The Toy Box

Retro Spins: Cover Girls - We Can't Go Wrong

Yesterday, we talked about the manufactured group, Cover Girl's debut, Show Me (1986). As noted, the trio of Angel Mercado (AKA Angel Clivillés), Caroline Jackson, and Sunshine Wright were hired by songwriter, Andy "Panda" Tripoli and music promoter and dance club owner Sal Abbatiello, who conceived the group. However, by 1987, Sunshine Wright would depart from the group and be replaced by Margo Urban.

Their sophomore album, and final for the decade, We Can't Go Wrong would be released in 1989, and with it come a series of singles; My Heart Skips Beat, We Can't Go Wrong (the song), and All That Glitters Isn't Gold, which would tear up the Billboard Hot 100, Hot Dance Music / Maxi-Singles Sales, and Hot Dance Music / Club Play. This success would lead them to be invited by American Bandstand to perform on the series final episode, which aired October 7, 1989.

Shortly after the release of the single, All That Glitters Isn't Always Gold, Mercado would leave the group to focus on a solo career. Unfortunately, this would not prove to be a successful move. She'd spend the 90's and 2010's performing as Angel (The Original Cover Girl), releasing two singles, and one and only album, Angel (2000).

I can respect that the girls had hits, and I'll even go as far as to say they're decent. We Can't Go Wrong was the definite standout for me, and as a whole, it's an okay album.

Nonetheless, much like its predecessor, it's also just generic. Much like I stated about their debut, if you put this on at a party as background music, it would serve its purpose to get people mingling, and perhaps even dancing. That may very well be all one needs from it.

Look, I paid ninety-nine cents for the physical CD. I'm not going to complain about that. Even if I only got one song from it, that's less than what Spotify would charge me to digitally rent it.

Following Mercado's departure, Evelyn Escalera would be brought in to take over lead vocals. However, prior to their third album, Urban would also leave, being replaced by Michelle Valentine, who shared co-lead vocals with Escalera for 1992's Here It Is. Following its release, Jackson quit, leaving the two to carry on as a duo for their fourth and final album, 1996's Satisfy.

Despite no longer making albums, Escalera would stay as a formal cover girl, being joined by Lorraine Munoz and Sabrina Nieves in 2001. However, this new trio would primarily focus on touring, live performances, and select musical collaborations. They never released any studio albums and formally disbanded in 2023.

Click "HERE" to go back to the home page. For more posts related to this one, please click the labels below.

Disclaimer: They Toy Box does not endorse or contribute to piracy. Retro Spins posts are intended for educational and entertainment purposes only. None of the music discussed here is available for sale, downloading or distribution.

And now, 31 Days Of Halloween!

It's funny to me how the only thing I remember about Silent Night, Deadly Night is the scene in the toy store. There are so many great 80's nostalgia items tucked on every shelf in the background. As for the story itself, it has a unique premise, well, the first two anyway. Plus, it also has the honor of causing mass controversy during its initial 1984 run. Parents and advocate groups absolutely panned it

Retro Spins: Cover Girls - Show Me

If the Cover Girls were a big thing in the 80's, I completely missed them the first time around. They didn't land on my radar until I started actively searching out hidden gems of the era, and came across the tune, Inside Outside. Was it a masterpiece? No, but it was "new" enough and intrigued me to put it on my want list for if I came across it cheap or could bulk buy it with other albums. That day not only came, but so too did finding their second and final 80's album.

Sadly, the trio was a manufactured product of producer and songwriter, Andy "Panda" Tripoli and music promoter and dance club owner Sal Abbatiello. They'd recruit the first of many to come members, to form the original lineup. This consisted of Angel Mercado (AKA Angel Clivillés), Caroline Jackson, and Sunshine Wright, and all three would perform on the 1986 debut, Show Me (the album).

Their first album would be relatively successful, peaking at number sixty-four on the Billboard 200, and seventy-four on the Billboard Top R&B / Hip-Hop Albums. It would further produce four hit singles, Show Me, Because Of You, Inside Outside, and Promise Me, which landed on multiple charts, including the Billboard Hot 100, Hot R&B / Hip-Hop Songs, and Dance Club Songs charts. These were followed by fifth single, Spring Love, which did not chart.

As I played through it, I got an immediate sense of 80's Motown. How to elaborate, while being nice? It just had that vibe of Hitsville USA, harmonizing vocals, polished music, but at the same time felt hollow because the girls were essentially just mouthpieces for someone else's money-making scheme. Like I said above, manufactured.

It's a decent album, but personally, I don't hear the hits professed above. Inside Outside was really the only standout for me, and even with that said, it's generic through and through. If you like 80's dance pop, it will most definitely be for you, and candidly, it is an enjoyable tune. It's just no magnum opus by any means. Actually, that pretty much sums up the entire album. Throw it on in the background of a party, and it will do the job to get people mingling and perhaps even dancing.

In 1987, Sunshine Wright would depart from the group and be replaced by Margo Urban. This revised lineup of Mercado, Jackson, and Urban would record the single, Better Late Than Never for the film Coming to America, and its subsequent soundtrack. This would be followed by their second album, 1989's We Can't Go Wrong. That's where I'll pick up tomorrow.

Click "HERE" to go back to the home page. For more posts related to this one, please click the labels below.

And now, 31 Days Of Halloween!

Scream ushered in the return of the slasher flick. Well, let me rephrase. It more so rekindled it. By the 90's the genre was beyond tired, with franchises milking tropes to the bitter end. Wes Craven stepped in with an all-new concept which not only intrigued but turned the whole thing on its head. Of course, this too then followed suit, and got milked into oblivion. The last one I saw was part three, and by then, it had already derailed with the previous entry.