Exposé is an American Latin freestyle vocal group. Primarily consisting of lead vocalists Ann Curless, Jeanette Jurado and Gioia Bruno, the group achieved much of their success between 1984 and 1993, becoming the first group to have four top ten hits on the Billboard Hot 100 chart from its debut album, including the 1988 #1 hit “Seasons Change”. In March 2015, Billboard magazine named the group the eighth most-successful girl group of all-time.
The group was popular in dance clubs, mainstream Top 40 and adult contemporary charts in the United States. The group actively toured and recorded music from 1984 to 1995, then retired from recording and public performances until 2003, and currently tour today.
Exposé was initially formed in 1984 when Lewis Martineé, a Miami disc jockey and producer, decided to form a dance-based group. Working with his partners Ismael Garcia and Frank Diaz at Pantera Productions, talent scouts hired Sandra Casañas (Sandeé), Alejandra Lorenzo (Alé), and Laurie Miller as the group’s lineup, under the name X-Posed, which later became Exposé. The next year, the trio recorded “Point of No Return” for Pantera Records as a 12-inch vinyl single, which became a #1 hit on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart. The song helped to introduce a still-popular genre of music that became known as freestyle, which often features keyboard riffs, a sing-along chorus, and electro funk drum-machine patterns in the music arrangement. The success of “Point of No Return” on the dance charts caught the attention of major labels and Expose signed with Arista Records, which promptly assumed distribution of the 12-inch vinyl single. A year later, Exposé recorded and released its second club-dance freestyle 12-inch single entitled “Exposed to Love”. These songs were released during the period when radio began airing continuous mixes of House/Club/Dance songs in major markets. As such, Exposé realized continued success, including a club tour to key cities. Impressed with the performance of the two singles on the dance charts, Arista granted approval for the group to record a full-length album.
In March 1987, the new lineup of Exposé released its debut album Exposure on Arista Records, led by the pop/dance hit “Come Go with Me” which reached #5 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. During the summer of 1987, a re-recorded version of “Point of No Return” was released, with Jurado now performing lead vocals, and it too topped out at #5 on the US Hot 100. While the initial distribution of Exposure to suppliers contained the original 1984 version of that song, subsequent pressings contained the new version. “Let Me Be the One”, a mid-tempo R&B song with Bruno on lead vocal, became yet another hit reaching #7 on the US Hot 100 and also garnering significant R&B radio airplay. The group’s highest charting hit occurred in February 1988 with the #1 US hit ballad “Seasons Change”. Along with that came a Soul Train Award nomination for Best New Artist; television appearances on American Bandstand, Solid Gold, Showtime at the Apollo, and The Late Show Starring Joan Rivers; and the group was tapped to be the opening act for Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam during its national tour.
Exposé also performed backing vocals on Kashif’s 1987 Arista/BMG Records album Love Changes, on the song “Who’s Getting Serious?”.