Warning... this is an adult site. If reading or viewing things about what gay men do sexually with one another bothers you - you should not read this blog. This blog is a reflection of my adventures and thoughts. Some are fun, some not so pretty. I won't name names, or kiss and tell... but I will live to tell. And baby, trust me - I am gonna spill it all over your pretty little party dress. Enjoy!
Down The Rabbit Hole merely places a spotlight on something slightly unusual that's caught my interest. With the help of Wikipedia, YouTube, and other sites, I gather information and learn something new.
Today, we take a look at the adventurous musical stylings and history of the collaborative known as Shriekback.
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From Wikipedia:
Shriekback are an English rock band formed in 1981 in Kentish Town by Barry Andrews, formerly of XTC and the League of Gentlemen (keyboards/synthesizers/vocals), and Dave Allen, formerly of Gang of Four (bass guitar), with Carl Marsh, formerly of Out on Blue Six (guitars/vocals) soon added to the line-up. The band's early music was a funk-influenced version of new wave and post-punk, later moving towards art rock and always featuring "insidiously weird vocals".
The band enjoyed some success on the dance chart on its original Y Records label and had a string of hits on the UK Indie Chart, while its first album, Care (1983), was picked up by Warner in the United States. The band left Y for Arista Records for Jam Science (1984), also recruiting the drummer Martyn Barker. The album reached #85 on the UK Albums Chart and Hand on my Heart managed to hit #52 on the UK singles chart. Marsh left Shriekback during the recording of their next album, Oil and Gold (1985) and was replaced on guitar by Mike Cozzi. At that point, Andrews took over lead vocals. Shriekback then left Arista and signed to Island Records for whom they recorded Big Night Music (1986), after which Allen left to rejoin Gang of Four.
Film director Michael Mann was a fan of the band and used several Shriekback songs in his films Manhunter and Band of the Hand and in his television series Miami Vice, affording the group broader exposure, especially in the United States.
Going forward, Shriekback remained a collaborative centered on Andrews.
After another album in 1988, Go Bang!, the band officially split up. Andrews continued working on other projects before re-forming Shriekback in 1992, although after the single The Bastard Sons of Enoch and album Sacred City, there were no further releases until 2000.
Shriekback are still actively producing music and releasing studio album.
Down The Rabbit Hole merely places a spotlight on something slightly unusual that's caught my interest. With the help of Wikipedia, YouTube, and other sites, I gather information and learn something new.
Today, we take a look at the musical legacy of the often overlooked girl group, The Flirtations.
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From Wikipedia:
The Flirtations are an all-female musical group who have recorded since the early 1960s.
In 1962 in New York City, Lestine Johnson and sisters Ernestine Pearce, Shirley Pearce and Betty Pearce from South Carolina formed a group called The Gypsies. By1964, they'd signed to Old Town Records, where they released their debut single Hey There, Hey There. The song achieved airplay on local radio stations, leading to a second single, the J.J. Jackson-written Jerk It, which proved more successful, reaching #111 on the US Pop Chart and #33 on the R&B chart. At that point, Lestine Johnson left the group, replaced by Viola Billups. The Gypsies released two additional singles for the label in 1966, bringing an end to their time at Old Town Records.
The four women landed at Josie Records, renaming themselves The Flirtations. Their first single for the label was the well-regarded northern soul dance song, Change My Darkness Into Light. However, DJs ignored it, sales suffered and they were dropped by the label. The quartet moved to Festival Records, where they released Stronger Than Her Love and Settle Down, but again, there was no interest.
By 1968, Betty Pearce had left the group, reducing the Flirtations to a trio. After winning a small local talent contest to see who could sound the most like the Supremes, they packed their bags and headed for England, where they were signed to the Parrot label. They were immediately enlisted as the opening act for the label's star act, Tom Jones. Oddly, they only recorded on single for Parrot, Someone Out There. Thanks to a number of television appearances, it rose to #2 on the Bubbling Under chart in September of 1968, and charted in the Netherlands, peaking at #25.
Moving to Deram Records in late 1968, the group recorded what would become their signature recording, Nothing But A Heartache. The song rose to #1 on the Bubbling Under chart in December 1968 and gave the Flirtations a second Top 40 hit in the Netherlands, reaching #36. Somebody was listening, and in March of 1969, they embarked on an 18 date tour of the UK with Stevie Wonder and The Foundations.
