Freestyle Friday Throwback: Exposé - 'Exposed To Love'

 

Happy Freestyle Friday!

If you grew up in the '80s like I did, chances are Exposé was a huge part of your soundtrack. This week, I'm throwing it back to one of my favorite tracks from the group's debut album, Exposure, "Exposed to Love."

Before the song climbed the charts in 1987, Exposé had already started making waves with hits like "Point of No Return" and "Come Go with Me." But there was something about "Exposed to Love" that perfectly captured everything that made the group special. The infectious beat, soaring harmonies, and that unmistakable Miami freestyle sound made it impossible not to turn the volume up.

What I always loved about Exposé was that they weren't just another girl group. Jeanette Jurado, Ann Curless, and Gioia Bruno brought powerful vocals and genuine personality to every song they recorded. Their music was danceable, emotional, and endlessly fun. Whether you were hearing them at a club, on the radio, or blasting from a friend's cassette deck, Exposé always delivered.

Their debut album, Exposure, was a massive success and became one of the defining freestyle albums of the decade. It spawned multiple Top 10 hits and helped bring freestyle music into the mainstream at a time when the genre was exploding in popularity. Even today, songs from that album instantly transport me back to cruising around town, hanging out with friends, and living for the weekend.

One of the best things about Exposé is that they never truly disappeared. While many acts from the freestyle era faded away, Exposé continues to perform and connect with fans who have loved their music for decades. If you've never seen them live, you're in luck. They still appear at Freestyle Explosion shows and other retro concert events across the country, bringing all those classic hits back to life for audiences who know every word.

And honestly? That's the magic of great music. Nearly 40 years later, songs like "Exposed to Love" still make people smile, dance, and remember exactly where they were when they first heard them.

So for this Freestyle Friday, crank up "Exposed to Love," sing along, and celebrate one of the greatest girl groups ever to come out of the freestyle era.

Daily Boom Holiday Tunes: Exposé- 'I Believe in Christmas (Like it Used to Be)'

Currently Booming: Expose- Full Set 2022 (Watch)

Daily Boom 80's Throwback: Exposé - 'Tell Me Why'

"Echoes thunder almost every night
Why this prison if we're all alike?
Look around you, look at all your friends
Tell me, are they just what they pretend?
Listen to my story if you have the time
Yes, we'll make the difference if we really try
Listen, everybody, start to make it right
One and all together, feel it from inside
Tell me why it echoes every night
Why we fight just to find who's wrong or right?
Don't let it slide, you can't run and hide
Tell me why, oh, won't you please tell me why?"

When Exposé released their second album in 1989- What You Don't Know in the summer of 1989 the trio was bound and determined to prove that they were more than just another freestyle act. Sure they came with some serious floor burning beats, but they also had substance. "Tell Me Why" was the third single released and lyrically, it was about urban gang violence. Gioia Bruno is featured this time out and it was a song that made an impact and showed that the group was socially aware.

It also gave Exposé their 7th top ten hit on Billboard's Hot 100 singles chart. The video is still striking to this day and the visuals are pretty timeless. There are close ups of the trio in between random playground footage of grade school kids interacting. Fairly simple concept but it's effective. Check it out below!

Daily Boom Freestyle Friday: Expose' - 1988 Spring Break- Full Show (Watch)

Exposé Brings 35 Years of Girl Power to the Stage as They Dip Back Into the '80s With a Brand New Generation of Fans

Since Covid-19 has changed the industry we are flashing back to some of the best of the best content here at DailyBOOM.

ICYMI

So many great girl groups have come and gone over the years, but long before Fifth Harmony, Destiny's Child and even En Vogue took their turn as Billboard's hottest acts, there was Exposé. While Gioia Bruno, Ann Curless, and Jeanette Jurado may have been first put together by a producer way back in 1985, they cemented their place in the record books pretty quickly. Their debut album Exposure first dropped in 1987, and they became the very first group in history to have four top ten singles from a debut effort, beating out legendary acts like The Supremes and even The Beatles. Exposé also became the first girl group in history to have seven back-to-back top ten hits on the Billboard Hot 100. 

If you're sitting trying to figure out exactly who Exposé is, because they were a little before your time, trust us when we tell you, everyone has heard them. "Point of No Return" is one of the biggest dance anthems to roll out of the '80s and "Seasons Change" is arguably one of the best ballads of that decade. Bruno, Curless, and Jurado toured consistently from 1985-1995 and then took a breather to focus on kids and family but those Exposé ties were never broken.  

