Happy Christmases from the Babes past and present

Here are the Sugababes on Christmas Day this year...



An interesting performance as you can see Jade taking over the "soul" role from Keisha. However the quality of the vocals is different.

And here they are three years ago doing White Christmas on the Charlotte Church show...

Sweet 7 - the original!

Here is one of the "leaked" tracks from the original Sweet 7. It turns out a demo had been circulated, maybe to some radio stations, before the album was pulled to record Jade Ewen's vocals.

What to make of it?

Already, even with Keisha singing - and doesn't she put some life into this song! - it's like a ghost, a shadow of the Sugababes. The album is heavily influenced by US urban hip-hop. That's quite a long way from the dance music that created Freak Like Me and Round Round, let along Overload. The good news is the songs are half-way decent - Keisha shines on this one so it will be interesting to see what Jade makes of it. There are five tracks in circulation, including About A Girl.

The tracks to look for are: About A Girl, Miss Everything (with Sean Kingston), Wear My Kiss, Wait for You, Thank You for the Heartbreak

Keisha and Mutya may duet

Keisha Buchanan has been talking about a collaboration with her original play-ground singing buddy, Mutya Buena, on her new album. Let's hope they get the bug and duet on a great song, which will make a great single for the "Original Sugababes"!

Here are the tweets which set out her hopes:

"@Jay_JayLondon I'll hopefully be working with mutya on my album! Lets see if i can get her attention 4 3 seconds first lol She's a busy beex
7:36 AM Nov 23rd from web in reply to Jay_JayLondon

I'm talking about the original line up by the way ;-) xxx
3:27 PM Nov 17th from TwitterBerry

:) I'm not re-forming the sugababes. We've spoken & I'm pleased they've lent me their support & vice versa. But we're 100% NOT reforming xxx"

Sweet7 delayed

From sugababes.com:

"'Sweet 7' OUT 08.03.10

We just wanted to confirm for you that the release date for the Sugababes' upcoming album ‘Sweet 7’ has changed. The album will now be coming to you on March 8th 2010."

Possible reasons:

• re-recording Keisha's parts and remixing with Jade Ewen's;
• Amelle Berrerah's indisposition;
• marketing sense.

Oh, to get a copy of the album with Keisha's original vocals.

Best Sugababe album tracks

Most pop bands are only remembered for their singles. The Sugababes are a band that has made great albums, from start to finish. You could find songs on their albums, beautifully written, sang and produced that never rated a video but in some cases became gig favourites.

These are the tracks, never released as singles, that stand out to me. :
from Angels with Dirty Faces:
Virgin Sexy
Breathin' Easy
from Taller in More Ways:
Ace Reject
Better
from Overloaded:
Good to be Gone
from Change:
Back When
3 Spoons of Suga

What do you think? What are your favourite album tracks?

Notice I've only drawn from four albums. On One Touch, Three and Catfights it's a little harder to pull out songs that really stand out.

My favourites from these would be:
One Touch
look at me
real thing
Three
We could have it all
Conversation's Over
Catfights
Every heart broken
Can we call a truce

These are personal choices. Judging by the songs the band performed live, their own choices would be:
One Touch
One Touch
promises
one foot in
Three
Whatever makes you happy
Situation's heavy
Buster
Catfights
Hanging on a Star
Every Heart Broken
She's like a star

Talking reunion!

Meanwhile there's talk of the original first ever Sugababes reforming!

Mutya Buena has apparently met Siobhan Donaghy. Here's the MTV report.

I wonder what they would perform as? Mutya, Keisha & Siobhan would be good enough. There were all sorts of gags going around about what the new Sugababes should really be called - I liked Nutrababes.

The reformed band would be a serious affair - how about Babes No More ?

About A Girl - new video

Here's the video of About a Girl. Actually it's the best video that's been made with the band for a long time. It pays tribute to the classic hip hop scenario. The song isn't too bad in spite of the American intonations, jettisoning what little that was left of the band's distinctive sound. It all could have been so good...

Who are the legal Sugababes?

As predicted, the lawyers have had to get busy to try to seal the Sugababes' line-up changes. Officially it's being stated that Jade Ewen hasn't yet signed her contract and as a result the new band has had to pull out of a gig.

