Mel and Kim-British pop duo

Loved them. Two black biracial girls telling folks to "Take or leave us / Only please believe us / We ain't ever gonna be RESPECTABLE"

Classic!

They are fully wedged into British culture. We can never forget them.

"Showin' Out" is also a classic. I don't generally like the SAW sound but Mel & Kim's first two hits have a cool to them not found in the later productions (Bananarama etc.).

Love!

yum-ooooooooooooooooo

Not really to my taste musically, but they were fun, and it was obvious that they were having a great time. It was terribly sad when Mel died so young.

I remember the name but they were less than big here. Way less.

F L M!!!! (Fun Love and Monaaaaaayyyy!) They only had one album but it was a non stop blast of Stock Aitken Waterman fun!

They were chameleons, I'll give them that.

Bananarama were pissed off that Stock Aitken Waterman gave "Respectable" to Mel & Kim. True story.

The original Spice Girs.

Hard to think that Mel has been dead for 30 years.

FLM is either Fun Love and Money or FUCKING LOVELY MATE depending on source material.

At Top Of The Pops:

LOL, R9 .

Nice to see that people remember them.

Awful

R14 likes to rain on everyone else's parade.

Memories of the underground gay clubs of the 80s and the queens taking over the dance floor when Respectable got played.

Underage clubbing days anthem. Was in constant rotation gay or straight clubs.

They ate each others pussies

The Megamix of the two songs was always a crowd pleaser.

Very sad that 2 black ladies danced like that. I guess they wanted the paycheck.

Just found a bit about their backstory in this Youtube video called "TOTP: The Story of 1987"..

That's The Way It Is was the 4th single released in 1988 and wasn't on the FLM album. Mel was too ill to appear on the video and was probably too unwell to provide any vocals.

It's a great uplifting song and the video is so cheap - the dancers are clearly not professionals and my eyes were always drawn to the short dark haired fierce queen in the white tshirt who always seems a beat ahead of the rest of the male dancers.

Stock Aitken Waterman at their best. Mandy Smith was pretty good too

[quote] Mandy Smith was pretty good too

Oh I was feeling quite maudlin thinking about what a loss Mel was and that comment cheered me right up.

Mandy Smith was "pretty good" in the same way The Reynolds Girls were "pretty good", except The Reynolds Girls took on a light hearted anti rock message with their song and Mandy record a paedophile anthem.

Mandy was famous for being 13 - THIRTEEN - when she started dating Rolling Stone Bill Wyman when he was 47 - FORTY SEVEN. They married in 1989 when she was 18 - EIGHTEEN - and he was 53 - FIFTY THREE. Unsurprisingly they divorced not long after but matters were further complicated when Mandy's mother married Bill's son, so Mandy's ex husband was also her step-grandfather.

Mandy had been put on the pill at 13 with her mother's consent and suffered long term health problems as a result.

Stock Aitken Waterman wrote I Just Can't Wait For her, in which she justifies her sexual relationship with Wyman.

Being with you / They call me the fool

They just don't know what love can do / They talk as if I'm just a baby.

They said I'd be used / Lost and confused

They'll never see you the way that I do / And I'll go along with all that you want me to.

I just can't wait to see you / I only need to hold you in my arms

I just can't wait to see you / And everything will be all right.

It's a shame Donna Summer didn't record a second SAW album. Lonnie Gordon would have been shit out of luck.

I've always thought this would have been a perfect Mel & Kim comeback song.

Loved them. Didn’t realize they only had one album. Been listening to a huge SAW mix on Mixcloud lately and they are all over it. So much fun. Reminds me of clubbing in college.

What does SAW stand for?

(Mike) Stock, (Matt) Aitken, (Pete) Waterman. The production house that birthed Mel & Kim, Kylie Minogue etc.

The SAW story.

Is Donna cancelled posthumously for doing Asian Face? HOW VERY DARE SHE!

Wasn't she cancelled for her homophobia?

Anyone up for a bit of AUTHENTIC Japanesey SAW?

I LOVE SAW music , but Kakko is pretty terrible!

Who was Kakko? A dancer she was not.

I liked Kim's single Don't Worry, it's pleasant early 90s mainstream dance and was intended to be a Mel & Kim single.

I like G.L.A.D. better.

I am the biggest 80s queen going . I was in clubs more than I was at home. Ive never heard this song before.