Exposé (band)

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Exposé
Ann Curless, Jeanette Jurado, and Gioia Bruno
Background information
Origin	Miami, Florida
Genre(s)	Range includes: Freestyle Dance Pop R&B
Years active	1984–1996, 2003–present
Label(s)	Arista BMG
Website	www.exposeonline.net
Members
Ann Curless Jeanette Jurado Gioia Bruno Kelly Moneymaker
Former members
Sandra Casanas (1984-1986) Aléjandra Lorenzo (1984-1986) Laurie Miller (1984-1986)

Exposé is an all female Latin freestyle pop-dance trio of the 1980s formed by Record producer and songwriter Lewis A. Martineé.

[edit] History

[edit] Formation of Group and Original Members (1984-1986)

Exposé was initially formed in 1984 when Martineé hired Sandra Casanas ("Sandeé"), Aléjandra Lorenzo ("Alé"), and Laurie Miller as the group's lineup. The next year, they recorded "Point of No Return" (with Miller singing lead) for Pantera Records which became a huge club/dance hit. This led to their signing with Arista Records. A year later, Exposé recorded and released another club/dance single entitled "Exposed to Love" (with Lorenzo on lead) and realized continued success, including a club tour to key cities.

[edit] Personnel Changes (1986)

Shortly thereafter, Casanas left the group to pursue a solo career, and Lorenzo quit to pursue other ambitions; they were replaced by Jeanette Jurado and Gioia Bruno. Before the completion of their debut album, Miller left the group due to personal and business problems and began a solo career; she was replaced by Ann Curless.

Casanas later resurfaced as a solo artist and released a solo album, which garnered the club hits "You're The One" and the bassline-heavy hit "Notice Me." Ale Lorenzo returned to the club charts with "Stop Me If I Fall In Love" while Laurie Miller evolved into a cabaret-style performer frequently showcasing her talents on luxury cruises.

[edit] Exposure (1986-1988)

Toward the end of 1986, Exposé released their debut album Exposure (which still consisted of background vocals done by the original members). Led by the huge pop/dance hit "Come Go With Me," this album proved to be one of the most successful dance albums ever released, going multi-platinum. In 1987, a re-recorded version of "Point of No Return" was released (with Jurado performing lead vocals); while the first few thousand copies of Exposure contained the original version of that song, subsequent pressings contained the new version. "Let Me Be The One," a mid-tempo soulful track with Gioia on lead, marked interesting distinctions for the trio. First, it demonstrated that despite being a "girl group" (a term which historically identifies a single lead singer), Exposé alternated lead vocals among its members. Second, the single garnered significant R&B support, with Gioia integrating soulful inflections with her vocal delivery. Their biggest hit occurred in the winter of 1988 with the single "Seasons Change," along with that came a Soul Train Award nomination for Best New Artist, appearances on Solid Gold, Showtime At The Apollo and served as the opening act for Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam during their tour. In addition, Exposé surpassed The Beatles and The Supremes for having the most top 10 hit singles on the Billboard Hot 100 released from a single album.

During their peak, Exposé had to fight problems behind the scenes. Similar to the girl groups of the sixties, the members of Exposé had a restrictive contract, and there were reports in the media of backstage battles and threats of lawsuits. According to Bruno, they were only paid 200 dollars per show. [1]. Reportedly, the record label intervened to keep peace between the members and the producers.

[edit] What You Don't Know (1989-1990)

Their second album, What You Don't Know (1989), went gold and proved to be almost as much of a success as their debut. The success of Exposé in the U.S. lead to a lot of similar girl groups being created by producers and existing ones being signed to labels, such as Company B, The Cover Girls, Sweet Sensation, Pajama Party, and Seduction. Shortly after the success of the singles "What You Don't Know" (Bruno on lead vocals) and "When I Looked at Him" (Jurado on lead vocals), the release of the single "Tell Me Why" (Bruno on lead vocals) made music history for the group when they became the first girl group to have 7 back-to-back Top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100. "Your Baby Never Looked Good in Blue" (Jurado on lead vocals) and "Stop, Listen, Look & Think" (Curless on lead vocals) soon followed afterwards. Their continued success granted Exposé their first headlining tour and continued television appearances on Soul Train, The Pat Sajak Show and The Byron Allen Show, among others.

