EDSEL
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Lest anybody should ever think that the 80s were a decade solely of new gold dreams, glistening electropop and synth-driven aural alchemy, it should be remembered that it was also an age defined by decaffeinated popsoul. Now Five Star, arriving straight outta Romford in the middle of the decade, may not have been the strongest cup of liquid energy around, but the all-singing, all-dancing sibling quintet were, for a while, a genuine chart phenomenon. Marshalled by a fearsome father-manager, ex-session musician Buster Pearson, Five Star enjoyed four Top 20 albums and 15 Top 40 singles in the UK. This was despite, from the outside, bearing all the hallmarks of a particularly fanatical cult.
The Pearson père ruled his teenage offspring with a rod of iron. Song lyrics were scrutinised for the slightest hint of suggestiveness or indecency.