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| Melanie (left) and Kim (right) Appleby Image Credit: Streetview at www.streetview.co.uk |
Mel and Kim were a Pop duo, successful in the 80s with their catchy,
'girl power', pop songs written and produced by 80s
songwriting/producing giants, Stock Aitken and Waterman. Active for
four years (1986 to 1990) and releasing four top 10 hits in the UK,
these London born sisters made a big stamp on my music collection and fashion sense back then.
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| SISTERS |
I was 12 in 1986 when they released their debut single "Showing Out
(Get Fresh At The Weekend)" and everyone I knew was singing and
shoulder shaking to that tune. The sisters, who were mixed raced,
were beautiful, sassy and stylish. Young girls either wanted to be
like them or they hated them out of envy and guys would debate over
which sister they fancied the most.
Check out the dance moves in the "Respectable" video
(above) to get a real taste of the 80s
Mel and Kim weren't the greatest of singers but they were good for
the pop dance scene. After “Showing Out” came "Respectable" 1987, which was the anthem for young women and their first number 1
in the UK.
"Take or leave us, only please believe us
We are never gonna be respectable
Like or hate us, but you'll never change us
We are never gonna be respectable"
Stock, Aitken and Waterman's production style featured many vocal
synthesizers on acts they worked with. A popular 80s method was the
vocal skipping, similar to when a DJ scratches a record. A lot of
vocal skipping was used on this track (Respectable), which made the
song hilarious for fans to sing at times.
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| Mel and Kim with funky open hats and the 'Pineapple' hairstyles |
Their number one success broadened their fan base and celebrity
status. The bubbly sisters appeared on many TV shows and graced
covers of pop magazines. Their cheeky attitude, Melanie, the
youngest being the more feisty of the two, for me, made them more
likeable. They dressed in sync and had some fabulous hairstyles, the
'pineapple', the most popular, started a trend. Unfortunately
though, as many popular music artists experience today, media
interest is a double-sided sword. When the press dug up Melanie's
former glamour model career, many parents didn't want their children
listening an idolising a "tart". Back in the 80s, attitudes
weren't as relaxed and welcoming as of today of girls who got their "boobs out", unless they were on Page 3 of The Sun. Back then a
glamour model in layman's terms was a 'glamourised prostitute'.
Melanie handled herself well, spoke about it fairly openly and tried
to move on.
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| Melanie left this earth too young, too soon. |
When the news of Melanie's illness became public (her ex boyfriend (scum) sold pictures of her whilst undergoing chemotherapy, looking fragile
and losing her hair), the fans were stunted with shock. I remember
feeling very afraid for her because she was so young. Having lost
members of my family to the disease, I'd seen the pain. On release
of their fourth, and sadly final track "That's The Way It Is" in
1988, it was hoped that Melanie was winning the fight against cancer. "That's The Way It Is" had great chart success and I remember
taping it off the radio (the 80s way of downloading music) and
singing along to the words on full volume at my grandparents stereo
or at school with my girl pals thinking we were stush. Sadly,
Melanie wasn't getting better. She died in January 1990 after
contracting pneumonia, her immune system weakened by chemotherapy.
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| "Keep looking after number one" |
It was singing "Respectable" to my eight year old daughter this
week that inspired me to feature Mel and Kim "In The Spotlight".
I want my kids to know about Mel and Kim, the same way they
appreciate Rihanna, Lady Gaga and the like. It's so sad that fate was
so cruel to them because I know they had so much further to go. Kim
did go on to have a mediocre solo career. She released one album Kim
Appleby in 1990 which gave her two Top 10 hits. I bought the
album, its somewhere in a mountain of cassettes that I refuse to
dispose off. It's a good pop album with R&B dance influences.
Many of the songs were co-written with Melanie before her passing.
Kim is no longer seen in the public eye but I hope she has
fond memories of her career, even though she lost her sister in the
process. Mel and Kim brought an urban flavour to pop music which was
brilliant for young black kids like myself, heavily influenced by the
R&B and Reggae of our parents. Despite the lyrics of their most successful
song, Mel and Kim were very RESPECTABLE.
Copyright Donna Woolcock 2012
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