Guilty pleasures: one in a million, my fantasy come true

Romford in Essex has really only ever had five things going for it, namely, Denise, Doris, Lorraine, Stedman and Delroy Pearson. Now, I was too cool for school to like Britain's equivalent of the Jacksons, but secretly I knew all the words to every one of their 15 UK Top 40 hits - and six of them were from one album alone, Silk and Steel. Five Star were a veritable hit factory and because of that, much under rated. Jemboy, that fantastic 80s music blog, has nearly ALL of their output... go now to HERE.

It's easy to pick up on the bigger downfall stories that define such firework bands, like Stedman's arrest in the Victoria Station toilets, the Going Live live phone-in thing and the family bankruptcy, but everyone forgets how clever the band were at producing proper hits. Their sound was of the moment (very Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis) but at the heart were bona fide songs. Here are my favourite five...

Rain or Shine - Five Star (zShare)

Treat Me Like a Lady - Five Star (zShare)

There's a Brand New World - Five Star (zShare)

Stay Out of My Life - Five Star (zShare)

Whenever You're Ready - Five Star (zShare)

And here's the last shot from 2003 where Stedman seems to have become Lorraine and Delroy in their absence.