Could Girls Aloud have been successful in the US

[Isla]

1 hour ago, Britney-fan12332143 said:

OMG What Song

I can’t remember the name but it’s from her State of Mind album. It has the same producers and they pretty much reused the instrumental from All I Need. 

[MonAmour]

Nah, they are tacky 

[Innate]

2 hours ago, Isla said:

I can’t remember the name but it’s from her State of Mind album. It has the same producers and they pretty much reused the instrumental from All I Need. 

Is it “Everything I Hate?”

[Innate]

Honestly, I think they could have cracked the US but only with their fourth album. Their first three albums were too British Pop sounding and that wouldn’t have translated. Had they tried to go more global with Tangled Up, they would definitely have had more success. With songs like ****... No! No! No!, Call The Shots, Girl Overboard, Close To Love... that album would have done wonders for their global exposure.

[Isla]

10 hours ago, Innate said:

Is it “Everything I Hate?”

yep that’s the one! I eventually found it on YouTube last night, the instrumentals are so similar and you can tell the producers reused the ‘squelching’ sound. 

[2K16NEY]

13 hours ago, MonAmour said:

Nah, they are tacky 

 

[filmandstage13]

As an American, the US music market is an admittedly tricky one to break into, even for American artists. It’s a very diverse landscape with some homegrown genres that are huge here but don’t have the same global impact (e.g. country).

Girl groups have definitely had their moments in the US (and were arguably invented here) with the heyday being the trailblazing Supremes, Ronettes, Shirelles, and Shangri-Las. There was a resurgence in the 90s (TLC, En Vogue, Destiny’s Child) and there have also been a lot of all female bands since the 70s (the Go-Go’s, the Bangles, HAIM).

I think it’s mostly the genre rather than the fact that they’re girl groups. My boyfriend is a big fan of Little Mix and Sugababes, but there is something distinctly British about both groups that I can’t put my finger on, but I’m not surprised they haven’t made it big here. It’s the same reason I don’t think Kylie Minogue (save a couple songs that were huge here), Robbie Williams, Westlife, or George Michael (after Wham, Faith, and Freedom, all of which were huge here) never really resonated. They certainly have followings for sure, but don’t make the same chart or radio impact.

It is worth noting that a lot of overseas acts that have broken big here have marketed some material specifically for the US market. Duran Duran broke through after remixing and re-releasing their Rio album, Ace of Base reworked their “Happy Nation” album into “The Sign” (which subsequently also took off internationally), and even the Beatles had an entirely different discography here. Hell, even Britney has marketed her music differently for US and international markets (Born to Make You Happy vs. FTBOMBH and Overprotected/remix).

My guess is we’ll intermittently have some groups break through with some powerhouse singles that find homes in the US radio (e.g. the Spice Girls), but until Europop becomes more mainstream here, it’s going to be tough. And it’s got a lot of other super popular genres to compete with!

All that said, I will always stan this masterpiece from the OG Sugababes lineup. But I don’t think this was that big anywhere 

 

[The Exhale Psychic]

ok lets rediscuss this. 

i think this song from GA would have hit the US charts on fire

 

[Slayer]

5 minutes ago, Britney-fan12332143 said:

ok lets rediscuss this. 

i think this song from GA would have hit the US charts on fire

 

OMG, This is probably my favourite GA song!

[Isla]

6 minutes ago, Britney-fan12332143 said:

ok lets rediscuss this. 

i think this song from GA would have hit the US charts on fire

 

One of their best singles! And the video is ICONIC. In fact a game based on the music video came with the CD single for this song and can be found online somewhere. 

[The Exhale Psychic]

3 minutes ago, Slayer said:

OMG, This is probably my favourite GA song!

Same

[Bryan Lamb]

omg i love GA (and im from NYC) i wish they were more successful here. Nicola is so underrated, i still listen to Cinderellas eyes to this day

[Moscow]

I don't know, but UK groups or individuals hardly crack US and when they do you get ED Sheeran 

I mean Rita ora isn't big in the US - I am sure same for Cheryl there are just too many good artists who aren't just popular. 

US is a stubborn market to get into when you are foreign. 

[Jadedkitten]

I feel like America don’t **** with girl groups like that anymore. 

[Slayer]

On 4/10/2021 at 8:45 PM, filmandstage13 said:

My boyfriend is a big fan of Little Mix

Your boyfriend serving taste 

[Bryan Lamb]

Also Tangled up would have been huge in the US

[electricopop]

On 4/10/2021 at 1:07 AM, Isla said:

They attempted the US before then.

Their debut album, One Touch, was released in the US in 2001, but it was a very low-key release with no promotion at all and no singles so I don't think it charted. Iirc it was released around the same time Siobhan chose to leave the group, and I imagine Keisha and Mutya promoting as a duo might have been confusing for some US people.

Round Round was released as a single in the US and managed to chart in the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart, and I think it was more of a club hit there than a mainstream hit.

In 2003/2004, the girls really attempted to crack the US properly, and released Hole In the Head as a single in the US, it charted at #96 on the Billboard Hot 100 and I think it topped the Hot Dance Club Play chart. They were going to release a modified version of Three (their third album) in the US with a different tracklisting, including some songs from Angels With Dirty Faces. However, it was shelved by their US label (Interscope) after Hole In the Head flopped. The group were also marketed wrong in the US, images of the group weren't included on the Hole In the Head single cover or the Three album cover for the US market and there is rumours that Interscope did not know how to promote a multi-racial UK girl group (which I find ridiculous giving the fact this is around the same time the Black Eyed Peas blew up and they were on the same label). The girls also didn't actually do that much promotion in the US iirc (if not at all), I'm not sure why. 

Apparently they were going to attempt the US again in 2006 following the success of Push the Button but these plans were changed due to Mutya's departure.

Signing to Roc Nation in 2009 was the final attempt, but Sweet 7 didn't even get released in the US in the end, I think partly because of Keisha leaving the group but also because of the negative reception of the album in the UK and it underperforming. They got dropped from Roc Nation in 2010.

I remembered this, but tbh the whole rumours about don't know how to promote multi-racial group was a bit off!

[Isla]

9 hours ago, electricopop said:

I remembered this, but tbh the whole rumours about don't know how to promote multi-racial group was a bit off!

Yeah it baffles me, Black Eyed Peas were on the same label and they were multi-racial... like it makes no sense to me.

[The Exhale Psychic]

another bop. this would have been huge in the US

 

[nwonder]

The Show, Something kind ooh and The Loving Kind are amazing