The Cover Girls
Encyclopedia
The Cover Girls is a New York City
-based freestyle
-urban
-dance-pop
girl group
that achieved the majority of its chart success in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Among the group's best-known songs are "Show Me", "We Can't Go Wrong", and "Wishing on a Star".
and British
girl groups such as Exposé, Bananarama
, Seduction
, Sweet Sensation
, and Company B
were scoring hit singles
on the pop
and dance
charts. The group was formed by music promoter and dance club owner Sal Abbatiello
and was originally composed of singers Angel Sabater, Caroline Jackson, and Sunshine Wright. The increased popularity of freestyle music
, a Latin-influenced form of electronic dance music, played an influential role in the style of the group's initial recordings.
hits "Because of You" and "Promise Me". The title track of the album
was released as a 12-inch single prior to the album's release and was a Top-5 hit on the US dance chart
. The group's second album, We Can't Go Wrong, was released in 1989 and included the song "My Heart Skips a Beat" (pop Top-40, dance Top-5) as well as the title track, which was the group's first Top-10 pop hit in early 1990, peaking at #8. The single "Don't Stop Now" was released in 1991. This was Evelyn Escalera's first recording with the group. The group's third studio album, Here It Is, released in 1992, produced the group's most recent pop hit, a cover version
of the Rose Royce
1978 song "Wishing on a Star
", with new co-lead singer Michelle Valentine. The Cover Girls' version of this song became its second Top-10 pop hit when it peaked at #9 in the summer of 1992. The song also reached the Top 40 of the UK Singles Chart
that same year.
tour, Sabater embarked on a solo career; singer Evelyn Escalera was hired to replace her. Then in 1992, Urban left the group and was replaced by Michelle Valentine, leaving Jackson as the sole original member. By the time they released their fourth studio album, Satisfy, in 1996, the majority of the lead vocals were being performed by Valentine with new singers Damie, Gayle, and Sheila. The current line-up of The Cover Girls is Escalera, Lorraine Munoz and Sabrina Nieves. It is unknown whether a fifth studio album will be released.
Former member Sabater released her solo debut album, Angel, in 2000. Sabater still tours singing Cover Girls songs under the name "Angel (The Original Cover Girl)".
In November 2008, Evelyn Escalera released her first solo single. It's a cover of the Mariah Carey
Christmas classic "All I want for Christmas Is You" Its available on iTunes, under her new pseudonym Evelyn DeMille.
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
-based freestyle
Freestyle music
Freestyle or Latin freestyle, sometimes referred to as Latin hip hop, is a form of electronic dance music that emerged in the early 1980s. Mostly popular during the mid 80s to the early 90s...
-urban
Urban contemporary
Urban contemporary is a music radio format. The term was coined by the late New York DJ Frankie Crocker in the mid 1970s. Urban contemporary radio stations feature a playlist made up entirely of hip hop/rap, contemporary R&B, pop, electronica such as dubstep and drum and bass and Caribbean music...
-dance-pop
Dance-pop
Dance-pop is dance-oriented pop music that originated in the early 1980s. Developing from post-disco, it is generally up-tempo music intended for clubs with the intention of being danceable or merely dancey...
girl group
Girl group
A girl group is a popular music act featuring several young female singers who generally harmonise together.Girl groups emerged in the late 1950s as groups of young singers teamed up with behind-the-scenes songwriters and music producers to create hit singles, often featuring glossy production...
that achieved the majority of its chart success in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Among the group's best-known songs are "Show Me", "We Can't Go Wrong", and "Wishing on a Star".
Origins
The Cover Girls began its musical career in the late 1980s at a time when other AmericanUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
girl groups such as Exposé, Bananarama
Bananarama
Bananarama are an English female pop duo who have had success on the pop and dance charts since 1982. Rather than relying on a two part harmony, the duo generally sings in unison, as do their background vocalists. Although there have been line-up changes, the group enjoyed their most popular...
, Seduction
Seduction (band)
Seduction was a female dance-pop, urban contemporary, house music, and freestyle trio from New York assembled and produced by Robert Clivillés and David Cole , consisting of members April Harris , Michelle Visage , and Idalis DeLeon .Originally intended as a studio project, and prior to any...
, Sweet Sensation
Sweet Sensation
Sweet Sensation was a Puerto Rican female freestyle-dance music trio from The Bronx, New York.-History:Formed in 1986, In The Bronx . The original group members were Betty LeBron and sisters Margie and Mari Fernandez. Originally on Next Plateau Records, in 1988 they were picked up by Atco and...
