Sound of the Underground (song)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| “Sound of the Underground” | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
|||||
| Single by Girls Aloud from the album Sound of the Underground |
|||||
| B-side | "Stay Another Day" | ||||
| Released | December 16, 2002 | ||||
| Format | CD single, Cassette , Airplay | ||||
| Recorded | 2002 | ||||
| Genre | Pop Rock | ||||
| Length | 3:41 | ||||
| Label | Polydor | ||||
| Writer(s) | Miranda Cooper Niara Scarlett Brian Higgins Xenomania |
||||
| Producer | Brian Higgins Xenomania |
||||
| Certification | Platinum single - UK (600,000) | ||||
| Girls Aloud singles chronology | |||||
|
|||||
| The Sound of Girls Aloud track listing | |||||
|
|||||
| Alternate cover | |||||
 |
|||||
| UK CD 2 cover | |||||
| Audio sample | |||||
|
|
|||||
"Sound of the Underground" is the first single to be released by Popstars: The Rivals winners Girls Aloud. It was released on Christmas week in the UK, and spent four weeks at #1 - being certified by the BPI as platinum.[1] The song's success was made all the more spectacular by the fact that Girls Aloud had only been formed 16 days before the song's release.
It was also the title track of their debut album, Sound of the Underground. It was written and produced by Xenomania.
Contents |
[edit] Release and reception
Girls Aloud were formed on November 30, 2002 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 number one single in 2002. The five girls who made it into the group were (in order) Cheryl Tweedy, Nicola Roberts, Nadine Coyle, Kimberley Walsh and Sarah Harding; Javine Hylton missed out on a place in the group, despite previous expectations that she would be placed in the line-up.[2] The boy band, called One True Voice, were managed by Pete Waterman. The two groups competed for the number one position in the Christmas week UK singles chart. Girls Aloud went on a huge promotional tour. They used a combative "Buy girls, bye boys" slogan to pursuade the public to buy their single.[3] A cover of One True Voice's single "Sacred Trust" appears on the special edition bonus disc of Girls Aloud's greatest hits The Sound of Girls Aloud.
Michael Osborn said that "Sound of the Underground" offers "a fresh tune that has no intentions of following the road to seasonal schmaltzville."[4] An article from The Guardian called the song "an icy confection very different from the normal run of girl-band things."[2] In 2002, "Sound of the Underground" was voted Best Single at the Disney Channel Kids Awards.
[edit] Controversy
Pete Waterman who managed One True Voice, the boy band runners-up from Popstars: The Rivals, caused a media frenzy accusing the girls of not being original with this song (after they claimed it was better to release a new song than a cover as the A-side) and not singing on the record.[5]
It emerged that the song was originally recorded in 2001 by London girl group, Orchid, who disbanded before gaining a firm record deal.[6] Many articles falsely claim that this track was then "stolen" by Girls Aloud. In actual fact, the track was owned by Xenomania (Girls Aloud's chosen producers) and the original version was used as a "session singers" version. When played to the girls and their team, it was decided they would record it and be the first to release the single - making it theirs and not a cover as some articles suggest. This is not unknown in the music industry with writers employing session singers to sing their song so they could offer it to artists to sing.[6]
Due to the press attention, the members of Orchid are credited on the single release and remain backing singers on the single. Sarah Harding explained that this just pads out the track and is not uncommon in the industry. They also sang the track live throughout promotion to prove it was them singing and rubbish Pete Waterman's attempt to sabotage the release.
[edit] Music video
The video for "Sound of the Underground" was shot in a London warehouse just days after Girls Aloud's formation on the last week of competition of Popstars: The Rivals.
It features the band members in various scenes "underground". In the group scene, they perform the song backed by a band in a large metal enclosure. As the song progresses, each band member also incorporates a tall microphone stand into the choreography, echoed in many live performances in the song. In the solo scenes, each member is shown sitting or standing in the "underground" setting while various other shots, such as a light bulb spontaneously cracking open and catching on fire, are shown.
