FEATURE:
Girlbands Forever: The Highs, Middles and Lows
IN THIS PHOTO: Eternal
Saluting the Icons, and Looking Ahead to the New Crop
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I would urge everyone…
IN THIS PHOTO: Little Mix/PHOTO CREDIT: Gareth Cattermole/MTV 2018/Getty Images
to check out a new BBC series, Girlbands Forever. The three episodes available on BBC iPlayer are extraordinary. Featuring an incredible range of contributors, including members of All Saints, Atomic Kitten and Sugababes, we get a real insight into the realities of being a girlband in the 1990s and 2000s. Although we might think of all the highs and success, there were some real lows and grim realities. Starting with the 1990s, this was a decade when All Saints, Eternal and the Spice Girls did battle for chart success. But what was the real cost?! What was happening behind the scenes?! Some of the first words spoken in that episode mentioned how it was all “smoke and mirrors”. The misogyny and male dominance. How harsh and imbalanced it was. I will end this feature by looking at a crop of incredible girlbands who are coming through. I do wonder whether labelling these awesome artists as ‘girl groups’ or ‘girl bands’ was in any way demeaning or infantilising. However, the more I watched of this series, the fuller picture I got. It changed my understanding of what girlbands had to face and what their lives were like.
These hugely powerful and inspiring women perhaps not getting their due. Whilst the BBC series does chart the high and glorious moments, there is an unmasking of what it was really like. I want to start out by highlighting some observations from the women who contributed to the series. I will select four women who were part of incredible girlbands. Those who have left a legacy and inspired so many girls and young women. From this BBC article, we can glean a sense of what it was like. Sugababes’ Heidi Range shared her experiences:
“Not long after you joined the group, the band had their first number one hit. What was it like being catapulted into the limelight?
I grew up singing my entire life and dreaming that one day I would ‘make it’. It was only a matter of weeks from first joining the band, I was standing on stage at the MTV Awards in Frankfurt, presenting Eminem with an award. It was mind blowing how my life had changed overnight. Cut to a few months later and our first single together, Freak Like Me went in straight at Number 1! It was everything I’d ever dreamt of and more.
The lineup changed several times during your time, how did that impact your experience in the group?
Each lineup change happened for different reasons and each time it was difficult to deal with. I was part of the group for almost 11 years and I guess it’s inevitable that within any job over that period of time, people, their circumstances and their needs change and there’s nothing you can do about it if someone chooses that they want something else.
When you look back at your time in the band, what moment stands out as the highlight?
Looking back now, it was all a highlight really. I spent my twenties travelling the world, writing and performing music with so many incredible artists. I am really proud of what we achieved together.
One performance that really stands out for me though was performing at Nelson Mandela’s 90th Birthday in Hyde Park. The night before the concert, all the artists were invited to take a guest to a pre-show dinner with him and I took my Nan. I asked our glam team to do her hair and makeup, she wore a fabulous dress and then we went to the dinner together. It was the most incredible evening and I’ll never forget spending that special time with her.
Another stand out moment was being the first girl band to play the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury in 2003. We were terrified and there was a debate taking place on the radio about whether a pop band should be allowed to perform there as we were driving to the site. We thought we might get bottles of pee thrown at us, but it was absolutely mega. As soon as we came off stage, we all wanted to go straight back on and do it all again.
Kelle Bryan of Eternal was asked what her experiences were. A lot of these girlbands were pitched against one another. Although they all had their own sound and personality, I think there was this temptation to lump them together or be reductive. Even though these women reflect on proud moments, there would have been moments of burnout, sexism, misogyny and the blackness of fame at that time that was hugely detrimental and damaging. Something that one hopes would not exist today for girlbands. Though I suspect some of that poison and misogyny still can be felt:
“Eternal were pioneers for UK girlbands, especially as an interracial group, how did that shape your experience?
It shaped the experience the whole way through, from beginning to end. At the beginning I was quite naive to the knock on effects, because Louise was my friend from school, so I never really thought about her as anything other than just my mate. There was a disparity of interest towards Louise as opposed to us.
On stage, Louise was properly lit, we weren't. They would have makeup for Louise but not for us. Those kinds of disparities were very evident. But on the flip side, when we went to America, there were times where they would focus on the rest of us. The whole way through, it was peppered with all kinds of nuances and difficulties, racism and unconscious bias.
Musically, what set Eternal apart from the other girlbands at the time?
