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Girls Aloud are a British girl group created on ITV1 talent show Popstars: The Rivals in 2002. The group, consisting of Cheryl Cole, Nadine Coyle, Sarah Harding, Nicola Roberts and Kimberley Walsh, has gone on to become one of the most successful pop groups of its era, with fourteen top 10 singles in the UK Singles Chart (including two number ones), and four albums (one of which reached number one in the UK Albums Chart) and record sales in excess of 3.5 million. Girls Aloud hold the record for the shortest time between forming and hitting the top of the UK Charts and since then they have been one of the few reality television groups to have had continued success, Guinness World Records listing them in 2007 as the Most Successful Reality TV Group. Their record is also unmatched by other girl groups: beating the Spice Girls' record both in terms of Top 10 and Top 5 singles.
For a contemporary pop group manufactured on reality television they have received unprecedented praise from broadsheet newspapers and the rock music press, with publications including the Observer Music Monthly, [1] [2] and the NME [3] giving their music rave reviews.
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 with Big Brother presenter Davina McCall taking the contestants through the auditions and the shows each week.; 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 (in order) Cheryl Tweedy, Nicola Roberts, Nadine Coyle, Kimberley Walsh, and Sarah Harding, with Javine Hylton missing out on a place in the band. They called themselves Girls Aloud and were managed by Louis Walsh (and Hilary Shaw from 2005). The runners up, a boy band called 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
2002-2003: 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.
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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 into 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 tracks "You Freak Me Out" (which appeared on the soundtrack of Freaky Friday) and "Girls On Film" (a cover of a Duran Duran song). "You Freak Me Out" 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 second release.
In the last week of December 2006, almost three years on, the album re-entered the top 75 selling about 9,800 copies.
2004-2005: 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.
Follow up release "Love Machine" also peaked at #2 in September 2004. They became the first girl group since the Spice Girls to achieve six consecutive Top 3 singles in the UK. "Love Machine" was nominated for ITV's Record Of The Year and finished in 6th place. "Love Machine" went on to be used in a television advert for Homebase.
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Their seventh single, a cover of The Pretenders' hit "I'll Stand by You," reached the number-one position on the UK Singles Chart in November 2004, and stayed there for two 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?" was released on November 29 2004 and entered the album charts at number-six. The album, featured the production and song writing skills from Xenomania. 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 its first month of sale, thus going Platinum.
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 eighth top-five single.
2005-2006: Chemistry
After a short break following their first tour, the girls began work on their third album. The first single to be released from "Chemistry" was "Long Hot Summer" in August 2005 and charted at number-seven, ending their consecutive Top 5 run but continuing their unbroken run of Top ten singles. The single that launched their third album was "Biology." It entered the UK charts at number-four in November 2005 and equalled the Spice Girls record of ten consecutive Top ten singles in the UK.
Their third studio album chemistry was released on December 5 2005. It features "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. The album peaked on the charts at number-eleven; it eventually went platinum and has currently sold over 350,000 copies in total.
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Their cover of Dee C. Lee's "See The Day," released in the Christmas week, charted at number-nine. "See the Day" became Girls Aloud's biggest hit on Radio Airplay since "Sound Of The Underground," peaking at number-six.
Girls Aloud released their debut DVD Girls On Film in June 2005, featuring the first eight music videos & TV performances. It peaked at number-five on the DVD Music chart. This was followed by What Will The Neighbours Say? Live DVD in November 2005, which reached number-six.
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 became the 4th highest 'download only' entry at number-eighty. The week after it officially debuted at number-six - as the number-eighty 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.
In May 2006, Girls Aloud were moved in Fascination Records a sub-label by Polydor Records, 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 (6th), Sarah (15th), Nadine (55th), Kimberley (66th) and Nicola (84th). 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. Girls Aloud also 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 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.
2006-present: The Sound of Girls Aloud
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 November 5 2006 debuted at number one on the UK album chart and after only 8 weeks has become the group's biggest selling album to date. The album was also released with the twin CD limited edition, which has now become a highly priced collectors item.
