The following text (slightly modified) is from an article featured on People Magazine written by Elizabeth Thomas...

Although not the original line-up of Exposé, the girls that made the group internationally known are Gioia Bruno (who uses only her first name professionally), Anne Curless, and Jeanette Jurado.  

Exposé made its stunning entrance on the music scene with their 1986 debut album, "EXPOSURE."  The all girl group broke the record previously held by rock superstars the Beatles for most Top 10 singles from a first album with four hits--"COME GO WITH ME," "POINT OF NO RETURN," "EXPOSED TO LOVE," and "SEASONS CHANGE." They followed this impressive start with their 1989 sophomore album release, WHAT YOU DON'T KNOW, which scored smashes with the title track and with the ballad, "WHEN I LOOK AT HIM." 

The members of Exposé did not come together in the usual way--friends deciding to form a band. Rather, the group was conceived by Miami, Florida-based music producer LEWIS MARTINEE who wanted to create a group.  Initially he had chosen three other women to become Exposé, and had already made some recordings for an album, but, as People magazine reported, "one original member quit and two were fired." 

Curless, Gioia, and Jurado were all singing lead for different local club bands when Martinee recruited them as replacements. Jurado recounted for People: "It still strikes me like a dream. When you're working in clubs, you always think, 'Someone will walk in, like me and make me a star.' And that's what happened." Though brought together somewhat artificially, according to People the three women, who share lead vocal responsibilities, claim to be the best of friends now that they have found fame. 

Being based in Miami, much of Exposé's music has a Latin flavor to it. They have been compared to salsa-spiced pop star Gloria Estefan's and her Miami Sound Machine, but also to singers like Madonna and Deborah Harry. "Each member of the trio," asserted Alanna Nash of Stereo Review, "is a strong vocalist." But Exposé, despite their huge success with pop and dance music fans, is not entirely the darlings of music critics. Ralph Novak, reviewing Exposure in People, complained that some of the group's material was "undeniable disco fodder." He did, however, concede that Exposé's mixture of "Latin touches" with pop produced "often invigorating results," and concluded of the trio: "There is a lot of talent in evidence."

Exposé's second album, What You Don't Know  was delayed by legal battles - probably concerning the singers that Martinee had first hired to form the group. When it finally came out in 1989, Nash declared: "They'll love it in Europe, and probably on dance floors all across America." True, the title track--which made the Top 10--is an up-tempo dance number, but another hit from What You Don't Know, "When I Looked at Him," is a slow, romantic ballad. 

Again, though Exposé's 1989 effort has raced up the charts, it has not passed the reviewers unscathed. Even Nash's critique was mixed; she complained of repetitiveness in the material and felt the lyrics were immature. David Hiltbrand was even harsher in People, calling the album "dizzyingly superficial dance music," and dismissing "When I Looked at Him" as sounding "like something the cat dragged in with some reluctance." Yet he recognized that Exposé was "giving the kids what they want to hear." 

The trio, however, is undaunted by criticism, and takes pride in their work. Jurado announced to People: "We can work a crowd and get them going. We're the real stuff." Exposé also tries to do their part with public service messages; the album sleeve of What You Don't Know is printed with the slogan "Just say no to drugs."

Although the girls (Anne, Jeannette, Gioia and Kelly Monkeymaker - who later replaced Gioia shortly after the release of the What You Don't Know album) are no longer working together as a musical group, each talent is reportedly working on their own projects.  Jeannette was last heard working in a Broadway production and can also be found playing a small part as a singer in a bar  in the movie, "Mi Familia," which stars Jennifer Lopez, Jimmy Smitts and Edward James Olmos.  Anne and Kelly both have had solo releases since the breakup of the group.  And Gioia, making a strong comeback from a long absence in the music world (due to throat problems in the past),  is currently working on several projects that are sure to make it big in dance floors all over. 
More info can be found on Gioia by visiting her official website at www.gioiabruno.com, as well as Gioia's solo feature on the Divas of Freestyle website at www.freestyledivas.com/gioia_bruno.htm.

< Back to The Legends Listing