The Belle Stars

London's seven-woman Belle Stars came together in 1981 and played and sang neo-soul with ska-flecked dance beats. At their most glamorous (the excellent Sign of the Times) they resembled ABC . . . but with more balls. 

Despite notching up seven UK hits, including the Top 3 smash Sign Of The Times, they never released an album. Far more enjoyable than many of the band's originals though, were their excellent covers of The Clapping Song, Mockingbird, Needle in a Haystack and Iko Iko (a huge hit when recycled on the soundtrack of 1988's Rain Man).

The group effectively ended up as two distinct bands - one that had the hits, and the constantly touring live band. In 1987 they slimmed down to three members (Owen, Joyce and Shone) and spent two months making an album in New York with Trevor Horn which Horn eventually refused to release. Vocalist Jennie McKeown developed a serious heroin problem and moved to Miami to "sort herself out". In recent years she has performed with members of The Selecter and The Bodysnatchers in an outfit called Skadiva.

Hirst moved into the jazz world and formed the Clare Hirst Quartet. Most of the others moved out of the music industry into relatively "normal" jobs.