Hi-Five

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Hi-Five is an American R&B quintet based out of Waco, Texas who had a #1 hit on Billboard's Hot 100 in the early 1990s with "I Like the Way (The Kissing Game)". Hi-Five was formed in 1990, and consisted of the late Tony Thompson, Roderick "Pooh" Clark, Marcus Sanders, Russell Neal, and Toriano Easley. Easley was later replaced by Treston Irby.

Rise to fame

Hi-Five was signed to Jive Records and released their first album, Hi-Five, in 1990. The album went multi-platinum and was produced by Teddy Riley; it included such singles as "I Just Can't Handle It" (R&B #10), "I Can't Wait Another Minute" (Pop #8, R&B #1), and their biggest hit to date, "I Like the Way (The Kissing Game)", which went to number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and the U.S. Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.^[1] The group enjoyed mainstream success and received comparisons to many of their R&B counterparts, namely New Edition.

Hi-Five's second LP, Keep It Goin' On, came out in 1992. Though not as successful as their debut effort, several tracks from this album, including "She's Playing Hard To Get" (Pop #5, R&B #2) and the R. Kelly-penned "Quality Time" (Pop #38, R&B #3) got major airplay. Shortly after this album was released, Roderick "Pooh" Clark was involved in a near-fatal automobile accident. In 1993, Hi-Five emerged with a third album, Faithful, which featured the songs "Unconditional Love" (Pop #92, R&B #21) and "Never Should've Let You Go" (Pop #30, R&B #10).^[1]

Later years

After Hi-Five disbanded around 1993, Thompson released a solo album, Sexsational, in 1995. He scored a minor hit with "I Wanna Love Like That".

In 2005, Thompson re-incarnated Hi-Five with four new members, one of whom was his younger brother, Jordan. Their album The Return was released in 2006 on Thompson's independent label, N'Depth.

On June 1, 2007, Tony Thompson died in his hometown of Waco, Texas. An autopsy later revealed that Thompson, who had a history of "huffing", accidentally overdosed on freon.^[2][3]

Discography

Albums

• 1990: Hi-Five (Jive/Novus) - US Pop #38, US R&B #1
• 1992: Keep It Goin' On (Jive/Novus) - US Pop #82, US R&B #9
• 1993: Faithful (Jive) - US Pop #105, US R&B #23
• 1994: Greatest Hits (Jive)
• 2005: The Return (N'Depth Entertainment)

Singles

• 1990: "I Just Can't Handle It" - US R&B #10
• 1991: "I Like the Way (The Kissing Game)" - US Pop #1, US R&B #1, UK #43^[4]
• 1991: "I Can't Wait Another Minute" - US Pop #8, US R&B #1
• 1991: "Just Another Girlfriend" - US Pop #88, US R&B #41
• 1992: "She's Playing Hard to Get" - US Pop #5, US R&B #2, UK #55^[4]
• 1992: "Quality Time" - US #38, R&B #3
• 1993: "Mary, Mary" - US R&B #50
• 1993: "Unconditional Love" - US Pop #92, US R&B #21
• 1993: "Never Should've Let You Go" - US Pop #30, US R&B #10
• 1994: "Faithful" - US R&B #52
• 1994: "What Can I Say to You (To Justify My Love)" - US R&B #72

References

External links

• Hi-Five at the Internet Movie Database
• Hi-Five at Allmusic
• Hi-Five at Discogs