Alisha's Attic

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Alisha's Attic

Shelly (left) and Karen (right)
Background information
Origin London, England
Genres Pop
Years active 1996 - 2001
Labels MCA Music, Inc./Mercury
Associated acts Shelly McErlaine
Website http://www.alishasatticofficial.com
Former members
Shelly McErlaine
Karen Poole

Alisha's Attic were an English duo of the 1990s and early 2000s. The two members were Shelly McErlaine (née Poole) and Karen Poole, sisters born in East London (Barking and Chadwell Heath, respectively),[1] England.[2] Their father is Brian Poole of Brian Poole and the Tremeloes, a 1960s musical group.[3]The "Alisha" referred to in the group's name is a fictional character created by Shelly and Karen, based on an imaginary childhood friend whom Shelly communicated with as a child. “Attic” comes from the attic studio belonging to a composer friend, Terry Martin, where they originally recorded demos.[4]

Contents

[edit] History

Discounting the sisters' teenage material (recorded as "Keren & Chelle"), Karen and Shelly's recording career began with the single "I Am, I Feel", a hit in the UK, and this was quickly followed by their debut album "Alisha Rules the World" in November 1996.[3] They were nominated for a 1997 Brit Award[5] for Best Newcomer, losing out to Kula Shaker.

They went on to release two more albums; Illumina, which gave the singles 'The Incidentals', 'Wish I was You' and 'Barbarella', and the critically acclaimed album The House We Built, a mostly live album recorded with Bill Botrell in Mendocino, USA. The two singles from this album were 'Pretender Got my Heart' and 'Push it all Aside'. Both of these singles featured award-winning videos made by Sophie Muller. The group released one more Japanese album - 'Japanese Dream' - before the girls went their separate ways in 2003. Splitting with Mercury Records but staying with their publishers they both continue to be successful pop writers for other artists. (see discogs)

A solo album entitled Hard time for The Dreamer was released by Shelly in 2005[6]; It was top 10 in the UK and French i tunes charts in 2005 for 9 weeks .She also wrote and appears on Michael Gray's "Borderline".

"Pretender Got My Heart" appeared on the "Bridget Jones Diary" soundtrack.

The song "Intense" appeared in the motion picture Starship Troopers.

[edit] Discography

[edit] Albums

  • Alisha Rules the World (November 1996, UK #14)[7]
  • Japanese Dream (1997, Japan-only release)
  • Illumina (October 1998, UK #15)[7]
  • The House We Built (July 23, 2001, produced by Bill Bottrell, recorded at Bill Bottrell's studio in Mendocino, California, UK #55)[7]
    1. "Sex Is on Everyone's Tongue"
    2. "Can't Say Sorry"
    3. "Push It All Aside" (single)
    4. "Pilot"
    5. "The House That We Built"
    6. "Pretender Got My Heart" (single)
    7. "That Other Girl"
    8. "Perfectly Happy"
    9. "She Ain't Missing You"
    10. "If You Want Me Back"
    11. "Devil You Call Love"
    12. "Dreaming"
  • The Attic Vaults 1 (August 2001, produced by Alisha's Attic)

After separating from Mercury Records, Karen and Shelly produced and released an album of tracks that had been held back from their previous albums. It is now collectable.

  1. "Strangers"
  2. "Taken Back"
  3. "Don't Let Love Bring You Down"
  4. "The Last Letter"
  5. "Too Far Forgotten"
  6. "Real Love"
  7. "When U Coming Home?"
  8. "Impossible Dreamer"
  9. "Flaws"
  10. "Free"
  11. "Stay Will U Stay"
  12. "She's A Heroine"

[edit] Singles

  • 1996 "I am, I Feel" UK #14[3][7]
  • 1996 "Alisha Rules the World" UK #12[7]
  • 1997 "Indestructible" UK #12[7]
  • 1997 "Air We Breathe" UK #12[7]
  • 1998 "The Incidentals" UK #13[8][7]
  • 1999 "Wish I Were You" UK #29[7]
  • 2000 "Barbarella" UK #34[7]
  • 2001 "Push It All Aside" UK #24[7]
  • 2001 "Pretender Got My Heart" UK #43[7]

[edit] Other songs

[edit] References

  1. ^ http://www.nme.com/artists/alishas-attic
  2. ^ Kwaku (1996-06-29). "Mercury betting the house on Alisha's attic". Billboard 108 (26, p58). ISSN 00062510. 
  3. ^ a b c Sexton, Paul; Horak, Terri (1997-03-15). "Mercury set to open up U.K.'s Alisha's Attic in U.S". Billboard 109 (11): p15. ISSN 00062510. 
  4. ^ Wilson, Dave (2005). Rock Formations. Cidermill Books. p. 104. ISBN 0-9748483-5-2. http://books.google.com/books?id=tOpB23GGxAIC&pg=PA104&dq=%22alisha%27s+attic%22&lr=&num=20&as_brr=3&ei=SJBpSM24HaXOjgHSkoGpBw&sig=ACfU3U2yZ2aQRHNrfN3S2A0HcqTaj34CQg. 
  5. ^ Hudson, Heidi (April 1997). "Alisha's Attic". Lesbian News 22 (9): p37. ISSN 07391803. 
  6. ^ Verrico, Lisa (2005-09-02). "New from Shelley Poole". Section: Features, Pop CDs, (Times, The (United Kingdom)): pp. pg. 11. 
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Brown, Tony; Neil Warwick; Jon Kutner (2004). The Complete Book Of The British Charts: Singles and Albums. London: Omnibus Press. p. 57. ISBN 1-84449-058-0. http://books.google.com/books?id=ib4MyAIpe3MC&pg=PA57&vq=%22alisha's+attic%22&dq=%22alisha's+attic%22&lr=&num=20&as_brr=3&source=gbs_search_s&sig=ACfU3U0E2jn5lAWBhdiNn68C6ulQXW-iPw. 
  8. ^ Jeffries, David. "Alisha's Attic > Biography". Archived from the original on 2008-07-01. http://www.webcitation.org/5YybBI2qt. Retrieved 2008-07-01. 

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alisha%27s_Attic"
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