Girlbands Forever: Girls Aloud and Miss-Tick on the 'anarchy' of being in a lady group

“For my money, the best pop groups are girl bands,” says Andy McCluskey, frontman of OMD and mastermind of Atomic Kitten.

“Boy bands are absolutely terrible. They only sell records because girls in love have posters of them on their bedroom walls.”

Perhaps it's not probably the most delicate commentary, however McCluskey had some extent when chatting with BBC News in 2010.

With just a few notable exceptions (Blackstreet, Five, One Direction), boy bands paved the way with attractiveness and syrupy lyrics that promise “Girl, I know you're the one, girl.”

Their feminine counterparts, from The Ronettes within the Sixties to TLC within the '90s and Catseye in 2025, are extra experimental, with extra conceptual versatility and, frankly, higher lyrics.

Just take a look at the chaotic vitality of The Spice Girls wannabes, or the seven-part pop Frankenstein that was Girls Aloud's Biology and ask your self, “Could Westlife have pulled this off?” (Hint: Not an opportunity).

But, for a very long time, lady bands had been dismissed as weak and superficial. It took 41 years for an all-female act as Little Mix to win Best Group on the Brit Awards.

BBC documentary Girlbands Forever goals to set the report straight by celebrating that candy expertise whereas highlighting the darkish aspect of the business.

within the first two episodesAiring final week, Kel Bryan of '90s band Eternal recollects a grueling boot camp the place the band's food plan was strictly managed; While Melanie Blatt of All Saints tearfully describes being requested to have an abortion if her being pregnant would have put the band in peril (she refused).

this saturday closing episode Focuses on the continuously altering line-up of the Sugababes; This exhibits how insensitive the business may be.

Darcus Beese, former head of the band's report label, Island, believes, “It didn't really bother me that the Sugababes had a revolving door, because sometimes the brand can be bigger than the person, and the Sugababes were a brand.”

Looking again on the group's 2009 line-up – which included not one of the unique members – he makes a scathing remark: “I don't think they were that good. [enough] To be a tribute band.”

In the documentary, the identical story is repeated, of younger singers with excessive hopes who’re pressured into an unforgiving business.

“People only see the glamorous side, but we've worked incredibly hard,” Atomic Kitten's Kerry Katona tells BBC News.

“At one point, all three of us were on drips. We had no control and no say.”

In an unpublished 2023 interview, Girls Aloud advised me an analogous story of being adrift with out an anchor.

When put collectively on the ITV actuality present Pop Stars: The Rivals, they had been left to their very own units, with out a formal day-to-day supervisor, for over a yr.

“It was chaos,” Nadine Coyle mentioned. “We were kids and no one was taking care of us.

“The marketing team wanted us to do one thing, the live agent wanted us to do something else, the TV team wanted us on breakfast TV. And no one was looking at the bigger picture and thinking, 'These girls are working 22 hours a day, seven days a week.'

Cheryl said that the band was so clueless that they called the head of their record label to tell them that their washing machine had broken down.

“But in the end, we knew how every single part of the business worked,” Kimberly Walsh said.

Nicola Roberts agreed, saying, “It gave us real strength of character.” “We weren't afraid to say, 'No, we don't want to do this,' because we didn't have any middlemen to hide.”

Other groups were less fortunate. Siobhan Donaghy was only 16 when the Sugababes' debut single – the carefree spectacular Overload – reached the top 10. At that time, he didn't know how to speak for himself.

“We were too young to know that we could make change,” he advised me final yr. “We didn't question anything, we just got on with it.

“Now, if something isn't working, we understand that's our business and we get everyone on the same page.”

Sue-Elise Nash, who was part of R&B crossover act Mis-Teek between 1999 and 2005, says that the band's independence (they managed themselves and co-wrote all their songs) protected them from the worst of the industry.

“We were never afraid to speak our minds, and I think that aggressive attitude led us in the right direction,” she says, laughing. “People knew they couldn't take Mick.”

Inspired by American vocal harmony groups such as En Vogue and SWV, Mis-Teeq cleverly incorporated garage and hip-hop into their sound, with Alisha Dixon's rat-a-tat MC'ing distinguishing them from their pop rivals.

But despite achieving transatlantic success with songs including Why and Scandalous, the trio faced a continuing battle with racism.

A report govt advised Dixon that “black women received't promote information within the UK”, and the band found it harder to gain press coverage than their white counterparts.

Speaking from her home in Australia, Nash says, “It wasn't clearly, unequivocally mentioned that they didn't suppose three black women would promote magazines, however that was the angle of the folks in energy.”

“Instead of getting beat up by it. We simply thought, 'Let's work arduous to get their respect and finally they'll come again begging us to be on the entrance cowl.'”

Unlike Mis-Tek, bands like Girls Aloud and Atomic Kitten became reluctant cover stars, in an era where tabloid newspapers didn't even think twice about printing photos of drunk and troubled pop stars on their front pages.

“There had been about 40 paparazzi exterior my home on daily basis, they usually weren't searching for flattering pictures,” says Katona.

“When I had my first little one, Molly, they printed [my photo with] There was a circle of disgrace round my stretch marks,” she recollects.

“It messes along with your thoughts. It made me suicidal. I didn't know how one can cope with it, so I turned to medication.

“If I didn't have kids, I guarantee you, I wouldn't be sitting here today.”

The harassment and a number of other revelations about her private life finally led her to go away the band.

“I realized I didn't want fame or money. I wanted to be a mother and a wife. Being a kid from a foster home, that's all I really wanted.”

Sue-Alice Nash's dream additionally ended prematurely. Mis-Teek had been in the course of recording their third album when their label, Telstar, went bankrupt.

“It was a difficult situation,” she says. “They went into administration owing us a lot of money.”

Halfway by an exhausting six months of touring, the band determined to name it quits.

“That same week, my grandmother was diagnosed with thyroid cancer and was given several months to live,” says Nash. “So I got to spend the last six months with her, without going back to America, and do all the things that were in the diary,

“I have no regrets, because I never get that time back.”

The industry has matured since the girl band explosion in the early 2000s. Today, there is widespread awareness of mental health, and more efforts are being made to reduce the pressures faced by young stars.

When Little Mix launched a TV expertise present in September 2020, they It was emphasised that the BBC supplied look after the contestants.,

Referring to the band's experiences on The X Factor, Leigh-Anne Pinnock said, “We didn't actually have that on the present we got here from.”

Jessie Nelson agreed, saying, “It was all simply go, go, go.” “I personally don't really feel like there was anybody who cared.”

That said, girl groups still maintain shocking schedules. K-pop idol Le Seraphim recently told me that he rehearses for six hours every day, before completing his other obligations in recording sessions, TV shows, and creating social media content.

So it's no surprise that there is a bond between those who have survived the process.

“After the primary episode of the documentary was launched, I woke as much as pretty messages [Atomic Kitten’s] Natasha Hamilton and Keisha from the Sugababes,” says Sue-Elise Nash.

“There's a great feeling between the girls. It's not a feuding, bitchy rivalry.”

“And since making the documentary, it's actually resonated with me how a lot work we did and what number of views we modified, what number of limitations we broke.

“So when I look back I feel proud. I feel really proud.”