GIRLTHING We've Come To Mambo

DontStopThePop loved GirlThing even if they flopped, cost the record company millions and launched their debut on the same week as Kylie Minogues Spinning Around.

This is yet another pop act, like Martay and Made In London, that didnt work for British audiences. However unlike the aforementioned two, the hype was better than the product. I'm not saying music was bad but the girls just couldnt hide the fact that even in the studio recordings they sounded terrible. That isnt a dig at the girls capabilities as the one ballad they did, Pure and Simple, illustrated each girls vocal potential but when all together they sounded like 5 Ginger Spices singing different lyrics with opposing chords.

The album is a total mess not because of the lyrical content or the girls but the presentation. Its no surprise that the girls never released their first and only LP.

HOWEVER! If you taken 1 song part by its a bloody spectacular effort. All they needed was that Xenomania touch rather than shipping them off to Norway to work with producers/writers who must have been the only Scandanavians around wanting to sound American.

Oddly enough the albums strongest points are when the old Spice Girls writers and producers jump on board. This song is one of those. Recorded at Biffco Studios in Ireland, We've Come To Mambo has the wonderful couplet "All we want is to get down, Soul Train, Disco, Funky Town, All those Divas rocked the floor. So c'mon girls, break down the door". There are particular shades of Love Machine on this track. Which is totally like a good thing.

Alas, GirlThing hadnt recorded this song yet and were banking on their one ballad to spring back their previous and rather costly first two flops: Girls on Top and Last 1 Standing. This one ballad, mentioned already above, was their sure fire hit single. It was the one that was gonna go to no.1 and We've Come to Mambo would follow suit straight afterwards just like Atomic Kitten did with Whole Again and Eternal Flame. The song in question was of course Pure and Simple which was given Hear'Say and became a massive smash hit for them.

With their Pure and Simple plans totally scuppered as a result of record company politics, the girls went on a pretty successful Asian tour but the refusal to release the album in the UK eventually led to the eventual demise of this rather fantastic British pop group. Yes they were flawed but given another album they could have been sublime.

Under different circumstances, GirlThing might still be here today and I think most would say that they'd prefer them to what Hear'say gave us after Pure and Simple.

GirlThing: the girlgroup phenomenon that never was.