Atomic Kitten
| Atomic Kitten | |
|---|---|
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| Background information | |
| Origin | Liverpool, England, UK |
| Genres | Pop Dance-pop Europop |
| Years active | 1997–2008, 2012–present |
| Labels | EMI Innocent Virgin |
| Website | atomickitten.co.uk |
| Members | |
| Liz McClarnon Natasha Hamilton Jenny Frost |
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| Past members | |
| Kerry Katona Heidi Range |
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Atomic Kitten is an English pop girl group formed in Liverpool in 1997. Consisting of members Liz McClarnon, Natasha Hamilton and Jenny Frost, the original line-up included Heidi Range (who would later join Sugababes) and Kerry Katona (who left in 2001 when she became pregnant). The group had three UK number one singles; Whole Again, the fourth best-selling single by a girl group of all time; "Eternal Flame", a song originally recorded by The Bangles, and "The Tide Is High (Get the Feeling)", a song originally recorded by The Paragons and later by Blondie.[1] They also had two UK number one albums, Right Now, a re-issue of their debut album, and Feels So Good, both going double platinum in the United Kingdom.[1][2]
The group announced they were splitting in April 2004 although they got back together a year later to re-release a new version of their single "Cradle" and also made one off appearances in 2006 and 2008. On 4 March 2012, Natasha Hamilton confirmed that the group would be reforming during the year.[3]
Contents |
[edit] History
[edit] 1997–2001: Formation and Right Now
Atomic Kitten was first conceived in 1997 by Andy McCluskey of 1980s band Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark. The original line-up featured, Liz McClarnon, Kerry Katona and Heidi Range (now in the group Sugababes), but Range decided to quit due to artistic differences, and was replaced by Natasha Hamilton. This line-up was finalised in 1999.
The group's first single, "Right Now", debuted in December 1999 and reached the UK Top 10.[1] After their initial success, Atomic Kitten performed an Asian tour and scored their first number one hit there with "Cradle". The album, also titled Right Now, was first released in Japan on 16 March 2000, and subsequently released in the United Kingdom on 23 October 2000 with a slightly modified track list. In 2000, the group also recorded a cover version of "The Locomotion" for the movie Thomas and the Magic Railroad.
Right Now was unsuccessful upon its first release, peaking only at #39 in the UK album chart.[1] Initially, there were no plans to focus on the global market and Atomic Kitten's record label, Innocent Records, was even considering dropping them because of their limited success. However, the record company were persuaded to allow the group to record one more single.[4] The single, "Whole Again", became their first number-one hit in the United Kingdom, and stayed at the top for four consecutive weeks.[1] Due to this success, "Whole Again" was released globally, and reached number one in eighteen other countries[citation needed], including six weeks in Germany and New Zealand.[5] The song and video for "Whole Again" originally featured Kerry Katona; however, she left the group several days prior to the number-one position due to of her pregnancy.[6] Jenny Frost replaced Katona in the line-up and the single was re-recorded. This led to the decision to partially re-record and re-release the Right Now album, which then went to number-one in the UK in August 2001, and was certified double Platinum.[1][2] The album also reached the top ten in several European countries, including Germany and Denmark.[7][8]
Their next single, "Eternal Flame", a cover version of the 1989 hit by The Bangles, became their second number-one single in the UK and New Zealand.[1][9] It became their biggest single in France peaking at number two and eventually went Gold. In late 2001 the band announced they would be releasing a final single from the repackaged album, entitled "You Are". A video was recorded and promo singles were sent out to radio, but the single was ultimately shelved, never getting a full commercial release.[10][11]
[edit] 2002–03: Third line-up and Feels So Good
Following the success of Right Now, a new album, Feels So Good, was recorded. The songwriting and production agreement with Andy McCluskey was an increasing source of tension within the group, and the girls decided to terminate the contract with McCluskey halfway through the recording of the album.
