| Background: | group_or_band |
| The Cover Girls | |
| Origin: | New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Genre: | Freestyle, pop, urban contemporary |
| Years Active: | 1986–1996, 2001–present |
| Label: | Fever Records Capitol/EMI Records Epic/SME Records |
| Current Members: |
|
The Cover Girls are an all-female, New-York-City based freestyle music group.
The Cover Girls were formed by music producer and songwriter Andy "Panda" Tripoli and music promoter and dance club owner Sal Abbatiello.[1] The group was originally composed of singers Louise "Angel" Mercado, Caroline Jackson, and Sunshine Wright. In late 1986, they released their first album, Show Me. Five singles were released from this album, including the Top 40, Billboard Hot 100 hits "Because of You"[2] and "Promise Me".[3] Sunshine Wright left the group in late 1987 after the release of the album and its second single "Spring Love", and was quickly replaced by Margo Urban, with whom the group released three more singles off the album.[4] In 1988, they recorded the song "Better Late Than Never" for the Coming to America film soundtrack.[5]
In 1989, their second album, We Can't Go Wrong, was released and included the song "My Heart Skips a Beat" as well as the title track. The Cover Girls performed "My Heart Skips a Beat" and "We Can't Go Wrong" on the series finale[6] of American Bandstand in October 1989. "All That Glitters Isn't Gold" was the third single released from the We Can't Go Wrong album. Shortly after its release, Louise "Angel" Mercado left the group to pursue a solo career and was replaced on lead vocals by Evelyn Escalera.
The first song recorded with Escalera on lead was "Don't Stop Now", released for the compilation album Music Speaks Louder Than Words, which was a joint collaboration between American and Soviet songwriters. The song's music is a cover of Russian artist Viktor Reznikov's 1988 song "Domovoy", with new English lyrics written by Todd Cerney and Harold Payne.[7] [8] The song was released as a single in 1990 with "Funk Boutique" originally as the B-Side.
In 1992, they released their third studio album, "Here It Is" features for the first time two lead singers, Escalera and Michelle Valentine, who replaced Margo Urban. This album produced a cover version of the Rose Royce 1978 song "Wishing on a Star". The second and third singles were "Thank You" and "If You Want My Love (Here It Is)" In 1993, Evelyn Escalera recorded vocals on a promotional single titled "Can You Feel It?" by Fish released on Cupid Records.
In 1994, the group contributed the new song "You Better Change" to the soundtrack of the film I Like It Like That.[9]
In 1996, they released another album, titled, Satisfy. The first single from the album, "I Am Woman", was released originally with Valentine on lead vocals. But shortly after the single was released Valentine left the group. Lead vocals were then taken over by Gayle Ellis. On "I Need Your Lovin'", the vocals on the album mix were by Valentine and the single remix vocals were handled by Ellis and Escalera (who had then returned to the group from a hiatus). Nicki Richards also recorded her lead vocals on some of the Satisfy album tracks, notably "Whenever You Need Me" and "Keep On Giving Me Love".
In 2001, The Cover Girls regrouped with Evelyn Escalera, and two new members Sabrina Nieves and Lorraine Munoz.
In 1997, Sabrina Nieves contributed the track "Supersonic" under the name “Sabrina Sang” on the “Jock Jams Vol. 3” album.
In 1998, Lorraine Munoz released the single "Ritmo De La Noche" under the name Lorena Martinez from the Latin Mix USA album.
In 2006, The Cover Girls (Escalera, Munoz, and Nieves) contributed vocals on the Cobra Starship song "The Ballad of Big Poppa and Diamond Girl" from the Cobra Starship album While the City Sleeps, We Rule the Streets.
In November 2008, Evelyn Escalera released her first solo single, a cover of the Mariah Carey Christmas classic "All I Want for Christmas Is You", under her new pseudonym Evelyn DeMille.
In 2010, Evelyn Escalera contributed the track "Grown Up Christmas List" to the album A Traditional Freestyle Christmas Vol 1.
in 2011 The "Original" Cover Girls featuring Angel Mercado, Caroline Jackson and Margo Urban reunited with a performance at the 2011 Long Beach Pride festival to over 20,000 fans. The group reignited interest throughout the country and abroad and have been touring all of the major club and concert arena since, and on May 17th 2022 The Original Cover Girls, this time with Sunshine Wright stepping in place of caroline, The Cover Girls performed on the absolute last episode of The Wendy Williams Show, hosted by Leah Remini and Michelle Visage. The Cover Girls managed by La' Entertainment's Latif Mercado, now feature all the Original members which include Angel Mercado, Caroline Jackson, Margo Urban, and Sunshine Wright.
