Pajama Party was an American female vocal trio from Brooklyn, New York active between 1988 and 1992. The original members were Jennifer McQuilkin of New Jersey,

Daphne Rubin-Vega Daphne Rubin-Vega ( Vega; born November 18, 1969) is a Panamanian-American actress, dancer, and singer-songwriter. She is best known for originating the roles of Mimi Marquez in the 1996 premiere of the Broadway musical '' Rent'' and Lucy in the ...

of Panama, and Suzi Ranta of Michigan with songwriter Peggy Sendars and songwriter/producer

Jim Klein Jim Klein is a Los Angeles born, Philadelphia-based, Emmy Award-winning composer, music producer, recording engineer, and songwriter. Klein is best known as the producer and songwriter behind the influential freestyle group Pajama Party, whose ...

Career

The group originally consisted of

, Jennifer McQuilkin, and Suzi Ranta, with Jennifer singing lead, but McQuilkin and Ranta were replaced in 1989 by Lynn Critelli and Amanda Homi. The band's biggest hit single, " Yo No Sé" (1988) (sung by Jennifer McQuilkin), was one of the first freestyle songs in which the title was entirely in the

Spanish language Spanish () or Castilian () is a Romance languages, Romance language of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family that evolved from the Vulgar Latin spoken on the Iberian Peninsula of Europe. Today, it is a world language, gl ...

, which peaked at #75 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart. Their second single " Over and Over" (originally performed by Brenda K. Starr) peaked at 59 on the

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100, also known as simply the Hot 100, is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), o ...

First album

In 1988, the band recorded its first full-length album '' Up All Night'' on Atlantic Records. In 1989, Homi was replaced by Club MTV dancer Marialisa Costanzo. The next single, "

Hide and Seek Hide and seek may refer to: * Hide-and-seek, a children's game Film * ''Hide and Seek'' (1932 cartoon), a Fleischer Studios Talkartoon animated short * ''Hide and Seek'' (1963 film), a Swedish comedy film * ''Hide and Seek'' (1964 film), a ...

" (1990) (remixed by Robert Clivillés and David Cole) became their first music video. "Hide and Seek" went to 73 on the Hot 100. The debut album contained the song "Lovelight" as well as the ballad "Living Inside Your Love". The singles charted on the Billboard

Hot Dance Club Songs The Dance Club Songs (also known as National Disco Action, Hot Dance/Disco Club Play, and Hot Dance Club Play) was a chart published weekly between 1976 and 2020 by ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' magazine. It used club disc jockeys set list ...

, and the group toured with

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George Lamond George Lamond (born George Garcia, February 25, 1967), sometimes styled George LaMond, is an American freestyle music and salsa music singer. LaMond has released seven albums (five via Sony Music) between 1989 and 2014. Best known for his 198 ...

, Sweet Sensation, Brenda K. Starr,

Linear In mathematics, the term ''linear'' is used in two distinct senses for two different properties: * linearity of a '' function'' (or '' mapping''); * linearity of a '' polynomial''. An example of a linear function is the function defined by f(x) ...

, and

Sa-Fire Wilma Cosmé (born 16 January 1966, in San Juan, Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico), better known by her stage name Sa-Fire, is an American singing, singer. Sa-Fire's Latin Freestyle music was able to break through into the broader pop music wor ...

Second album

In 1991 came the release of their second album ''

Can't Live Without It ''Can't LIVE Without It'' was the only live album release from American hardcore punk/speed metal band, Gang Green. It was recorded at The Marquee Club in London, UK on February 25, 1990, and was released by Roadrunner Records later that year ...

'' (also on Atlantic). The first single was "Got My Eye on You". The album's title song leaned towards R&B and pop.

Moving forward

By 1992, the group broke up, but members still continued to be involved in the entertainment industry. Rubin-Vega became a successful solo dance music artist (now with her Rock band DRV), and has done some movies, as well as originating the role of 'Mimi' in the Broadway musical ''

Rent Rent may refer to: Economics *Renting, an agreement where a payment is made for the temporary use of a good, service or property *Economic rent, any payment in excess of the cost of production *Rent-seeking, attempting to increase one's share of e ...

''. McQuilkin, Ranta, and Critelli are all still in the music business. Homi and Costanzo are pursuing acting careers. In 2000, for a celebration held in honor of

Fever Records Fever Records is a New York City record label of the 1980s, founded by promoter Sal Abbatiello. The label was marketed and distributed by Sutra Records until the latter went under, which precipitated a distribution deal with Russell Simmons's R ...

Sal Abbatiello Sal Abbatiello (born 1952) is an American music promoter and dance club owner. Abbatiello created and produced the freestyle, urban/dance-pop Dance-pop is a Music genre, genre of electronic dance music that originated in the late 1970s ...

, a new version of Pajama Party graced the stage. Costanzo, along with new members Janine Acquafredda (a former backup singer for Lisette Melendez) and Johanna (formerly Freestyle artist Lil' Johanna) performed some of the classics, as well as new material.

Discography

Singles

References

{{Authority control American dance girl groups American freestyle music groups Musical groups from Brooklyn Musical groups established in 1988 Musical groups disestablished in 1992