The first single off the album was "It's OK!", which peaked at number three in the United Kingdom. The next single was "The Tide Is High (Get the Feeling)", a remake of the 1965 song by The Paragons (also made famous by Blondie in 1980), which gave the group their third number-one single in the UK and New Zealand.[1][9] In April 2002, Hamilton announced that she was pregnant, but rather than leave the group, she opted to continue with the scheduled 2002 tour. Hamilton filmed the music video for "The Tide Is High (Get the Feeling)", and made an appearance at Party in the Park before finally going on maternity leave.[12]
During January and February 2003, Atomic Kitten toured Southeast Asia, visiting Singapore, Thailand, and Korea. Hamilton, who had given birth to her son, Josh, on 24 August 2002, decided to take her newborn baby with her on the tour as well.[13]
[edit] 2003–04: Ladies Night and split
In April 2003, the album Atomic Kitten was released in the United States, which consisted of tracks from their first two albums. However the album was unsuccessful and peaked at #102 on the Billboard 200, though the single "The Tide Is High (Get The Feeling)", reached #42 on the Billboard Hot 100 and appeared on the soundtrack for the Disney film The Lizzie McGuire Movie. Following this, the group opted to focus solely on the European, Oceanian, South African and Asian markets.[14]
Before recording their third album, Kool and the Gang approached the group about a collaboration for their album of duets, Odyssey. Kool and the Gang wanted to record an updated version of their hit "Ladies Night" and were looking for a girl group to sing the lyrics. Atomic Kitten liked the idea and enquired whether they could use it for their next album which was subsequently named Ladies Night in honour of this collaboration.[15]
Their first single of the album, excluding "Be With You", was "If You Come to Me". It peaked at number three on the UK top 40.[1] Atomic Kitten spent late 2002 and early 2003 in the studio recording their third and final studio album. Up until the recording of Ladies Night, the group mainly relied on songwriters, though they had occasionally co-written songs featured on their albums. While recording Ladies Night, they decided to be directly involved in the creation of eight of the fifteen songs. Ladies Night was released on 10 November 2003, and peaked at number five in the UK album chart. It was certified Platinum for sales in excess of 300,000 copies.[1][2]
In early 2004, a tour to support the Ladies Night album and the upcoming release of their Greatest Hits album was planned. Shortly before the tour kicked off, the group announced they would be taking an extended break after the completion of the tour.[16]
[edit] 2004–08: Occasional appearances
In January 2004, Hamilton announced she wanted to take a hiatus from the group and devote more time to her young son. Atomic Kitten released the double A-side single "Someone Like Me"/"Right Now 2004" as a "goodbye" to their fans, but were reunited on Valentine's Day 2005 to release the charity single "Cradle 2005", a new version of the original song from their album Right Now which was a number one hit in Asia back in 2000. "Cradle 2005" peaked at number ten, selling 35,000 copies worldwide, with proceeds going to World Vision.[17]
In 2005, Atomic Kitten was featured on the soundtrack of Disney's Mulan II with the song "(I Wanna Be) Like Other Girls". In 2005, they also performed together in Krakow on 28 August at the Coca-Cola SoundWave Festival.[18]
In 2006 they released a cover version of The Farm song "All Together Now". It became a charity single for the Football World Cup and was released only in German-speaking countries. It peaked inside the German Top 20.[citation needed]
The group reunited in December 2006 for The Nokia New Years Eve Music Festival, performing in Hong Kong on 31 December 2006. They once again reunited to perform at The Number One Project at the Liverpool Echo Arena on 19 January 2008 celebrating Liverpool's "Capital of Culture" year and the fact that Liverpudlian artists have had a collective 56 UK number one singles. In January 2008, the group released a cover of "Anyone Who Had a Heart", which peaked at Number 78 in the UK single Charts. [19]
[edit] 2012–present: Reunion
On 13 February 2012, the group's record company released a low budget compliation album featuring all of their greatest hits including remixes and B-sides. However, the album failed to chart.
On 4 March 2012, Hamilton confirmed that the group were reuniting for a summer tour, including a performance at the Queen's Diamond Jubilee. Hamilton also stated that the group were in talks to star in their own reality TV show regarding the comeback, following on the success from Steps. [20] Hamilton has stated that she hopes former member, Kerry Katona, who quit the band in 2001 before they found chart success, will join them on stage for a performance.
[edit] Members
| Member | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2012 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heidi Range (1997–1999) |
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| Kerry Katona (1997–2001) |
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| Liz McClarnon (1997–present) |
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| Natasha Hamilton (1999–present) |
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| Jenny Frost (2001–present) |
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