Biography
High Fashion originated as the vision of Guadeloupe-born producer Jacques Fred Petrus, who had relocated to Bologna intent on becoming Italy’s counterpart to Gamble & Huff. Although that larger ambition went unrealized, Petrus helmed acclaimed disco albums for the B.B.&Q. Band, Change, the Ritchie Family, High Fashion, and additional acts. He shaped the New York trio—vocalists Alyson Williams, Me’lisa Morgan, and Eric McClinton—explicitly in the mold of Chic. Williams and Morgan first crossed paths in 1977 while both participated in Hal Jackson’s Talented Teen International Scholarship Competition, an event established for girls aged thirteen to seventeen that emphasized intellect, performance, peer networking, and scholarship opportunities.
The group entered the Capitol Records roster in 1982 with the album Feelin’ Lucky, which yielded the modest disco single “Feeling Lucky Lately.” Their follow-up, Make Up Your Mind, arrived in 1983; disappointing sales prompted Morgan’s departure, and High Fashion dissolved by 1985. Morgan scored her first number-one R&B single in 1985 with a cover of Prince’s “Do Me Baby,” also on Capitol; two additional Top Ten R&B entries followed—“Do You Still Love Me?” and “If You Can Do It: I Can Too!”—before she moved to Arista Records in 1987. There she reached number two on the R&B chart with the Kashif duet “Love Changes,” later recording for Pendulum Records.
Daughter of bandleader and trumpeter Bobby Booker, Williams joined the Affair after High Fashion’s breakup. Prior to the trio she had already established herself as a highly sought session singer across numerous projects. A 1987 Def Jam single launched her solo career, which continued into the late 1990s; on that label she also recorded the duet “Make You Mine Tonight” with Chuck Stanley and “How to Love Again” with Oran “Juice” Jones. McClinton, whose baritone provided contrast within the group’s vocal blend, remained the least visible member afterward, though he supplied background vocals on several Petrus-produced sessions, among them the B.B.&Q. Band’s She’s a Woman album. Petrus himself met a violent end in 1986 when his weighted body was recovered from waters near Mexico City, an apparent victim of organized crime.
The group entered the Capitol Records roster in 1982 with the album Feelin’ Lucky, which yielded the modest disco single “Feeling Lucky Lately.” Their follow-up, Make Up Your Mind, arrived in 1983; disappointing sales prompted Morgan’s departure, and High Fashion dissolved by 1985. Morgan scored her first number-one R&B single in 1985 with a cover of Prince’s “Do Me Baby,” also on Capitol; two additional Top Ten R&B entries followed—“Do You Still Love Me?” and “If You Can Do It: I Can Too!”—before she moved to Arista Records in 1987. There she reached number two on the R&B chart with the Kashif duet “Love Changes,” later recording for Pendulum Records.
Daughter of bandleader and trumpeter Bobby Booker, Williams joined the Affair after High Fashion’s breakup. Prior to the trio she had already established herself as a highly sought session singer across numerous projects. A 1987 Def Jam single launched her solo career, which continued into the late 1990s; on that label she also recorded the duet “Make You Mine Tonight” with Chuck Stanley and “How to Love Again” with Oran “Juice” Jones. McClinton, whose baritone provided contrast within the group’s vocal blend, remained the least visible member afterward, though he supplied background vocals on several Petrus-produced sessions, among them the B.B.&Q. Band’s She’s a Woman album. Petrus himself met a violent end in 1986 when his weighted body was recovered from waters near Mexico City, an apparent victim of organized crime.
Albums