''Silk & Steel'' is the second studio album by 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 ...

, released on 18 August 1986. The album was the group's biggest seller, reaching number one in the UK. It was also successful in France, Germany, Austria, Netherlands and Switzerland. In the United States, it was less successful than their first album, '' Luxury of Life'', peaking at number 80 on the ''Billboard'' 200. As with ''Luxury of Life'', the album used a number of producers and was recorded in both the US and UK, the only common producer being

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 ...

who again produced a track he had co-written (this time with

Pete Sinfield Peter John Sinfield (born 27 December 1943) is an English poet and songwriter. He is best known as the co-founder and former lyricist of King Crimson, whose debut album ''In the Court of the Crimson King'' is considered one of the first and mos ...

), " Rain or Shine", which became the highest-charting UK single from the album. Four tracks including first single, "

Can't Wait Another Minute "Can't Wait Another Minute" is a 1986 hit single by British pop group Five Star, peaking at number 7 on the UK Singles Chart and giving them their highest ever peak of 41 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in the United States where it also reached num ...

", were recorded in Los Angeles with the British producer

Richard James Burgess Richard James Burgess (born 29 June 1949) is an English musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, composer, author, manager, marketer and inventor. Burgess's music career spans more than 50 years. He came to prominence in the early 1980s a ...

. The band's manager and father,

Buster Pearson Buster Pearson (4 May 1941 – 14 October 2012), born Stedman Pearson in Jamaica, was a musician and producer, and father and former manager of British pop group Five Star. He also owned and ran a number of record labels, most notably the 1970s ...

, co-produced two tracks with Michael Jay (both of which Jay had co-written), also in Los Angeles, and one with lead singer Deniece on the track she composed, " Stay Out of My Life". There were also two tracks produced by

Pete Wingfield William Peter Wingfield (born 7 May 1948) is an English record producer, keyboard player, songwriter, singer and music journalist. Career Whilst at Sussex University Wingfield and three other students formed the group Jellybread. In 1969, he ...

, "Please Don't Say Goodnight" with lead vocals from Delroy and "Don't You Know I Love It" written by Doris, who also sings lead on that track. The latter track was originally a

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

but proved popular so was included on the album. The album produced six UK top 15 hit singles and three US R&B hits. As " Are You Man Enough" was a US-only single, that means seven of the ten tracks were hit singles (and as "Don't You Know I Love It" had also been released as a B-side, only two of the album tracks were not available as singles). The album itself was the ninth best-selling album of 1986 in the UK, and had achieved four-times Platinum status by 1987, denoting shipments in excess of 1.2 million copies. It spent a total of 58 weeks on 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 ...

. A photograph on the reverse sleeve of ''Silk & Steel'' shows the group outside the

Lloyd's building The Lloyd's building (sometimes known as the Inside-Out Building) is the home of the insurance institution Lloyd's of London. It is located on the former site of East India House in Lime Street, in London's main financial district, the City of ...

in London, which was newly opened at that time. An expanded version of ''Silk & Steel'' was 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.

Track listing

" (Sue Sheridan, Paul Chiten) – 4:42 #" Find the Time" (Paul Gurvitz, Nick Trevisick) – 4:30 #" Rain or Shine" (

Peter Sinfield Peter John Sinfield (born 27 December 1943) is an English poet and songwriter. He is best known as the co-founder and former lyricist of King Crimson, whose debut album ''In the Court of the Crimson King'' is considered one of the first and mos ...

) – 3:59 #" If I Say Yes" ( Michael Jay, Marvin Morrow) – 4:04 #"Please Don't Say Goodnight" (Michael George Jackson-Clark, Clemens Winterhalter) – 4:43 #" Stay Out of My Life" ( Deniece Pearson) – 4:00 #"Show Me What You've Got for Me" (Pamela Phillips Oland, Rick Neigher) – 3:57 #" Are You Man Enough" (Paul Gurvitz, Nick Trevisick) – 4:38 #"

The Slightest Touch "The Slightest Touch" is a 1987 single by the British pop group Five Star. It reached No. 4 in the UK singles chart, becoming the group's final Top 10 hit to date. Taken from their second album, '' Silk & Steel'', Five Star chose legendary remix ...

" (Michael Jay, Marvin Morrow) – 4:30 #"Don't You Know I Love It" (

Doris Pearson Doris Pearson (born Doris May Pearson, June 8, 1966) is an English singer and ex member of the pop group, Five Star. Career Doris Pearson, the eldest of the three Pearson sisters, was born in Brent, London. She was the choreographer of the g ...

) – 3:58

2010 CD reissue bonus tracks

# "Find the Time" (Midnight mix) # "If I Say Yes" (extended mix) # "Rain or Shine" (remix) # "The Slightest Touch" (The Pettibone Touch remix) # "Are You Man Enough" (

Shep Pettibone Robert "Shep" Pettibone (born 10 July 1959) is an American record producer, remixer, songwriter and club DJ, one of the most prolific of the 1980s. Career Shep Pettibone surfaced after his work with Arthur Baker on Afrika Bambaataa & the Jazz ...

Track listing

2010 CD reissue bonus tracks

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References