Catfights and Spotlights

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Catfights and Spotlights
Studio album by Sugababes

Publication
(s)

October 20, 2008 (UK)
January 2, 2009 (DE)

admission

June - August 2008

Label (s) Iceland

Format (s)

CD, download

Genre (s)

Pop , funk , soul

Title (number)

13 + 2

running time

49:10

occupation Amelle Berrabah
Keisha Buchanan
Heidi Range

production

Klas Åhlund, Steve Booker, Si Hulbert, Invisible Men, Melvin Kuiters, Max Martin , Orson

chronology
Change
(2007)
Catfights and Spotlights Sweet 7
(2010)

Catfights and spotlights (translated: bitch wars and headlights ) is the sixth studio album by British girl group Sugababes .

It was released in Great Britain on October 20th and on January 2nd, 2009 in Germany. It reached number 8 on the UK album charts, where it was awarded silver.

Internationally, the album could not build on the success of its predecessors. It could not place in the charts in Germany, Austria or Switzerland.

background

Recordings

After the end of the Change tour in May 2008, the band announced that they would not work on a new album for the time being, as they would need more time to work on new material. However, in an interview in June 2008, Keisha Buchanan stated that the group was working on a new album immediately due to the possibility of working with new producers. Recording began on June 17, 2008.

The sound of the album has been described as "funky". The Sugababes themselves described the new album as "milder and more mature", with a strong focus on the voices of the band members.

reception

The reviews of the album were very positive. Popjustice wrote that songs like You on a Good Day , Sunday Rain and Every Heart Broken were "soulful, melodramatic and brilliant". Furthermore, the lyrics of the song Every Heart Broken are the best in the band's history so far. Despite the 60s sound, the album still manages to sound “modern and exciting”.

Matthias Reichel from CDStarts.de also gave the album a positive review:

"With these omens it seems a bit disappointing that Catfights and Spotlights is now jumping on the Sixties Soul-Pop train, although this pig has already been driven through the village enough ... And lo and behold, in the end the usual Sugababes is right Album yield with a good handful of hits ready again. Namely when songs like the Motown-inspired Girls and Nothing's as Good as You , the Booker / Duffy sound in Sunday Rain or the fat US R&B beats in Side Chick and Can We Call a Truce work. Then the Sugababes get the curve at exactly the right moment, so as not to give off a tired copy of the 2008 retro soul wave. No, they have once again invested that one spark more in innovative ideas that distinguish the trio from the broad mass of superfluous (and mostly cast) girl and boy groups. The bonus track About You Now in a new acoustic version is enough . If you don't get goose bumps, please see a doctor. "

- Matthias Reichel, CDStarts.de

Track list

  1. "Girls" (Allen Toussaint, Anna McDonald, Nicole Jenkinson, Keisha Buchanan, Melvin Kuiters, Si Hulbert) - 3:11
  2. "You on a Good Day" (Klas Åhlund, Keisha Buchanan) - 3:27
  3. "No Can Do" (Jason Pebworth, Jon Shave, George Astasio, Geeki, The Invisible Men, Si Hulbert) - 3:11
  4. "Hanging on a Star" (Jason Pebworth, Jon Shave, George Astasio, Geeki, Keisha Buchanan, The Invisible Men, Si Hulbert) - 3:22
  5. "Side Chick" (Klas Åhlund, Alex Purple, Keisha Buchanan) - 3:40
  6. "Unbreakable Heart" (Klas Åhlund, Max Martin) - 3:52
  7. "Sunday Rain" (Steve Booker, Karen Poole, Keisha Buchanan, Amelle Berrabah, Heidi Range) - 4:01
  8. "Every Heart Broken" (Klas Åhlund) - 4:09
  9. “Beware” (Klas Åhlund, Amelle Berrabah) - 2:56
  10. "Nothing's as Good as You" (Jason Pebworth, Jon Shave, George Astasio, Geeki, The Invisible Men, Si Hulbert) - 3:03
  11. “Sound of Goodbye” (Steve Booker, Karen Poole, Keisha Buchanan) - 4:23
  12. "Can We Call a Truce?" (Klas Åhlund, Alex Purple, Deanna, Keisha Buchanan) - 4:33
  13. "About You Now (Acoustic Version)" (Cathy Dennis, Lukasz Gottwald) - 2:46 [UK Bonus Track]
  14. "She's like a Star (With Taio Cruz)" (Taio Cruz) - 2:43 [UK Bonus Track]
  15. "Girls (Klas Åhlund Rework)" (Toussaint, McDonald, Jenkinson, Buchanan) - 3:12 [Hidden Track]