Pop stars are notoriously reliant on their managers - and vulnerable to them - in protecting their rights. But sometimes managers miss a trick and sometimes stars do something clever. The past few decades have seen many legal battles in the courts over the rights to names of different bands.

So who does own the name? There's an added complication that Keisha Buchanan is listed as a co-writer on a great many songs - possibly including those on Sweet7. Asked about this on Twitter, Keisha has replied:
"maybe;-) lol but im all about staying positive. That would be so mean & bitter, im not like that:-) Good luck to em i say"

Keisha reputedly signed a deal in which she agreed to leave the band and in return was given a solo contract with Island Records and possibly an additional pay-off. So the odds are she has already signed away all her rights to the band's name. Did Mutya and Siobhan do the same?

A classic Sugababes performance

This was that performance of Breathin' Easy at Glastonbury with, what is now, the classic line-up of Keisha, Mutya and Heidi. The song was a brilliant ode to youthful friendship - and, listening to it now, replete with irony - tucked away at the end of the Angels with Dirty Faces album. Although it's a classic song, it prefigured the direction in which the band went, moving away from dance tracks to ballads and close harmonies and culminating in the sound of Change.

Mutya - Falling

Here is the video for Mutya Buena's new single Falling, out today, produced with Agent X and Ultra. Very electro and, although there's quite a lot of Mutya, she's not especially vocally challenged on this one.

The first smile...

This may have been the moment when a Sugababe first smiled...it was Keisha. It came during the Top of the Pops performance of Caught in a Moment. The single was not a great success but it's a great song and this was a great performance by Keisha, Heidi and Mutya. I haven't been able to find it on YouTube anywhere so have uploaded this clip. The smile comes at the end.

Keisha lets rip -

No, not on Twitter! This is a great video compilation posted on youtube some months ago by a fan, including a clip from the Sound of Goodbye from Catfights. It's entitled Keisha's high notes - but really it just highlights the strength of the ex-Sugababes' voice and, also, the way it has developed over the last decade.

Aint it crazy how you think you've got your whole life planned
only to find out it was never in your hands
(Change)

Keisha, Mutya, Heidi - it's official!

Spotted on Google this week - the link to the official Sugababes' web-site. Members? Keisha, Mutya and Heidi. We wish! Someone needs to get their meta-tags sorted out.

Will the real Sugababes please stand up...

Here's a great commentary by the guy from popjustice.com, posted by The Guardian newspaper .

"Sugababes made pop whose values and attitudes were strong enough to inadvertently create a brand. Theirs was smart, British, soulful pop, occasionally arty but always melodic, lush and a cut above most of the rest.

....
Today the Sugababes don't exist as a band, and after Get Sexy they don't really exist as a sound either. If this new girl group before us today is to have any future at all, and Ewen, Berrabah and Range do actually make a great three-piece, it must find a new name. Sugababes died when Buchanan left."

The difference

Siobhan walked, Mutya walked, Keisha was sacked to all intents and purposes. I wonder who actually has the copyright on the name...I can see legal action coming up.

This is a link to the photoshoot with the new line-up. Look at Heidi's body language. And, yes, the pictures and the poses are seriously demeaning.

Mutya's Buena's come out fighting - and as it happens she has a new single "fallin".

She's said some sensible things: like, why on earth has Heidi Guest stuck around? You can find her thoughts on Twitter. And that she's definitely interesting in reforming the Sugababes. Not clear whether it's with Heidi or Siobhan or both.

She says: It all started so innocently...a love for music and a dream...look what its become. RIP

She's also been heard talking about reforming the band. Check out this interview here...skip the yukky bits about plastic surgery, which occupy the first three minutes. I like the idea of the reformed band the "Sugawomen"!

Keisha walks

Keisha Buchanan has gone and the Sugababes in any recognisable form are no more. I speculated how Jade Ewan would fit in with Keisha and Heidi. The faceless managers running things appear also to have considered that - and demanded Keisha go rather than Amelle. It is a tragedy.

To my mind the challenge now is to see a band producing distinctive music worthy of the name Sugababes. Sweet7 - which should be renamed Bittersweet7 - started badly with Get Sexy and was shafted by its own producers. The others songs we've heard seem decent but not necessarily much better than we heard on Catfights.And will it be rerecorded?

This must now be the band's last album. Then they can all make friends again and we can look forward to that great reunion in the 02 stadium.

