Mel & Kim

Siblings Mel and Kim Appleby rose to prominence as one of the U.K.'s standout pop acts in the closing years of the 1980s, propelled by four energetic and stylish singles that each reached the Top Ten. The Appleby sisters, who grew up in Hackney within East London, landed a contract with Supreme Records after submitting a demo recording. Supreme had first drawn notice through Princess' "Say I'm Your No. 1," prompting the label to connect Mel & Kim with the same emerging songwriting and production unit behind that earlier success, Stock, Aitken & Waterman. From the duo's sole album, F.L.M., the tracks "Showing Out (Get Fresh at the Weekend)," "Respectable," and "F.L.M." all entered the U.K. Top Ten, while "Respectable" climbed all the way to number one. Another collaboration with Stock, Aitken & Waterman, the non-album single "That's the Way It Is," extended the run of Top Ten hits into 1988. Recognition spread well beyond the sisters' home country and into the U.S., where two of their releases reached the top of the Billboard club chart. Melanie had already received treatment for cancer before beginning her recording career alongside Kim; when the disease returned, a weakened immune system led to her death from pneumonia in 1990. Kim later continued on the Parlophone label as a solo artist, opening with an album that contained songs she and her sister had co-written with the intention of including them on a second Mel & Kim project. In 2018 a newly updated version of a fifth Mel & Kim single, "Where Is Love," appeared.