With Every HeartBeat-Punks Jump Up Remix
With Every Heartbeat-Rory Phillips Mix
Despite being our girlband season, DontStopthePop breaks the tradition for one act and that is Robyn. With the video done the single has been treated to some wonderful mixes. A few weeks ago we treated ya to a snippet of the Meatboys version of the epic pop song & that has since leaked on Sounds of Sweden. Now we bring two other Robyn/KleerUp exclusives...this is all in preparation of DontStopthePops January transformation into DontStopRobyn: A site dedicated to celebrating the last ten years of Robyns music magic & beyond.
Perhaps the most exciting news is that Robyn is returning to perform in London. This time however its big. Its a full show. Its a concert darlings! Huge eh? This is so hot-news her official website doesnt seem to be saying dip all about it. This is what i know and can say: Robyn will perform a proper full set show on March 2nd in central London. Tickets are priced at an amazing snip of a stub at £6 and by tomorrow i should be able to bring you more details(like where to buy tickets, venue and so on). Keep that date CLEAR in ya diaries please.
In the meantime buy the Robyn/KleerUp single here(buy it bitches!)
We do hope you've enjoyed the first year of DontStopthePop, the Robynspecials, the danskpop, the girlbands, the ozpops, the disco shame, the poptrash fame and so on. No end of year lists for this blog. But you can find brilliant rundowns of 2006 at here, here and here. Next up is Girlbands Down Under and following that will be, yes you guessed it, more girlbands!
ROBYN/KLEERUP With Every Heatbeat-The single mixes/CONFIRMATION OF LONDON TOUR DATE!
Things coming up
-The next episode of our journey into the mystic and often confused realm of Girlband Land....will bounce into bands named after film sirens, appeared in soaps and shared the stage with Britney Spears. Yes...the next lot will be from down under. The Queen of the Enchanted Woods Geoginah Michaela once wrote 'you gotta get to get down' but she was sadly too busy making grass stains on those elbows to realise that you gotta go down under before you can ever contemplate the top. So to Australia-NZ we go!
-Next month Robyn plans to release quite a few singles. Like children we don't have favourites but we are rather fond of her collaboration with KleerUp With Every Heartbeat which you can already buy here. The brilliant video by Fredrik Skogvist is complete and can be seen here. He also directed her other recent singles and the Christian Falk epic track Dream On.
-As we love Robyn soooo much DontStopThePop will evolve into DontStopRobyn with nearly all posts dedicated to herself and her music. Hopefully we'll have testimonials from fans and perhaps an exclusive goody or two. This is all in line to celebrate Robyn's first proper single UK release in January...the polemical Konichiwa Bitches. With the video in the can we can reveal that Robyn has re-recorded the song and very special remixes have been comissioned. Theres also rather exciting album news but we'll leave that for another date.
GIRLBANDS FROM 47 to 58!!!!!!!!!!!!!
47. Passion Fruit (Germany/Netherlands)
Get out ya tissues its crying time! Passion Fruit consisted of three young happy-go lucky girls-Maria, Debby and Nathaly. They released the poptastic album Spanglish Love Affairs and they absolutely loved bubblegum pop music. Their single Sun Fun Baby was just the start of great things for the band. Their debut single Ringy Ding Dong Song had charted very well and after 2 years of touring they were establishing themselves as a force to be reckoned with. However on November 21st, 2001 they boarded a plane to Zurich from Berlin that smashed into the forests of Basserdorf just a few minutes short of the runway. The CrossAir aircraft came down due to human error and poor facilities at the airport. Despite landing the plane broke up and eventually burst into flames. Maria and Nathaly were two of the 24 people dead with Debby consisting of the 8 surviving passangers and crew. Also killed in the same air crash was singer Melanie Thornton of La Bouche and Wonderful Dream fame. Despite their tragic deaths the story went pretty much unnoticed because of the closeness to the date of the crash to "9.11". Passion Fruit were about euroPOP with a ! and for this we celebrate them here today.
Tracks: Sun Fun Baby [mp3]
48. Those 2 Girls (UK)
The most interesting thing about this girlband was that it included one Denise van Outen. They released 2 poptastic singles with equally cheesy cd sleeves but again this was 1995 pre-Spice Girls and so on. While Those2Girls flopped(I don't think their singles actually charted) Denise V.O would later take hold of British newspapers when she dominated early morning TV shows and saw her star shine bright in her one-woman musical Lloyd-Webber production Tell Me On A Sunday. To those who have no idea as to what D.V.O is about she's made her reputation from saying naughty words and becoming the working-mans crumpet. She's also a bit of a gay icon. This hetero/homo duel-status was solidified when she covered ABBA's Gimmie Gimmie Gimmie(A Man After Midnight) yonks before that yank thought of ripping it shreds. She's also even covered a Kylie song in past. Wanna Make You Go...Uuh is a bit of a forgotten gem and looking back I'm surprised it didnt take off when compared to the pop records that did. The track sounds 2 years ahead of its time and is rather too sophisticated for its own boots. This probably explains why Mr.Todd Terry can be seen on remixing duties.