When we started there wasn't anyone before us. It was Bananarama, and Mel and Kim were on the scene. At the time, we proved that girlbands could be successful. Then a whole plethora of groups came after us. In the States, there were SWV and En Vogue, we met them when we started doing promotion in America.
It was quite a strange time, because you're not realising that you’re driving things forward for women, you're just doing the best you can to keep sane and keep working. The schedule was brutal, but you don't realise you're starting a trend, making history or starting a legacy. You're too busy working, because it was lots of hard work!
What legacy did Eternal leave on the girlband scene?
So there's an artist called Laura Mvula and she's amazing. It sounds weird but, for whatever reason she's inspired by what I did in my career, and she attributes some of her success to us. She invited me to go see her when she was doing a live performance for BBC Radio 2 at Symphony Hall and I went with my kids. I've never witnessed anything quite so outstanding as her performance. I can't tell you how incredible she is. I left her a message thanking her so much for the tickets, and she sent me a beautiful and heartfelt voice message back which really affected me.
Another person who does that kind of thing is Emeli Sandé, and Jessie J did just the other day. I can't bear the compliments because it feels surreal. Back in the day, we were just getting on with it, I was in the trenches. I really wasn't thinking about anyone other than get up, don't cry. When it was at its peak you’re thinking ‘I can’t sleep in this bed because though it's not my bed’ and the jet lag was so hard, we were just surviving.
When you hear kind stuff like that from Laura, you're just like, ‘what?’. I think it's because there weren't very many people like us around at the time, and we had gospel roots and sang harmonies, and the music was very R&B led, and you just couldn’t break through the charts with that kind of music back in the 90s”.
All Saints’ Melanie Blatt and Atomic Kitten’s Natasha Hamilton talked about their time in two of the biggest British girlbands ever. Whilst there would have been these moments of sisterhood and commercial highs that they would have dreamed of, Girlbands Forever gives a more balanced view of the actual realities. Not looking through rose-tinted glasses. Lessons that hopefully have been learned. Ones we cannot forget or overlook:
“How did you shape the All Saints’ sound and what made you stand out?
The All Saints sound grew very organically. We were listening to a lot of Hip-hop and R&B from the states, so that was always going to be a huge influence. Shaz and I also grew up listening to all sorts of music from Reggae to Funk to Jungle. Shaz has an amazing talent for writing, and once we met K-Gee, who we spent almost two years in the studio with before we got signed to London Records, it was a match made in heaven and with him we created that All Saints sound.
What’s something from your girlband years that you’re really proud of?
I’m proud of what we achieved without really having a game plan. We loved making music fundamentally and that led to a few years of craziness which changed our lives forever. We didn’t really play the game and I suppose that makes me proud!”.
You became a mother during your time in Atomic Kitten, what are your thoughts on how the music industry deals with motherhood?
I can't really comment on how it deals with it now, because I don't know. I'm hoping people have learned from back then that to keep a young woman away from their baby, is probably not going to end in a very positive way. It's going to end in resentment, postnatal depression, and I'd like to think the duty of care towards women within the industry in general is now a lot more caring and understanding. It’s a multi-billion dollar business, but you're also working with human beings, so let's put the human first before the money.
What was the biggest misconception about Atomic Kitten?
That we were always fighting and there was a lot of bitchiness going on. I was on tour with my sisters. Yes, we argued. Who doesn't argue with their siblings? It came from a place of love and a place of being in each other's pockets 24/7, you're going to annoy each other. You need a bit of space, but you don't get it, so you're going to end up sniping. We always made up with each other, so it wasn't as bitchy as people thought. We were very much sisters.
Looking back, what are you most proud of from your girlband years?
Honestly, that I can still sit here in one piece and be a fully functioning person, because there was a time where I thought, ‘Will I ever recover from this?’. Physically and mentally it is really intense and it's overwhelming, but it just makes you more robust, and now I've come full circle. I've launched my own record label. I'm going to be looking after the next generation of young UK pop acts. I wouldn’t be able to do it properly if it weren’t for the experiences I’ve had. The duty of care is huge for me”.