Chart successes

Chart positions
Explanation of the data
Albums
Catfights and Spotlights
  UK 8th 11/01/2008 (14 weeks)
  IE 18th October 23, 2008 (4 weeks)
Singles
Girls
  UK 3 04/10/2008 (16 weeks)
  IE 12 09/25/2008 (10 weeks)
No Can Do
  UK 23 12/27/2008 (7 weeks)

Catfights and Spotlights immediately made it to number 8 in the UK charts, making it the band's fifth studio album to make it into the national top ten. But it also became the first album since One Touch that did not reach the top 3 of the charts. The album dropped out of the top 50 in week four.

In an interview with the Daily Star , Heidi Range blamed the Island label for the album's disappointing sales figures:

“The sales were disappointing, but I don't think that's a reflection of the quality of our album. The problem was the doctorate. I don't think our fans even knew we'd released a new album. "

- Heidi Range, Sugababes

In Ireland Catfights and Spotlights reached number 18, in Greece number 33. In Germany, Switzerland and Austria the album did not enter the charts.

Singles

Girls

"Girls"
Released September 20, 2008
B side "Don't Look Back"
Recorded 2008
genre Pop , funk
Playing time 3:11
Label Iceland
Songwriter Anna McDonald, Nicole Jenkinson, Allen Toussaint
Producers Si Hulbert, Melvin Kuiters
Music video
Girls Sugababes Watershed Girls on MyVideo.de

Background information

The first single Girls ( German: Mädchen ) was released on September 20, 2008. The song samples the line of text "Here Come the Girls" from the song of the same name by singer Ernie K-Doe . Almost 180,000 copies have been sold to date.

Music video

The music video was filmed by Daniel Wolfe and premiered in October 2008. It shows the band members at a party in a club where they dance on poles and flirt with men. All club visitors can be seen in the chorus, the singing member in the verses.

No Can Do

"No Can Do"
Released December 26, 2008
B side "Spiraling"
Recorded 2008
genre Pop , funk
Playing time 3:11
Label Iceland
Songwriter Jason Pebworth, Jon Shave, George Astasio, Geeki
Producers The Invisible Men, Si Hulbert
Music video
Sugababes: No Can Do on YouTube

Background information

No Can Do ( German: Geht nicht ) is the second and last single on the album. It was released on December 26, 2008. No Can Do is the band's second single that did not make it into the Irish singles charts and one of the band's worst-selling singles.

Music video

The accompanying music video was shot by Marco Puig in November 2008. It shows the women in long dresses, which the men in underwear use as objects, such as motorcycles, cars and couches. This concept was inspired by British pop artist Allen Jones and the movie A Clockwork Orange , where women are used as objects in the same way.

Individual evidence

  1. http://www.bpi.co.uk/brit-certified/
  2. http://www.entertainmentwise.com/news/42406/sugababes-scrap-new-album-plans
  3. Sugababes: Interview (Isle Of Wight Festival 2008) (YouTube), Virgin, June 14, 2008
  4. http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/music/a118983/sugababes-working-on-funky-album.html
  5. Sugababes Heidi, Keisha and Amelle on the new single 'Girls' on YouTube , The Music 411, August 12, 2008 (English)
  6. Let's have a look at some new Sugababes songs, shall we? In: Popjustice. September 5, 2008, accessed December 10, 2016 .
  7. ^ Matthias Reichel: Sugababes: Catfights And Spotlights . In: CDStarts.de. February 1, 2009, accessed December 10, 2016 .
  8. a b Chart sources: UK / Ireland
  9. http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/music/a137123/sugababes-blame-label-for-album-flop.html
  10. Ernie K-Doe “Here Come the Girls” sampled in Sugababe's “Girls” on WhoSampled.com
  11. ^ Sugababes take a ride in a man-car in a pop art inspired shoot. In: Daily Mail . November 21, 2008, accessed December 10, 2016 .

Web links