Pepsi & Shirlie

Pepsi & Shirlie
Shirlie (left) and Pepsi (right) performing at the Echo Arena Liverpool on 25 June 2011
Background information
Origin United Kingdom
Genres Pop, dance-pop
Years active 1985–1991, 2000, 2011–present
Associated acts Wham!, Dee C. Lee, Mike Oldfield
Members Helen DeMacque
Shirlie Holliman

Pepsi & Shirlie are an English pop duo group who released two albums, All Right Now in 1987 and Change in 1991. Their debut single "Heartache" reached No. 2 in the UK Singles Chart. Although most active in the 1980s, they continue to perform in the 2000s.

Career

The act comprised Helen "Pepsi" DeMacque (born 10 December 1958, Paddington, London) and Shirlie Holliman (born 18 April 1962, Watford, Hertfordshire), who had been Wham! backing vocalists. Holliman's original singing partner, Dee C. Lee, had earlier left the group to join the Style Council and later married its lead vocalist Paul Weller.[1]

On Monday 5 January 1987, they released their debut single "Heartache",[2] which was produced by Phil Fearon and Tambi Fernando and reached No. 2 in the UK Singles Chart. "Heartache" also peaked at number two on the American dance charts.[3] The follow-up single, "Goodbye Stranger", produced by Fernando and Pete Hammond, reached No. 9. Subsequent singles and their debut album All Right Now, released later in the year, were commercially unsuccessful. Their tours included a concert performed in Amman, Jordan.

In 1991, they returned with the album Change and its lead single "Someday", a song produced by George Michael.[4] Both the album and the single went unnoticed, not even charting in the UK.

Pepsi & Shirlie returned in 2000 to record their backing vocals on Geri Halliwell's UK number one hit "Bag It Up". The duo also re-united for the 'Here & Now 10th Anniversary tour' starting on 24 June 2011.[5]

In the Only Fools and Horses episode "Danger UXD", Del has a box full of sex dolls. Due to their faulty valves, two of them (one black and one white) self-inflate. Del calls them "Pepsi & Shirlie."

In EastEnders, Shirley Carter says to Heather Trott she wished Pepsi & Shirlie had drowned George Michael on the "Club Tropicana" video shoot.

Alan Partridge claims in his 2011 autobiography I Partridge – We Need To Talk About Alan, that either Pepsi or Shirlie (he cannot remember which) was responsible for triggering his Toblerone addiction.

Discography

Albums

Singles

List of singles, with selected chart positions
Title Year Peak chart positions
UK
 AUS
 US Dance
 US Hot 100
 IRE
 SWI
 NOR
 GER
 NLD
 ATR
 BEL
 FR
 NZ
"Heartache" 1986 24927832682172319
"Goodbye Stranger" 1987 9———55—3128—8—39
"Can't Give Me Love" 58———21———89—23——
"All Right Now" 50——66—————————
"Hightime" 1988 79————————————
"What's Going On Inside Your Head?" 1989 4753907282664476917710078100
"Who's Gonna Catch You (When You Fall)?" 4781739176437190535049100100
"Someday"[6] 1991 46——6680———————200

References

  1. ↑ Jury, Louise (22 October 2011). "How we met: Pepsi and Shirlie". The Independent. Retrieved 7 November 2015.
  2. ↑ Pepsi & Shirlie – Heartache at Discogs. Discogs.com. Retrieved on 18 April 2012.
  3. ↑ Whitburn, Joel (2004). Hot Dance/Disco: 1974–2003. Record Research. p. 201.
  4. ↑ Pepsie & Shirlie: Change, retrieved 8 November 2015
  5. ↑ "Here and Now: The very best of the 80s". Retrieved 7 November 2015.
  6. 1 2 Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 423. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
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