I was a big fan of girlbands in the 1990s and 2000s. All Saints, Spice Girls, TLC, Destiny’s Child were some of my favourites. Little Mix, Atomic Kitten, Sugarbabes and Mis-Teeq are pioneering and important. I will look at a review for the new series. However, there are some fascinating takeaways from the episodes. How Kerry Katona talked about how hard it was. Melanie Blatt reveals how proud she is of the legacy of what she did with All Saints. Though there was all this toxicity and trauma. How there needed to be this sisterhood to survive. I guess, for people like me, we were looking at things from the outside. What the music press were telling us. It was incredible, seemingly. Although a lot of the language used is problematic and definitely misogynistic, and so much of the imagery and photoshoots exploitative, there was this feeling that everything was perfect and the girlbands were having the time of their lives. We can’t forget about the incredible music and how impactful it was. Bands that have endured to this day and changed so many lives. The U.S. bands like SWV and En Vogue shaped how British bands such as All Saints presented themselves. Melanie Blatt discussing how she looked to the U.S. bands and wanted to do what they did. I think what is common and obvious is how ambitious girlbands were. Even if they came from different musical traditions, there was this desire to make it and fulfil their dreams. You do wonder what the experiences for these girls would have been like if they had been mostly managed by women. Female producers and women calling the shots. It seems like the most positive moments and strength came from within the groups. Although you smile hearing members of All Saints and Eternal discuss their path and the kinship within the groups, there was this bleaker side. Girlbands being marketed on their looks. Told to lose weight to conform to ideals of the press and male gaze. In the process, sending out a bad message to girls who followed the group! Signing contracts and seemingly embarking on this wonderful ride. However, the deeper they get into their careers, that is when cracks appear.
Eternal reached number four with Stay. That was seen as a disappointing chart position. The pressure of bands like this to get to number one. Or they were not relevant and important. How detrimental and demoralising that would have been. If boybands were put under less pressure, there were these other standards for girlbands. Listening to male producers sharing their memories of the time and there are moments that make you wince. Like they have not learned anything themselves. Hearing about how punishing things were. Girlbands being punished to the limit to get to number one. Travelling endlessly, out on diets, told to dress in a certain way and being put on this brutal treadmill that involved endless promotion and personal sacrifice. Louise leaving Eternal because of the pressures and the strain of being in such a high-profile band. When Eternal became a trio, they came under the spotlight in terms of their appearance and weight. Sent to a place in the countryside, where the trio were told what to eat and controlled! That experience was shared by other girlbands. Such a horrible misogyny that many did not know about. Constantly under the spotlight. Everything they did and everywhere they went, they were under this lens. Broadcaster Sara Cox talking about how Britain was rebranding and revitalising in the 1990s under a Labour government. Britpop and the cool bands coming through. Spice Girls the best-known and most popular girlband of that time. Every other girlband having to rival them. I can only imagine what it was like behind closed doors when it came to expectations and workload. Discussion around Girl Power and how that term seemed a little hollow. Eternal pre-dated Spice Girls and perhaps coined that term. Though Kelle Bryan was happy as long as women were getting props and respect!
Before providing further reflections on the three episodes, I want to come to The Guardian and their impressions of the extraordinary Girlbands Forever. Whether you were around in the 1990s and 2000s and grew up with these girlbands, or are approaching them new, it is a must-watch series that takes us inside the highs, middles and lows. Showing the glory, guts and the awful realities. An aspect we do not really talk about as much as we should:
“Of course we want the gossip, fallouts and scandals. Band members interviewed for the three-part series are happy to supply. Kelle Bryan from Eternal reveals they were sent to a facility in the countryside and put on controlled diets to manage their weight (though the head of EMI UK denies all knowledge). Kerry Katona tells how a journalist turned up at her mother’s house with a bag of cocaine to get her to sell a story. Melanie Blatt of All Saints says that when she discovered she was pregnant, she was told to abort.
Girlbands Forever could have been a cynical exercise: see who’s desperate enough to want to be in this, dredge up their worst moments while viewers make assessments about which of them has the nicest house. Instead, it has sensitivity and scope, as interested in charting the social mores these artists created, were crucified by, or changed in some way.
I’m not sure things have improved. Attractive celebrities once took pains to hide their relationships, to maintain an illusion of being sexually available. These days, we’ve exploded the notion of privacy, and realised relationships can be cannibalised on social media for cachet. Progress! Black artists once worked five times as hard for a 20th of the attention. Imagine. The show is refreshingly unequivocal that the addition of a slender, blond, white woman could transform a band’s fortune. While our pop culture lens has widened, it’s hardly pointing in a different direction.
It’s the old footage that breaks your heart. They are such vibrantly talented children. Look at Atomic Kitten meeting Westlife for the first time, all teenage flirtation. Check out the “steely, non-choreography” of the early, surly Sugababes. There is adorable footage of Mutya on a Michael Barrymore show, in which she appears to literally be a baby. I’m glad the doc gets into the Sugababes’ revolving door policy. One of the funniest things to happen in music this century, it’s also a living manifestation of the Ship of Theseus philosophical paradox. Let’s not get into that.
