Girls Aloud
Template:Infobox musical artist 2
Girls Aloud are a pop group from the United Kingdom.
Created from TV talent show Popstars: The Rivals in 2002, Girls Aloud have achieved notable success, with thirteen top 10 hit singles in the British charts (including two number one singles) and four hit albums (including a number one album). Internationally their music has also been released throughout UK, Europe, Australia and Asia.
For a modern pop group, they have received unprecedented praise from broadsheet newspapers and the rock music press, with publications including the Observer, [1] [2] and the NME [3] giving rave reviews to their music.
All of their thirteen singles have entered the Top 10 of the UK Singles Chart: a feat no other girl group has ever achieved; and surpassing the Spice Girls' record of ten. They are also one of the few reality TV acts to have had continued success.
Formation
Girls Aloud were formed on November 30, 2002 in front of millions of viewers on the ITV1 programme Popstars: The Rivals. The concept of the programme was to produce a boyband and a girlband who would be 'rivals' and compete for the Christmas #1 single in 2002. Following the success of Hear'Say (winners of the original Popstars show), several thousand applicants attended auditions across the UK in hopes of being selected for the show. Ten men and ten women were chosen as finalists by judges Pete Waterman, Louis Walsh and Geri Halliwell; however, two finalists were disqualified before the live shows began: Hazel Kaneswaren was found to be too old to participate [4] whilst Nicola Ward refused to sign the contract, claiming the pay the band would go on to receive was too poor.[5] Kimberley Walsh and Nicola Roberts were chosen as their replacements, who had made it into the final 15, but were not originally chosen for the final 10.
During October and November, the finalists took to the stage participating in week-by-week live performances every Saturday night (alternating between the girls & boys each week). One contestant was eliminated each week (due to polling the least amount of phone votes) until the final line-ups of the boy band and girl band emerged. The 5 girls who polled enough votes to make it into the band were Cheryl Tweedy, Nadine Coyle, Kimberley Walsh, Nicola Roberts and Sarah Harding. They called themselves Girls Aloud and were managed by Louis Walsh (and Hilary Shaw from 2005). The winning boy band One True Voice were managed by Pete Waterman.
In Christmas 2002 the two bands competed for the symbolic number one position in the Christmas Week UK's singles chart. Girls Aloud won the battle with their single "Sound of the Underground" (produced by Brian Higgins and Xenomania) which stayed at number one for four weeks. Disney Channel viewers later voted this as best single of 2002-2003 at the Disney Channel Kids Awards. Originally tipped to be more successful than the girls, One True Voice released just two singles before disbanding in Summer 2003.
Subsequent career
Sound Of The Underground
After the huge success of "Sound Of The Underground" the newly formed group took several months to record their debut album.
They followed their debut single with the number two hit "No Good Advice" in May 2003. The song received critical acclaim and the video, whilst known to have been the girls' least favourite video due to problems in production, was deemed one of the sexiest videos of the year.
The debut album, Sound Of The Underground, was released on 26 May 2003. It went straight in at #2, behind Justin Timberlake's album Justified. One of the tracks included, "Girls Allowed", was penned for the girls by ex-Westlife star Bryan McFadden.
Third single "Life Got Cold" charted at #3 in August 2003, making them the first act to go 1-2-3 with their first three releases. The single also helped their album back in the UK Top 20, which had up to this point only sold around 100,000 copies.
In November 2003 the girls released "Jump" – a cover of a Pointer Sisters song. The song featured on the soundtrack to the 2003 film Love Actually. It went in at #2 behind Westlife with their single "Mandy". "Jump" helped increase sales of the album, which went platinum after a re-issue was released on 1 December 2003.
The new version of Sound Of The Underground included "Jump" (which wasn't included on the original version) and new track "You Freak Me Out" (which appeared on the soundtrack of Freaky Friday). The track found its way onto release schedules and was performed on CD:UK in early 2004, with presenter Cat Deeley stating it would be their next single. However the plans for this release were scrapped as work began on their sophomore release.
What Will the Neighbours Say?
