Girl Groups!!

[Iggypig]

No, not the massively successful ones, but the ones that lasted three singles, maybe even lucky enough to release an album!!

I've had a bit of a girl group day today, playing lots of albums, and wondered what some of your thoughts are...

Thunderbugs - Well, I always loved Friends Forever, it was my bedroom decorating theme song of 1999, but the second single really fell flat for me. Their album is OK as a background album, but nothing grabs me, with perhaps the exception of Angel Of The Morning.


Hepburn - Really quite boring, much love for I Quit, but the other singles and album were quite rigid, nothing exciting about them at all.


Madasun - Same as Hepburn really, Walking On Water was the song that I really liked.

Supersister - Camp as anything, but I loved all their singles. Shame they never got to release an album, Summer Gonna Come Again was played to death in my CD player in my yoof.


Tymes 4 - I actually really like their album, not too many slow songs, quite Mis-Teeq-ish in their production. Their second album however, wasn't great, whoever convinced them to do an album of covers need shooting.


Smoke2Seven - Envy and Been There Done That were amzing!! Curb Records were dumb to not promote this group more. Their would-be album is great, very up-tempo.



So what do you think, were there other girl groups who didnt last long but had great albums, were there some that shouldn't have even got past the first single?

I do love a girl group, so I'd be interested to hear what your faves are, and why.

[Eric Generic]

I liked Bellefire.

And did Honeyz ever make it beyond their (heavily repromoted and reissued) debut?

[anfunny2003]

We've definitely covered this before... There was a 101 girl groups of the 80s/90s/00s thread which I may have even started, but certianly contributed too! I might have lists somewhere... a few '90s floppers;

Milan
Buffalo G
The Rebble Pebbles
Faith, Hope & Charity [my fave possibly]
Paperdolls
Those 2 Girls

I could easily come up with a list of about 600+ but then they'd just move this to the lists threads. Flop girl groups are endless...

[Mvnl]

Yes, you did start that topic and I'm still waiting for the full tracklisting, an!!

Eric, Honeyz did 2 or 3 more singles after their (rereleased) debut, and the complete second album leaked but never got a release.

[Eric Generic]

Thanks for the info...I always assumed a 2nd Honyez album never even came close to existence.

One day I will find those Faith Hope & Charity CD singles in a bargain bin somewhere.

[Plooey]

Not sure if they apply since they had a U.S #1 with "If Wishes Came True" so they were more on the moderately successful side, but I love Sweet Sensation. I've been listening to them a ton lately. I'm actually on my 3rd copy of both their albums "Take It While It's Hot" and "Love Child" since I wore out my cassette tapes back in the day and have had to re-buy each album twice on CD. They seemed to vanish without a trace after that second album.

[Iggypig]

I forgot Girl Thing!!

I remember at the time, nobody seemed to like them, as they were trying too hard to be the next Spice Girls, but, I actually quite like there album, some really nice breezy pop songs on there.

[marie_05]

I liked Solid HarmoniE. All of their singles were brilliant, especially I Want You To Want Me. I was very surprised when I found out that they were not successful at all (except in The Netherlands).

[Whiteflag35]

There was a Smoke2Seven album and 2nd Honeyz album?!

The best flop girl group will always be Bellefire.
I can remember seeing an advert for them performing Perfect Bliss on GM:TV was always on and that's when I fell in love with them.

Both of their albums are fantastic and I have really good memories attached to songs like I Can Make You Fall in Love Again, Dancing Inside and Don't Know Why.

They really should have been a success but they were let down by Louis and just had some bad luck. I remember when they finally got to perform on CD:UK for Say Something Anyway and they only got to perform half the song and the show was on in the afternoon due to the Grand Prix so viewing figures were really low. It just wasn't me to be.

Then again, Wonderland were essentially Bellefire in todays market. (But not as good)

[passionoia]

"Crush" featuring Jayni Hoy and Donna Air from Byker Grove. They released two singles over here, "Jellyhead" and "Luv'd Up" and the album "Teenage Kicks" came out in Japan of which several tracks were written by Sarah Cracknell of Saint Etienne fame. It was very good... in some ways a precurser to the Girls Aloud sound and style, sorta a little bit punky and a lot poppy

Then the motiv8 mix of "Jellyhead" did alright in the US and they went all sex kitten dancy. By this point Jayni was gone and replaced by Luciana (yes THAT Luciana) and the US version of the album was released with several of the tracks replaced with new songs in keeping with their newer styling.

"Penthouse Girl, Basement Boy" was my favourite of theirs, which featured on Sarah Cracknell's own album a year later.

[rashidhk81]

I loved Smoke 2 Seven, Supersister and Honeyz!

Does anyone remember Ladies First? I think I went to see them at G.A.Y. once.

I remember playing "Airhead" by Girls@Play a lot too.

I loved N-Tyce and their album.

One of my favourite girlbands that only had one album is The Braxtons. Their album was fabulous and I still play it now.

Scarlet were a bit of a one-hit wonder too. I thought they were going to be huge at the time.

[hudweiser]

I remember a particularly awful group called FeM@il who had a particularly awful song called Flee Fly Flo. It's on an old Now CD (last track on second disc) even though it missed the Top 40.

21st Century Girls as well...

The Faders' Jump was a great little track but I wasn't surprised it wasn't a hit.