Bitter-sweet 7

Will the new album be renamed Bitter-Sweet 7 ?

Siobahn's new music

Really interesting interview here with Siobahn Donaghy, who is about to produce a new album, it seems. Siobahn has produced some really interesting music since quitting the band in her teens. It's a shame she's still quite sour but a sunny personality isn't necessarily the mark of an artistic temperament.

Nevertheless the interview has a lot of fascinating back-story. And Siobahn is quite clear that artistically she could not have stayed with the band in the way it developed.

If the Sugababes are hitting the headlines, lets hope some of this spills over and draws attention to Siobahn's work.

The new Sugababe?

This is Jade Ewan, said to have been recruited as the new Sugababe, with a new single of her own just out. She did well for Britain in the Eurovision song contest with a poor song It's My Time. But I liked her when she was selected and she'll make the babes into a kind of female super-group. The only pity is that one of the band's unique features has been a unique kind of cosmopolitanism, drawing on vocal genes from different corners of the globe.

Rock bands always changed line-ups routinely so why on earth can't a talented female vocal group like this!

And then there were six....

Looks like Amelle Berrabah has stepped down.

Now there will be six in the reunion band. Soon it will be a choir.

At a guess, having her own number one went to Amelle's head a little. Sad.

Number 2!

Mixed feelings about Get Sexy coming in at number 2 in the UK charts. The track's been growing on me - it's a good mix, if not much of a song. I said I was worried about that Jay-Z. Clearly his new proteges don't mean a lot to him. The girls didn't have a chance against a track released by the superstar combo of Rihanna, Kanye West and Jay-Z.

The good news is that the album, apparently titled Sweet7, doesn't come out until November. That means About a Girl will also have a chance of hitting the number 1 slot.

About You Now - Snow Patrol

Here's Snow Patrol performing a live, acoustic cover of About You Now. The musicianship is great, not sure about the singing...



And here's the Sugababes performing a live, acoustic version of About You Now. The slow, acoustic version of the song at the end of Catfights and Spotlights was one of the highlights of the album. I think this performance predates that version as the girls are still trying to sing the up-tempo version here. Sadly the original version is so good - and so good at getting the crowd going, they're not likely to perform the slow version live very often.

The next single - About a Girl!

The Sugababes have been performing tracks from the new album at some of their gigs.

About a Girl is to be the second single, we've been told. That will probably mean it comes out at the same time as the album. The tempo is relentlessly up-beat - I get the idea the Americans are planning to market them as fun-loving party girls.

This YouTube video of About a Girl is great quality. As it's performed with a backing track rather than a band, it's probably closer to the sound we'll get on the album.

New album release date

According to Amazon, the new Sugababes' album is due to be released on November 9th. That's a long wait.

It also gives the band time to release a second single alongside the album following the release of Get Sexy on August 31st - artwork here. That's good news because it means there is some stonking good material on the album...

The new video

Here's a copy of the new video posted on YouTube. There are multiple copies on YouTube - most are a little bit fuzzy. This is one of the sharper ones. Popjustice reckons it's the Sugababes' best video for ages. Now that would not be hard. I tend to agree. Neither of the Catfights videos were any good. About You Now wasn't that great - although it was made good by the song. Change was good - it reflected the song. Denial was a wasted opportunity to make a great video. What about the song? It grows on you when you hear it properly. The mixing and the backing track is great - it just doesn't use the girls' vocal timbre well. Here's hoping it does well because I bet there are some great songs on the new album.



PS The perils of YouTube...the earlier posting of the song from YouTube seems to have been blocked. Perhaps someone objected to me saying what I thought!

Hole in the Head

Just a reminder of how good the Sugababes can be... Hole in the Head, the video.

New single - full length

Here's a full-length version of the new single, set cleverly to the Red Dress video. Yep, the band have been JayZed. Hate it! Worse than Girls! Let's hope there's some better stuff on the new album. It's possible this is a poor quality capture - the clip on sugababes.com has some cracking dance rhythms.

The new single

Here's a clip of the Sugababes' new single at its first airing on BBC Radio 1. It's called, wait for it, Get Sexy. Diificult to get a feel for it from this. What's good...a return to the band's roots in dance music and a lot of mixing. What's worrying...no indication the producers have built on the band's distinctive sound. So far it could be pretty well any vocalist.

