Earlier this year, Cherry Red imprint Cherry Pop issued a greatly expanded edition of the 1989 sophomore album by the vocal freestyle group Exposé, following from their 2015 2-CD expanded edition of the group's first album. The 11-track What You Don't Know has been augmented by 34 bonus tracks on this impressively exhaustive 3-CD set.
The group was the brainchild of Miami-based DJ, producer and songwriter Lewis Martineé. In 1984, he decided to form a dance-based vocal group and hired three singers to make up the trio. In 1985, they would have a No. 1 Billboard Dance Club Play hit with "Point of No Return" on the Pantera label. This caught the attention of the major record labels and they were soon signed to Arista, with a second single "Exposed To Love" being released. A full-length album was soon greenlit, but the group would change entirely before the album would hit store shelves. Accounts vary as to the circumstances, but soon all three original members were out and three new members were hired: Jeanette Jurado, Gioia Bruno and Ann Curless.
Exposure was released in March, 1987. Martineé co-wrote, produced and arranged the entire album. Jurado took the majority of the lead vocals with Bruno and Curless singing lead on two tracks each. The album would spawn three top 10 Hot 100 hits: "Come Go with Me," "Let Me Be the One" and a re-recorded "Point of No Return." The biggest single from the record would be the ballad "Seasons Change" which hit the peak position of the Hot 100. The album itself would hit No. 16 on the charts and be certified 2X Platinum.
Exposé's fame continued to rise with concerts, television appearance and award nominations. Their next album, What You Don't Know, would appear over two years later in June, 1989. Martineé would once again produce and arrange the entire album and co-write the majority of the songs. This time, however, Arista head Clive Davis brought two songs to include on the record: "Your Baby Never Looked So Good in Blue" by hit songwriter Diane Warren and "Still Hung Up on You" by Tom Kelly and Billy Steinberg (who had written the chart-topping "So Emotional" for another Arista star, Whitney Houston). Vocal duties were also switched around with Bruno taking the lead on most of the songs and Jurado having the lead on three tracks and Curless on two. Five singles would be released from the album with three going to the top 10 of the Hot 100: "What You Don't Know," "When I Looked At Him" and "Tell Me Why." "What You Don't Know" would also hit No. 2 on the Dance chart with "Tell Me Why" scoring a No. 3 placement on that chart while "When I Looked At Him" got to No. 3 on the Adult Contemporary chart. The album itself would peak at No. 33 in the US.
After collaborating with labelmate Barry Manilow for "Jingle Bells" on his Because It's Christmas album in 1990, the group would release their self-titled third album in 1992. By this point, Bruno had begun to have health issues with her vocal chords and was forced to step aside, being replaced by Kelly Moneymaker. The sound of the group also changed with Martineé only contributing to four tracks and Arista wanting them to move in a more "mature" direction to compete with acts like Wilson Phillips. The did score an AC No. 1 with "I'll Never Get Over You Getting Over Me" but overall the change was not commercially successful. After releasing a greatest hits package, Arista dropped Exposé in 1995. They would formally break up the next year but have reunited in the 2000s for concerts and a few newly-recorded tracks.
Cherry Pop's new expanded reissue adds 34 tracks to the original What You Don't Know, the vast majority of which are alternate mixes or edits. You'll find ten versions of "Stop, Look, Listen and Think" (3 of which are new to CD and 5 which are previously unreleased), eight versions of "What You Don't Know" (1 previously unreleased) and "Tell Me Why" (1 new to CD and 1 previously unreleased), three versions of "When I Looked At Him" and one alternate of "Your Baby Never Looked So Good in Blue" and "Walk Along With Me." There are also previously unreleased demo versions of "What You Don't Know" and "You Got Me Running," a song which never made the album.
The 3-CD reissue comes in a digipak and has been produced by Vinny Vero and remastered by Andy Pearce with the lavish package design by Chris Drummonds. A 24-page full-color booklet is included featuring lyrics, a discography and photos. Also included are track-by-track notes (on the original album) by Martineé and a 3-page essay by Bill Pitzonka.
