:
https://www.facebook.com/lorenapinot/

To see the music video for “I’m the Only One,” go to:

To see a fan-made video for “Sobe Son,” go to:

Dana Dawson

Dana Dawson (born on August 7, 1974 in Jamaica, Queens, New York) was a singer\actress who first made her acting debut when she was 7 years old in a national tour of the musical “Annie.”
In 1988, then-14-year-old Dana released her first single “Ready to Follow You” which managed to peak at #15 on the SNEP charts in France and also managed to chart in Belgium as well.
In 1991, she released her debut album “Paris New York And Me” on Columbia Records. It’s unknown how or if the album charted at all, but it was certified Gold in France.

The first single from the album “Romantic World” peaked at #4 on the SNEP charts in France and also in Belgium & Sweden as well. The follow-up single “Tell Me Bonita” also peaked at #4 on the SNEP charts in France.

The third single released from Dana’s debut album “Open Hearts” peaked at #24 on the SNEP charts in France. The last single from the album “Moving On” failed to chart at all.

Despite gaining success in France, Dana took a two-year break starting in 1993 to give her career more international impact. She later signed a record deal with EMI Records in the United Kingdom.
In 1995, she released her sophomore (and last album to date) “Black Butterfly” which also didn’t appear to make the album charts at all.
The first single from the album “3 is Family” peaked at #9 on the U.K. Singles chart and #59 on the music charts in Germany.

The second single released from the album “Got to Give Me Love” peaked at #27 on the U.K. Singles chart and the third single “Show Me” peaked at #28 on the U.K. Singles.
The last single released from Dana’s sophomore album “How I Wanna Be Loved” peaked at #42 on the U.K. Singles chart. The song was included on a U.K. re-issue of the “Black Butterfly” album.

In 1997, Dana collaborated on the Dolce & Gabbana single “More, More, More” (a cover version of the Andrea True Connection’s one-hit wonder song from the ’70s). She later went on to become an understudy in the national tour of “Rent” in the role of Mimi in 2000 and joined the show’s Broadway cast a year later in 2001.
During that same year, Dana released the single “Nice Life” which was only released in France, but didn’t chart. The song was featured in an episode of the Disney Channel series “Lizzie McGuire” and on the show’s soundtrack.

From October 2003 to August of 2004, Dana was featured in the Broadway production of “Little House of Horrors”. On July 7, 2007, she married New York jazz musician Jason Curry.

Sadly on August 10, 2010, Dana passed away from colon cancer at the age of 36 after battling the disease for just 10 months. She was a talented young singer and will never be forgotten.

To see a fan-made video for “Ready to Follow You,” go to:

To see the music video for “Romantic World,” go to:

To see the music video for “Tell Me Bonita,” go to:

To see the music video for “Open Hearts,” go to:

To see a fan-made video for “Moving On,” go to:

To see the music video for “3 is Family,” go to:

To see the music video for “Got to Give Me Love,” go to:

To see the music video for “Show Me,” go to:

To see the music video for “How I Wanna Be Loved,” go to:

To see a fan-made video for “More, More, More,” go to:

To see a fan-made video for “Nice Life,” go to:

Velvet Empire

Velvet Empire was a Canadian pop music group formed through the second season of the Canadian version of “Popstars” that consisted of members Alex Price (born on February 14, 1980 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada), Justin Humes (born on December 23, 1979 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada), Janelle Belgrave (born on May 20, 1983), Lacey Block (born on April 30, 1983) and Ryan Hamilton (born on October 3, 1982).

All the members of the group have had backgrounds in music or performing arts prior to “Popstars.”
In 2002, they released their only self-titled album which debuted at #6 on the Canadian Albums chart and was certified Gold.
The lead single from the album “Frontin’ on Me” didn’t appear to make any music charts, but it received heavy rotation on CHR radio across Canada. Even though the group was nominated for “Best New Group” at the Canadian Radio Music Awards, Velvet Empire later disbanded after their contracts expired.

These days, Alex Price has been working on her own solo music career and as a songwriter, she has shopped songs to other artists, television and film productions.

In 2006, Justin Humes appeared on rapper Manafest’s song “Don’t Turn Away”, but it’s currently unknown what he’s up to these days.

In 2003, Janelle Belgrave began working on a solo career, but it’s unknown if she’s still active with it these days.

It’s unknown what Ryan Hamilton and Lacey Block are up to these days and it appears as if they have faded into obscurity.

To see the music video for “Frontin’ On Me,” go to:

Sugar Jones

Sugar Jones was a Canadian pop girl group that was created on the first season of the Canadian version of the reality TV series “Pop Stars”. The group consisted of members Andrea Henry, Sahara MacDonald, Maiko Watson, Julie Crochetière and Mirella Dell’Aquila.
In June of 2001, the group released their self-titled debut album which peaked at #2 on the Canadian Albums chart.
The lead single from the album, “Days Like That” topped the Canadian Singles chart for 6 weeks, making it their only hit song to date.

The follow-up single, “How Much Longer” failed to make any impact on the charts and after member Maiko Watson left the group to be with her husband, singer Remy Shand, Sugar Jones disbanded.

These days, Julie Crochetière has a solo career as a jazz singer\pianist. Maiko Watson (who is now divorced from Remy Shand) released a solo album in 2009 called “Sweet Vibration” and appears to still be active with her music career these days.

Sahara MacDonald was also working on a solo career herself and became a part of the musical “We Will Rock You.” It’s unknown if she is still active with her music career these days.

Andrea Henry signed with Entyse Entertainment in 2008 and began performing her live musical band, Crystal Soul.

As for Mirella Dell’Aquila, she is married, working as a receptionist at a private high school in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, seemingly retired from the music business.

To see a video for “Days Like That,” go to:

To see a video for “How Much Longer,” go to:

Brit & Alex

Brit & Alex (born Brittany and Alex Smith on September 21, 1985 in Wilton, Connecticut) were a female pop music trio from the 2000s.

As children, the Smith twins appeared on the soap opera “One Life to Live”. They later moved to London where they became known for their appearance in advertisements for John Frieda’s Sheer Blonde hair products as teenagers. The girls would later sign a record deal with Interscope Records.
In 2008, Brit & Alex released their debut single “Let It Go” (which was featured on the soundtrack to the film “Step Up 2: The Streets”) which managed to peak at #75 on the U.K. Singles chart.

Even though the duo’s debut album was scheduled for release in 2009, it appeared to have been shelved. During that same year, they disbanded due to Alex’s decision to attend college.
Meanwhile, Brit decided to pursue a solo career under the name “Matisse” and in 2010, she released her first single “Better Than Her.” It’s unknown how or if the single charted at all.
In 2013, Brit released a new single called “Provocative.” These days, it’s unknown if she is still active with her music career. As for Alex, it’s unknown what she’s up to these days.

To see the music video for “Let it Go,” go to:

To see the music video for Brit’s song “Provocative,” go to:

To see a fan-made video for “Better Than Her,” go to: