I just discovered the Sugababes!!

[gewhite3]

and so far I really like what I'm hearing. So far I've only heard a recent release from them titled "Easy" and one that's a little older called "Red Dress". I like them both very much.

Why haven't I ever heard of this group before?

Are they not played much in the US?

Is anyone else familiar with them?

What do you think of their music if you are?

One more thing.... If you do know of them, what are your favorite tunes by them?

Thanks in advance...........

 

[northstarboi]

The Sugababes are quite big in the UK - but they've had alot of lineup changes in their time. The current trio are the 3rd icarnation, I think.

They've had a few albums as well - one of my favourite songs is Caught Up in the Rythm. I think thats the name, anyway.

Siobhan Donaghuey, one of the ex-members - is making some extraordinary music now

 

[Luminox]

Wooo, where have you been living ? Here in Europe they're big ! Household names...

I like most of their songs (don't own any albums but a few of their songs...)

I'd have to say my fave song is their first song, "Overload" !

But you should also definitely check out ...

"Hole In The Head"
" Round Round"
and "In The Middle"

PS: Though I like the "Babes", my favorite UK trio was definitely Atomic Kitten ! I just loved those girls ! Got 2 of their 3 albums, their "Best Of"...was (AM but I guess since they've spilt up I should say 'was'?) a big big fan...

 

[getoverit]

They are not big in the states at all. None of their albums have been officially released here. Three was almost released but was not. You can find thier music is stores that carry imports. The single Caught In The Middle was released but flopped big time.

I personally love them and buy their albums whenever I can get them.

 

[wastingmymind]

I like both their old stuff and new stuff. Fave songs: Red Dress, Overload, Freak Like Me.

 

[aijalon18]

i like them too. my 2 favorite songs are "too lost in you" (it's in love actually) and "push the button"

 

[doctorsun]

I'm a huge fan. They're completely unknown here in the US. They've only released one single here, Hole In The Head. No album was ever released. Supposedly, though, their next album (due out later this year) will be their first for North America. I'm hoping it's true because I'd love to see them over here.

My favorite songs are Red Dress (with Amelle) and Round Round.

Siobhan Donaghy left after their first album and was replaced with Heidi Range. Mutya Buena left in 2005 and was replaced with Amelle Berrabah. The only remaining founding member is Keisha Buchanan.

Siobhan and Mutya have both released solo albums.

 

[laysmutual]

Originals:

Siobhan Donaghy (the unoficial leader, she sang most of the leads)
Mutya Buena
Kiesha Buchanon

They released One Touch. They were praised for their sweet harmonies at just 15/16 years of age. At this time the Babes' music was more downtempo and uncommercial ast they are now. While the first single Overload (which Christina Aguilera ripped off for Makeover) was a hit, the other three singles (New Year, Run For Cover, Soul Sound) didn't do as well and they were dropped. Siobhan famously left the group at some radio festival type of event in Japan saying she was going to the bathroom and ditched them before they were to take the stage. She later said the group had a 2 against 1 type of mentality she was getting sick of.

Overload:


New Year:


Run For Cover:


Soul Sound:


One Foot In (not a single but they made a video for it):

 

[laysmutual]

Second lineup:

Mutya Buena
Kiesha Buchanon
Heidi Range

They remaining girls replaced Siobhan with Heidi Range who was in an early incarnation of Atomic Kitten (good group as well but they lean more towards ballads) and released was is their signature song Freak Like Me. Richard X (great 80's electronica inspired producer) had been doing stuff as "Girls On Top" mashing up songs. He put the music to Gary Numan's Are Friends Electric? to the lyrics of Adina Howard'd Freak Like Me and it gave the Babes their first #1. Their next single was another #1 Round Round. The other singles were moderately successful (Stronger, Angels With Dirty Faces, Shape).

Take:



and this:



and you get this (Freak Like Me - We Don't Give A Damn Mix):



Round Round:


Stronger:


Angels With Dirty Faces (used for the Power Puff Girls Movie ):


Shape (video is out of sync):

 

[laysmutual]

They followed up Angels With Dirty Faces with the "Three" album. Their first single was another #1 (Hole In The Head) but sadly did nothing for them over here in the US. They followed with a ballad used in the british movie Love Actually (Too Lost In You). The following singles were also successful (In The Middle and my favorite ballad of their's Caught In A Moment).

Hole In The Head:


Too Lost In You:


In The Middle:


Caught In A Moment:

 

[laysmutual]

They came back with Taller In More Ways and the first single Push The Button was another #1. The second single was Ugly which I have named Unpretty Pt. 2. Their intention was to have Red Dress as the third single with a video centered around them playing themselves and the roles of the hookers in the "red dresses" but Mutya quit the band that December citing personal reasons. At that time the Babes also said this was months in the making and that they had already been working with what would be Mutya's replacement, Amelle Berrabah. They ended up having Amelle re-record some tracks and re-released Taller In More Ways with her vocals on 3 songs and a new song as well. They released Red Dress and Follow Me Home (a song Mutya wrote for her baby girl). They also gained some attention for a cover of the Arctic Monkey's I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor.

Push The Button:


Ugly:


Third lineup:

Keisha Buchanon
Heidi Range
Amelle Berrabah

Red Dress:


I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor:


Follow Me Home:



They released a greatest hits album named Overloaded with Easy being the led single. There was some controversy because Keisha had made statements leading people to believe that the past hits would be resung with the current members, leaving out Siobhan and Mutya's vocals. This turned out to be false and everyone's parts were left unchanged.

Easy:


They made a charity single with rival group Girls Aloud (Cheryl Cole of the group is feuding with Lily Allen and Nadine Coyle was going out with Jesse Metcalf) covering Aerosmith and Run DMC's Walk This Way.

Walk This Way:

 

[laysmutual]

The Ex-Sugababes

Siobhan Donaghy

Rather than follow in the pop direction the group ventured in, she got back with Cameron McVey (great producer, Neneh Cherry's husband) to produce her debut Revolution In Me with a indie rock and electronica sound. She released Nothing But Song under the anagram Shanghai Nobody. This album was greatly unappreciated. It along with the 2 singles lifted from it flopped really badly and she was eventually dropped. I think the wrong songs were released since they showed her as moody and depressed which she was (the album is very dark in tone) but there were also vastly superior ones on the album (an intro to one sounds very familiar to the guitar rift in Massive Attack's Inertia Creeps).

Overrated


Twist Of Fate:


Man Without Friends (was to be the 3rd single):


Iodine (a political song which was to be the 4th single in December time):


She recorded her soon to be released second album Ghosts before having a label. Parlophone Records signed her last year and are to release her album sometime this month. They are said to be taking a "nurture" route wth her and are giving her artistic freedom as well. Her debut single Don't Give It Up flopped and her second So You Say (great breakup song) isn't doing so well in radio plays.

Ghosts (funny song, has backwards and regular singing, try to catch what she says):


Don't Give It Up:


So You Say (video based on David Lynch's Inland Empire):


love the chorus:

Don't say you'll think about me
Or say that you can live without me
Didn't we make it nearly
For everything that I hold dearly
How many ways can I say plainly, we can
Before it wore on us thinly
To each and every degree
You've got me in agony



Mutya Buena

After leaving the Babes she released a duet for George Michael's new greatest hits album, the song is called This Is Not (Real Love). She is set to release her debut Real Girl this month as well. The first single is Real Girl and it uses a sample of Lenny Kravitz's It Ain't Over Till It's Over. She's worked with Amy Winehouse to recreate the Ronettes' Be My Baby as B Boy Baby. She's also worked with Groove Armada and the second single for both (Groove Armada released Soundboy Rock earlier with Get Down as the lead single) will be their collaboration called Out Of Control (Song 4Mutya). Many have stated it's about Amelle Berrabah because of the lyrics (sat there with some new girl what is this? That's who has replaced me? What a diss). She has recently stated since she left the group she hasn't spoken to Heidi and also said many of the arguments were between Keisha and herself. She also denies any annimosity towards Amelle.

This Is Not (Real Love) with George Michael:


Real Girl:


Out Of Control (Song 4 Mutya):

 

[gewhite3]

WOW!!! Some great information. I haven't watched all of the posted YouTubes yet but I will definitely get around to it. I certainly appreciate the effort you have taken laysmutual to provide the information.

I can also tell you all how I stumbled across them. There is this website called Pandora. It's basically an internet radio site but it differs in others in that you can setup your own "stations". You do this by selecting artists that you like a lot, then Pandora starts off by playing a song from them, after the first song is over, it uses data from that song to select other songs from other artists at random and continues to play various music based upon the initial type of music you selected. That's how I discovered Sugababes by listening to my "Enigma Radio" selection on Pandora. If you guys are really into music you should check it out. It's a great way to discover music you never knew existed.

Now I have to go back and check out the Sugababes vids in this thread........THANKS!!

 

[loppyears]

I love Keisha Buchanan's voice. Their pretty huge in the UK and any single/album they bring out now usually goes straight into the Top 10. I'd go as far as saying there the biggest girl group in the UK at the moment, along with Girls Aloud. Even after replacing 2 members they're still going as strong as ever. I think the Sugababes are well known for attracting the media away from the less talented girl groups like Atomic Kitten and All Saints, with their good vocals and catchy lyrics.

Fav songs are Overload, Push the Button, Hole in the Head and Stronger.

 

[getoverit]

LOVE that version of Walk This Way!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[laysmutual]

I love Keisha Buchanan's voice. Their pretty huge in the UK and any single/album they bring out now usually goes straight into the Top 10. I'd go as far as saying there the biggest girl group in the UK at the moment, along with Girls Aloud. Even after replacing 2 members they're still going as strong as ever. I think the Sugababes are well known for attracting the media away from the less talented girl groups like Atomic Kitten and All Saints, with their good vocals and catchy lyrics.

Fav songs are Overload, Push the Button, Hole in the Head and Stronger.

I wouldn't say All Saints are less atalented. In fact, many consider the Sugababes as their replacements after the Saints split after their second album. They all have some strange but beautiful voices and a genuinely talented songwriter in Shaznay Lewis. Girls Aloud on the other hand I consider a throwaway band. I don't think they are not talented but they have paper thin voices. If any of them went solo I doubt they would make it. Also, they almost exclusively work with just 1 production company, Xenomania. They make their music especially catchy but really it's all about Xenomania with Girls Aloud as their "voice". Also they have a habit of too many cover versions that aren't any good (Pointer Sisters' Jump, Dee C. Lee's See The Day, Duran Duran's Girls On Film, The Pretenders' I'll Stand By You, Lene Nystrom's Here We Go, Olivia Newton John's Hopelessly Devoted To You, Frankie Valli's Grease, Tommy James & the Shondells' I Think We're Alone Now, Chris Isaak's Wicked Game [unreleased], the Sugababes collabo Walk This Way, and Blondie's Hanging On The Telephone).


And thanks gewhite, I came home from a party and just started typing and typing away.


Try:
Girls Aloud

Atomic Kitten

Margaret Berger (her Pretty Scary Silver Fairy album is really good, it's electronic pop)

Robbie Williams (especially the Rudebox album)

Soraya Arnelas (spanish singer who has a danceable english 80's cover album called Ochenta's, if you can get used to the pronunciation)

Sophie Ellis-Bextor (Started off as the singer to "theaudience" [indie rock group] and went pop. She sings with her accent and has released her 3rd album Trip The Light Fantastic.)

 

[Luminox]

hey, the Kittens aren't untalented ! 2/3 of them have talent !!! Jenny is whack (at least her voice is) but Liz and especially Natasha have good voices !!!

 

[ashtanga81]

The sugabaes are amazing although my friend i fear u may have limited time to get to know them. i have followed there career from day one when i used to see the original line up gig around london before they got a record deal but i think the exit of mutya will be the demise of them, while they all co-wrote most of there songs mutya was the main writter and to be fair the main recognisable voice in the band, they seem to have lost there sassyness and darkness now and seem to be moving into girls aloud teretory, while i hope they continue i give it 6 months before they announce a split.

 

[phoenix72]

i see the Sugababes on the upswing, yeah they've had lineup changes and such. But other girl groups have as well. They are still doing their thing i love the stuff that they've put out in the past. But i love what they're doing now the songs have a bit more kick to them and the vocals have gotten stronger as well...no pun intended. I look forward to my girls to continue their winning ways with their next album, cant wait for that.


Some of my favorite Sugababe songs:

Follow Me Home (great slow song, video as well)
Red Dress (the beat is wicked and everybody shines on this one)
Hole In The Head (another one that i just love)
Shape (love it)
Push The Button (a big time smash)
Lost in You (another slow song that i love)
Easy (a hot beat, nice video and singing as well)
Freak Like Me (they added a little something different to this Adina Howard track)
Stronger (mid tempo song with a great message)
Ugly (another song with something to think about it)

 

[loppyears]

I wouldn't say All Saints are less atalented. In fact, many consider the Sugababes as their replacements after the Saints split after their second album. They all have some strange but beautiful voices and a genuinely talented songwriter in Shaznay Lewis. Girls Aloud on the other hand I consider a throwaway band. I don't think they are not talented but they have paper thin voices. If any of them went solo I doubt they would make it. Also, they almost exclusively work with just 1 production company, Xenomania. They make their music especially catchy but really it's all about Xenomania with Girls Aloud as their "voice". Also they have a habit of too many cover versions that aren't any good (Pointer Sisters' Jump, Dee C. Lee's See The Day, Duran Duran's Girls On Film, The Pretenders' I'll Stand By You, Lene Nystrom's Here We Go, Olivia Newton John's Hopelessly Devoted To You, Frankie Valli's Grease, Tommy James & the Shondells' I Think We're Alone Now, Chris Isaak's Wicked Game [unreleased], the Sugababes collabo Walk This Way, and Blondie's Hanging On The Telephone).

You have to think, since their comeback, if All Saints were "replaced" by the Sugababes why didn't Studio 1 do as good as people thought it would? Don't get me wrong, All Saints aren't that bad, they had some awesome songs like Pure Shores, Never Ever and Black Coffee. Compaired to the Sugas, they aren't amazing though.

Regarding Girls Aloud, not a massive fan but people like them so meh whatever.