Survive the teen pop market: the incredible history of the Sugababes

No country of this continent gave us a quantity of Boyband and Girlband as the United Kingdom. At the turn of the end of the last century and the early 2000s, and after the success of groups such as Take That and Spice Girls, it seemed unthinkable a pop song could come out that was not choreographed by groups of at least four or five people, preferably all of the same sex.

In the midst of all that chaos of pastel -colored eyeshadows at some point the Sugababes also arrived, whose mission however wanted to be different. The three of them made a very soft pop, tending to ERB, all harmonizations and vocal intertwining. They wore clothes that seemed to have come out of the department stores and, above all, did not seem manufactured in the laboratory.

Their first single, Overloadit was a coincidence. Acclaimed by critics and the public, in the video you could see the three very young Londoners ((Mutya Buena, Keisha Buchanan and Siobhán Donaghy) who harmonized in a listless way on a text that spoke of youth confusion.

Overload It was written when the three were more or less 15 years old (same age they have in the video you see above), and we can serenely say that that beat made it one of the most recognizable songs of that period. But they did not have time to enjoy the things that the first problems began too much. Shortly after the publication of the first album, One touchDonaghy left the project and was replaced by another singer, Heidi Range. A very successful period followed. Over the years, songs that we have definitely heard here as well as as Round Round, Push the Button, Freak like me, Hole in the Head etc. etc.

In the UK the phenomenon was of great reach: six songs at number 1 in the ranking and many others in top 20, numbers that made them one of the most famous girls ever in the United Kingdom. In addition to the songs, however, the other primacy of the Sugababes was to have had a very troubled life, perhaps one of the most complicated in the history of pop. It seems that there has been everything behind the scenes. Tensions, quarrels, accusations and above all continuous line-up changes. Stuff from pop drama deluxe: One Stefano Nazzi of music would do at least six episodes.

The English media began to deal with their history with morbidity, so much so that their album was also called Catfights & Spotlightsliterally “quarrels and limelight”.

The result is that, at the time of the official dissolution, the year 2009, and when the sound with which they had begun had not remained decidedly anything, none of the three initial components was more in the group (we attach explanatory scheme). Go away of spontaneous will or hunted from management to the cry of “one outside, one inside”, we can say that the history of the Sugababes is a rather satisfactory mirror of how the musical industry of the time managed the female pop groups.

The twist, however, comes around 2012, when the three original components decide to return to make music together, overcoming disagreements and media chatter. In the meantime, however, the name Sugababes had become a registered trademark and they, founders, could no longer use it.

The three then began to publish music using baptism names, but above all they started a long legal battle to regain the name. Spoiler: they made it. It happens in 2019, when they return to perform with the name Sugababes and resume where they had left.

In the UK things begin to move, between nostalgia and history operation that has the flavor of the revenge: they participate twice in Glastonbury, the first time in 2022, and so many people are presented who must increase safety. “We thought there was someone famous,” he tells us one of them in the following interview. But the crowd was there for them again. Explaining this to the Italian public is difficult, in our part pop culture has not passed through the Girlbands (they will forgive us the lollipops). To give a more understandable example: imagine that the 883 had gone on without Max Pezzali nor Mauro Repetto, however, still calling themselves 883. And that after 15 years Max and Mauro had finally returned together to recover what it is.

Put aside the purely explanatory example, what remains rather unique in this story is like three women who have lived on their skin all the rotten of the youth pop industry have managed to return, as adults, and not to get out of it destroyed. Precisely for this reason the Sugababes, who recently published a new single (indeed, two) and which will soon also be in Italy with a date, have a story that deserves to be told.

We talk about it with Keisha, on the eve of the tour shortly after the publication of Jungletheir new song that you can hear here:

“We are very excited,” he says immediately. “It was a long journey to finally get back on tour, to make people listen to our new music, so we are super enthusiastic.”

Have you ever been afraid only a nostalgia operation seemed?
We love the fact that there is a nostalgic side, but we decided very soon that we also wanted to be part of the current scene. We don't like the word reunion.