Nothing But a Heartache was re-issued in the US in early 1969, debuting at #93 on the Billboard Hot 100 in March of 1969. The song spent 14 weeks on the chart, peaking at #34. The follow-up, South Carolina, was a ballad and reached only #111 in July 1969. In 1970, two singles were released, with What's Good About Goodbye My Love" snagging the #17 spot on the R&B chart. In July 1970, the trio scored another semi-hit with Can't Stop Loving You, a song former labelmate Tom Jones also recorded. While the ladies' version only got as high as #93, Jones' reached #3 on the US Adult Contemporary chart and #5 on Canada's AC chart.
A sixth, and final, single was released on Deram in 1971, but failed to generate any heat. From that point on, their singles were no longer released for the U.S. market. It was at this juncture that Misty Browning, replaced Viola Billups, embarked on a solo career as Vie and as Pearly Gates. Browning was subsequently replaced by Loretta Noble. Throughout 1972, the group became the resident vocal band on the long running BBC TV series It's Cliff Richard, backing Richard on various numbers, while performing their own songs and singing backup for other guests on the show.
Throughout the 1970s the Flirtations released material on various major labels - Polydor, Mojo, and RCA, with little success. The band was rediscovered in the disco and Northern soul circuits of Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the UK and the U.S. and their sound evolved with the times. They recorded Hi-NRG tracks in the 1980s, including Back On My Feet Again, which reunited Billups with the Pearce sisters. The track became a major hit in South Africa in 1989, reaching #6.
The group enjoyed a bit of renewed notoriety in the UK, when Nothing But A Heartache was used in an advertising campaign for KFC. In 2007, the ladies were recording for Centre City Records, and in 2009, released their first single in 20 years, Roulette. The track peaked at #10 in Music Week's Commercial Pop Club Chart in December of 2009.
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Jerk It - The Gypsies
Change My Darkness Into Light - The Flirtations
Someone Out There - The Flirtations
Nothing But A Heartache - The Flirtations
What's Good About Good-bye, My Love - The Flirtations
Down The Rabbit Hole merely places a spotlight on something slightly unusual that's caught my interest. With the help of Wikipedia, YouTube, and other sites, I gather information and learn something new.
Today, we take a look at the music and brief history of the UK's pop band King.
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From Wikipedia:
King was an English new wave band which formed in 1984. They achieved chart success in 1985, and are best known for their hit single Love & Pride, which reached #2 in the UK. The band had two Top 20 albums and five Top 30 singles in the space of a year.
Hailing from Coventry, the band formed from the remnants of a rock-ska band called the Reluctant Stereotypes. along with producer Paul Sampson. The group, then known as The Raw Screens, perfected their act and style to what Paul King and his manager Perry Haines called 'Multi Tone', a reference to Two Tone. In 1983, the group became known as the band King, taken from the surname of lead singer Paul King.
The group consisted of: Paul King (vocals, piano), Mick Roberts (keyboards, synthesizers, piano, backing vocals), Tony Wall (bass guitar), Jim 'Jackal' Lantsbery (guitar, backing vocals), and John Hewitt, Adrian Lillywhite, Colin Heanes (drums).
They made quite the fashion statement; Paul King sported a mullet haircut and spray-painted Doc Marten's Boots – a look described "like the Child Catcher from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang". The band released two UK Top 20 albums on CBS, both produced and mixed by Richard James Burgess, who also played drums on most of the debut album, Steps In Time. The second album Bitter Sweet, featured Adrian Lillywhite on drums. Both albums were certified gold and produced five hit singles, the most successful being the UK #2 hit, Love & Pride, which was King's only single to chart on the US Billboard Hot 100, peaking at #55.
Despite a year of success, the band split up in 1986 - likely due to a combination of creative differences and personal circumstances. In 1987, Paul King released a solo album entitled Joy, produced by American producer Dan Hartman. It failed to make much of an impact. After that, he briefly worked as a VJ for MTV and later worked for MTV Networks Europe, producing shows for VH1 and MTV.
Down The Rabbit Hole merely places a spotlight on something slightly unusual that's caught my interest. With the help of Wikipedia, YouTube, and other sites, I gather information and learn something new.
Today, we take a look at the brief history and musical output of Blitz Kid's artists Haysi Fantayzee.
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From Wikipedia:
Haysi Fantayzee was an avant-garde, new wave pop project emanating from the Blitz Kids street arts scene in London in the early 1980s. The Blitz Kids were a group of people who frequented the Tuesday club-night at Blitz in Covent Garden, London in 1979–1980. They are credited with launching the New Romantic subcultural movement. Haysi Fantayzee's music combined reggae, country and electro with political and sociological lyrics couched as nursery rhymes.
