Following up yesterday’s post about the SUGAR BABES I’d said at the end that the failure of their debut album wasn’t quite the end. Three years later, in 1990, group members Stacie Irvin and Kimiko Whittaker released another album on MCA Records, without Patrice Lydia, now performing as a duo called Stacye and Kimiko. They were older now (19-20), and were looking and attempting to sound more “adult.” And I have to say Stacie (or should I say, STACYE) was even hotter than before  (and Kimiko wasn’t bad either). Once again I’d bought the album, which was called PARADISE, and then I’d also buy the 12 inch singles, just for the extra pictures on the covers.

DAMN

WAIT FOR ME was their debut single, written and produced by Bryan Loren. And it’s a clear example of how they were trying to update their sound. It’s still R&B/Pop, but a lot more polish. Here’s a mediocre-quality version of the official music video.

For the rest of their album, which included 8 more original songs plus a remix of Wait For Me, they enlisted producers such as the legendary Chuckii Booker, who produced their second (& final) single from this album, R.U. AVAILABLE

Booker also produced COME AND GET IT. Both of these are very good tracks, with powerful arrangements. It showcases the ladies’ vocals, which had become stronger since the first album.

D’Lavance (aka D’Lavance Sullivan and Darren LaVance Sullivan) produced a mellow ballad called LOVER’S PARADISE, which I really enjoyed.

Someone calling himself (or herself) Vahn Goh produced the rest of the songs on the album, starting with SINGLE GIRL, EVERY WORD, I’VE BEEN WAITING, which are all decent mellow tunes. And then the two slightly more uptempo jams MY THRILL and IT JUST AIN’T RIGHT.

Once again, thanks to MizBabyGirl for the song uploads on Youtube.

This album was definitely a step in the right direction for the ladies. If I’d compare the Sugar Babes album to the early New Edition albums, then I’d compare this album to Bobby Brown’s Don’t Be Cruel.

But despite the better music, this album didn’t make much of an impact either, although I do remember hearing Wait For Me on the radio more often than I’d heard We Rock The Beat, and this was the last album that they made. I would love to know more about them, like how they met (one blog I read once claimed that Stacie and Kimiko are cousins, but I don’t know if that’s true) and the Sugar Babes were formed, and what happened to Patrice, who made the decision to continue as a duo, etc. And, of course, what they’ve been up to since. Below I’ve posted a video someone uploaded of the duo performing 2 songs on Soul Train, which is awesome. But they cut out the interview portion, since I know the host always interviewed the guests right after they performed their first song. But any info about what the ladies have been up to in the decades since is unavailable. I suppose they all just dropped out of the entertainment business and went on with their lives. I’ve actually found both Stacie (who looks as gorgeous as ever) and Kimiko (very pretty, too) on Facebook (I couldn’t find Patrice, I suppose it’s possible that she has a different last name now). As tempted as I am, I’m not going to try to message them or send friend requests. I’m sure they don’t want to be bothered.

PARADISE is also out of print, and not available digitally, but CD, Vinyl, and Cassette versions can be found on AMAZON

Now here’s the Soul Train performance:

EDIT 7/26/2015: Unfortunately that video has been removed from Youtube.