[passionoia]

For some reason I decided to revisit the Supersisters videos and low and it's Kim Fox (Tameka Empson)....http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yja9512TM_8

[passionoia]

And does anyone remember "West End" who did a cover of "It's Raining Men"?

It was one of those vids that was alway on the Box but never anywhere else.

[_hazzie_]

Hello, Bubbel G anyone, haha!

[Eric Generic]

Scarlet's first album (and especially the singles) were great. I never did get around to the follow-up, Chemistry (with the cheetah/leopard? on the sleeve).

I've been seeing quite a few of these names crop up in the charity shops and HMV re-play racks in the last week!

[idratherjack]

I do love a flop girl band, usually moreso than those who make it. I consider myself the kiss of death for these kinds of acts - if I bought it they wouldn't get beyond a third single and a cancelled album!

Surprised no-one's mentioned Vanilla yet. Say what you like about it but I love No Way No Way, True To Us less so.

I saw Girls@Play supporting Steps and wish their album had come out. Airhead is a tune but the pointless cover of Respectable for second single finished them off.

I love when a member of a flop girlband goes on to achieve success in another field eg I've got Dani Behr's group's Faith, Hope & Charity's Growing Pains on CD single and Battle of the Sexes on 12" and quite a collection of Milan (Martine McCutcheon) CD singles. I loved All I Want by Those 2 Girls (Denise Van Outen) as well.

Supersister were another favourite of mine. Coffee is a camp classic but I love Shopping and Summer Gonna Come Again just as much. I think their cancelled album is my most wanted girlband flop.

I love Girl Thing's Last One Standing more than any Spice Girls song but they were clearly trying so hard to be the next Spice Girls it must have put people off.

Can we include The Twins AKA Gayle & Gillian? Love all their singles, All Mixed Up, Mad If Ya Don't and my personal favourite Wanna Be Your Lover.

Delage were great and quite a rarity in that they were a PWL girlband. Rock The Boat, Running Back For More and Ain't No Cure are ace.

A more recent act were Sweet XX on the AATW label who were like a 4 piece Cascada. I was obsessed with their only single When It Was Me (so of course it flopped and they split up!)

I feel a flop girlband playlist coming on...

[CatastropheBoy]

When Fierce had a big hit with the final single, 'Sweet Love', from their album I thought they might be promed as a replacement for Eternal. Even Vernie Bennett endorsed them.

[Blabby]

Girl Thing! Jodie Albert doesn't seem to have much luck in music does she? She's been a member of 2 flop girlgroups so far, maybe she should stick to acting? (and looking after her baby with one of the dudes from Westlife).

Mini Viva - still mourning the loss
Girls Can't Catch - same
The 411 - they were huge in 2004 but after that they disappeared. One of the girls was also in a CBBC show at the time, the name
of it escapes me... oh and I'm sure another girl from that group tried out for X Factor as a soloist before.
Hope from X Factor were due to release an album but nothing ever happened

[Iggypig]

I have been listening to Girl Things album at work today. It really is quite a good, strong pop album, if they hadn't have tried soooo hard to be Spice Girls mk2, they could have maybe had some success.


Does anyone know much about Madasun?

They seemed to have completely eluded me, I only remember 'Walking On Water' from some compilation album. I bought there album through one of my many zoverstocks purchases, and I must say, it's a very lovely album. out of all the guitar girls bands of that era (Hepburn, Thunderbugs, Made In London) Madasuns album is by far the best.

[Mvnl]

I love Madasun's album, especially All I Want Is You.

[Blabby]

What about Precious? Jenny Frost's first band before Atomic Kitten that went on Eurovision? Oh and another girl became a kid's TV presenter. I recall one of their songs being quite a Britney ripoff track, Rewind I think it was called. I only remember that song and the one they did for Eurovision - Say It Again. Did they have an album?

Oh and regarding Girl Thing, I just watched the video for "Last One Standing" again - it is SOOOOO obvious they were crafted in a blatent attempt to be the next Spice Girls! The girls crashing a high class affair - a poor clone of the Wannabe video. Then you have the pink haired one = Ginger, Jodie doing backflips (questionable whether she could actually DO them like Mel C or whether it was a stunt double - probably was tbh!) copying Sporty, then there was a Baby Spice esque blonde girl and the "girliest" one with brown pigtails reminded me somewhat of Posh only with a smile on her face instead of a permanent pout. Laughable really. I never knew Girl Thing came out with an
album though!

[vile]

I used to have the first album (US version) by the Swedish girl group Play. I didn't know they were Swedish at the time.I think I may have gotten into them because of a member of the boyband Dream Street (Jessie McCartney's old band) did a song with them

The last song I remember by them was 'I Must Not Chase the Boys'

[Iggypig]

Does anyone know anything about Nylon? I just bought there album, and it's quite nice.....but definatley the female Westlife, just ballads! Also a cover of Supersisters 'Summer Gonna Come Again'.

Does anyone have any of their Icelandic albums? More of the same?

[hudweiser]

Scarlet's first album (and especially the singles) were great. I never did get around to the follow-up, Chemistry (with the cheetah/leopard? on the sleeve).

Fuck, I was OBSESSED with Scarlet from 1995 to 1997. I tried to get an interview with them when I was a media student on several occasions but their manager cock-blocked me endlessly. Like a tiny bit more exposure would've hurt their failing career!?

The second album was produced by John Leckie - and they actually became a four piece with two guys (drummer and guitarist) - it was quite downbeat and indulgent, definitely lacking that commercial hit they needed.