''Luxury of Life'' is the debut album by the British pop group

Five Star Five Star (also styled as 5 Star) are a British pop group, formed in 1983 and comprising siblings Stedman, Lorraine, Denise, Doris and Delroy Pearson. Between 1985 and 1988, Five Star had four top 20 albums and 15 top 40 singles in the UK ...

. Though not a great success when it was first released in the summer of 1985, the album eventually peaked at number 12 in early 1986, and spent a total of 70 weeks in the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...

.Chart Stats -Luxury of Life
/ref> It was certified Platinum in October 1986 for sales of over 300,000 copies in the UK. It also charted in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, peaking at number 57 on the ''Billboard'' 200 and 14 on the

R&B Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a music chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine that ranks R&B and hip hop albums based on sales in the United States and is compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The chart debuted as Hot R&B LPs in the issue dated J ...

chart. The album has a number of different contributors. Most of the tracks were produced either in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

Nick Martinelli Nicholas J. Martinelli (born 5 July 1952) is an American R&B and pop record producer. During the 1980s he worked with many R&B and pop music artists, some of them based in the UK. Acts he has worked with include Loose Ends, Phyllis Hyman, Fiv ...

with members of Loose Ends or in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

by Steve Harvey. Exceptions include the singles "

Love Take Over "Love Take Over" is a 1985 hit single by British pop group Five Star. The single was written and produced by Rob Van Schaick and Bernard Oates (a.k.a. The Limit). "Love Take Over" was a UK Top 30 success, peaking at #25 and also at #9 in the Ho ...

", which was written and produced by the Dutch duo

The Limit Oattes Van Schaik (formerly known as The Limit) was a 1980s musical group composed of Dutch producers Bernard Oattes and Rob van Schaik. In 1982 they released the songs "Crimes of Passion" and "She's So Divine" which was edited by Ben Liebrand. ...

and mixed by

Paul Hardcastle Paul Louis Hardcastle (born 10 December 1957) is a British composer, musician, producer, songwriter, radio presenter and multi-instrumentalist. He is best known for his song " 19", which went to number 1 in the UK Singles Chart in 1985. Early l ...

, and "

System Addict "System Addict" is a 1985 single by the British pop group Five Star. It was the group's first Top 10 hit, reaching #3 in 1986. It is also their second biggest-selling single, being certified silver by the British Phonographic Industry for sales ...

", produced by its co-writer

Billy Livsey Billy Livsey is an American songwriter, keyboardist, and producer originally from St. Louis, Missouri and now resides in Nashville, Tennessee. He has worked with many musicians including Tina Turner, Kevin Ayers, Phil Manzanera, 801, Gerry Raff ...

. Seven of the tracks were released as singles in the UK. Four became top 30 hit singles including the top 3 hit "System Addict". In the US, all three singles released made the R&B top 20 including " Let Me Be The One" which reached number 2. ''Luxury of Life'' was re-released by

Cherry Pop Records A cherry is the fruit of many plants of the genus ''Prunus'', and is a fleshy drupe (stone fruit). Commercial cherries are obtained from cultivars of several species, such as the sweet ''Prunus avium'' and the sour ''Prunus cerasus''. The nam ...

in November 2010 with bonus tracks.

Track listing

" ( Bernard Oattes, Rob van Schaik) – 3:57 #" All Fall Down" (

Barry Blue Barry Blue (born Barry Ian Green, 4 December 1950) is an English singer, producer, and songwriter. As an artist, he is best known for his hit songs "Dancin' (on a Saturday Night)" and "Do You Wanna Dance" (both 1973). Blue has also been a pro ...

, Robin Smith) – 3:34 #" Let Me Be The One" (Ian Foster) – 4:42 #"

" (

, Gary Bell) – 4:00 #"Hide and Seek" (Gary Bell,

Anne Dudley Anne Jennifer Dudley (née Beckingham; born 7 May 1956) is an English composer, keyboardist, conductor and pop musician. She was the first BBC Concert Orchestra's Composer in Association in 2001. She has worked in the classical and pop genre ...

) – 5:30 #" R.S.V.P." (Paul Gurvitz) – 4:37 #"Now I'm in Control" (Mick Leeson, Peter Vale, Steve Jeffreys) – 3:42 #"Say Goodbye" (

Lorraine Pearson Lorraine Pearson (born Lorraine Samantha Jean Pearson; 10 August 1967 in Wembley, London, England) is a British singer and was a member of the pop group, Five Star. She is the sister of Denise, Doris, Delroy and Stedman Pearson, and the daughter ...

) – 4:14 #"Crazy" (Gary Bell) – 3:57 #"Winning" (Gary Bell) – 3:58

2010 CD reissue bonus tracks

#"All Fall Down" (M&M remix) #"Let Me Be The One" (Philadelphia remix) #"Love Takes Over" (The Limit Edition mix) #"R.S.V.P." (Urban remix) #"System Addict" (M&M remix) #"Love Games" (B-side)

Track listing

2010 CD reissue bonus tracks

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References