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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. Girls Aloud became the first British act to enter the Top 10 purely based on download sales with "Something Kinda Ooooh" entering at number-five. On its second week of release the single climbed two places to number-three on the chart. The single was initially a favourite to beat all other competition to the coveted Number 1 position, but was beaten by McFly's single "Star Girl"
The next single "I Think We're Alone Now", a #1 hit in 1988 for Tiffany, was the 3rd time the group enter the Christmas chart battle. The single charted at number-fifty on downloads alone, based on downloads of the album version only. It then climbed to number-four, making it Girls Aloud's fourteenth consecutive Top 10 and eleventh Top 5 - more than any other girl group in UK chart history. The song is the official theme of the movie It's a Boy Girl Thing.
Girls Aloud have collaborated with the Sugababes on their next single, a cover of the song "Walk This Way" by Aerosmith, later re-made by Run D.M.C.. The track will be released on March 12th 2007 as the official single for Comic Relief, credited as 'Girls Aloud vs. Sugababes'.
The Popjustice £20 Music Prize is awarded every year by a panel of judges (or sometimes a public vote) to the best British single of the last 12 months. The competition has been running for four years. Girls Aloud have been nominated every year, and have won it three times.
- 2003 "No Good Advice" - Won
- 2004 "The Show - Shortlisted
- 2005 "Wake Me Up" - Won
- 2006 "Biology" - Won
Non-musical aspects
Cheryl Tweedy's conviction
On 20 October 2003 band member Cheryl Tweedy was convicted of assaulting part-time law student Sophie Amogbokpa, who was working as 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". 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 dating Jesse Metcalfe of Desperate Housewives. Sarah was rumoured to be seeing Stephen Dorff, but she is currently dating Daily Star writer Joe Mott.
Lord Don't Slow Me Down
Girls Aloud make a brief appearance in the Oasis rockumentary film Lord Don't Slow Me Down, set to be released in 2007. Liam Gallagher spots the girls in the corner of a studio during an Oasis photshoot, gleefully utters "Is that fucking Girls Aloud over there?" and then invites them to a gig, with Sarah doing most of the talking, and Nicola looking distinctly shy.
Noel Gallagher declines to join in the conversation with his brother and whether Girls Aloud actually turned up at the Oasis gig is not seen in the film.
Television appearances
- On 25 August 2006 the girls presented the season finale of The Friday Night Project as the guest hosts, on Channel 4.
Discography
Albums
| Year | Album | UK | UK sales | UK certificate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Sound of the Underground | 2 | 340,000 | Platinum |
| 2004 | What Will the Neighbours Say? | 6 | 570,000 | 2x Platinum |
| 2005 | Chemistry | 11 | 360,000 | Platinum |
| 2006 | The Sound of Girls Aloud | 1 | 710,000+ | 2x Platinum |
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), Poland (PL) and Japan. (JP)
| Year | Title | Album | Chart positions | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK | IRE | AUS | GR | PL | JP | ||||||
| 2002 | "Sound of the Underground" | Sound of the Underground | 1 | 1 | 31 | 8 | 27 | 50 | |||
| 2003 | "No Good Advice" | 2 | 2 | 88 | 4 | 43 | - | ||||
| "Life Got Cold" | 3 | 2 | - | 3 | 32 | - | |||||
| "Jump" | Sound of the Underground (re-issue)/What Will the Neighbours Say? | 2 | 2 | 23 | 2 | 16 | 34 | ||||
| 2004 | "The Show" | What Will the Neighbours Say? | 2 | 5 | 67 | 1 | 97 | 118 | |||
| "Love Machine" | 2 | 2 | - | 42 | 88 | - | |||||
| "I'll Stand by You" | 1 | 3 | - | 5 | 51 | - | |||||
| 2005 | "Wake Me Up" | 4 | 6 | - | 15 | 12 | - | ||||
| "Long Hot Summer" | Chemistry | 7 | 16 | - | 30 | 90 | - | ||||
| "Biology" | 4 | 7 | 26 | 12 | 66 | 98 | |||||
| "See the Day" | 9 | 14 | - | 42 | 17 | - | |||||
| 2006 | "Whole Lotta History" | 6 | 18 | - | 32 | 76 | - | ||||
| "Something Kinda Ooooh" | The Sound of Girls Aloud | 3 | 7 | - | - | 37 | 24 | ||||
| "I Think We're Alone Now" | 4 | 11 | - | - | - | - | |||||
| 2007 | "Walk This Way" with Sugababes | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | |||
Tours
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
External links