The Original Cover Girls also brought in for the first time under their line up, Michelle Valentine who has been performing with the group since 2021.
Michelle Valentine went on to become an author, writing "Nyagra's Falls", "A Girl's Gotta Eat", and "The Year It Snowed in April".
On November 7, 2015, the Cover Girls (Escalera, Munoz, and Nieves) were featured in a documentary on freestyle music titled Legends of Freestyle, which interviewed freestyle artists and delved into the history and movement of this genre. The Documentary presented by Stanulis Productions premiered at the HBO Urban Action Film Festival at the AMC Theater; one night only on Sat Nov 7th 2015 on 47th Street in New York City.
Evelyn Escalera, Sabrina Nieves and Lorraine Munoz still perform and tour to this day as The Cover Girls. And, they are under Sal Abbatillo's Fever Management.
The Original Cover Girls featuring Angel "Louise" Mercado, Caroline Jackson, Sunshine Wright, Margo Urban and Michelle Valentine are currently touring throughout the country.
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Period = from:1987 till:2023ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:2 start:1987 gridcolor:grid1
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barset:Groupmembers
from:1987 till:1990 text:"Angel Mercado" from:1987 till:1993 text:"Caroline Jackson" from:1987 till:1988 text:"Sunshine Wright" from:1988 till:1992 text:"Margo Urban" from:1990 till: 2023 text:"Evelyn Escalera" from:1992 till:1996 text:"Michelle Valentine" from:2001 till:2023 text:"Lorraine Munoz" from:2001 till:2023 text:"Sabrina Nieves"
| Year | Album details | Peak chart positions | |
|---|---|---|---|
| US | US R&B | ||
| 1986 | Show Me
| 64 | 74 |
| 1989 | We Can't Go Wrong
| 108 | — |
| 1992 | Here It Is
| — | — |
| 1996 | Satisfy
| — | — |
| "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. | |||
| Year | Album details | |
|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Greatest Hits
| |
| 1998 | Greatest Hits
|
| Year | Single | Peak chart positions | Album | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| width=40 | US | width=40 | US R&B | width=40 | US Dan | width=40 | AUS [10] [11] | width=40 | UK [12] |
| 1987 | "Show Me" | 44 | 34 | 4 | — | — | align=left rowspan=5 | Show Me | |
| "Spring Love" | 98 | 82 | — | — | — | ||||
| "Because of You" | 27 | 47 | 16 | — | — | ||||
| 1988 | "Promise Me" | 40 | — | — | — | — | |||
| "Inside Outside" | 55 | — | 12 | — | — | ||||
| "Better Late Than Never" | — | — | — | — | — | Coming to America OST | |||
| 1989 | "My Heart Skips a Beat" | 38 | — | 4 | — | — | align=left rowspan=3 | We Can't Go Wrong | |
| "We Can't Go Wrong" | 8 | — | — | — | — | ||||
| 1990 | "All That Glitters Isn't Gold" | 49 | — | 18 | — | — | |||
| "Don't Stop Now" | 63 | — | 8 | — | — | Music Speaks Louder Than Words | |||
| 1991 | "Funk Boutique" | 55 | — | 8 | 150 | — | align=left rowspan=4 | Here It Is | |
| 1992 | "Wishing on a Star" | 9 | 19 | 7 | 181 | 38 | |||
| "Thank You" | 75 | — | — | — | — | ||||
| 1993 | "If You Want My Love (Here It Is)" | 125 | — | 8 | — | — | |||
| "Estrella Del Amor (Wishing On a Star)" | — | — | — | — | — | Sony Discos Brazil promotional single | |||
| 1996 | "I Am Woman" | — | — | — | — | — | align=left rowspan=2 | Satisfy | |
| "I Need Your Lovin'" | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| 2002 | "Hooked On You (Remix)" | — | — | — | — | — | Promotional single | ||
| "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. | |||||||||