Formed in 1981, the band consisted of Jeremy Healy, Kate Garner, and Garner's boyfriend songwriter/producer/manager/keyboardist Paul Caplin. Key to their success was their sense of fashion.
Garner and Healy combined their extreme clothes sense - described as a mix of white Rasta, tribal chieftain and Dickensian styles - with a quirky musical sound comparable to, but distinct from, other new wave musical pop acts of the era, such as Bow Wow Wow, early Adam and the Ants and early Bananarama. Their outfits were often designed by Garner, and the two singers looked like distorted mirror images of each other, with similar hair and make-up. In a 1983 interview with David Maples on the Los Angeles-based TV show MV3, Jeremy Healy accused singer Boy George of imitating his unusual look. Boy George later responded: "When Jeremy saw my locks, he was livid. Both he and Kim (Bowen) stopped speaking to me. They thought I had stolen their look. It wasn't their look to steal..."
To attract the attention, the trio sent video performances with their demo tapes to record companies, a highly unusual practice at the time. They released four singles in 1982 and 1983: John Wayne Is Big Leggy, Holy Joe, Shiny Shiny, and Sister Friction - promoting them by appearing on Top of The Pops several times. John Wayne Is Big Leggy hit #11 in the UK, #3 in Germany, #4 in Switzerland, #13 in Austria and #22 in Ireland. Holy Joe stalled at #51 in the UK and failed to chart elsewhere. They fared better with Shiny, Shiny which reached #16 in the UK, #3 in Austria, #11 in Ireland, #22 in Germany, #37 in New Zealand and #74 in the US. However, Sister Friction (#61 in the UK) and a fifth single, Chizoola, failed to generate any heat.
Theses singles were followed up with an album, Battle Hymns for Children Singing, and then they went their separate ways.
Garner enjoyed a brief solo career after the break-up of Haysi Fantayzee, and then pursued a career in photography in Los Angeles. While Healy released the single When Malindy Sings in 1984, and later became a DJ and album mixer for other artists, including his former schoolfriend/rival Boy George. He was also signed to Boy George's More Protein record label under the name E-Zee Possee.
Down The Rabbit Hole merely places a spotlight on something slightly unusual that's caught my interest. With the help of Wikipedia, YouTube, and other sites, I gather information and learn something new.
Today, we take a look at the history and musical evolution of the UK's The Blow Monkeys.
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From Wikipedia and other sources:
The Blow Monkeys are a British pop band formed in 1981 who enjoyed four albums and eleven singles on the UK charts between 1986 and 1990.
The Blow Monkeys formed in 1981 when lead singer, songwriter, guitarist, bassist, and piano player Dr. Robert (Robert Howard) returned to the United Kingdom after having spent five years in Australia. The other band members are Mick Anker on bass guitar, Neville Henry on saxophone and Tony Kiley - or - Crispin Taylor on drums.
In 1984, the group released their debut album Limping for a Generation. It failed to chart, but success was within reach. Their first hit single came in 1986 with Digging Your Scene, from their second album Animal Magic. The single attracted attention for its topical lyrics, dealing with the AIDS-fueled backlash against gay people. It peaked at #14 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and #7 on the Hot Dance Club Play chart. In addition, it reached #12 on the UK Singles Chart, #24 in Italy, and #25 in Germany.
Regarding Digging Your Scene, Dr. Robert had this to say in 2023: "I used to go to gay clubs, like Taboo, a lot because, to be honest with you, in London, in the early ‘80s, it was grim. Pubs closed – there was nowhere to go, but those clubs were open and they played great music. People were flamboyant and there was a freedom – it was a scene. Then AIDS came along and those people got demonized – even the Government starting putting out ads and Donna Summer said AIDS was God’s revenge. I know she took it back later, but that’s where the line ‘It’ll get you in the end – it’s God’s revenge’ came from. At the time, I don’t think a big deal was made of what the song was about lyrically."
Their third album She Was Only a Grocer's Daughter (a reference to then-prime minister Margaret Thatcher), was released in January 1987. It reached #20 in the UK, thanks to its biggest hit, It Doesn't Have to Be This Way, which reached #5 in the UK and #28 in Italy. Working outside the group, Robert Howard released the single Wait, which featured Kym Mazelle on female lead vocals. It reached #7 on the UK chart and was included on The Blow Monkey's fourth album, Whoops! There Goes the Neighbourhood.