Spice Girls are the silverbacks in the ring, who came from nowhere and conquered the globe with their debut single. None feature here, yet it’s interesting to hear from established artists who floundered in the wake of the Jenny-come-latelies. Some profess to being underwhelmed by Wannabe, while their five-way demographic appeal is presented as a triumph of marketing. “Girl Power? That was EMI power,” scoffs producer Pete Waterman.
The music industry comes out of this badly (though Piers Morgan comes out of it worse than anyone). A repeating pattern we’re shown is that when band members get pregnant, the sentence handed down from male management is the same: you’ve destroyed the band. In this context, seeing Blatt perform at Party in the Park with her pronounced baby bump showing, sexy and defiant as ever, is a punk-rock, sea-change vision. Still the coolest person in the room, she had reservations about appearing here at all. “Hello, I’m Mel from the 90s” is how she introduces herself. Oh, she dope.
Another repeating pattern: talented but frustrated girls break ties with their Henry Higgins founders and succeed in their own way. No matter how these bands started, what they become is up to them. Without always feeling empowered, they were avatars of it for younger generations. They represented the joy of being in a gang of girls, often working-class, travelling the world and living a dream. The world needs that. Plus you can’t go wrong with a TV soundtrack of songs including Never Ever, Sounds of the Underground and Scandalous. You know what to do. Push the button”.
I am going to get to an article from Stylist. They react to the BBC documentary and how girlbands were chewed up and spat out. We learn how All Saints were objectified and subject to tabloid attention. Nicole and Natalie Appleton getting the brunt of that press intrusion. How women were judged and condemned, whereas men in the industry – and men in film – were not subjected to this kind of sexism. Sara Cox talking about how there was this small window of celebration for women and bands like Spice Girls and All Saints. Tabloids turning on them. Commentators from the time like Noel Gallagher and Vivienne Westwood discussing girlbands in disparaging and insulting terms. How they lacked talent and it was all about marketing. How deflating it would have been for these women who worked tirelessly and had incredible talent – only to be cut down and stabbed in the back! Girlbands becoming public property. The press had so much power. A hate campaign launched against Spice Girls. How that impacted the mental health of bands like Spice Girls. By the early-'00s, tastes and trends changed. How girlbands like All Saints split because of tensions and differences. The group fell out and they parted ways. You have to think that the press and industry pushed them to that point. Private lives of celebrities scrutinised more in the 2000s. Girlbands subjected to that. Gossip magazines adding to the bile. Such a toxic decade. There were definite high moments within girlbands. The chemistry and friendship. Enjoying the highs. However, as the 2000s offered up so many girlbands, there was this crowded scene. Bands like Girl Thing fizzled out. Lacking authenticity, they were too similar to Spice Girls. It was a brutal machine! Mis-Teeq offered something real and different. It was interesting seeing the evolution. Girlbands taking influence from Garage and other genres. The reality was the same in the 2000s as it was in the 1990s. Signing a record label was the start of a punishing and unglamorous life. Being sexualised and controlled. Manipulated and almost trapped. Traveling the world and it being this ecstatic high. The loneliness that came with quiet moments. That led to excess and drinking too much.
Gatekeepers in the industry comparing girlbands to others. Especially problematic was Mis-Teeq being compared to Destiny’s Child because they were Black. They were not given the same opportunities as white girlbands. Magazines not putting them on the cover. Labels wary of fan jealousy when a member of a girlband would date a member of a rival boyband. Atomic Kitten’s Kerry Katona warned off of dating Westlife’s Brian McFadden. The tabloids harassing the girlbands and their families. Friends and families selling out and these scandalous and untrue stories being printed. How horrifying that was for women. Mis-Teeq’s label, Telestar, went bust. Atomic Kitten’s Jenny Frost (who replaced Kerry Katona in Atomic Kitten) revealed how she went for success and how her and Kerry Katona had no bad blood. The 2010s saw a change in how girlbands came together and made it. Rather than it being music executives, it was talent shows like The X Factor. Was it better for women?! Quite brutal and competitive, there was this public scrutiny and exposure. However, there was this raft of talent coming through that people could see on the screens and were not hidden. Little Mix the standout success from The X Factor in terms of girlbands. They were the first band to win the competition. Sugababes another prominent band from the 2010s. Overload was a video that was a breakthrough. So different to other videos from girlbands. Perhaps less about high choreography and confidence from singing and not exerting, there was this change. Sugababes more real than a lot of manufactured girlbands who came before. They were not told to smile and be extroverted. They were real but, with that, they were seen as moody and difficult. Labelled as being troublesome or outsiders!