[edit] Bruno's Throat Problems and Departure from Exposé (1990-1992)

In August 1990, while touring with Exposé, Bruno began having throat problems - later linked to a benign tumor on her vocal chords - and which caused the group to cut the tour short. The group took time off from their schedule in hopes that she would recover. Ultimately, Bruno lost her voice and she was replaced by Kelly Moneymaker in 1992.

[edit] Exposé (Self Titled Album)(1992-1995)

After Kelly Moneymaker joined Exposé, the group released their third album Exposé, which integrated more adult-contemporary material in addition to their established Freestyle, House, R&B, Pop and love ballad repertoire. The album was not as commercially successful as their previous albums, and several singles fared better on the adult-contemporary charts. They did manage to crack the U.S. Top 40 pop chart with "I Wish the Phone Would Ring" and "I'll Never Get Over You (Getting Over Me)," which also reached #1 on the adult-contemporary chart (Jurado performing lead vocals). Subsequent releases "As Long As I Can Dream" and "In Walked Love" featured Curless in the lead vocal spotlight. A final club-marketed single "I Specialize In Love" featured Jurado on lead with Curless and Moneymaker each supporting lead vocals towards the song's conclusion.

[edit] "Free Willy 2" (1995)

In 1995, Exposé recorded the Diane Warren-penned song "I'll Say Good-Bye for the Two of Us" for the soundtrack of the film Free Willy 2: The Adventure Home with Jurado performing solo; that same year, the song was issued on their Greatest Hits.

[edit] The Disbanding of Exposé (1995-1996)

Toward the end of 1995, Arista dropped the group, and the members disbanded at the beginning of 1996 to pursue their own projects. However, over time, BMG has released two other variations of Greatest Hits collections, as well as a collection of popular remixes from their 12-inch singles, including the extended versions of the original "Point Of No Return" (Lorenzo on lead vocals) and "Exposed To Love."

[edit] After the Disbanding of Exposé (1997-Present)

After the group disbanded, Jurado performed in the stage play "Mad Hattan," supplied vocals for Jazz artist Nils, and later Carl Ferris of Safe Sax; Moneymaker married soap opera actor Peter Reckell and released two solo albums (Like A Blackbird and Through These Basement Walls); Curless engaged in song writing, supplied vocals to several club/dance projects and provided academic instruction on music and the music business.

In 1997, Bruno fully recovered from her throat tumor and began singing again. After a small stint with the band Wet, she worked on a solo career focused mostly on dance-oriented material. Her first album, Expose This, was released in the Spring of 2004.

[edit] The Reuniting of Exposé and the Return of Bruno (2003-Present)

Moneymaker, Jurado and Curless during an autograph session after the first show at the Mid State Fair (Paso Robles, CA) in 2003

On August 1, 2003, the lineup of Curless, Jurado, and Moneymaker reunited briefly for a reunion concert at the Mid State Fair in Paso Robles, CA. Members of Safe Sax, including Carl Ferris on saxophone, were part of the live band Exposé used.

On August 12, 2006 -- Announced on Jurado's MySpace Page [2], Exposé has signed with a major booking agency, and have added their first concert date since 2003.

On August 19, 2006, It was confirmed that Bruno will be back with Exposé for the first time in 15 years. [3] [4]

On October 21, 2006, Exposé performed for the first time since August 1, 2003 at the AmericanAirlines Arena in Miami for the "Freestyle Explosion" concert. This performance also featured the official return of Bruno to the group.

On November 29, 2006 at the Potawatomi Casino's Northern Lights Theatre in Milwaukee, WI, Exposé performed a 16 song show with a full band, marking their first full concert together since 1993 and the first one since 1990 with Bruno.

A full tour is planned for 2007. Moneymaker will be showing up for some of the shows also.[5] [6]

[edit] Discography

[edit] Albums

• 1987: Exposure
• 1989: What You Don't Know
• 1992: Exposé

[edit] Compilations

• 1995: Greatest Hits
• 1999: Master Hits
• 2001: The Encore Collection: Seasons Change
• 2002: Exposé's Greatest Dance Mixes

[edit] Singles

[edit] See also

• List of number-one hits (United States)
• List of artists who reached number one on the Hot 100 (U.S.)
• List of number-one dance hits (United States)
• List of artists who reached number one on the U.S. Dance chart

[edit] External links

• Official Exposé Web Site
• Official Exposé MySpace Page
• The Exposé Epistle On-Line, an independent fan news site
• Official Press Release Stating Return of Exposé -- Includes downloadable Podcast featuring Bruno, Curless, and Jurado
• Laurie Miller's official site