the boring o’clock balladry of Westlife and Ronan Keating

Music Because I know you don't get tired, at all, with posts about the Sugababes, here's a pretty good time line from Drowned in Sound which doesn't sugacoat (sorry) the effect One Touch really had on the charts way back when:

"27 November 2000 - ‘One Touch’ Tanks

It’s not hard to see why the debut Sugababes LP sank without much of a trace. While its silky restraint may have helped this album stand the test of time, trapped between the bubblegum trash of Steps and B*witched and the boring o’clock balladry of Westlife and Ronan Keating, this three piece were never going to have a fair shot at a career. The market for urban-influenced pop sang by a bunch of dowdy schoolgirls simply wasn’t there."

It was a record out of time.  The second ever post on this blog brought news of their demise.

Like both of Siobhan's solo albums it's been rediscovered subsequently which is why there's a gentle clamour to get the band back together even though we all know it won't be the same.

I hadn't actually noticed the latest "Sugababes" track had been buried by the record company to such an extent only rerecords are available on Spotify. Probably doesn't help that the video is itself a rerecord of the one for Freak Like Me.

I also hadn't noticed how much publicity Donaghy did for her second album Ghosts. Here she is miming on Loose Women.



Don't Give It Up reached 45 in the charts, despite being, I'm sure you'll agree (?), amazing. Ghosts could only manage 92. That coveted Loose Women slot isn't a solid as it might seem, people.