After a brief break, the girls came back with a brand new single in June 2004 entitled "The Show", the first release from their second album. It had an unusual structure for a pop song, consisting of a number of interchanged sections rather than the more typical verse-chorus form. This single showed off a new look for the girls and was backed with a promotional campaign prior to its premiere featuring 5 empty chairs with each of the girls' names on. This built up excitement over the new look and later featured on the single cover with the girls in their seats. When released, it entered the singles chart at #2, behind Usher's single "Burn". "The Show" was released on a 3" Pocket format three weeks after its initial release. This limited edition version was part of a trial, which was subsequently scrapped, by Universal Records.
Follow up release "Love Machine" also peaked at #2 in September 2004, beaten by huge dance single "Call On Me" by Eric Prydz. They became the first girl group since the Spice Girls to achieve six consecutive Top 3 singles in the UK. Widely regarded as one of the girls' finer songs, "Love Machine" was nominated for ITV's Record Of The Year and finished in 6th place (the winners were Busted with their single "Thunderbirds Are Go"). "Love Machine" went on to be used in a television advert for Homebase and was also covered by the Arctic Monkeys on Radio 1's Live Lounge in 2006.
The 7th single, a cover of The Pretenders' hit "I'll Stand by You," reached the #1 position on the UK Singles Chart in November 2004, and stayed there for 2 weeks. This was 2004's single for the Children In Need appeal with its proceeds going towards the charity. The single sold almost 60,000 in its first week of release.
"What Will the Neighbours Say?", named after a lyric from "Love Machine," was released on November 29 2004 and entered the album charts at #6. What Will the Neighbours Say? featured the production and song writing skills from Xenomania, a British production house. The immediate success of this album led to the girls announcing their first What Will The Neighbours Say? Live tour, which took place in May 2005. What Will The Neighbours Say? received excellent reviews; most critics deemed it an improvement over their debut release. It was also a bigger seller than their debut - the album sold just under 400,000 within one month, thus going Platinum. To date, it has sold over 550,000 copies, nearly doubling the sales of their first album.
Girls Aloud co-wrote five of the fourteen tracks on their second album: "Big Brother" (Cheryl Tweedy), "Hear Me Out" (Sarah Harding), "Thank Me Daddy" (Kimberley Walsh), "I Say a Prayer for You" (Nicola Roberts), and "100 Different Ways" (Nadine Coyle). They also co-wrote two B-sides "History" and "Loving Is Easy" (both featured on the "Wake Me Up" single.)
In early 2005, the girls won a Glamour Magazine Award for 'Band of the Year' and were also nominated for a Brit Award alongside McFly and Natasha Bedingfield for Best Pop, which McFly went on to win.
The final single to be taken from this album was "Wake Me Up," released in February 2005. It charted at number four; their first to miss the Top 3, but their 8th top-five single.
Chemistry
Enjoying a short break after their successful tour, the girls got to work on their third album.
The first single to be released from "Chemistry" was "Long Hot Summer" in August 2005 and charted at #7, ending their consecutive Top 5 run but continuing their unbroken run of Top 10 singles.
The single that launched their third album was "Biology." It entered the UK charts at #4 in November 2005 and equalled the Spice Girls record of ten consecutive Top 10 singles in the UK. "Biology" also reached number one on the iTunes Most Downloaded Chart, number one on the TV Airplay Chart and number two on the Official UK Download Chart.
The Chemistry (album) was released on December 5 2005, and includes the singles "Long Hot Summer," "Biology," "See The Day," "Whole Lotta History". It also featurees "Models," a song first heard being recorded on their ITV2 documentary Girls Aloud: Home Truths and also used as the theme music to their E4 documentary Girls Aloud: Off The Record. Chemistry peaked on the charts at #11; it eventually went platinum and has currently sold over 330,000 copies in total. One track was written by the group ("It's Magic"). Some of the girls' other efforts appeared as B-Sides on singles from the album, such as "Crazy Fool" included on the single "Whole Lotta History."
Their cover of Dee C. Lee's "See The Day," released in the all-important Christmas week, charted at #9. With this single they became the first girl group in the UK to achieve 11 consecutive Top 10 singles in a row from debut. "See the Day" became Girls Aloud's biggest hit on Radio Airplay since "Sound Of The Underground," peaking at #6. The video also topped the TV Airplay Chart.
Girls Aloud released their debut DVD Girls On Film in June 2005, featuring the first 8 music videos & TV performances. It peaked at #5 on the DVD Music chart. This was followed by What Will The Neighbours Say? Live DVD in November 2005, which reached #6. Other merchandise released included a 2006 calendar and an official book.