If anything they've grown stronger through the years, and by 2007, the ladies decided to fight their production company for the trademark name Exposé, insisting that they were the faces and voices of the brand. It took years, but by 2011, a judgment in their favor was permanently affirmed. Today, 30 years after first meeting, Bruno, Curless and Jurado are still recording and touring together. They recently released a remastered deluxe edition of Exposure and they are adding new tour dates regularly. 

Keep Reading...

Currently Booming: Exposé- 'Come Go With Me' on 'Dancing On Air'

Daily Boom Lost Hit: Exposé- 'I Know You Know'

Daily Boom 80's Throwback: Exposé - 'Tell Me Why'

"Echoes thunder almost every night
Why this prison if we're all alike?
Look around you, look at all your friends
Tell me, are they just what they pretend?
Listen to my story if you have the time
Yes, we'll make the difference if we really try
Listen, everybody, start to make it right
One and all together, feel it from inside
Tell me why it echoes every night
Why we fight just to find who's wrong or right?
Don't let it slide, you can't run and hide
Tell me why, oh, won't you please tell me why?"

When Exposé released their second album in 1989- What You Don't Know in the summer of 1989 the trio was bound and determined to prove that they were more than just another freestyle act. Sure they came with some serious floor burning beats, but they also had substance. "Tell Me Why" was the third single released and lyrically, it was about urban gang violence. Gioia Bruno is featured this time out and it was a song that made an impact and showed that the group was socially aware.

It also gave Exposé their 7th top ten hit on Billboard's Hot 100 singles chart. The video is still striking to this day and the visuals are pretty timeless. There are close ups of the trio in between random playground footage of grade school kids interacting. Fairly simple concept but it's effective. Check it out below!

Daily Boom 80's Throwback: Exposé - 'Tell Me Why'

"Echoes thunder almost every night
Why this prison if we're all alike?
Look around you, look at all your friends
Tell me, are they just what they pretend?
Listen to my story if you have the time
Yes, we'll make the difference if we really try
Listen, everybody, start to make it right
One and all together, feel it from inside
Tell me why it echoes every night
Why we fight just to find who's wrong or right?
Don't let it slide, you can't run and hide
Tell me why, oh, won't you please tell me why?"

When Exposé released their second album in 1989- What You Don't Know in the summer of 1989 the trio was bound and determined to prove that they were more than just another freestyle act. Sure they came with some serious floor burning beats, but they also had substance. "Tell Me Why" was the third single released and lyrically, it was about urban gang violence. Gioia Bruno is featured this time out and it was a song that made an impact and showed that the group was socially aware.

It also gave Exposé their 7th top ten hit on Billboard's Hot 100 singles chart. The video is still striking to this day and the visuals are pretty timeless. There are close ups of the trio in between random playground footage of grade school kids interacting. Fairly simple concept but it's effective. Check it out below!

Daily Boom Vinyl Throwback: Exposé- 'Exposure'

By now you all know that nearly every pivotal moment of my life (and all of the in-between seemingly meaningless ones too) seems to have a musical soundtrack. I think I drive people nuts because so many songs remind me of.... whatever...and then I tend to share that whatever. Thankfully, in the moment people pretend to like my momentary throwbacks. While so many songs connect me to things there really aren't that many albums as a whole that have had the same effect. I tend to cherry pick but for whatever reason, Exposé's Exposure made a real impact on my 16-year-old self.

Way back in 1987,  I was a total hair band loving headbanger by day, complete with the Aqua Net in my purse, fringe jean jacket and cloroxed jeans but I was also about 30 seconds from morphing into a club kid (it actually happened in 1988, hello Dance Party USA anyone?). I would creep the mall on Saturday nights and then come home to listen to Open House Party (I used to have my dad start the cassette tape to record it & then flip it 45 minutes in for me because being a DJ, he was meticulous with that stuff.) mainly because of all of the club tracks that they played.

Before Exposé broke through on mainstream radio they were bumping on the dance charts and I thought that "Come Go With Me" was like, the coolest thing ever.  I loved the Latin influence and eventually ended up buying the extended dance mix, probably hiding it behind my Whitesnake album or something at first.

Exposé had a string of dance hits off of Exposure, songs like "Let Me Be The One" and "Point of No Return" were now getting tons of radio play and MTV had their videos pretty much on loop. I was also totally jealous of Jeanette Jurado's naturally huge hair and anyone that spent forever in front of a mirror with a blow dryer and a can of hair spray totally understands why.

 "Seasons Change" became the ladies first number one song on Billboards Hot 100 and it finally prompted me to break and buy Exposure once and for all. While I remember music I rarely can actually take myself that far back in time to remember crazy details, but I do remember flipping this cassette from one side to the other for hours at a time.