Stronger at the weekend

Here's a great video of Stronger performed with acoustic guitar and posted on YouTube from the weekend gig. Something went wrong during this piece - it makes it more interesting.

About You Now at Cannock Chase

Here's an exclusive video of the terrific finale from the Sugababes' Cannock Chase gig last night - About You Now.

Wish you were there? There are still a few more shows lined up for this summer. See here.

Talking about the new single

Here's a first clip of the Sugababes from the Cannock Chase concert last night, talking about the new music.

A great gig and hardly any fluff in sight. There were none of the new songs, sadly. Instead they worked through the back catalogue. I'd thought there might be a Michael Jackson tribute but there was only the briefest reference to this. We were spared the band attempting Thriller. I'll be There would be great for the 'Babes.

Twitter traffic suggested they were struggling to rehearse some of the older tracks so there can't have been any time to attempt anything new.

What messages can we take from their first outings since recording their new album? The 2009 style will be up-tempo. Only Stronger was done as a ballad. Overloaded, About You Now and Denial were all performed up-tempo. The selection of songs was up-tempo. In the Middle was resurrected. The clothing was black with no changes, signalling a return to the days of cool.

The clip shows the start of Girls, possibly the worst single the Sugababes ever issued - but a short clip is okay. The gig finalled hysterically and jubilantly on About You Now, arguably the best pop song ever issued by everyone. Push the Button was performed with a stonking intro from the band, drawn from The Who's Don't Get Fooled Again. The gig kicked off with Freak Like Me, again an unimaginably classic track. And the support act was great - a neo-punk female singer with a great band and strong influences of Toyah Willcocks. Alex Roots? I think.

There is everything to hope for!

When I've done some editing I will post more.

Cool/raunch/fluff

Here's why perceptions of the band have changed over the years. It's the videos!

Overload - Cool
Run for Cover - Cool
New Year - Cool
Soul Sound - Coolish
* Freak Like Me - Cool
* Round Round - Cool/raunch
Stronger - Fluff
Shape - Cool
Angels with Dirty Faces - Fluff
* Hole in the Head - Cool/raunch
Too Lost in You - Cool
In the Middle - Raunch
Caught in a Moment - Fluff
* Push the Button - Raunch
Ugly - Fluff
Red Dress - Fluff
Follow Me Home - Cool (failed)
Easy - Raunch
* Walk This Way - Fluff
* About You Now - Cool
Change - Fluff
Denial - Fluff
Girls - Raunch (for girls)
No Can Do - Raunch (for girls)

* Number Ones in the UK charts

Sugababes sign to Jay-Z

The story here.

Oh dear! Let's hope he doesn't do to them what he did to Beyonce.

Stronger - Sugababes evolution!

I remember watching, even studying, the Sugababes performing Stronger on Top of the Pops, back in 2002. The question on my mind back then was "are these girls for real?" How could they be achieving the harmonies and lilting melodies of this song? The BBC programme TOTP was notorious for its requirement that acts mime their music.

There's another notable feature of Stronger - for it was the first time Keisha's powerful gospel vocals were let loose. And over the years, the song has evolved - in some recent performances Keisha has utterly freaked out, gospel style.

In fact it evolved in November 2002 - as these two recordings from the beginning and end of November show. Whatever the second performance was, it wasn't the recorded version:

The height of cool

The brilliant Angels with Dirty Faces album pushed the Sugababes to the height of cool. Invitations to the Glastonbury Festival and the Mobo awards followed.

First of all here's two of the performances:
a hip-hop remix of Round Round at the Mobo awards:


And here's Round Round at Glastonbury:


More notable was the band's performance of Breathin' Easy. That's not on YouTube yet.

About You Now...

I think this is becoming my all time favourite Sugababes' song. It is a great song performed by a great band with great arrangements. Here's the video before I witter on any more:



There's already signs it's becoming the most covered Sugababes song. US teen actress Miranda Cosgrove seems to have adopted it as her theme song. What's interesting, when you look at Cosgrove's version is how like the 'Babes' original it is. Although this version did not chart especially well in the States it has spawned a million YouTube tributes. (The figures appear to be about 1.2m views for the Cosgrove version and 14m for the Sugababes).

