The Sugababes first hit the British Top Ten eight years ago and this autumn,
thanks to the soon-to-be-ubiquitous party anthem Here Come The Girls, will
be all over it once again. Nothing so strange about that. As we know, the
accepted life cycle of a successful pop band is this: an initial run of fame
ends in a messy break-up; there are solo ventures that spark briefly, then
fizzle; the wilderness years prompt an eventual, sheepish reunion that
precipitates (ta-da!) a return to their former glories. We’ve seen it play
out many times. Except that this particular act missed the whole mid-section
out. Here is the group that defied its own expiry date by never going away.
Keisha Buchanan, now 23, is the sole surviving member of the original line-up
(first Siobhan Donaghy and then Mutya Buena left and were replaced, of which
more later). Having joined in 1998 aged 13, her only experience of the
working world is being in an act shortly to release its sixth studio album
and one that has rarely been out of the charts. Subsequent co-optees Heidi
Range, 25, and Amelle Berrabah, 24, are a little more experienced in that
sense, but, like Buchanan, always dreamed of singing stardom. Each, when I
meet them individually, will offer up a variation on, “This is the best job
ever.” Legions of envious young girl fans would be sure to agree.
Except that it’s no longer just the pocket money vote that keeps the trio
afloat. Through the years, we’ve become used to British girl groups falling
short of the standards set by their super-accomplished American
counterparts. Even in the case of the Spice Girls, part of the initial charm
was that any ordinarily attractive, half-way talented 20-year-old might
imagine herself having been invited to join their fledgling line-up. Vocal
expertise and a built-to-last, appeals-to-all-ages repertoire were not part
of the plan. Yet attitude, tight harmonies and the irresistible force of
hits such as Push the Button, Red Dress and Hole in the Head have put the
Sugababes in another place entirely.
What they make, at their best, is great pop music, which is why we find
ourselves in a converted church in London NW10, celebrating past
achievements and what looks like an even brighter future (industry
predictions are that Here Come…, which reworks the Ernie K. Doe song heard
recently in Boots commercials, will be their biggest single to date). And
here they do come, fresh from three hours in hair and make-up (“You don’t
get a bouff like this in half an hour,” Range reminds me, stalking on
five-inch heels), modern, multi-ethnic young British womanhood personified,
albeit given a modishly retro Sixties twist. While the inspiration for
today’s shoot is that decade’s filmic kitchen-sink drama, the vibe is
infinitely more A Taste of Honey than it is Up the Junction or Poor Cow.
Temporarily, the ’babes are forsaking their own trademark style (part street,
part WAG-alicious) in favour of elegant daywear from upscale labels such as
Temperley, Versace and Paul Smith. Range is in dressing-up box heaven.
Demure in Asprey, she says, “I’m sure me mam hated it, but when I was a
little girl back in Liverpool, my sister and I would empty her wardrobes,
lay all the clothes on the bed and play shops. I loved putting on her
dresses and high heels and today feels a bit like that.” Right down to the
wrong-sized shoes, in fact. “Look! They don’t fit at all! I’ve got tissue
stuffed in the toes and still there’s still a great big gap at the heel!”
Doing a similarly sterling job of standing upright against considerable odds,
bandmate Berrabah recalls the advice she was given by Buchanan and Range
(who joined in 2001 aged 18 as replacement for first departee Donaghy) when
she herself was invited to join the ranks three years ago following Buena’s
decision also to leave in favour of a solo career. Chief among it was to
expect not just to be misquoted, but to be the subject of wholly fictitious
media stories. And has she been? The reply is a Barbara Windsor-ish (Carry
On… era) titter and a vigorous nodding.
“After the premiere of the last James Bond film, I took my mum to the
after-party and it was said I was tickling wotsisface’s elbow [Daniel
Craig’s] and asking him where he was going on to when his partner turned up,
causing me to leave, ‘red-faced with embarrassment’. I never crossed his
path! Then I was supposed to have sent a cake to Justin Timberlake’s hotel
room… My boyfriend was like, ‘I read a real funny one about you today.’ He
knows it’s rubbish. You just have to hope everyone else realises that, too.”
All part and parcel of the (best) job (in the world) she reckons, the one
she fantasised about when still a kid living above her Moroccan parents’
Aldershot kebab shop.
“I remember my sister calling me down to watch the Spice Girls when they
appeared on TV for the first time.” While her own musical tastes aligned her
more with the short-lived US R&B act TLC, she loved the Brit girls “from the
word go, especially that they all had different personalities and were not
so polished. Cheesy, but still there was something there.” So if she had to
define herself in similar terms (Baby Babe, Posh Babe, etc), what would she
be? “I’m just the nice, bubbly one. I’m truthful and straight. If you’re my
friend, you’re my friend for life and I’ll always stand by you.” And people
see you as? “Hot, I suppose. Which is completely different to how I view
myself.”
The departures of first Donaghy, then Buena, and the subsequent conscription
of Range and Berrabah as replacements were made much of in those areas of
the media that care about such things (fan websites were awash with rumours
of betrayal, bitchery and bullying), all of which would seem to weigh
heavily on the young shoulders of the one Sugababe with an unbroken record
of service. “Yes, it’s a great achievement to have stayed in the game for so
long, but I’ve definitely paid a high price,” says Buchanan, unswayed by
exclamations of how amazing she looks in a Ferretti dress. “People will
always think it was I who pushed the others out to get my own way.”
Range has already told me she and Keisha asked the newly arrived Berrabah what
she thought the two of them might be like to work with: “And she was really
honest, saying that after all that had been written she expected us to be
horrible and was building herself up ready for that. But we’re not. We don’t
fight. We get on. We’re nice people.” Buchanan, distracted because she is
getting reports that a childhood friend whom she has helped financially may
be shopping a tabloid story against her, appears wearied by that reputation.
Not even fabulous clothes can wholly lift her mood. “I worry about stuff,”
she says. “I’m a lot more sensitive than people give me credit for.”
All in all, it’s just a bigger, blingier version of the politics of the
playground or the office watercooler, and makes the Sugababes seem like any
other posse of girls in any other British town. Except that they’re major
pop stars with, as Buchanan is at pains to point out, a guiding hand in
their destiny (they co-write the hits, choose producers, have responsibility
for their own vocal arrangements). “If I’m honest, for every negative there
are 100 positives,” she says, rallying. “At the end of the day, this is the
best job…” In the world, as we know.
Here Come the Girls is released on October 6. The album Catfights and
Spotlights follows on October 20
