Sugababes
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Sugababes are a UK girl group formed in 1998 and have so far released 12 songs that have made top 40 charts around the world including three UK number one singles. They have also had two UK top five albums in Angels With Dirty Faces in 2002 and Three in 2003. The band has also won at the Brit Awards for "Best British Dance Act".
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One Touch - original lineup
Keisha Buchanan (born 30 September 1984) and Mutya Buena (born Rosa Isabel Buena 21 May 1985) were childhood friends in London and met Siobhan Donaghy at a party when they were thirteen. Buchanan's family hails from Jamaica while Buena's comes from the Philippines. The trio decided to form a group together soon after in 1998. London Records decided to offer the group a contract when the girls were 14 and brought in Cameron McVey, known for his work with the All Saints to develop an album.
The first single "Overload" made the UK Top 10 and was nominated for a Brit Award. The group largely wrote the One Touch album which had three further Top 40 hits in the UK - "Soul Sound", "Run For Cover" and "New Year" - with "Run For Cover" also making the Australian Top 40. Despite this, the One Touch didn't sell as well as London Records hoped leading to them dropping the band in 2001. Siobhan Donaghy left the band mid-tour in 2001 due to depression, later deciding to pursue a career as a solo artist. Siobhan Donaghy's solo record Revolution In Me released through London Records failed to achieve the same success as the Sugababes subsequent releases.
Angels With Dirty Faces - current lineup
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Heidi Range (born 23 May, 1983) from Liverpool replaced Donaghy in the group and the group signed with Island Records. Their first single with the new label was "Freak Like Me", a version of a Bastard Pop song "We Don't Give a Damn About Our Friends" by Girls On Top (really Richard X). The song featured Sugababes singing a lyric by Adina Howard over a sample of "Are 'Friends' Electric" by Tubeway Army.
This song was a breakthrough for the group being their first UK number one in 2002 and reaching number two in Ireland. The song was also a European top ten song and reached the top 40 in New Zealand, Norway and Belgium. Their second single for Island Records "Round Round" was the group's second UK number one single and went to number two in Ireland, the Netherlands and New Zealand.
On the back of these hits, Sugababes second album Angels With Dirty Faces reached number two on the UK album charts and was a hit elsewhere. The third single from the album "Stronger" went top ten in the Netherlands and Norway while a "Stronger/Angels With Dirty Faces" double A-side single went top ten in the UK and top 20 in New Zealand in late 2002. The fourth single "Shape" went top ten in the UK, Netherlands and Ireland in early 2003. One of the B-sides to this single was "Party In The Club" which later on became the theme tune to ITV drama show Girls In Love based on the book of the same name by Jacqueline Wilson.
The group's third album Three released in 2003 continued the momentum reaching number three on the UK album charts. The first single "Hole In The Head" was the group's third UK number one single and went to number one in Denmark as well. It reached number two in Ireland and Norway, and was a minor American hit as well, reaching #96. The second single "Too Lost In You" went top 5 in the UK, top ten in Norway as well as going top ten on both sides of the Straits of Taiwan (Taiwan and China). The third single "In The Middle" went top twenty in the UK and Ireland and top 40 in Europe and Australia.
New single and album?
A rumor which is likely be true, is that the first single is the Dallas Austin-produced 'Push The Button'. It sounds "like a cross between TLC's '3D' and a sort of electronic pop happy hardcore track". This could be released this year.
Second single's out for Christmas - probably another Dallas track called 'Ugly', which is basically the Sugababes doing TLC's 'Unpretty'. According to the source, "it is rather damn good".
Other tracks include Xenomania stuff and more Dallas stuff (one song is a sort of 'grime' pop song, "so will no doubt be of huge interest to a load of useless bloggers and about eight people in the London area"). The source says "two tracks which will blow over anything else released in the next five years (subject to change)". The first one sounds like a combination of 'Some Girls', Goldfrapp and 'Freak Like Me', effectively making this an urban glam track. "I cannot describe to you how amazing this song is, it will blow you all away". Another song is a replay of an 80's track called 'Obsession' (probably the song done by Animotion). "This too is bloody brilliant".
Discography
- One Touch (2000)
- Angels With Dirty Faces (2002)
- Three (2003)
External links
- Sugababes Web Page (http://www.sugababes.com/)
- BBC Sugababes profile (http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/profiles/sugababes.shtml/)