The girls traveled to Australia and New Zealand in February 2006 to release the single "Biology" and the album Chemistry. Arriving on the 23rd, their promotional tour lasted one week, appearing on many TV shows. "Biology" peaked at number 26 in the Australian singles chart.
The trip also started press speculation about a relationship between Nadine and American actor, Jesse Metcalfe.
"Whole Lotta History" was the fourth and final single to be taken from Chemistry, released on March 13, 2006. It entered the UK Singles Chart the week prior to its physical release due to a new rule stating that singles could enter on the Sunday before release based on download sales. It became the 4th highest 'download only' entry at #80. The week after it officially debuted at #6 - as the #80 position was outside the recorded Top 75, this became the week's highest new entry. The single is accompanied by a video filmed in Paris, making it their third video (the first two being "Life Got Cold" and "Jump") to be filmed outside a studio, and their first outside the UK.
The girls embarked on their second UK tour Chemistry (their first Arena Tour) in May 2006.
It was rumoured that Girls Aloud would release a 5th single from Chemistry, the second track on the album "Models," and appeared in release schedules for a 15 May release. Originally Nadine Coyle said it would be the next single (in an interview with The Sun newspaper), but Cheryl Tweedy contradicted Coyle's previous statement, by claiming in another interview that there would be no further releases from Chemistry. "Models" went on to be included as an extra track on the "Something Kinda Ooooh" single.
In May 2006, Polydor Records launched Fascination Records - a label dedicated to pop artists, including Girls Aloud, Sophie Ellis Bextor, and support act on the Chemistry Tour Frank. All future Girls Aloud releases will be published by Fascination Records.
All 5 members feature in this year's FHM's 100 Sexiest Women list, voted for by the public. Their positions are as follows: Cheryl Tweedy (6th, down from 2nd), Sarah Harding (15th, down from 8th), Nadine Coyle (55th, down from 35th), Kimberley Walsh (66th, down from 44th) and Nicola Roberts (84th, down from 77th). This is the second year in a row all five members have been featured and the 4th year that Cheryl, Sarah and Nadine have been featured.
On June 16, 2006, Girls Aloud won the Heart Award for the single "See the Day" at the O2 Silver Clef Lunch, an annual awards honouring songwriting and performance in aid of Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy. Nicola and Kimberley attended the awards presentation ceremony.
The Sound of Girls Aloud: The Greatest Hits
In September 2006, the official Girls Aloud's web site ended months of rumours by confirming the release of The Sound of Girls Aloud - a compilation that contains Girls Aloud's singles and some new material. The album was released on October 30 2006 and on October 5 2006 debuted at number one on the UK album chart.
There are 2 versions of this album available, the single version and the 2 CD version which features unreleased cover versions of tracks such as Blondie's "Hanging On The Telephone" and the Bee Gees which was also One True Voice first single "Sacred Trust" along with After You're Gone
The lead single from the album is "Something Kinda Ooooh", which was released on October 16, 2006 on downloads, and October 23, 2006 on physical formats. Chris Moyles - a self confessed Girls Aloud fan - premiered the new single on his Breakfast Show on September 12. Immediately after the first play online forums began reviewing the single, generally giving a positive response.
"Something Kinda Ooooh" has reached #1 on the iTunes Main Chart, #5 on the TV Airplay chart and currently stands at #19 on the Radio Airplay chart.
Girls Aloud became the first ever British act to enter the Top 10 purely based on download sales with "Something Kinda Ooooh" entering at #5, due to the download being made available a week earlier. On top of this, it marks their 10th Top 5 single - tying them with the Spice Girls for most Top 5 singles in the UK from a girl group. It is also their 13th Top 10 single in a row. On its second week of release, its first with physical copies on sale, the single climbed two places to #3 on the chart, the highest position Girls Aloud have charted since I'll Stand by You was released. This moderately high sales week also meant they had their highest one-week sales since the #1. 'Something Kinda Oooh' retained its Top 3 placing this week as the single did not move from its number 3 postion.
'The Sound of Girls Aloud' became the act's first #1 album on November 5th nocking Robbie William's Rudebox of the top spot.