, and Company B
Company B (band)
Company B was a Latin freestyle dance-pop/Hi-NRG trio formed in 1986 by Cuban-American producer Ish "Angel" Ledesma , featuring members Lori L. , Charlotte McKinnon and Susan Johnson. Before the groups self titled Album was released, Charlotte McKinnon left and was replaced by Lezlee Livrano...
were scoring hit singles
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
on the pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
and dance
Electronic dance music
Electronic dance music is electronic music produced primarily for the purposes of use within a nightclub setting, or in an environment that is centered upon dance-based entertainment...
charts. The group was formed by music promoter and dance club owner Sal Abbatiello
Sal Abbatiello
Sal Abbatiello is a record executive in the music business. His career goes back to the early 1970s and he is still one of the biggest concert promoters and record executives in the New York City area. Abbatiello created and produced the Freestyle, Urban/Dance-Pop trio, The Cover Girls, whose hits...
and was originally composed of singers Angel Sabater, Caroline Jackson, and Sunshine Wright. The increased popularity of freestyle music
Freestyle music
Freestyle or Latin freestyle, sometimes referred to as Latin hip hop, is a form of electronic dance music that emerged in the early 1980s. Mostly popular during the mid 80s to the early 90s...
, a Latin-influenced form of electronic dance music, played an influential role in the style of the group's initial recordings.
Chart success
The Cover Girls released their first album, Show Me, in late 1987. Five singles were released from this album, including the Top 40 Billboard Hot 100Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
hits "Because of You" and "Promise Me". The title track of the album
Show Me (The Cover Girls song)
"Show Me" is the title of the debut single by the American freestyle girl group The Cover Girls. Released as a 12" single in early 1987, "Show Me" first charted on the US Hot Dance Club Play chart, where it peaked at #4 in March of that year...
was released as a 12-inch single prior to the album's release and was a Top-5 hit on the US dance chart
Hot Dance Club Play
The Hot Dance Club Songs chart is a weekly national survey of the songs that are most popular in U.S. dance clubs...
. The group's second album, We Can't Go Wrong, was released in 1989 and included the song "My Heart Skips a Beat" (pop Top-40, dance Top-5) as well as the title track, which was the group's first Top-10 pop hit in early 1990, peaking at #8. The single "Don't Stop Now" was released in 1991. This was Evelyn Escalera's first recording with the group. The group's third studio album, Here It Is, released in 1992, produced the group's most recent pop hit, a cover version
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
of the Rose Royce
Rose Royce
Rose Royce is an American soul and R&B band. The group is best known for several hit singles including "Car Wash," "I Wanna Get Next to You," "Wishing on a Star", "Love Don't Live Here Anymore" and "I'm Going Down".-Career:...
1978 song "Wishing on a Star
Wishing on a Star
"Wishing on a Star" is a 1978 hit single by Rose Royce for Whitfield Records.-Background:Included on their second album, Rose Royce II: In Full Bloom, "Wishing on a Star" is a slow ballad written by Billie Rae Calvin and produced by Norman Whitfield. The lyrics concern a woman longing for the...
", with new co-lead singer Michelle Valentine. The Cover Girls' version of this song became its second Top-10 pop hit when it peaked at #9 in the summer of 1992. The song also reached the Top 40 of the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
that same year.
Personnel changes
In late 1988, Wright decided to leave the group and was replaced by Margo Urban. In 1990, while The Cover Girls were the opening act on the New Kids on the BlockNew Kids on the Block
New Kids on the Block are an American boy band from Boston, Massachusetts, assembled in 1984 by producer Maurice Starr. The band currently consists of brothers Jordan and Jonathan Knight, Joey McIntyre, Donnie Wahlberg, and Danny Wood.New Kids on the Block enjoyed success in the late 1980s and...
tour, Sabater embarked on a solo career; singer Evelyn Escalera was hired to replace her. Then in 1992, Urban left the group and was replaced by Michelle Valentine, leaving Jackson as the sole original member. By the time they released their fourth studio album, Satisfy, in 1996, the majority of the lead vocals were being performed by Valentine with new singers Damie, Gayle, and Sheila. The current line-up of The Cover Girls is Escalera, Lorraine Munoz and Sabrina Nieves. It is unknown whether a fifth studio album will be released.
Former member Sabater released her solo debut album, Angel, in 2000. Sabater still tours singing Cover Girls songs under the name "Angel (The Original Cover Girl)".