The band split up in late 1990, shortly after the release of their fifth album Springtime for the World. This was due to diminishing radio interest and sales and a lack of direction. The band simply felt it had run its course. No drama, no conflict.
Which made it easy for them to reunite in 2007. Since that time, they've release seven albums of new material, the most recent being 2024's Together/Alone.
Down The Rabbit Hole merely places a spotlight on something slightly unusual that's caught my interest. With the help of Wikipedia, YouTube, and other sites, I gather information and learn something new.
Today, we take a look at the brief musical history of the UK's Eighth Wonder, featuring Patsy Kensit.
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From Wikipedia and other sources:
Propaganda is a German synth-pop band formed in Düsseldorf in 1982 by Ralf Dörper. As a trio, with artist Andreas Thein and vocalist Susanne Freytag, the group began recording in Germany. These tracks were destined for future release in the UK, where Ralf Dörper's early, pre-Propaganda experimental recordings had received critical acclaim by radio DJ John Peel and journalist Chris Bohn. With the inclusion of classically trained musician and composer, Michael Mertens and singer Claudia Brücken, music journalist Paul Morley signed the band to Trevor Horn's newly formed ZTT label in 1983.
The group relocated to the United Kingdom and released the single Dr. Mabuse, named after the fictional character made famous by filmmaker Fritz Lang. The single reached the Top 30 in the UK Singles Chart, and the Top 10 in Germany. To promote the single and themselves, the group appeared on various TV shows in the UK.
Before the year was out, Thein was asked to leave the band due to musical differences. With Mertens now filling the gap left by his departure, the band forged ahead with recording its follow-up single and debut album. However both of these were to be delayed as a result of the unexpectedly huge success of ZTT's Frankie Goes to Hollywood. As the label was still in its infancy, ZTT was forced to spend all its limited resources promoting and marketing Frankie Goes to Hollywood. This meant that Trevor Horn was not available to produce Propaganda's album. Stephen Lipson, one of Horn's established studio engineers, took his place. With the addition of Andy Richards playing keyboards and Lipson behind the board, Propaganda's second single, the more pop-oriented Duel, did not surface until April 1985. Perhaps the band's most recognizable release, it was also their highest-charting single in the UK, reaching #21. The band made its an appearance on Top of the Pops in June of that year.
The first week of July in 1985 finally saw the release of the band's debut album, A Secret Wish which was written by Mertens and Dörper. After receiving considerable critical acclaim and some commercial success, it climbed to #16 on the UK Albums Chart. The album was followed by another single, p:Machinery, that August. While it only reached #50 in the UK, it became a much a bigger hit in Italy, France, the Netherlands, Germany and Switzerland. In addition, it was used as part of the soundtrack for an episode of the hit US TV show Miami Vice. The 12-inch version caused controversy (even within the group) as Paul Morley thought it a good idea to have the sleeve feature a quote by writer J. G. Ballard, praising the activities of the German extremist group Red Army Faction. Ariola, who distributed ZTT's releases in Germany, refused to carry the 12" as a result, so the quote was changed on the German release.
The group spent the rest of the year on their Outside World tour, taking in Europe and America. They were joined by three former members of Simple Minds - Derek Forbes on bass, Brian McGee on drums, and Kevin Armstrong on guitar - all accompanied with backing tapes used for most of the keyboard parts. In the meantime a remix album, Wishful Thinking, was released in November of 1985. Originally intended for the American club market, the album was also released in Europe, but against the wishes of the group. The album peaked at #82 in the UK. A remixed version of p:Machinery was re-released as a single, but failed to make an impact in the UK, but was, again, more successful in France, Spain, and Germany.
The year 1986 started positively with the single p:Machinery going #1 in Spain and entering the Top 10 in France, but ended in disaster. By late 1985, the band's management team had introduced them to the London-based music lawyer Brian Carr of Compton Carr, who had helped win the case between John Lydon (Sex Pistols/Public Image Ltd) and his management.Carr explained to the group members that under their current contracts with ZTT, they could go on making records for the rest of their lives and never make any money. Based on this information the band asked ZTT to renegotiate their contract, which the company declined.