The Sun newspaper reported the next single would be released at Christmas time. The song "I Think We're Alone Now", a #1 hit in 1988 for American teen sensation Tiffany, will be the 3rd time the group enter the Christmas week chart battle. The single version of the track, which includes a different vocal arrangement to the album version and enhanced backing music, premiered on Hit 40 UK on October 29th.
On the 5th November the girls reached the No.1 spot with 'The Sound of Girls Aloud'. This is their first album (out of 4) to reach the top spot, so it is a proud achievement for the girls.
Tours
Non-musical aspects
Cheryl Tweedy's conviction
On 20 October 2003 band member Cheryl Tweedy was convicted of assaulting Sophie Amogbokpa, a toilet attendant at The Drink nightclub in Guildford where the incident took place on 11 January of that year. Amogbokpa claimed the attack was racially motivated, but the singer was acquitted of this charge. [6] Tweedy claimed Amogbokpa was the instigator of the assault. During the trial, Judge Richard Haworth criticised Tweedy for showing no remorse whatsoever for the attack and described it as "an unpleasant piece of drunken violence". The court ordered her to perform 120 hours of unpaid community service, £3000 prosecution costs plus £500 in damages. [7] On 5 November 2003 on BBC Radio Five Live, she made a statement: "I'm sorry to the fans and to my family and the other girls that it ever happened." [8] However, she refused to apologise to Amogbokpa, who on the 7 November 2003 revealed in The Guardian newspaper that she would seek aggravated damages in the civil courts on the basis that the assault was racially motivated; [9] although she subsequently chose not to proceed with the case.
Girls Aloud: Off The Record
Girls Aloud recorded a six-part fly on the wall documentary series for E4 called Girls Aloud: Off The Record, which started its run on April 11, 2006 at 10:30pm. A DVD of the series was released on September 4, 2006 (after several release date changes) and reached #4 on the Music DVD Chart.
Tabloids
The girls also remain constant tabloid fodder.
June 2006 saw the group facing a great deal of press attention: first rumours that Sarah was tired of the band and quitting to go solo, which prompted the singer to post a message on the groups official website stating she "would be insane to even consider leaving." The Sun then ran a picture of Kimberley apparently smoking cannabis at a private New Years party. She apologised immediately, but reports later suggested she was forced to admit to smoking weed when in fact the story was embellished. Cheryl's relationship with footballer Ashley Cole has kept her pasted over the papers. During the 2006 World Cup in June and July of 2006, she was in the paper along with other WAGs. Nadine and Sarah have recently been in the tabloids because of their Hollywood relationships. Nadine is currently seeing Jesse Metcalfe, of Desperate Housewives fame. Sarah was rumoured to be seeing Stephen Dorff, but she is currently single.
Other work
Girls Aloud regularly appear in many television shows, and they also make a cameo appearance in the forthcoming Oasis film documentary, Lord Don't Slow Me Down, set to be released in 2007.
Discography
Albums
- Sound of the Underground (May 2003) — #2 (UK - Platinum)
- Sound of the Underground (Re-Issue) (December 2003) — #42 (UK)
- What Will the Neighbours Say? (November 2004) — #6 (UK - 2x Platinum)
- Chemistry (December 2005) — #11 (UK - Platinum)
- The Sound of Girls Aloud (November 2006) — #1 (UK)
Hit singles
The following singles reached the top ten in the United Kingdom and/or Ireland. Their chart peak positions are shown, along with peak positions for other regions, as an indication of Girls Aloud's chart performance in other markets, such as Europe and Australia.
Key to chart headings: United Kingdom Singles Chart (UK), Ireland (IRL), Australia (AUS), Greece (GR) and Poland (PL).
