The group came to prominence in the summer of 1982 when the series first aired on
BBC1 in the United Kingdom and a song from the program, "Hi Fidelity", peaked at number five on the
UK Singles Chart. Along with this an album was released:
The Kids from "Fame", which topped the
UK Album Chart for 12 weeks. By the summer of 1983, interest in the show was beginning to wane in their native United States, and the releases abruptly stopped, although the TV series carried on until 1987. The main vocalists of the group were
Debbie Allen,
Valerie Landsburg,
Erica Gimpel, Carlo Imperato,
Gene Anthony Ray,
Lee Curreri, and
Lori Singer. In late 1982 the cast members as The Kids from "Fame" performed some live shows in the United Kingdom, which led to a tour of the rest of Europe in early-1983. These included a show at the
Royal Albert Hall in London which was recorded and released as an album. It was during the 1983 tour that stories began to emerge in the press that things were not so harmonious off-stage with stories of drug-taking, alcohol abuse and backstage rows. During the tour Erica Gimpel and Debbie Allen had a disagreement over the choice of a song which ultimately led to Gimpel walking out of the tour and heading back to the United States. The tour carried on without her, but led to further press reports of how Allen was being domineering over the others and was labelled in one article as "a bitch". Allen later commented on the accusations saying that they upset her, but in reality was just trying to keep the group together and focused amid the late-night parties and mayhem (which included Gene Anthony Ray smashing up a dressing room at one point). Several members commented that they were unaware of the success of the show until they arrived in London, which they found overwhelming. ==Discography==