Let's look at the song itself - it has great lyrics and a great tune and if you want to hear it in full simplicity you have to listen to the acoustic version at the end of Catfights and Spotlights.

In fact like many Sugababes' songs it is unbelievably melodious. For me it was an instant hit. And in fact my reaction was the same as when I first heard Overload, Round Round and quite a few other of their songs: How can they get away with it?

Those lyrics: you probably have to be familiar with the Sugababes oeuvre to get them in full. For the phrase "I know how I feel about you now" cuts several ways and so do the lyrics. Now undoubtedly the most musicall inventive Sugababes album is Angels with Dirty Faces. But I happen to think the Change album deserved its number one place, partly because the lyrics are stronger and more poetic than we had seen previously. Listening to this song your first thought might be that it's another Hole in the Head - a song of hatred. For how does the singer feel? We are never actually told until we get to the chorus and it's hard to make out until you see the full lyrics. It could also be a song of reunion or a song of loss.

The best line for lyric inventiveness: "Can we bring yesterday back around?" And in the five lines of that catchy chorus there are three half-rhymes: around/now/down/now.

It's a song whose tune and lyrics give it meaning that touches most people. And yet - can you imagine an X-factor contestant attempting it?

That brings us to the production. For from the first the driving dance rhythm belies the meaning, making you think it's more Hole in the Head than say ballad like Breathing Easy. For the Babes and their team have done something they should do more of - take a great song and adapt it to their dance roots - and then, only later, let us hear an equally beautiful acoustic version.

Finally never forget the contribution that the girls' voices make to a song like this. Yes any good singer could carry off the song but you need the combination of voices to make it special. Look at the way Keisha's gospel voice is brought in to do the bridge line, just before the chorus - "And I know how I feel about you". The word now is not added until the chorus.

In short out of 10:
lyrics: 9
tune: 10
arrangement: 10
performance: 10

Justice!

Here's a good analysis of the present situation on popjustice.

Overload - live

And here's a recent live performance with Keisha, Heidi and Amelle:

Overload - the original live performance

Here's the original Sugababes live performance of Overload at Top of the Pops, October 22nd 2000 with Siobhan, Keisha and Mutya, all very young at the time:

Don't Let Go!

Here's a great recording of the En Vogue song Don't Let Go from the same Change tour in Preston, Lancs. Says it all really..

Change tour - fluffy?

Here's a YouTube video of last year's Change tour performing in London at the Royal Albert Hall. Despite a rather fluffy opening it looks as though it was a lot of fun. And great songs!

A Classic Band

Here's some controversial propositions about the Sugababes:

• the same band performed Overload as recorded Catfights and Spotlights;
• this band has produced a sound unlike anything else in the 21st century or the previous century. It may consist of three young women but that doesn't mean it's a typical "girl band";
• this music is by far better and more interesting than anything else produced this century (I said controversial!);
• the band has always been more than just three young women and has attracted song-writing and production talent throughout its career;
• the five women who have sung for it have each contributed remarkable individual voices - from Keisha's soul/gospel sound to Siobhan's Celtic lilt.

Here's an uncontroversial proposition: the Sugababes have proved more durable and long-lasting than any other female band in the last 50 years.

This means it's time for an end to gossipy talk of splits and come-backs. This band deserves respect just like you'd give to a classic band like the Rolling Stones or U2. One Touch and Angels are classic albums - this is a band from whom you always want to hear more. It's time they were given the space to go off and produce some more classic albums...

Siobhán - Don't Give It Up

Mutya - Real Girl

Freak and Red Dress Live!

Red Dress

Song of the Year 2000

Song of the Year: 2000 - Sugababes - Overload

Sunday Times March 15th 2009

"...Something about the song, even now, seems to foreshadow subsequent events in the band’s career.

In place of the synchronised polish and dance-routine uniformity of other girl groups, Sugababes came across from the word go as simultaneously hanging as a crew and pulling in different directions. If any song suggests a group of stroppy teenagers ambling down an urban street in search of trouble and mischief, Overload is it. Their choice of collaborators — among them Neneh Cherry’s husband and producer, Cameron McVey — hinted at the savviness they would show in later hook-ups; not least when their single Freak Like Me (on which they took up squatters’ rights in Gary Numan’s Are Friends Electric?) became their first No 1 in 2002..."