If you'd like to take a trip back to the dance clubs of the late 1980s, we've got the full tracklisting and ordering links below.
Exposé, What You Don't Know: Deluxe Edition (Cherry Pop CRPOPT187 (U.K.), 2017) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)
Disc 1: Original album, single versions and B-sides
- What You Don't Know
- Stop, Listen, Look & Think
- Tell Me Why
- When I Looked At Him
- Let Me Down Easy
- Still Hung Up On You
- Your Baby Never Looked Good In Blue
- Now That I Found You
- Love Don't Hurt (Until You Fall)
- Didn't It Hurt to Hurt Me
- Walk Along with Me
- What You Don't Know (Radio Mix)
- When I Looked At Him (Single Version)
- Tell Me Why (Remix Radio Edit)
- Your Baby Never Looked Good in Blue (Radio Remix)
- Stop, Listen, Look & Think (7" Single Version) *
- Tell Me Why (7" Remix)
- Walk Along with Me (Single Version)
Tracks 1-11 released as Arista Records AL-8532, 1989
Tracks 12 and 18 released as Arista single AS1-9836, 1989
Track 13 released on Arista single AS1-9868, 1989
Track 14 released on Arista single AS1-9916, 1989
Track 15 released on Arista single AS-2011, 1990
Track 17 released on Arista U.K. single 112 928, 1989
Disc 2: Remixes and alternate versions
- What You Don't Know (Paradise Version)
- When I Looked At Him ("Suave" Mix)
- Tell Me Why (Extended Remix)
- What You Don't Know (In Effect Mix)
- When I Looked At Him ("Suave" Mix Acoustic Version - U.S. Edit)
- Tell Me Why (Groovehouse Mix)
- Stop, Listen, Look & Think (House Mix)
- What You Don't Know (Atomic Mix)
- Tell Me Why (No Name Mix - Part 1 (Dub)/Part 2 (Vocals))
- Stop, Listen, Look & Think (L.A. Mix) **
- What You Don't Know (Bass Mix)
Disc 3: More remixes and alternate versions
- Tell Me Why (12" Remix)
- Stop, Listen, Look & Think (Deep Thought Mix) **
- What You Don't Know (Crossover Mix)
- Stop, Listen, Look & Think (Dub Mix) **
- Tell Me Why (Radio Edit)
- Stop, Listen, Look & Think (7" Club Single Edit) *
- What You Don't Know (Might Hurt You Beats)
- Stop, Listen, Look & Think (Ambient Mix) *
- Tell Me Why (Voice Me Why Percapella) *
- Stop, Listen, Look & Think (Lambada Mix Radio Edit)
- What You Don't Know (Martinee Expo Mix) *
- Stop, LIsten, Look & Think (12" Mix) *
- Tell Me Why (Dakeyne DMC Remix) **
- Stop, Listen, Look & Think (Dub) *
- What You Don't Know (Demo) *
- You Got Me Running *
Disc 2, Track 1 from Japanese pressing of album - Arista A32D-84, 1989
Disc 2, Tracks 2 and 4 from CD pressing of album - Arista ARCD-8532, 1989
Disc 2, Tracks 3, 6 and 9 from Arista 12" single - AD1-9918, 1989
Disc 2, Track 5 from Arista single AS1-9868, 1989
Disc 2, Tracks 7 and 10 and Disc 3, Tracks 2 and 4 from Arista 12" promo ADP-2047, 1990
Disc 2, Tracks 8 and 11 and Disc 3, Tracks 3 and 7 from Arista 12" single AD1-9837, 1989
Disc 3, Track 1 from Arista U.K. 12" single - 612 928, 1989
Disc 3, Track 5 from Arista promo CD single - ASCD-9918, 1989
Disc 3, Track 10 from Arista promo single - RX-887 (Mexico), 1990
Disc 3, Track 13 from Arista U.K. CD single - 663 026, 1989
Robert says
A terrific set. At first I thought 3 discs would be overkill, but it's instead an excellent overview of the album itself and all of the remixes which made impact at dance radio and in the clubs.