If you've never actually listened to the entire album then you've missed out on one of the best ballads of the 80's that was never marketed as a single, "December".  It's the very last song on Exposure and as luck would have it I was actually going through a weird breakup at the time and the lyrics totally fit, right down to the month. Perhaps that's why these ladies have stuck in my head for all of these years. Whatever the reason, Exposure is a fantastic album, one that you really should revisit, right about now.

                             

Daily Boom 80's Throwback: Exposé - 'Tell Me Why'

"Echoes thunder almost every night
Why this prison if we're all alike?
Look around you, look at all your friends
Tell me, are they just what they pretend?
Listen to my story if you have the time
Yes, we'll make the difference if we really try
Listen, everybody, start to make it right
One and all together, feel it from inside
Tell me why it echoes every night
Why we fight just to find who's wrong or right?
Don't let it slide, you can't run and hide
Tell me why, oh, won't you please tell me why?"

When Exposé released their second album in 1989- What You Don't Know in the summer of 1989 the trio was bound and determined to prove that they were more than just another freestyle act. Sure they came with some serious floor burning beats, but they also had substance. "Tell Me Why" was the third single released and lyrically, it was about urban gang violence. Gioia Bruno is featured this time out and it was a song that made an impact and showed that the group was socially aware.

It also gave Exposé their 7th top ten hit on Billboard's Hot 100 singles chart. The video is still striking to this day and the visuals are pretty timeless. There are close ups of the trio in between random playground footage of grade school kids interacting. Fairly simple concept but it's effective. Check it out below!

Currently Booming: Exposé Reissue of 'What You Don't Know' Out Now!

Exposé has just released the reissue of their second hit album, What You Don't Know, first released in 1989. Perfect for Freestyle Friday, right? Lots of rarities and dance mixes are included in this but the album is more than just club songs. "When I Looked At Him" and "Your Baby Never Looked Good in Blue" were popular ballads back in the day and "Tell Me Why" tackled the issue of gang violence. Scroll down to revisit the videos that helped to make this album such a hit! 

Track Listings

Disc: 1

  1. What You Don't Know

  2. Stop, Listen, Look & Think

  3. Tell Me Why

  4. When I Looked at Him

  5. Let Me Down Easy

  6. Still Hung Up on You

  7. Your Baby Never Looked Good in Blue

  8. Now That I Found You

  9. Love Don't Hurt (Until You Fall)

  10. Didn't It Hurt to Hurt Me

  11. Walk Along with Me

  12. Bonus Tracks - Single Versions and B-Sides What You Don't Know (Radio Mix)

  13. When I Looked at Him (Single Version)

  14. Tell Me Why (Radio Edit)

  15. Your Baby Never Looked Good in Blue (Radio Remix)

  16. Tell Me Why (7" Remix)

  17. Stop, Listen, Look & Think (7" Single Version)

  18. Walk Along with Me (Single Version)

Disc: 2

  1. Bonus Tracks: Remixes and Alternate Versions - What You Don't Know (Paradise Version)

  2. When I Looked at Him (Suave Mix)

  3. Tell Me Why (Extended Remix)

  4. What You Don't Know (In Effect Mix)

  5. When I Looked at Him (Suave Mix) (Acoustic Version - Us Edit)

  6. Tell Me Why (Groovehouse Mix)

  7. Stop, Listen, Look & Think (House Mix)

  8. What You Don't Know (Atomic Mix)

  9. Tell Me Why (No Name Mix - Part 1 (Dub) / Part 2 (Vocals)

  10. Stop, Listen, Look & Think (L.A. Mix) *

  11. What You Don't Know (Bass Mix)

Disc: 3

  1. Bonus Tracks: More Remixes and Alternate Versions - Tell Me Why (12" Remix)

  2. Stop, Listen, Look & Think (Deep Thought Mix) *

  3. What You Don't Know (Crossover Mix)

  4. Stop, Listen, Look & Think (Dub Mix) *

  5. Tell Me Why (Radio Edit)

  6. Stop, Listen, Look & Think (7" Club Single Edit)

  7. What You Don't Know (Might Hurt You Beats)

  8. Stop, Listen, Look & Think (Ambient Mix)

  9. Tell Me Why (Voice Me Why Percapella)

  10. Stop, Listen, Look & Think (Lambada Mix Radio Edit)

  11. What You Don't Know (Martinee Expo Mix)

  12. Stop, Listen, Look & Think (12" Mix)

  13. Tell Me Why (Dakeyne DMC Remix) *

  14. Stop, Listen, Look & Think (Dub)

  15. Bonus Tracks - Demos and Previously Unreleased Recordings - What You Don't Know (Demo)

  16. Yougotmerunning