| Year | Title | Album | UK | IRL | AUS | GR | PL |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | "Sound of the Underground" | Sound of the Underground | 1 | 1 | 31 | 8 | 27 |
| 2003 | "No Good Advice" | Sound of the Underground | 2 | 2 | 88 | 4 | 43 |
| 2003 | "Life Got Cold" | Sound of the Underground | 3 | 2 | - | 3 | 32 |
| 2003 | "Jump" | Sound of the Underground (re-issue)/What Will The Neighbours Say? | 2 | 2 | 23 | 2 | 16 |
| 2004 | "The Show" | What Will the Neighbours Say? | 2 | 5 | 67 | 1 | 97 |
| 2004 | "Love Machine" | What Will the Neighbours Say? | 2 | 9 | - | 42 | 88 |
| 2004 | "I'll Stand By You" | What Will the Neighbours Say? | 1 | 3 | - | 5 | 51 |
| 2005 | "Wake Me Up" | What Will the Neighbours Say? | 4 | 6 | - | 15 | 12 |
| 2005 | "Long Hot Summer" | Chemistry | 7 | 16 | - | 30 | 90 |
| 2005 | "Biology" | Chemistry | 4 | 7 | 26 | 12 | 66 |
| 2005 | "See the Day" | Chemistry | 9 | 14 | - | 42 | 17 |
| 2006 | "Whole Lotta History" | Chemistry | 6 | 18 | - | 32 | 76 |
| 2006 | "Something Kinda Ooooh" | The Sound of Girls Aloud | 3 | 7 | - | - | - |
| 2006 | "I Think We're Alone Now" | The Sound of Girls Aloud | - | - | - | - | - |
B-Sides & Other Tracks
- Androgynous Girls (Love Machine B-Side)
- Biology (Live at Wembley)
- Crazy Fool (Whole Lotta History B-Side)
- Crazy Life, The (Something Kinda Ooooh B-Side)
- Girls On Film (Life Got Cold B-Side/Sound Of The Underground (Re-issue) bonus track)
- Grease (Jump B-Side/Greasemania album track)
- Hanging On The Telephone (The Sound of Girls Aloud (Special Edition) album track)
- History (Wake Me Up B-Side)
- Hopelessly Devoted To You (Greasemania album track)
- I Don't Really Hate You (See The Day B-Side)
- I'm Every Woman (Discomania album track)
- I Predict A Riot (Live at Wembley) (The Sound of Girls Aloud (Special Edition) album track)
- It's Magic (See The Day B-Side/Chemistry album track)
- Lights, Music, Camera, Action (Life Got Cold B-Side)
- Long Hot Summer (Live at G.A.Y)
- Love Bomb (Jump B-Side/Sound Of The Underground bonus track)
- Love Machine (Live at the Hammersmith Apollo) (Long Hot Summer B-Side)
- Loving Is Easy (Wake Me Up B-Side/The Sound of Girls Aloud (Special Edition) album track)
- Models (Theme From "Off The Record") (Something Kinda Ooooh B-Side/Chemistry album track)
- Nobody But You (Biology B-Side)
- No Good Advice (Explicit Version) (The Sound of Girls Aloud (Special Edition) album track)
- On A Round (No Good Advice B-Side)
- Real Life (I'll Stand By You B-Side/What Will The Neighbours Say? album track)
- Real Life (Live at the Hammersmith Apollo) (Long Hot Summer B-Side)
- Sacred Trust (The Sound of Girls Aloud (Special Edition) album track)
- Singapore (The Sound of Girls Aloud (Special Edition) album track)
- Sound Of The Underground (Instrumental Breakdown Mix) (The Sound of Girls Aloud (Special Edition) album track)
- Stay Another Day (Sound of the Underground B-Side)
- Teenage Dirtbag (Live at the Hammersmith Apollo) (Whole Lotta History B-Side)
- Wake Me Up (Alternative Lyrics Version) (The Sound of Girls Aloud (Special Edition) album track)
- You Freak Me Out (Freaky Friday Soundtrack/Sound Of The Underground (Re-issue) bonus track)
References
- ^ "Girls Aloud, Chemistry", by Peter Robinson, Observer Music Monthly, November 20, 2005
- ^ "Countdown: the OMM top 100 albums", Observer Music Monthly, December 18, 2005
- ^ "How I became a Girl Aloud", The Guardian, September 17, 2004
- ^ "Hazel is no longer a Popstar Rival...", ShowBiz Ireland (online), October 10, 2002
- ^ "Popstar Rivals' Nicola quits show", CBBC Newsround (online), October 13, 2002
- ^ "Girls Aloud star 'not a racist'". BBC News. 2003-01-13. Retrieved 2006-08-14.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Singer Tweedy guilty of assault", BBC News (online), October 20, 2003
- ^ "Singer Tweedy 'sorry' for assault", BBC News (online), November 5, 2003
- ^ "Girls Aloud singer faces civil suit", The Guardian, November 7, 2003
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