Soon afterwards, Claudia Brücken - who was married to ZTT's Paul Morley - left Propaganda to pursue a solo career, signed to ZTT. After a protracted legal battle, which saw the remaining members of Propaganda under an injunction by ZTT for fourteen months, they were finally released from their contract in a hurried out-of-court settlement in the summer of 1987.
In 1988, the band, now reduced to Ralf Dörper, Michael Mertens and Susanne Freytag, signed to Virgin, and began recording new material. The new line-up included American vocalist Betsi Miller, and members of their touring group, ex-Simple Minds bassist Derek Forbes and drummer Brian McGee (who had both actually joined the band following their split with ZTT in 1986). The result was a new album, released in 1990 called 1234, produced by former Tears for Fears' associates Ian Stanley and Chris Hughes. Dörper and Freytag's contributions to the album were quite limited with, Freytag only singing on the title track and Dörper contributing lyrics for three three tracks - Only One Word (which featured David Gilmour of Pink Floyd on guitar),Wound in My Heart, and Vicious Circle.
The first single from the album, Heaven Give Me Words, was co-written with 1980s synth-pop star Howard Jones and reached the UK Top 40. However, the album was not as successful, stalling at #46 in the UK. The second single, Only One Word, met a similar fate, stalling at #71 in the UK. This led to the group taking a hiatus.
In 1998, Mertens, Brücken, and Freytag reunited, signing an options deal with East West, and began working on new material. Several tracks were completed, including one produced by Tim Simenon and featuring Depeche Mode's Martin Gore on guitar. A video for one song, the prophetically-titled No Return, was produced in Morocco in December of 1998. Two minute clips of it, along with photos of the shoot, were released via the band's official website in early 2000. However, no album materialized and, in January 2002, Brücken announced, "The reunion was worth a try, but did not work out."
However a real reunion of the four original band members took place in November 2004, when Brücken, Dörper, Freytag and Mertens - but without Thein - performed Dr. Mabuse at a concert for the Prince's Trust which took place at Wembley Arena, celebrating 25 years of Trevor Horn's career as a successful producer.
Since that time, various configurations of former members have gotten together for special appearances and the occasional recording, including an album in 2024, featuring Dörper and Mertens.
Down The Rabbit Hole merely places a spotlight on something slightly unusual that's caught my interest. With the help of Wikipedia, YouTube, and other sites, I gather information and learn something new.
Today, we take a look at the brief musical history of the UK's Eighth Wonder, featuring Patsy Kensit.
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From Wikipedia and other sources:
Eighth Wonder was an English pop band, formed in 1983 in London, initially composed of singer/model/actress Patsy Kensit, her brother Jamie Kensit, Steve Grantley, Geoff Beauchamp, Nigel Davis, Jake Walters and Lawrence Lewis. The band first enjoyed major success in Japan and Italy before breaking through in the UK and across Europe.
Eighth Wonder began life as a band called Spice. The line-up consisted of Patsy Kensit on vocals, her brother Jamie Kensit and Geoff Beauchamp on guitar, Lawrence Lewis on bass, Jake Walters on drums and Nigel Davis on percussion. Spice made their live debut in the autumn of 1983, and then spent the next year playing gigs in the hope of gaining the attention of record labels.
In late 1984, Davis left and keyboard-player Alex Godson joined. At that point, they renamed themselves Eighth Wonder and Patsy Kensit began to write songs for the band. At one of their gigs, Stephen Woolley, co-owner of Palace Films, and director Julien Temple offered Patsy Kensit the role of Crepe Suzette in their 1986 movie musical Absolute Beginners. In edition, Eighth Wonder was asked to contribute a song to the soundtrack.
By April of 1985, Eighth Wonder had signed to CBS Records and began recording in London, working around Patsy Kensit's filming of Absolute Beginners. In October of that same year, their first single Stay With Me was released. It achieved success in Japan, where it went to #1, and Italy, where it peaked at #4. while failing in the UK, where it only managed to reach #65. Shortly after, Lewis and Walters left the band. It was at this point that the band began using drum machines and substituting keyboards for their bass sound.
In August of 1986, they went to Los Angeles to work with producer Mike Chapman, best known for his work with Blondie. Drummer Steve Grantley then replaced Godson. The top songwriters of the times offered them new material and these tracks formed their debut album, Fearless. Of these tracks, Will You Remember was released in the UK where it only reached #83. They fared much better in Japan and Italy. In Japan, When The Phone Stops Ringing gave them their second #1, while in Italy Will You Remember slid into the Top 10, mostly due to the media attention surrounding their performance at a music festival in which Patsy experienced a wardrobe malfunction resulting in the exposure of one of her nipples.