Tracks: Wanna Make You Go..Uuh![mp3], Gimmie Gimmie Gimmie (Denise Van Outen) [mp3]
49. Girls@Play (UK)
This was Pete Watermans attempt to grab some of that money produced by the successes of Spice Girls, All Saints and Bewitched. It didnt work. However the album that they demo'd, or rather worked towards, has gone down as the second most sought after collection of songs for any pop loverrrr(the first being the second Deuce LP). The girls were constructed as the female Village People but such obvious labeling failed to get but a whimper out of the pop industry let alone the great masses. The problem was that after such a dirge of girlbands the public faced a tsunami of boob-tubes, silly dance routines and platforms and so many ended up sinking in the rush. Girls@Play were the one of the bands that didnt make it to the beach let alone the palm trees. Their back catalog consists of two singles and one track that appeared on a Smash Hits collection of songs. Oddly the song has been 'covered' by Swedish act Ann Winsborn. Maybe I should say ripped off instead but I'll let the lawyers argue over semantics. But judge for yourself...
Tracks: Respectable [mp3], Outta My Head [mp3], Ann Winsborn rip off [mp3]
50. Clea (UK)
Clea need no introduction here. Their albums contain some excellent anthems that due to their lack of record company support remain hidden gems. Oddly enough German super-girlband Monrose have ripped off one of their staple songs, The Lie, to lead them to the no.1 position in both Austria and Germany with their debut single. Last month Lindsay left the group leaving Aimee and Emma to search for a new member, which if rumors are to be believed, has resulted in a girl called Ashlee stepping into the gap. Despite low sales in the UK the band are huge in, er, parts of east Europe and Hong Kong. So far they've released two albums-Identity Crisis and Trinity-which are polar opposites sound-wise. The former is more orchestral and serious whilst the new one recalls bubblegum bomps, PWL pumps and disco polemics. Sadly Trinity doesnt include one of their best ever songs recorded: Kick Back Relax but it did save the career of Agnes Carlsson so theres a silver-lining in there somewhere.
Track: A Guy Like You [mp3]
Video: Clea Live in Bulgaria which could be their last ever performance as a band :( [link]
51. Cookie (UK)
If you thought the ever evolving mutating frontline of Sugababes was bad Cookie take the biscuit. Ahem. Originally consisting of Nicola, Marianne, Tahnee & Montana the girls were set to rival Girls Aloud and the hype was pretty huge around their debut single Do It Again. However just as they'd filmed the video Nicola left the group and was replaced with Aimee. Nicola has a bit of history of doing such things as she'd pulled out of Popstars: The Rivals allowing for another Nicola to join Girls Aloud. Do It Again was delayed and a new version recorded with much stronger vocals. However the line-up change meant scrapping tons of expensive promotion and starting all over again which naturally damaged their chances of success. On the week of release of the Do It Again Montana was already fronting a new girlband and the single evaporated. The band can claim to have flopped without ever properly releasing one track. Cookie regrouped with new members and started touting Do It Again once more but by this time key members had formed a new girlband called Stiletto which also consisted of Caroline of 411. This band has yet to appear but their myspace was championed on popjustice. Despite losing all of its members Cookie restarted with a track quite sardonically called Don't Even Go There. Alas by this time the world had moved on. Which is a shame as they recorded some brilliant tracks. Take Advice for example...it contains some of the best killer lyrics about cheating with rent girls ever put to music. Advice sounds like the perfect reply to PussyCat Dolls' Don't Cha-I mean take the middle 8 line for example "caught you red-handed, you've dropped your standards, back street for your thrills, paying for each fill, cheat on her indoors, when I could loved you more, buy one get one free, you just disgust me..."
Track: Advice-previously unreleased track [mp3]
Videos: Do It Again-second version [link]
52. Girl Thing (UK)
In many ways Girl Thing can be seen as the beginning of the end of girlbands in the UK. Not only were they hyped up beyond all reasonable expectations but they were dubbed as the band to reckon the achievements of the Spice Girls. Same producers, similar sounds, same writers and they even had their own 'Ginger Spice' to boot. Their first single Last one Standing was released in the same week as the Kylie comeback track Spinning Around in 2000. Talk about cocksure! The most tragic facet of the whole affair was not merely the dashed dreams and tears of Girl Thing but rather that the hype and expense of Girl Thing led to the faltering of other bands who saw their promotion and releases consequently pulled back and withdrawn. Two key casualties were Made in London who saw their release of their album Perfect Storm cancelled by their record company who saw Girl Thing as the more viable act over and above the trio. The other girlband was Precious whose record company got cold feet due to the huge hype surrounding Girl Thing at the time. As result their singles were pulled, remixed and delayed. So as you can see the flop of Girl Thing brought a lot of other girlbands down with them....Still what is even more tragic is that they'd recorded a song called Pure & Simple which had been put aside as their 'Whole Again'. But then.. Hear'say grabbed the track for themselves. Their version remains far better and without the straining voices of Noel and Danny....
Tracks: Pure & Simple [mp3], Don't Look Down [mp3], Sometimes You Hit Sometimes You Miss [mp3]
53. SuperSister (UK)
In following the disco hotpants of Atomic Kitten, SuperSister recorded one of the campest songs ever by a girlband, the poptastic anthem Coffee. They managed two singles: the craptastic Shopping & Summer's Gonna Come Around Again which has recently been covered by the Icelandic girlband Nylon. There is an album recorded but sadly(and rather fabtastically) it remains in the very same vaults where Verve demo's gain dust for they shared the same record company.
Tracks: Boyz In The Back Seat [mp3], Coffee [mp3]
54. Made In London (UK)
Following Kylie and Robyn Made in London are one of my favourite all time acts. Sadly their star was destined to remain clouded by record company budgets, errors and misgivings (see girlband no.52 above). Their excellent unreleased RCA/Island album Perfect Storm pre-empted the current shift in pop music from bubblegum to pubrockpop. Indeed, tracks such as 24 Hours and I'm Not wouldnt be out of place on the recent output by McFly, Busted and Kelly Clarkson. Sadly after two singles the album was shelved but that hasnt stopped Cookie, Monrose and Bardot covering them.....
Tracks: Dirty Water-Original version [mp3], Satisfaction [mp3], Shut Your Mouth[mp3], Pull Up To the Bumper [mp3], I'm Not-unreleased [mp3]
55. Precious (UK)
And to the second girlband caught in the crossfire caused by the implosion of Girl Thing. Precious sounded like Britney Spears and looked ever so like they'd make it however so did Solid HarmoniE and we know how that turned out. Despite issues with record companies and volatile friendships within the group Precious achieved great coverage representing the UK for Eurovision, a heady batch of singles with expensive videos, an album release and U.S releases. Still, it didnt work by the fourth single(yes 4th!) and they separated. One of the girls joined some other band and hasnt looked back. Well sort of. Their only album Rewind is pretty ok but does contain some filler. Only the tracks done with Cutfather/Joe in Denmark stand out and the disco anthem Stand Up screams out as the critical tune. If they'd only done this track at Eurovision they might have faired far better....
Track: Stand Up [mp3]
Videos: Rewind [link], Say It Again-US version [link], New Beginning-Live [link], New Beginning [link], Say It Again-Eurovision [link], Its Gonna Be My Way [link]
56. Soluna (US)
Other than band no.47 it would seem that today's batch of girlbands originate out of the UK. Not so. Soluna met at the California Institute of Arts and were signed up by Dreamworks. They consisted of Aurora, America, Jessica and Christina. Recording with club maestro ThunderPuss they set out to be capitalise on the pop waves formed by their Hispanic sister Jennifer Lopez. However much like Atomic Kitten, when the poptastic route failed to deliver they slowed the beats down and released ballads as singles. The result of which meant they only picked up fans when their singles were ironically remixed up and to date they've only ever truly made a dent on that wilderness zone of U.S Dance charts. Tracks like Monday Mi Amor will get any dying party back up and dancing and its a shame the record company pushed the slowies over such brilliant disco extravaganzas.
Tracks: Monday Mi Amor [mp3]
Video: For All Time [link]
57. TSD (UK)
Two years before the British band Steps launched one of their members, Claire Richards, belonged to an equally camp girlgroup TSD. They toured gay clubs, schools, released two singles(that crashed somewhere beyond the lower echelons of the singles chart) and even supported Boyzone & PJ&Duncan. With severe flops behind them they decided to split & Claire returned to her job as a secretary. Their sound was PWL, ABBA on Ice and with little winks to Take That. Shame about the name really...for with a slight of a hand you'd think they were dedicating themselves to the sort of things you'd find in clap clinics.
Tracks: Baby I Love You [mp3], Heart & Soul [mp3]
58. Girls Aloud (UK)
BlogWorld adores Girls Aloud. In fact if it wasnt for the internet the bands' success might have never achieved its post-ironic status that it enjoys today. So I wont bore you with the details, drama, history and so on. They are one of a short number of girlbands who've reached the Greatest Hits stage not to mention that they are, as of yet, one of only 4 "PopStars-products" to have survived beyond such expectations (L5, No Angels and Rouge are the other bands). Well done girls!
Track: Why Do It-new b-side [mp3]
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Places of interest:
TipTopPop is back and looking mighty fine!
Catchy Tunes of Sweden do Christmas!
PosterGirl goes all eclectic...
PaulZapping predicts the future...
PopTrashAddicts justs gets better and better(check out supreme OzPop girl band TeenQueens)
Spark*Pop flashes us with his back....
InternationalHouseofPussy invite you to lick their baubles...
Its been a busy couple of moments
Not only do I have to deal with feedback from my PhD supervisor but theres also that yearly christmas plobbing thats gripped my blood stream. Then my mother moves in for the holiday season. Drama, disaster, drama! Still, I managed to see Robyn and blagged free tickets to the hilarious Pam Ann and bewildering Kiki&Herb (thanks Didi!). Tonight we're off to Carmen at the Royal Opera House and on Wednesday we're at the first night of Matthew Bournes Swan Lake at the Sadler's Wells. Tomorrow the gang will be seeing Mika and Mutya perform on the same stage together at the Reindeer! Can I wait?! NEVER!!!
In-between the craze DSTP will hopefully confer its next batch of girlbands but depending on the levels of alcohol, merriment and mother-son arguements I have no idea when that will be. In the meantime check out Pauls The Zapping, PopPoster Girl and the new fabtastic blog of the season PoptrashAddicts for all ya fills and frills of excellent pop cheese. Also a warm welcome to the new member of Clea and hi to our favourite singer of the year Robyn!
We Interupt the Girlbands with the NEW ROBYN SINGLE: This ones for you!
-She's gone all 60's!!!!!!
-Its nothing like she's ever done before!!!!!! ITS SOOO DIFFERENT!
-I love it!!!!! Its VERY catchy.
-Includes the lyric "I guess I'm here to stay". Too right madam!
-Its released Feb 2007!!!/Conflicting report: I've heard its released today!
-Its a collaboration with FleshQuartet.
-If Dusty Springfield was alive and well I think she might be doing this!
-They've done another album mix and it sounds EVEN better than the radio version!
-Love Machine for '07? Or perhaps Motown? NutBush City Limits? Hey Ya?
-Its a busy couple weeks for Robyn. She potentially has 4 singles coming out (Konichiwa Bitches, With Every Heartbeat, Hey U and This Ones For You)!!!!
NB: As this is released next year...the quality of the track is quite low. As such, its only posted here as a preview to promote the single...Moreover it will be gone by dinner time.
GIRLBANDS FROM 16 to 46!!!!!!!!!
16. Rouge (Brazil)
You know I said only three bands from the PopStars fleet had produced Greatest Hits packages (No Angels, Girls Aloud and this week L5)... well I was wrong. There's 1 more and thats the delightful Brazilian band Rouge. They were the most fun of the PopStars' Girlband regime because they managed to, somehow, bring back the vibe of the Spice Girls. Indeed they became the most successful girlband in South American history sale-wise. Which is pretty impressive considering the pop industry is so big there. They even recorded a number of their songs in Spanish at the height of their success. They produced dolls, toys, merchandise, food and a very lucrative fashion line. In 2002 they released their version of Asereje which was later covered in Spanish by Las Ketchup(whose version actually includes the Rouge girls on backing vocals). Rouge themselves were not prone to covers as they re-did the B*witched debut and some Hear'Say album tracks. Despite huge success right up till their last release they've called it a day but I don't think its the last Brazil will see/hear of Rouge.
Tracks: Popstar [mp3], C'est La Vie(Spanish version) [mp3], Ragatanga [mp3]
17. Miio (Sweden)
Miio have managed to do something quite shocking; they've actually made Girls Wanna Have Fun even more poptastic than the original. Hailing from Sweden, Miio are Josepfine and Mia and have so far released two albums with their latest Fever causing a commotion on my Ipod. If you like Ace Of Base you'll like Miio!
Tracks: Girls Just Wanna Have Fun [mp3], Fantasi [mp3], Once [mp3]
18. Monrose (Germany)
Monrose are the latest girlband from Germany following in the stiletto glories of No Angels and Preluders where the PopStars franchise looks as robust as it did back in the TrueBliss days. The three are just about to release their new album and Shame enters the German charts this week. You can buy their album here and check out their simple but effective official website here for more information. Notice that Shame appears to be a cover of one my all time girlband tracks, The Lie by Clea!
Track: Shame(Radio Edit) [mp3], Work It(B-side) [mp3]
Video: Shame [link]
19. Milk&Honey (Germany)
Milk and Honey just entered the charts this week with this rather brilliant ode to international pop music. Despite being German, the only languages you'll hear on this are Arabic, English and French. Totally camp. So who are they? Anne Ross was from the girlband Preluders (see below) and her bandmate Maneli Falei is a well established world-music singer. They've joined forces to make the some of the most interesting pop music coming out Europe this year.
Track: Habibi [mp3]
Video: Habibi [link]
20. Cosmo4 (Sweden)
So we've returned to Sweden(get use to it!). Cosmo4 have yet to release their album but their singles have all been fabbubbletastic and well worth the shipping costs. I'm not sure whether they've called it a day but we hope not as their music fell on this side of 60's bubblegum pop that we rarely hear around these woods these days. Edit: I said wasnt sure whether Cosmo4 had split up because they havent! They are trying out to represent Sweden this year at Eurovision (thanks Alex). Yay!
Track: Adios Amigos [mp3]
Videos: Peek-a-Boo [link], Mexico [link]
21. EyeQ (Denmark)
DontStopThePop covered EyeQ during our DanskePop season but they were so classy we thought it only right to return to them. Tracks like Be Okay sound ever so close to Kelly Clarkson's move into indiePop that worked so well for her. Sadly EyeQ were before their time and they disbanded. However they did release a brilliant second album from which Be Okay was the title track and needs as much attention as they truly deserve. As girlbands go, EyeQ's kinky lyrics and excellent melodies make them very special. Check out their interesting take on their "girlband-grannies" key track We Are Family for proof of their rather leftfield (for a PopStars group) attitude. No cut-run disco cover for EyeQ....
Tracks: We Are Family(bonus Track) [mp3], Be Okay [mp3], Let The Record Spin [mp3]
22. Caracola (Sweden)
Now to a Swedish girlband that hasn't disbanded! Caracola are very now and doing rather well in their native country. I hope and pray they secure some kind of English album. Hell, if Miio can record an English album on the back of their monster of chart history then Caracola can! Thanks to some very cute special fairies we've had a little listen to a track they've done in English and, despite being work in progress, I hope they throw caution to the wind and follow their hearts cos what I heard was magic! Bring on summer 07!
Track: Summarnatt [mp3]
23. Samajona (Germany)
It would seem that todays journey into girlband zips from Stockholm to Berlin. Thats because Sweden-Germany love their girlbands and for this we love 'em! Samajona, like Caracola, have no TV show to support them which could explain why the band have sadly come stuck. Still, they released two excellent pop albums that can be placed somewhere in-between Solid HarmoniE and No Angels. The English lyrics to Take Me To The Top are so dirty they make me either think of a male pornstar or a BratWurst.
Track: Take Me To The Top [mp3]
Video: Wird Es Heute Passieren [link]
24. NG3 (Sweden)
Cutting back to Sweden, if you got hot under your cover over Samajona's lyrics prepare to get all sexually educated with this rather fantastic girlband. NG3 push aside the red-faced double meanings and go straight to the point. Holler contains the timeless lyric "don't be silly put a condom on ya willy" and for this alone NG3 have gone into DontStopthePop Hall of Fame. However as you'll hear on Holler, which is no relation to the Spice Girl song, they then have that high pitched "heeeee" that we most know as Bo Selecta's tribute to Michael Jackson. Well this band did it first. The girls released one brilliant album, As Nasty As We Wanna Be, which was the album that the Spice Girls should have released instead of Forever. This was the first 'adult' girlband aimed not to teenage girls but to 23 year olds who knew about Bombay rolls and remembered Kylie when she was Neighbours and a world without reality TV.
Track: Holler [mp3]
Videos: Tell Me [link], The Anthem [link]
25. YooMii (Germany)
From an adult girlband to Yoomii who probably recall Atomic Kitten before they got all boring (when Kerry was still in the band basically). Or, alternatively you could say Yoomii are related to Aqua or are the little sisters of Caracola. Their album, Here We Are, is a database of poptastic Euromusic and, as such, a perfect 'getting-ready-to-go-out' soundtrack. YooMii are pretty big in their native Germany where they've just released a DVD-movie to cash-in on the christmas market.
Track: Party Girl [mp3]
26. Girlband (Australia)
So to our second stray out of Europe. Girlband can be described as the book-end to a, er, girlband history in Australia that started from GirlFriend to Bardot to Young Divas—we could have made an issue of the aforementioned band but seeing as they are all over the internet DontStopthePop felt it better to cover the real last chapter of girlbands in Australia: Girlband. Check out their NZ brotherband, er, Boyband. Unlike Boyband (our favourite has to be the "gay boi") however there isn't an ounce of irony in the Girlband machine. They are serious about being a girlband. Which is good. But will it work? Girlband have only completed one song and appear to be testing the waters before they embark on releasing an album. Time will tell but their British sisterband, Frank, failed to get beyond the release of their sole album. Hopefully the future for Girlband shines brighter...
Track: Party Girl [mp3]
Excellent Essay on the Genealogy of Girlbands on Australia & beyond [link]
27. Soccx (Germany)
Flying back to Europe, Soccx are yet another up n coming pop group. So far the music is very strong. Two nights ago they previewed some of their material and tracks such as Scream Out Loud and Bye Bye Baby demand to be released. If you want to place them put them in-between the PussyCat Dolls, P!nk and Dannii Minogue. They are on the cuff of releasing a new album which is pretty exciting as the five look like the poppiest act since Spice Girls.
Track: Get The Party Started(from dusk till dawn) [mp3]
Video: Get The Party Started(from dusk till dawn) [link]
28. Graaf-Sweden
Graaf are a sister-band who released lots of europop music that was sadly lost amongst the ATC's, Milk Inc's and Aqua's. Some said the music was out of place while others argued the level of incest simply crossed that "moral line". Indeed FHM many a time included naked images of the girls spraying each other with garden tools and in "arty-farty" shoots that just happened have them both in that erotic-but-dead-inside look we all attribute to PlayBoy and Hustler. Whatever. Their videos generally included soldiers and men being dominated which makes Graaf a very special girlband. One of the sisters recently tried out for Eurovision but was sadly rebuffed as the entry stage. Funnily enough, Hannah Graaf's appearance and presentation of her song, Naughty Boy, preempted the current 1930's/40's love-in heralded by diva's Amy WineSoaked and Christina Aguilera. This just goes to show that those Swedish are always ahead of the game. Unlike their Nordic cousins......
Track: Give It Up [mp3]
Video: Naughty Boy-Live(Hannah Graaf) [link], Never Never [link], You Got [link]
29. NyLon (Iceland)
NyLon could be the one and only girlband to hail from the country that was named after a cheapo food store that is currently promoted by, amazingly, Kerry Katona of Atomic Kitten. Nylon are huge in Iceland but sadly their attempts of U.K success fell this side of Clea, Jenny Frost and Lisa Scott-Lee. This is probably because they sounded like the female Westlife and so became stuck. In a last, but rather botched, plan to retrieve something out of their U.K soirée Nylon released their version of Sweet Dreams. Thing is it sounded like an Almighty cover and radio ignored it. The album has been shelved (for Feb 2007) but not in their native Iceland where the four have received a hero's welcome-home. Odd Fact: the album includes a cover of SuperSister's last single Summer's Gonna Come Again.
Track: Sweet Dreams [mp3]
Videos: Losing A Friend [link], Summer's Gonna Come Again(Supersister original) [link]
30. Nylon Beat (Finland)
Not to be confused with their Icelandic sisters, this band of two were a result of a TV show somewhat like Popstars but circa 1995. They started out pretty pop when they were just 16 and by 2006 they'd released over 30 singles and over ten albums (two of which are in English). Their videos included Finnish Eurovision winners Lordi and excellent parodies of American soap operas. As you will see one of their first hits includes them playing around in toilets ala Sugababes in Easy. Also note in that particular video they snap the hand of one of their suitors. Moreover check out the young mans erection, the camptastic dancing and the blonde boy who sleeps with his dolly. Girlband gold.
Tracks: Syyton [mp3],Teflon Love [mp3]
Videos: Teflon Love [link], Anna Mule [link]
31. Queens (Poland)
Going south of Finland we find ourselves in Poland with the very camptastic girlband Queens. Despite having spots of success with their debut album, Made For Dancing, the girls recently lost two of their members, Pat & Agnies, and have lost the rights to release a track that was supposedly going to break them in the international market (it's now been given to, gulp, Danity Kane). Still, Queens are set to release their second album, We Are The Queens, with two new members Julia and Sylvia. This means that Monika remains to be the only original member. Sugababes anyone?
Tracks: Everybody Loves The Sunshine [mp3], Od-A-Do-Zet [mp3]
Video: Everybody Loves The Sunshine [link]
32. Popsie (Sweden)
In 1996 Popsie formed however Zandra, Angelica, Kat and Cecilia only secured a record deal a whole year later. In a short space of 12 months the girls released a number of singles and one excellent album that has pretty much gone down in girlband history as pop history gold. Sadly however, despite such classics as Single, Rough Enough and the Spice Girls-anthem-that-never-was I'm Not Your Property they vanished without a trace.
Tracks: Dump the Zero(Get A Hero) [mp3], Latin Lover [mp3]
Video: Rough Enough [link]
33. Via Gra (Ukraine)
Not to be confused with the erection drug of the similar spelling, Via Gra have swept through their home country and are making waves in Russia. In a similar Sugababes/Queens fare Via Gra, despite excellent sales, constantly swap and change their frontline. They now perform with only one original member(Vera) but all those who've since gone solo have all had great careers out of the band. As you will see if you check out the video for Brillianti Via Gra are camp as a make-up artist backstage at Eurovision..
Track: Biology [mp3]
Video: Brillianti [link]
34. Preluders (Germany)
The Preluders were the girlband to improve on the mighty mighty No Angels but sadly it t'was a mountain too high to climb and they fell apart at the seams (indeed, they lost member after member from quintet to trio to duo in two short years), and it had started ever so well. Their first single was a cover of Losing My Religion sold exclusively at McDonald's. Following on from that, their stunning 'proper' debut single Everyday Girl landed in at no.1 in Germany which is a huge achievement seeing as the country is the biggest market music-wise in Europe. Their album, Girls in The House obtained platinum status, however second single, Bal Privee, limped to number 24 and future single releases from the album were canned. Perhaps they peaked too fast and too early as their follow-up singles and album (an ill-informed covers collection) all flopped. At the moment of breach they lost a member, ala Kym Marsh you might argue, but Tertia had to leave the band after a car accident. Then both Rebecca & Anne left the group leaving the remaining duo to wrangle out of record company conflicts and emotional issues. However by June 2006 things were on the up and the Preluders were back with a new deal and a new girl. I Want Your T.I.M.E suddenly became a girlband classic and a true return to form. However, the German people made sure the girls were shown the door when it entered the charts at a hefty no.91. However this hasn't stopped the band and they plan to release their 3rd album for 2007.
Tracks: I Want Your T.I.M.E [mp3], Last Christmas [mp3], Losing My Religion [mp3]
Video: Everyday Girl [link]
35. Smoke2Seven (UK)
This rather brilliant trio had tons of money thrown at them. Their videos rivaled the quality of American acts but the charts refused to take yet another girlband. The UK charts have never truly been kind to girlbands. Yes you might argue that we've got Sugababes, Girls Aloud, Spice Girls, All Saints, Atomic Kitten and so on. However both All Saints and Sugababes flopped first time round, Girls Aloud have poor chart placings with excellent tracks and Atomic Kitten were saved by a malty ballad. For every Spice Girls you've also got Smoke2Seven and what separates flop and success isnt always clear as you'll hear Smoke2Seven pisses all over some of the turds released by Spice Girls and All Saints(Mama anyone?). Don't ya think the one at the bottom of the picture looks like a young Amy Winehouse.........??!!
Track: Been There Done That [mp3]
Video: Envy [link]
36. Lollipop (Italy)
Lollipop were the product of the Italian season of PopStars in 2001 and they were absolutely huge. Their first album spawned a remix album that received equal gigantic sales. After touring and breaking the girls dusted themselves off and released Together in 2004. However this was three years later and the album barely dented the Italian charts. In fact it didnt even enter the top 75 (it charted at no.80 which probably means it sold about 2 records). As such its very rare these days. Interestedly it steals original idea of the 3rd Spice Girls album by splitting the album between solo material and group work. Thus, its probably the most versatile album to be released by PopStar act. Not only does each girl write her song, but no female dominates on vocals which makes Together a very special girlband album. As you'll hear on the two tracks presented today they couldnt be more opposed to each other in style and feel...The group fell apart and Dominque is now in the finals of the French Pop Idol.
Tracks: Sunshine [mp3], Love Is Gonna Change [mp3]
Videos: Batte Forte [link], Down Down Down [link]
37. Antilook (Portugal)
Antilook were basically a sophisticated take on Spice Girls before the Spice Girls came to be. They were signed as early as 1996 but they wouldnt launch until 1997 but boy did they "go large" when their debut single, Refugio, came out in 1998. There were rumours that they would release their very successful album in the U.S and Brazil but sadly the hybrid album of Portugese-English was delayed and eventually shelved after Sony got cold feet.
Track: Refugio [mp3]
38. Reflex (Russia)
Although Reflex might not the best name for a girlband, they are the best thing to come out of Russia since vodka. It certainly helps that they've grabbed some of the finest Dj's/producers that Sweden has to offer. Despite losing a bandmember, this girlband have money behind it and some of their videos have the kind of special effects that rivals movies like The Matrix. Some of their performances also include a certain sappho-chic to it, like Tatu, which I've always seen as odd because of Russia's ardent criminalisation of homosexuality. Again, another girlband that hasnt disbanded and going stronger and stronger. They've left the bubblegum europop and have entered into a rather interesting realm of serious-pop which has taken their sales into multi-million territory. Its no wonder then as to why the sales of Clea-when-they-were-serious were so huge in Russia....I highly recommend you listen to the stunning ballad Ye Nabo Razbila
Track: I Can't Live Without You, [mp3], Ye Nabo Razbila [mp3]
39. LilyJets (Norway)
LilyJets can rightfully state to be be the first band since A-Ha to break out of the domestic market and into the rest of world. They consist of three; Lis, Kine & Tinki who holds the award for having the best name in girlbands, like, Ever! LilyJets released their first single this year after 5 years of rehearsing, testing and working with ideas and sounds. The result has resulted in some rip-roaring rockpop material that has led them to success in Sweden and Germany. There are rumors that after they are done with touring Europe they will return to the U.S and release something there.
Track: Going Blind [mp3]
40. SheBang (Sweden)
Staying in the same region and sound, She-Bang are more pop than a can of BubbleGum(remember they used to sell that?). Do not confuse them with that other rocky girlband, SheDaisy(even tho they've both released 1 album with the same name..). The bands' sound is bright, fun and made for getting you to move regardless of your ability to dance. Their attitude recalls some early Shampoo and if you liked 21st Century Girls you'll love SheBang.
Track: Temple Of Love [mp3]
41. Blog27 (Poland)
So I only found out about this particular girlband through the Jessica's excellent blogs DirrtyPop/IntoTheGroove and ever since, I've been following the duo ever so closely. Not only did they cover (and improve) Italian europop hits but also brought the music of TeddyBears to a much younger audience than one would expect. Sadly, Ala left the band only last month and joined a more gothpunk outfit ready to conquer Poland early next year. She cited the reason for leaving was because of the attention the record company and media gave her fellow bandmember. The remaining member, one Tula Sziagowska, is due to release the next Blog27 record early next year too and certain industry insiders believe that the single will be released simultaneously in true pop-clash-war-conflict style. I want to say "hurrah!" here but I've got a feeling that this will all end in tears.
Track: Uh La La La [mp3]
42. Afro-Dite (Sweden)
Afro-Dite are Swedens excellent answer to Destiny's Child. Their Never Let It go (originally given to Alcazar) was a highlight of Eurovision in Tallinn and I was quite surprised when Sweden came in so badly. Many have said if an all white Alcazar had performed it Sweden would have won. As you can see for yourself the Afro-Dite girls completely out-class the others there. More, when you see what actually won you can understand why many felt something illegitimate was going on. Wikipedia states that they went their separate ways but nothing could be further from the truth. The girls released probably the disco album of 2002 and tried once again to enter Eurovision with yet another discotastic track Aqua Playa. The girls then shelved the band and pursued their careers in TV and music with variable success. They are planning to return with a new album for 2007.
Tracks: Back On My Feet [mp3], Aqua Playa [mp3]
Videos: Bang-a-Boomerang Live (Shirley Clamp & Blosssom) [link], Never Let it Go Live [link]
43. Excellence (Sweden)
Staying in Sweden, we come to their version of No Angels and because they are Swedish the level of poptasticivity is taken to a level not seen since in PopStars/PopIdol history. They released five top 10 singles and the ultra boogielicious Region of Excellence album which sold enough to to secure a future in the music industry (it went to no.1). However rather than following their European PopStars sisters (L5, No Angels and Girls Aloud) Excellence went down the TrueBliss/Hear'Say trajectory and cut loose once the album was released. Well not really. They lost 1 member, Joanna, and regrouped to release the brilliant We Can Dance that would be later "covered" by the British rapper Verbalicious on her unreleased epic album Verbal Issues. You might not know this but one member, Ana, secured global success with her rock anthem We Are which was the theme to the second outing of the Spider-Man movie franchise.
Track: We Can Dance [mp3]
Video: Need To Know [link]
Video: Need To Know (drag performance from New Zealand, 2006) [link]
44. Mach4 (Netherlands)
This poptastic Dutch band were dubbed as the next big Spice Girls. Vocally and soundwise you can clearly hear the reasons for such conclusions. One Step sounds like a sublime hybrid of Wannabe and Say You'll Be There. Theres even a lil' Mel B-ilk rap in the middle of the affair.
The intimacy between the two bands can be traced back to the fact Sony had Mach4 primed to rival the Spice Girls who came from the world of EMI/Virgin. Sadly, the plan was foiled by the release of Spice Up Your Life which was yet another resetting of the lines and made One Step sound very dated. One could make a point of the repeated lyric "one step back" but I wont. Neither will I jest about the title of the follow-up single Beginning of The End. Tails tucked between the legs Sony moved on and forgot Mach4 ever existed which explains the utter dearth of information on the group online.
Track: One Step [mp3]
45. Feminnem (Bosnia & Herzegovina/Croatia)
This band are off the richter scale of camp! Seriously, no girlband does camp pop like Feminnem. Feminnem are the Yugoslavian equivalent to Clea/LibertyX as they consist of members who didnt the make the final band. Yet, as you'll hear on the epic pop classic Klasika they're the ones with the career. Last year they caused quite a frenzy when they represented their country at the European Song Contest with their ABBA-tastic Call Me which as in fact about life in, er, Eurovision/ABBA-Land! Despite having one of the best pop videos of any Eurovision-check out the "hallo Copenhagen" bit-act they crashed in at no.14. Klasika was one of the best songs we heard last year. And IT IS CAMP. REALLY CAMP! If you thought Your Disco Needs You/Go West were camp this discostruts them into oblivion. The second track on offer today is just as discoTastic and will get fans of BwO/Alcazar sweating into their hotpants and fake Farrah bangs. The Feminnem Show was probably the disco album of 2005 and so I highly recommend you track it down.
Tracks: Klasika [mp3], 2 Scra 1 Ljubav [mp3]
Video: Call Me [link]
46. Tears (Switzerland)
The Swiss music industry is generally quite small and eclipsed by the mighty German music scene. However now and then it will surprise you and the girlband Tears sole album is much better than their Germanic sisters No Angels debut. They were the product of the Swiss attempt of PopStars and they swept through the nation of three languages like wildFire. They consisted of Evelyn, Tiffany, Romina and Amanda. Despite such classics as M.u.s.i.c and Dreamin' the girls seperated only weeks after releasing their 3rd single Ca Plane Pour Moi which was used in many a car advert. I highly recommend their debut(and only) album En Rouge...
Track: Ca Plane Pour Moi [mp3]
Videos: M.U.S.I.C [link], Ca Plane Pour Moi [link]
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Some words: Nearly every country in Europe was covered in this rather large update(every Nordic country was covered which might be a first!). Due to its size the next update on girlbands will be mid-December. However it will feature more international girlbands and will unearth some 80's and early 90's groups. This post was heavy on bands from the PopStars TV backdrop which some might have argued has actually destroyed the genre of "girlband" but as Girls Aloud and the very new Monrose illustrate this might not be the case.
The music in the previous 1-15 girlbands post will be removed this tuesday so act fast and check out the sounds asap. Naturally all the info here is posted to tempt you to do your bit for feminism and invest in some of the cds (you can find all the world online music stores on this very site..)
Come Back Robyn!
As soon as possible! You rocked Notting Hill and Hoxton(picture above). Both were brilliant but short so return whenever you can. I'm sure the we'll keep da fire burning for ya!
Okay so in other news, DSTP will return to our girlbands tomorrow & we've gained 2 very fabulous contributers..........................