[edit] Track listings and formats
These are the formats and track listings of major single releases of "Sound Of The Underground".
| # | Title | Time |
|---|---|---|
| CD1: Polydor / 0658272 (UK) | ||
| 1. | "Sound of the Underground" | 3:43 |
| 2. | "Stay Another Day" | 4:24 |
| 3. | "Sound of the Underground" [Brian Higgins Mix] | 4:40 |
| CD2: Polydor / 0658202 (UK) | ||
| 1. | "Sound of the Underground" | 3:43 |
| 2. | "Stay Another Day" [Instrumental] | 4:23 |
| 3. | Girls Aloud Interview | 7:13 |
| German CD single [from May 2003] | ||
| 1. | "Sound of the Underground" | 3:43 |
| 2. | "Stay Another Day" | 4:24 |
| 3. | "Sound of the Underground" [Brian Higgins Mix] | 4:40 |
| 4. | "Sound of the Underground" [Flip & Fill Remix] | 5:36 |
| 5. | Girls Aloud Interview | 7:13 |
[edit] Versions and appearances
These are the official versions and remixes and the release they appear on, of:
| Version | Release appearance |
|---|---|
| Album Version | "Sound of the Underground" single, Sound of the Underground, The Sound of Girls Aloud |
| Instrumental | "Sound of the Underground" single |
| Brian Higgins Mix | |
| Flip & Fill Remix | |
| Video | "No Good Advice" single, Girls on Film [DVD], Style [DVD] |
| Extended Performance Version | The Sound of Girls Aloud [Special Edition] |
[edit] Charts
"Sound of the Underground" debuted at number one on the UK Singles Chart on December 22, 2002. Girls Aloud sold just over 213,000 copies, while One True Voice's "Sacred Trust" sold only 147,000. [7] The song spent four weeks at number one, and was certified platinum in March 2003.[1] The song had similar success on the Irish Singles Chart. "Sound of the Underground" debuted at number two, while One True Voice only managed to chart at number nine.[8] They held on at number two for a second week,[9] and later rose to number one.
| Chart (2002/2003) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| UK Singles Chart | 1 |
| Irish Singles Chart | 1 |
| Greece Singles Chart | 8 |
| Netherlands Top 40 | 9 |
| Romanian Singles Chart | 10 |
| Belgium Singles Chart | 13 |
| UK Singles Chart (2002 Year-End) | 17 |
| UK Singles Chart (2003 Year-End) | 21 |
| Swiss Singles Chart | 25 |
| Australian ARIA Singles Chart | 31 |
| Sweden Singles Chart | 39 |
| France Singles Chart | 55 |
| México Top 100 Singles Chart | 74 |
[edit] Cover versions
[edit] References
- ^ a b Certified Awards - Sound of the Underground. British Phonographic Industry (2003-03-14). Retrieved on 2008-02-24.
- ^ a b Popstars girl group picked. BBC News (2002-12-02). Retrieved on 2008-02-24.
- ^ Females with attitude. The Guardian (2002-12-16). Retrieved on 2008-02-24.
- ^ Popstars Girls win musical war. BBC News (2002-12-16). Retrieved on 2008-02-24.
- ^ Waterman starts slanging match. Soundgenerator.com (2002-12-19). Retrieved on 2008-02-24.
- ^ a b Girls Aloud: Is it really a cover?. CBBC Newsround (2002-12-21). Retrieved on 2008-02-24.
- ^ Girls Aloud top festive chart (2002-12-23). Retrieved on 2008-02-24.
- ^ Eminem holds on for Christmas number one (2002-12-23). Retrieved on 2008-02-24.
- ^ Eminem still at tp of Irish chart (2002-12-30). Retrieved on 2008-02-24.
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||
| Preceded by "Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word" by Blue and Elton John |
UK number one single December 22, 2002 - January 18, 2003 |
Succeeded by "Stop Living The Lie" by David Sneddon |
| Preceded by "Somethin' Stupid by Robbie Williams & Nicole Kidman |
Christmas number-one single 2002 |
Succeeded by "Mad World" by Michael Andrews & Gary Jules |
