| The Party | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Orlando, Florida, USA |
| Genres | Pop Dance R&B |
| Years active | 1990–1993 |
| Labels | Hollywood/Elektra Records |
| Associated acts | MMC |
| Past members | |
| Albert Fields Tiffini Hale Chase Hampton Deedee Magno Hall Damon Pampolina |
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The Party was an American pop band. The group was composed of Albert Fields, Tiffini Hale, Chase Hampton, Deedee Magno, and Damon Pampolina, all of whom were cast members of The All New Mickey Mouse Club.
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In 1990, the Disney Channel formed a pop band composed of then-current cast members of the 1989 Mickey Mouse Club (also known as MMC). As part of the promotion for the band, a name-the-band contest was held. The result was the Party, which is a backronym for "Positive Attitude Reflecting Today's Youth."[1] The group was also the first signing to the Walt Disney Company’s pop-music-oriented label Hollywood Records, which, at the time, was distributed by Elektra Records.
The self-titled debut album was released in August 1990 on Hollywood Records. The first single, “Summer Vacation,” was moderately successful, peaking at #72 on the Billboard Hot 100. The following singles, "I Found Love" and "That's Why" (which brought the group into a much bigger audience), peaked at #79 and #55, respectively. The album also charted at #116 on the Billboard 200 Album Chart. During this time, the Disney Channel produced a special titled "The Party: In Concert." The group’s success landed it opening-act spots on major concert tours with the likes of Taylor Dayne and Vanilla Ice. The group also appeared on various shows, such as Live with Regis and Kathie Lee, Into the Night starring Rick Dees, and The Party Machine with Nia Peeples. In the summer of the following year, "Summer Vacation" was re-released in remixed form.
In 1991, the covers and remixes EP In the Meantime, in Between Time was released, which was supposed to have kept fans occupied until the group finished its next album, but the EP took on a life of its own. The cover of the Dokken song "In My Dreams" ended up being the band's biggest hit on the charts, peaking at #34 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #16 on R&B. The song would also score the group appearances on shows such as Club MTV, a return to MMC, a Disney Channel special titled "Go Party!" and another concert tour — this time opening for the R&B band Hi-Five.
In 1992, with the release of the group’s second studio album, Free, the band had shown growth with its changing sound and more adult-oriented lyrics. Teddy Riley wrote three songs for this album including the New Jack Swing-tinged title song, "Free," which was also remixed by house-music artists E-Smoove and Steve "Silk" Hurley. Dr. Dre produced the song "Let's Get Right Down to It," and the group itself also got involved in the writing and producing of the album, which would once again land it another concert tour — this time opening for Color Me Badd. Promotion included its last special for the Disney Channel, "All About the Party" and an appearance on the Blossom episode "The Best Laid Plans of Mice & Men" in which they performed their song "All about Love". However, the album was not as successful on the charts as previous ones, which prompted Damon Pampolina to leave the group.
In 1993, the group disbanded, and Hollywood/Elektra Records released The Party's Over...Thanks for Coming with little advance notice. This farewell album consisted of outtakes from the Free recording sessions coupled with other songs recorded prior the group's disbanding.
In 1997, Hollywood/PolyGram Records released a greatest-hits album of The Party; it had little chart success.
Albert Fields recorded a solo album under the moniker Jeune (which is half of his middle name, Jeune-Pierre), titled Back To Reality. He later married. Albert continues to perform and record on the indie circuit.
In 1994, Chase Hampton returned to host the final televised year of the 1989-era Mickey Mouse Club. After relocating residence from Orlando, Florida, to Los Angeles, California, his acting continued with roles in both television and film. He also continued to perform music, fronting the rock band Buzzfly along with musician Mike Vizcarra; incidentally, Vizcarra was one of the producers of the Party's 1993 farewell album. In May 2007, Chase released Chase Hampton: Something To Believe and, in August 2010 came Drugstore Girls (under the name Chasen Hampton); both are solo effort EP albums on which he again worked in collaboration with Vizcarra. Hampton will tour beginning February 2011 in support of the Drugstore Girls EP; early dates include the southeastern states. The album was released in late February 2011.
Deedee Magno-Hall is currently married and recently had her first child. After the Party, she went on to perform in musical theater, most notably as Kim in Miss Saigon on Broadway. After playing the role of Nessarose in the first national tour of the hit musical Wicked, she went on to originate the role in the San Francisco company. Her husband, Cliffton Hall, also in the production, played the role of Fiyero. She is rumored to be working on her first solo album.
In 1994, Tiffini Hale returned to host the final televised year of the 1989-era Mickey Mouse Club. She has since remained out of the public eye.
Damon Pampolina dabbled in acting for a few years. He left show business for a while to work in real estate in Southern California. According to Pampolina on the recent E! True Hollywood Story chronicling MMC, he is also behind StreetNetwork TV, a Myspace-inspired Web site for artists waiting to be discovered. He also wants to get back into acting on a network show and has appeared in several commercials. In a February 2011 interview with OK! Magazine, he revealed that he had a 10-year-long relationship with former MMC cast member Brandy Brown. He also reteamed with Albert to perform as the hip hop duo NDecent Proposal.[2] He's currently living in Texas with his wife Jennifer and son Roman Valentino Pampolina and works for PRP Entertainment, where he is a host and is a co-owner with his father.[3][4]
| Title | Chart positions[5] | ||||||
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| U.S. | UK | CAN | AUS | GER | FRA | JPN | |
The Party
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In the Meantime, In Between Time
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Free
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The Party's Over...Thanks for Coming
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Greatest Hits
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| Year | Single | Album | Peak positions[6] | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| U.S. | US Dance | |||||
| 1990 | "Summer Vacation" | The Party | 72 | 21 | ||
| "I Found Love" | 79 | — | ||||
| "That's Why" | 55 | — | ||||
| "Sugar Is Sweet" | — | — | ||||
| 1991 | "In My Dreams" | In The Meantime, In Between Time | 34 | 35 | ||
| "Private Affair" | — | — | ||||
| "Peace, Love And Understanding" | — | — | ||||
| 1992 | "Free" | Free | — | 40 | ||
| 1993 | "All About Love" | — | — | |||
| Year | Video | Director |
|---|---|---|
| 1990 | "Summer Vacation" | |
| "I Found Love" | ||
| "That's Why" | ||
| "Sugar Is Sweet" | ||
| 1991 | "In My Dreams" | |
| "Private Affair" | ||
| "Peace, Love And Understanding" | ||
| 1992 | "Free" | |
| 1993 | "All About Love" |