Born Norman Giscombe, 10 November 1961, in England. Known simply as Junior, this young performer promised much in his early years when he scored a UK Top 10 hit with ‘Mama Used To Say’ (picking up a Grammy Award) in 1982. The follow-up, ‘Too Late’, was his last Top 20 hit in the UK. The epithet as the future of UK soul hung heavy around him and has since seen his career handled by a variety of labels from Mercury, London to MCA. Each one found difficulty, despite good reviews, in breaking Giscombe. He returned to the UK Top 10 in 1987 when he duetted with Kim on Another Step (Closer to You). A year later, he recorded Hey Mister Heartache with Kim.
In 1988, while Kim Wilde was supporting Michael Jackson during his Bad Tour, Junior joined her on stage during several concerts in the UK.
A few years later in 1990 he returned under the recording name of Junior Giscombe, with the single ‘Step Off’, which only made the British Top 70. He tried again with ‘Then Came You’ (1992), which was more successful, peaking at No 32. This was quickly followed up with what would become his last British hit single, ‘All Over The World’, which only peaked at No 74. In 1992 he also provided backing vocals for another Kim Wilde song, Touched by Your Magic.
Kim about Junior Giscombe
We met quite a lot over the past years at T.V.’s so we’ve known eachother for some time. When I was getting ideas for someone to sing with me, Junior’s name was suggested and I immediately said yes. He was really up for doing the duet, and it all happened very quickly and spontaneously.
He’s very talented. You ask him to come to the studio, you don’t know what you’re gonna get. He just heaps loads of wonderful things onto you. He has loads of great ideas. He just makes magic things happen.
Interview source
- Music Box, Super Channel (Europe), 1988