Heidi Range – who replaced Siobhán Donaghy – talking about how Sugababes wanted to be the biggest girlband. How this was their dream. Natasha Hamilton of Atomic Kitten was diagnosed with postnatal depression and her doctor said she needed six to eight months off. She was given two weeks! She was absolutely crippled by that. How she could not wait to get off stage. Women were not allowed a career if they had children. Has that changed at all today?! The expectation that women either had to be childless or, if they did have a child, continue their career and not take any time off. Record labels do not come off well through Girlbands Forever. How they drove women out of girlbands and forced bands to quit and break up. Mutya Buena left Sugababes because she suffered from mental health issues. The fact that she was replaced the following day by Amelle Berrabah. That lack of sympathy and any sort of dignity. It was all a machine. Red Dress originally had Buena’s vocals on it but they were replaced by Berrabah’s. How it was cut-throat. All about sales and keeping momentum going! No consideration towards the personal lives, happiness and health of the women. Berrabah revealed how Sugababes were told to keep moody and not smile because that was their image. They were not allowed to smile and be free. Treated more like puppets than people! Jade Ewen instantly replaced Keisha Buchanan. How gut-wrenching and insulting that would have been for Buchanan! Sugababes lost their original members. It was almost like this rotating line-up. Now, Keisha Buchanan, Mutya Buena, and Siobhán Donaghy are back as Sugababes. This reformation is amazing, though you feel that is because they are maybe not subjected to the same intensity and scrutiny as the first time around. Able to record and perform together without any backstabbing, label machinations and this tabloid poison. Broadcaster Scott Mills talked about how a girlband like Little Mix had to engage with social media all the time. Something girlbands of the 1990s and 2000s did not really have to do, there was this pressure to keep connecting with fans and keep the hits coming! Perrie Edwards dated One Direction’s Zayn Malik. Fans of One Direction picking Edwards apart. Like girlbands before, them being public property. Torn to shreds and subjected to attacks. They called off their engagement (he dumped her by text). Shout Out to My Ex is a shout-out/hit-back to Zayn Malik. Perrie Edwards emotionally talked about performing in Las Vegas. How exhausted she was. She experienced panic attacks but felt like she had to go on. No sense of care or protection for her. She was taken to hospital and on a drip. Little Mix had to go on without her. The sense of (unfair) guilt that Edwards felt. She said how there was this group dynamic, there was this feeling that you could not let the team down. The upside is that they had each other, though you wonder whether there was any concern or sense of help from the label and management.
Little Mix released Strip. A reaction to the abuse women faced online, it was this empowering statement. Clara Amfo stating how this was a natural thing and really incredible video. Piers Morgan mocking the video. Amfo saying how the video was not for him and how he was being patronising. Little Mix hit back and their fans were unified. Trolls still took their toll. Jesy Nelson left the band because of the trolls. The positives is a lot of these girlbands reforming and performing again after, as Melanie Blatt said, “the first blush of success”. Spice Girls returned to the stage. All Saints recorded new albums. Little Mix found their way back together. Atomic Kitten got back together, as did Sugababes’ original line-up. After all the sh*t they experienced the first time around, the love for each other and those bonds shone through! Final thoughts shared sort of makes me wonder whether the same concerns apply to modern girlbands. How they were too young and inexperienced to know how things would play out. That they didn’t have control and were exploited. How labels would take advantage and did not really look after their best interests. Bands breaking up because they felt they could not continue. Girlbands are vital, as Eternal’s Kelle Bryan said. Misogyny still raging, so that sense of visibility, empowerment and solidarity more needed than ever! Misogyny and violence towards women much more widespread now than back decades ago. How we need to encourage a new wave of brilliant women. Before coming to that, Stylist reacted to Girlbands Forever and what they took away from it:
“Honestly, every clip in this documentary is a reminder of how the music industry chewed women up and spat them out in the name of empowerment. Men assumed control of these young women and issued ominous warnings (“one day, success is going to go away”), and even at the height of ‘girl power’, female autonomy was seen as a business risk. Indeed, no secret is made of how the Spice Girls were – inspired by the success of the TV show Friends – built to be more “universally appealing” than the R&B stylings of Eternal.