I'm Not Scared, co-produced and written by the Pet Shop Boys and Phil Harding, was chosen as the next single in Europe, where it was greeted with media and public enthusiasm, becoming a Top 10 hit in almost every country in Europe. It went to #1 in Italy, #2 in Switzerland and Portugal, #3 in Spain, #4 in Greece, #5 in Germany, #7 in the UK, #8 in France and #20 in Austria.
In May of 1988, another single, Cross My Heart, found similar success, hitting #6 in Switzerland, #10 in Italy, #13 in UK, and France, and #56 in the US. The album was finally released in July of 1988, and by that October, had achieved almost 500,000 sales internationally.
However, the follow-up single, Baby Baby only got to #65 on the UK Singles Chart and would prove to be their final hit in Italy, peaking at #13. Shortly after this, the bandmembers parted ways, with Patsy Kensit deciding to focus on her marriage and acting career.
Down The Rabbit Hole merely places a spotlight on something slightly unusual that's caught my interest. With the help of Wikipedia, YouTube, and other sites, I gather information and learn something new.
Today, we take a look at the history and music of the Humpe sisters, Annette and Inga.
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From Wikipedia and other sources:
The Humpe sisters, Annette and Inga, spent their childhood in Herdecke and Bad Pyrmont. After high school and following six semesters of studying composition and piano in Cologne, Annette moved to Berlin in 1974, where she started performing in various bands. Her younger sister Inga soon followed and the sisters naturally found themselves collaborating on various musical projects.
They first achieved first commercial successes in 1979 with the band Neonbabies, founded by the sisters. The sisters released their debut album in 1981, with Inga on lead vocals.
In 1980, Annette Humpe also helped found Ideal along with Ernst Ulrich Deuker and Frank Jürgen Krüger. In the band, Annette served as a songwriter while performing lead vocals and keyboards. The group also recorded songs originally performed by Neonbabies including the highly popular Blaue Augen, which was written by Annette. That song became Ideal's highest-charting song and was also covered by various other artists.
In addition, the Ideal members were close friends of the band Trio, for whom Annette occasionally performed as a backing vocalist, most notably on the #1single Da Da Da.
When Ideal and Neonbabies both disbanded in 1983, Annette became a record producer. For the group DÖF, she co-wrote and produced the commercially successful single Codo, which was a #1 hit in Germany, Austria and the Netherlands and also reached #4 on the Swiss single charts. The song was performed by two Austrian comedians, Joesi Prokopetz and Manfred Tauchen along with Inga Humpe.
In addition, in 1984, Annette and Inga served as co-producers for the band Palais Schaumburg.
The sisters founded the duo Humpe & Humpe in 1985. They wrote and produced most of the songs released on their two studio albums. While the duo was widely known as Humpe & Humpe, their names appeared on the albums as Inga & Anete Humpe and Humpe – Humpe respectively. In the UK, the duo was known as Swimming with Sharks due to the potential sexual connotations of the name Humpe in English.
Their first album contained the single Yamaha. The song was particularly successful in Japan during 1985, and it was released with a memorable split-screen video featuring the sisters. Their second album, and English language venture, featured two singles; No Longer Friends and Careless Love. They received significant airplay on BBC Radio One during 1987 and strong reviews from British music press, although this did not result in significant Chart success for the sisters. The single Careless Love reached the German single charts and peaked at #24.
As international success remained elusive, the duo went their separate ways.
During this time Annette continued to produce other artists including Rio Reiser and Heiner Pudelko. By 1990, with Humpe & Humpe in the rear view mirror, Annette released her first solo studio album called Solo. The album failed to chart. After the release of her solo album, Annette decided she was through with singing. She would concentrate exclusively on composing and producing over the following years.
Inga returned to England, where she sang as a featured vocalist for Johnny Logan and Howard Jones. Inga's first solo album was released in 1990 under the title Planet Oz. It included the single Riding into Blue (Cowboy Song), written and produced by Trevor Horn and became a minor hit.
In 1995 Inga returned to Germany and joined her sister, performing as the duo Bamby. They released the album Wall of Sugar.
Annette went on to find success as part of the group Ich + Ich, while Inga recorded several cover songs and became a frequent featured backing vocalist on various singles. In 2000, Inga formed the electronic duo 2raumwohnung with her life-partner Tommi Eckart.