In November 2008, Evelyn Escalera released her first solo single. It's a cover of the Mariah Carey
Mariah Carey
Mariah Carey is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress. She made her recording debut with the release of her eponymous studio album in 1990, under the guidance of Columbia Records executive Tommy Mottola, whom she later married in 1993...
Christmas classic "All I want for Christmas Is You" Its available on iTunes, under her new pseudonym Evelyn DeMille.
Studio albums
| Year | Album | Chart positions | Record label | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists... |
US R&B Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a chart published by Billboard magazine that ranks R&B and hip hop albums based on sales compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The name of the chart was changed from Top R&B Albums in 1999... |
|||||
| 1987 | Show Me | 64 | 74 | Fever Fever Records Fever Records was the New York City freestyle record label of the 80s, founded by promoter Sal Abbatiello.The label was marketed and distributed by Sutra Records until the latter went under, which precipitated a distribution deal with Russel Simmons's RAL division of Def Jam Recordings.Fever... |
||
| 1989 | We Can't Go Wrong We Can't Go Wrong (album) We Can't Go Wrong is the second album from the New York-based R&B–dance trio The Cover Girls. After scoring moderate success with their gold-selling debut album Show Me in 1987, the group left independent label Fever Records, and signed with Capitol Records for this album, which was released in... |
108 | — | Capitol Capitol Records Capitol Records is a major United States based record label, formerly located in Los Angeles, but operating in New York City as part of Capitol Music Group. Its former headquarters building, the Capitol Tower, is a major landmark near the corner of Hollywood and Vine... |
||
| 1992 | Here It Is | — | — | Epic Epic Records Epic Records is an American record label, owned by Sony Music Entertainment. Though it was originally conceived as a jazz imprint, it has since expanded to represent various genres. L.A... |
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| 1996 | Satisy | — | — | Quality | ||
| "—" denotes the album failed to chart | ||||||
Compilation albums
| Year | Album | Chart positions | Record label | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists... |
US R&B Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a chart published by Billboard magazine that ranks R&B and hip hop albums based on sales compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The name of the chart was changed from Top R&B Albums in 1999... |
|||||
| 1998 | Greatest Hits | — | — | Warlock Warlock Records Warlock Records is an independent record label based in New York City that was founded by Adam Levy in the late 1980s. Artists that once recorded for Warlock Records included C-Bo, the Jungle Brothers, and Todd Terry. In 1992, the label acquired the catalog of Sleeping Bag Records and its sub-label... |
||
| "—" denotes the album failed to chart | ||||||
Singles
| Year | Single | Chart positions | Album | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday... |
US R&B Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,... |
US Dance Hot Dance Club Play The Hot Dance Club Songs chart is a weekly national survey of the songs that are most popular in U.S. dance clubs... |
UK UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... |
||||
| 1987 | "Show Me Show Me (The Cover Girls song) "Show Me" is the title of the debut single by the American freestyle girl group The Cover Girls. Released as a 12" single in early 1987, "Show Me" first charted on the US Hot Dance Club Play chart, where it peaked at #4 in March of that year... " |
44 | 34 | 4 | — | Show Me | |
| "Spring Love" | 98 | 82 | — | — | |||
| "Because of You" | 27 | 47 | 16 | — | |||
| 1988 | "Promise Me" | 40 | — | — | — | ||
| "Inside Outside" | 55 | — | 12 | — | |||
| 1989 | "My Heart Skips a Beat" | 38 | — | 4 | — | We Can't Go Wrong | |
| "We Can't Go Wrong" | 8 | — | — | — | |||
| 1990 | "All That Glitters Isn't Gold" | 49 | — | 18 | — | ||
| 1991 | "Don't Stop Now" | 63 | — | — | — | Here It Is | |
| "Funk Boutique" | 55 | — | 8 | — | |||
| 1992 | "Wishing on a Star Wishing on a Star "Wishing on a Star" is a 1978 hit single by Rose Royce for Whitfield Records.-Background:Included on their second album, Rose Royce II: In Full Bloom, "Wishing on a Star" is a slow ballad written by Billie Rae Calvin and produced by Norman Whitfield. The lyrics concern a woman longing for the... " |
9 | 19 | 7 | 38 | ||
| "Thank You" | 75 | — | — | — | |||
| 1993 | "If You Want My Love (Here It Is)" | 125 | — | 8 | — | ||
| 1996 | "I Am Woman" | — | — | — | — | Satisfy | |
| "I Need Your Lovin'" | — | — | — | — | |||
| "—" denotes the single failed to chart | |||||||