West End Girls were a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

pop band and

girl group A girl group is a music act featuring several female singers who generally harmonize together. The term "girl group" is also used in a narrower sense in the United States to denote the wave of American female pop music singing groups, many of who ...

formed in 1990 in

Vancouver, British Columbia Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

History

The band was formed in

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

by producers John Dexter and John Livingston, and consisted of three teenaged girls,

Camille Henderson Camille Henderson is a Canadian pop singer. She played the role of Shirley in Sandy Wilson's 1985 Canadian film ''My American Cousin''. She went on to become part of the Vancouver-based pop group West End Girls from 1991 to 1993. Following her ...

, Aimee MacKenzie and Silvana Petrozzi. After several months of performing lessons with Henderson's father Bill Henderson, the lead singer of rock group

Chilliwack Chilliwack ( )( hur, Ts'elxwéyeqw) is a city in the province of British Columbia, Canada. Chilliwack is surrounded by mountains and home to recreational areas such as Cultus Lake and Chilliwack Lake Provincial Parks. There are numerous outdoor ...

, the trio recorded and released their debut album, ''West End Girls'', on Johnny Jet Records in 1991. That album produced the Canadian Top 10 hits "Not Like Kissing You" and " I Want U Back" (a remake of the

Jackson 5 The Jackson 5 (sometimes stylized as the Jackson 5ive, also known as the Jacksons) are an American pop band composed of members of the Jackson family. The group was founded in 1964 in Gary, Indiana, and for most o ...

hit), as well as the

Top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is the current, 40 most-popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "Top 40" or " con ...

singles "Say You'll Be Mine" and "Show Me The Way". Petrozzi left the band in 1992, and was replaced by Janele Woodley. In 1993, shortly before the release of the group's second album, Henderson also left and was replaced by Celia-Louise Martin. In 1993, the band's new lineup released the album ''We Belong Together'', which included the singles "R U Sexin' Me", "Pure", and "Sexy'". Their second album wasn't as successful as their first one and they broke up the following year. Shortly afterwards, the group's record label released a

remix A remix (or reorchestration) is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, video, poem, or photograph can all be remixes. The o ...

album of some of their earlier hits. They received a

Juno Award The Juno Awards, more popularly known as the JUNOS, are awards presented annually to Canadian musical artists and bands to acknowledge their artistic and technical achievements in all aspects of music. New members of the Canadian Music Hall of ...

nomination for Most Promising New Group in 1992 and they also toured with

Roxette Roxette was a Swedish pop rock duo, consisting of Marie Fredriksson (vocals and keyboards) and Per Gessle (vocals and guitar). Formed in 1986, the duo became an international act in the late 1980s, when they released their breakthrough second a ...

on the Canadian leg of that group's 1992 Canadian tour. MacKenzie later joined the Canadian

R & B Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated in African-American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly ...

group

D-Cru D-Cru was a Canadian R&B music group formed in Vancouver, consisting of singers Nicole Hutton, Tito Chipman, Craig Smart, Damien Kyles and Aimee Mackenzie. Career They released their self-titled debut album, ''D-Cru'' in 2000. The album featured ...

, and their single "Show Me" sampled the West End Girls single "Show Me The Way". She is now a swimsuit model. Petrozzi/Kane later formed

Pacifika Pacifika is a Canadian world music band formed in Vancouver, British Columbia by high school friends Silvana Kane (vocals) and Adam Popowitz (guitar) in 2004 and joined by Toby Peter (bass and drums) in 2006. According to Kane, who sings in ...

with guitarist Adam Popowitz, bassist Toby Peter, and percussionist Elliot Polsky. Their first album, ''Asunción'', was released in 2007 and their second, ''Super Magique'', was released in 2010. Kane released a solo album, ''La Jardinera'', in November 2012. Henderson later toured extensively as a backing vocalist for

Sarah McLachlan Sarah Ann McLachlan Order of Canada, OC Order of British Columbia, OBC (born January 28, 1968) is a Canadian singer-songwriter. As of 2015, she had sold over 40 million albums worldwide. McLachlan's best-selling album to date is ''Surfacing ( ...

and performed lead vocals on

Delerium Delerium is a Canadian new-age ambient electronic musical duo that formed in 1987, originally as a side project of the influential industrial music act Front Line Assembly. Throughout the band’s history, their musical style has encompassed a ...

's track "Duende". She is now a vocal coach. Woodley later formed the pop rock duo A Perfect Day with Joseph Hrechka and they released the album ''All Over Everything'' in 2004. Martin has done occasional acting gigs.

Discography

Albums

*''West End Girls'', 1991 (Johnny Jet Records/A&M Records) *''We Belong Together'', 1993 (Johnny Jet Records/A&M Records) *''Hits, Remixes and Other Cool Stuff'', 1997 (Dexter Entertainment Group) *''The Definitive Collection'', 2000 (Dexter Entertainment Group)

Singles

Soundtrack use

* In 1999, "Sexy" was featured in the beginning of lesbian cult classic movie ''

Better Than Chocolate ''Better Than Chocolate'' is a 1999 Canadian romantic comedy film shot in Vancouver and directed by Anne Wheeler. Plot Maggie (Karyn Dwyer) has moved out on her own and has started a relationship with Kim (Christina Cox). Maggie's mother Lila ...

'', as was "Pure (You're Touching Me)". Cover Version In 1992, Hong Kong singer/actress Sammi Cheng Sau Man covered "Say You'll Be Mine". in her Cantonese album "Never Too Late". {{DEFAULTSORT:West End Girls Musical groups established in 1990 Musical groups disestablished in 1994 Musical groups from Vancouver Canadian pop music groups Canadian girl groups 1990 establishments in British Columbia 1994 disestablishments in British Columbia