The Kids from "Fame"

The Kids from "Fame" was the group name of several cast members from the American TV series Fame who had a number of hit singles and albums at the height of the show's success in the United Kingdom. This success culminated in tours of Britain, where they performed live in concert.[1] A live album was subsequently released.[2]

The Kids from "Fame"
The Kids from "Fame" at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, the Netherlands, 1983
Background information
OriginUnited States
GenresPop
InstrumentsVocals, Keyboards
Years active1982–1984
LabelsRCA Records, BBC Records

Background

The group came to prominence in the summer of 1982 when the series first aired on BBC One in the United Kingdom and a song from the program, "Hi Fidelity", peaked at number five on the UK Singles Chart.[3] Along with this an album was released:The Kids from "Fame", which topped the UK Album Chart for 12 weeks.[4][3] A series of singles and albums followed over the next 12 months with songs taken from the show's first three seasons.[5] By the summer of 1983, interest in the show was beginning to wane in their native United States, and the releases abruptly stopped, although the TV series carried on until 1987.

The main vocalists of the group were Debbie Allen, Valerie Landsburg, Erica Gimpel, Carlo Imperato, Gene Anthony Ray, Lee Curreri, and Lori Singer.

In late 1982 the cast members as The Kids from "Fame" performed some live shows in the United Kingdom, which led to a tour of the rest of Europe in early-1983. These included a show at the Royal Albert Hall in London which was recorded and released as an album. It was during the 1983 tour that stories began to emerge in the press that things were not so harmonious off-stage with stories of drug-taking, alcohol abuse and backstage rows. During the tour Erica Gimpel and Debbie Allen had a disagreement over the choice of a song which ultimately led to Gimpell walking out of the tour and heading back to the United States. The tour carried on without her, but led to further press reports of how Allen was being domineering over the others and was labelled in one article as "a bitch". Allen later commented on the accusations saying that they upset her, but in reality was just trying to keep the group together and focussed amid the late-night parties and mayhem (which included Gene Anthony Ray smashing up a dressing room at one point). Several members commented that they were unaware of the success of the show until they arrived in London, which they found overwhelming.[6][7] Prior to this, Valerie Landsburg did some promotional work alone in the United Kingdom during the summer of 1982 to promote the "Hi Fidelity" single, which was riding high on the UK Singles Chart at the time.

In 2003, a TV special reunited several members of the group to talk about their time on the show and as the performing group aired in the United Kingdom on BBC Three. The special culminated in them performing the song "Starmaker" to Lee Curreri's piano accompaniment. This was Gene Anthony Ray's last on-screen appearance before his death some months later.[6]

Subsequently, in 2008, British television host and comedian Justin Lee Collins traveled to America to unite various members of the group in a show titled Bring Back...Fame. They spoke of their success as a group in the United Kingdom and their live shows, and mentioned Gimpel quitting the group during the tour due to the pressures. Lansburg also talked about her surprise at the success of "Hi Fidelity" on the UK Singles Chart. Curreri spoke about the music, saying that he was the only member to contribute to the writing of the songs and the only member to play an instrument on the recordings (synthesizer). However, Lori Singer also played the cello on some of the recordings. The show aired in the United Kingdom on Channel 4 on December 27, 2008.[7]

Discography

Singles
Release date Single Record label AUS[8] UK[3]
August 1982 "Hi Fidelity" 1 RCA 56 5
September 1982 "Starmaker" RCA - 3
November 1982 "Mannequin" 2 RCA - 50
February 1983 "Friday Night (Live version)" 3 RCA - 13
June 1983 "Body Language" 4 RCA - 76
September 1983 "Songs" 5 RCA - –

1Lead vocals by Valerie Landsburg. 2Lead vocals by Gene Anthony Ray. 3Lead vocals by Carlo Imperato. 4Lead vocals by Debbie Allen. 5Lead vocals by Carlo Imperato and Erica Gimpel

Albums
Release date (UK) Album Label(s) AUS[8] UK Chart position[3]
July 1982 The Kids from "Fame" RCA (worldwide), BBC Records (UK) 34 1
October 1982 Again RCA (worldwide) - 2
February 1983 Live! RCA (worldwide), BBC Records (UK) 88 8
May 1983 Songs RCA (worldwide), BBC Records (UK) 73 14
August 1983 Sing for You RCA (Europe), BBC Records (UK) - 28
1984 Rock 'N Roll World RCA (US, Canada, Greece) -
1984 Best of Fame RCA (worldwide) -

The Kids from "Fame" and the Best of Fame were re-released on CD in Europe; there are no separate artist credits on the latter.

The artist name for the album Rock 'N Roll World is given as Fame, rather than the usual The Kids from "Fame".

Ultimate Fame (2004, BMG), a UK CD-only compilation, contains songs from the film soundtrack, TV series and stage musical.[9] It was also released in a limited edition series one DVD set.

Videos
Release date VHS and LaserDisc Record labels
1983 Live at the Royal Albert Hall MGM/UA Home Video (US, UK)

References
  1. TV.com. "The Kids from "Fame" Live". Retrieved 1 March 2009.
  2. Amaedia. "The Kids from "Fame" Live album review". Retrieved 11 October 2008.
  3. "Kids From Fame - Full Official Chart History". Official Charts Company. Official Charts Company. Retrieved 19 January 2016.
  4. Allmusic. "The Kids from "Fame" album review". Retrieved 2 November 2008.
  5. Fameforever. "Album details". Retrieved 1 March 2009.
  6. Fame, Remember My Name?, BBC television, 2003
  7. UK TV Guide. "Bring Back Fame". Retrieved 5 January 2009.
  8. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 166. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  9. "Ultimate Fame". Discogs.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.