finetune artist: Dream

This California, Los Angeles, USA-based female vocal group enjoyed their brief moment in the spotlight at the start of the new millennium. The quartet's vocal talent belied the fact that they were selected, by talent scout Judith Fontaine, from a mass audition of singers with the aim of creating a girl group to rival the all conquering Destiny's Child and boy band stars Backstreet Boys and *NSYNC. Formed in late 1998, the original line-up featured Ashley Poole (b. 10 May 1985), Holly Blake Arnstein (b. 3 August 1985), Melissa Schuman (b. 21 August 1984) and Alex Chester, but the latter was quickly replaced by Diana Ortiz (b. 25 September 1985). The quartet then parted company with Fontaine and was snapped up by Sean "Puffy" Combs' Bad Boy Records label. They made an immediate impact on US radio with the R&B-inflected "He Loves U Not". The single began a steady climb up the national charts, culminating in a Top 5 slot in January 2001. By this time the quartet had completed work on their debut, It Was All A Dream, recorded with a cast of leading producers, musicians and songwriters. Though nothing on the album came close to matching the melodic verve of "He Loves U Not", it was a competent enough collection of urban-lite material. The first totally pop-orientated act to be signed to Bad Boy, they also helped revive the label's fortunes.

Listen to Dream at Finetune.

(2000) He Loves U Not