Translation? Music industry moguls wanted something whiter, safer and easier to sell.
While some had to fight tooth and nail for every success and others immediately landed a No. 1 hit, it’s little wonder that competition began to simmer between the groups. And it wasn’t helped by the fact that feuds were manufactured and nurtured by the press for column inches.
“We were pretty used to the tabloids being c**ts in general,” says Melanie Blatt frankly.
It’s all too easy to assume that things have got better as time has marched on. That the press has grown more enlightened, that women are no longer demonised for breaking outside the narrow boxes that society assigns them. Sadly, though, nothing could be further from the truth.
Nelly Furtado has stepped back from performing after relentless body-shaming attacks. Jesy Nelson left Little Mix (who appear in a later episode of the docuseries) after years of comparison and online abuse. Taylor Swift and Charli xcx have been plagued by feud rumours since 2018. Lily Allen recently said that she always feels “like I am fighting against a tabloid version of myself”. And just weeks ago, Chappell Roan told The Face she might quit music altogether if the harassment aimed at her and those around her doesn’t stop.
It’s the same poison, albeit administered via a different delivery system. The screaming headlines of the 90s haven’t gone away; they’ve merely been digitised. And, honestly, the damage that was done to women in the public eye by a paparazzi zoom lens? Well, social media now does it faster, louder and so much more personally. Step one foot outside the line, and the mob will be waiting with TikTok reels and cruel Instagram comments.
It’s the same poison, but administered differently
I suppose what Girlbands Forever really shows us is that the problem was never the music: it was how we expected – and still expect – women to behave while making it. They were silently urged to stick to the boringly inoffensive roles that society (ie the patriarchy) has given us. To smile. To be funny, but not funnier than the men in the room. To be ambitious, but apologise for it constantly. To be (and I’m borrowing from Britney Spears here) not a girl, but not yet a woman. And when female artists push back – when they get angry, gain weight, fall pregnant or dare to do something as villainous as visibly age – they are branded a problem to be dealt with.
Every decade, the faces change, but the crime stays the same: being a woman who refuses to shrink herself for comfort. And Girlbands Forever (despite being billed as “a celebration of a time of very special music and talent” by executive producer Louis Theroux) goes out of its way to highlight the pain behind the pop-perfect façade. Because maybe that’s the real legacy of the 90s: not girl power, but girl pressure. A generation of women who were told they could have it all, as long as they stayed within the frame.
Sadly, as Chappell Roan, Nelly Furtado and every woman who’s ever been called “too loud”, “too old” or “too much” knows all too well, the frame hasn’t moved an inch”.
The sisterhood and that sense of girlbands giving voice and solidarity to girls and women. Perrie Edwards (Little Mix) among those who hoped girlbands would live forever. Today, although there is not the same sort of wave of girlbands, there is hope for a revival. British groups like FLO and Say Now burning bright. There is so much to take from Girlbands Forever. Open and revealing, the women who were part of these phenomenal girlbands told their truths. It was so refreshing but also shocking! Positives emerge. How glorious the music was and how there was this sisterhood. I think groups like Say Now and FLO are going to inspire so many other girlbands. FLO released their debut album, Access All Areas, last year. Hugely promising, they look to be girlband legends of the future. Offering a mix of genres and shining and burning with authenticity and power, they are leading a charge. Similarly, Say Now are releasing incredible single after incredible single! I agree that we will always need girlbands. I grew up listening to them and still do today. Girlbands Forever was a wonderful reminder of all the amazing women who released this timeless music against all the odds. From press harassment to misogyny and reductive and demoralising attitudes from labels. Attacked on social media and almost pitted again one another. Women who should have combined and boosted each other were almost baited by the press to go against their sisters. However, the fact that so many of the original queens are back together – whether for a few live dates and nothing more or an album or two -, that is giving inspiration and strength to women who want to form bands and follow their idols. There is probably more stock given to other types of bands now. How girlbands are not as natural and in vogue as once they were, I feel the tide will change. They offer something familiar but alternative. Few bands focus on harmonies and the incredible anthems girlbands produced in the 1990s, 2000s and 2010s. We can step back a bit and also take strides forward. Girlbands who can take elements from those who came before but add their own personalities and voices into the mix. When you think of all that girlbands have given to music, you have hope that, when it comes to keeping the flame burning and welcoming in the new generation this empire can be built back up…
BRICK by brick.