Why?
It is not that it is a bad word, but for us it sounds like the end of something. Type: let's just do a show. We are returning with new music, so it's different. Then we adapted many old successes, we approach them differently. So, no offense for anyone but ours is not a reunion.

And what is it?
I would only tell you love for what we do.

How are you experiencing all this now, as an adult, compared to how you lived it years ago?
When we were young things happened very quickly. None of us wanted to become famous, we just wanted to sing, we weren't ready and I didn't enjoy it. They gave us the program for the year, and if there were three free days, well those were the only ones. We were always traveling. I don't complain, but it certainly removed some awareness.

The most difficult thing?
Become a brand. When I left the group, in 2009, my greatest difficulty was to understand who I was outside the Sugababes. I had been inside for 12 years and I had started that I had 15 years old. I really had to understand who I was. Now it's different, and I managed to make peace with many things that had seemed unjust.

Type?
I was a young black girl in British music industry. The press was very hard and I was used to being on the defensive. If you always feel under attack, you put an armor. But then I learned that it is better to lower the defenses. And then, becoming independent artists helped us.

As?
The relationship between us has grown, we are adult, independent women, we create our project. 20 years Fasenza Major was no future. Today you can create your fanbase, your structure. And we changed his head. When we travel we also do it to see as many things as possible, we go to the clubs, in the best restaurants, we try to live the things we have not been able to do as young people.

What made you decide to meet 13 years ago, using your real names?
The girls contacted me and they told me they wanted to meet all three. It was 2010 or 2011. We did it: it was the first time that we were all three in the same room since we were 15 years old.

And how was it?
For me it was important to understand that Vibe was there. We were not put together by a manager, we grew up together. And people have always perceived us as authentic.

Vibe then imagine good.
We recorded a song and understood that chemistry was still there. The harmonies, everything … was very natural. Then we said to each other: let's go back together, reuse our name. We had invented it at 12 years after school.

But you couldn't.
No. A person we worked with had recorded the brand in his name and practically put us in a position in which he said: “or do as I say I don't do anything”. And we refused.

And what did you do?
For 10 years we have tried to demonstrate our value without that name.
We have published music, like the song Flatlinewe have invested in our projects. We did a Sold Out State Tour and this gave us confidence. We understood that the important thing was the three, together, and that the name could wait. There were also hard moments, someone wanted to give up, but the other two meant that it did not happen. In the end we won and we resumed the name.

Is what is happening now a recognition of all that phase?
Over the past four years we have worked to bring everything back to the origin of what it was: three girls who grew up together and who love music. In 2009 everything had turned, too many dramas. We wanted people to return to remember for what we had started with. And I must say that they welcomed us with open arms. Today we just want to celebrate women who unite.

Let's talk about the new music. Listen to the refrain of Jungle It's really a bit like hearing the songs of your first album.
Yes, there is a bit of that sound.

That album is a bit of a small classic for those who love English pop of those years.
We recorded it from very young, we didn't think it would become a cult. Yet even today it sounds fresh. At the time he did not have large numbers, but was acclaimed by critics and gave us many opportunities.

Are you working on new music?
There will certainly be an album, yes. We took time, we wondered what kind of disc we wanted to do. We wanted to find a connection with a manufacturer as happened with our first album, with Cameron McVey, who had worked with the Massive Attack, or as with the Xenomania team. Today we work with John Shave, who also made songs to Charli XCX.

Did you await all that mess in Glastonubury?
Absolutely not. In 2022 they had to call the police and close the field. We thought “for whom?”. We didn't think seriously there were many people to see us. Then two years later they recalled us, we thought that the success of the year was a coincidence first. And instead the crowd again, again the closed field. Receiving all this love, after such a long journey, is the greatest blessing.

And now there is the tour. You will also be in Italy, in May.
Yes, we arrive! It will be a show in which we have also included our most garage part. Having grown up in London, it was important for us to include it. See you there?

See you there.