The Saturdays
The Saturdays are an English-Irish girl group based in London, England. The group formed during the summer of 2007 and has been on hiatus since 2014. The lineup consists of Frankie Bridge, Una Healy,[1] Rochelle Humes, Mollie King, and Vanessa White. They were formed through Fascination Records, a sub-division of Polydor Records, which gave them an instant record deal with the label. As soon as the contract was finalized, the Saturdays went on tour with Girls Aloud during their Tangled Up Tour. The group's music style is pop, but throughout their career, their management has experimented with dance-pop and electropop. Songwriters and producers Ina Wroldsen, Steve Mac, Camille Purcell, and Quiz & Larossi have helped create their music. In July 2008, The Saturdays released their debut single and first Top Ten hit, "If This Is Love". Their debut album, Chasing Lights, released the same year, charted at number nine on the UK Albums Chart; it was certified platinum by the BPI and produced three more top ten singles: "Up", "Issues", and "Just Can't Get Enough". "Work" was also released from the album. The group's first concert tour, The Work Tour, took place in 2009. The group's second album, Wordshaker, produced the Top Ten hits "Forever Is Over" and "Ego". In 2010, the Saturdays released a mini album, Headlines!, which contained the top 10 hits "Missing You" and "Higher", the latter of which featured guest vocals from Flo Rida. The mini-album was supported by the group's second concert tour, The Headlines Tour. Their third album, On Your Radar, was released in 2011 and resulted in two top 10 singles: "Notorious" and "All Fired Up".
This article is about the musical group. For the novel, see The Saturdays (novel).
The Saturdays
London, England
2007–2014[a]
In 2011, the group tackled its first arena tour, All Fired Up! Live, in support of their third album, "On Your Radar". Their fourth album, "Living for the Weekend", was released in 2013. The album's first single, "30 Days", charted at number seven on the UK Singles Chart. The follow-up single, "What About Us", became the Saturdays' first UK number-one single, selling 114,000 copies in the first week of release.[2] Although "Gentleman" followed as the next single, it was "Disco Love" that entered the UK charts at number five, becoming their thirteenth Top Ten hit. The album debuted at number ten on 20 October 2013 becoming their fourth top 10 album. The Saturdays released their first greatest hits album, Finest Selection: The Greatest Hits, on 11 August 2014. It was preceded by a single, "What Are You Waiting For?", which was available to download on 9 August 2014. The Saturdays embarked on their Greatest Hits Live! tour in September 2014. The Saturdays have sold over five million records in the UK and Ireland.[3]
Other ventures[edit]
Filmography[edit]
In mid-2008, the Saturdays made a cameo appearance in Hollyoaks Later. The group was featured performing in the episode and were also featured talking to the cast members, their "fans".[81] In 2009, they appeared in an episode of BBC TV series "Myths" which was their first acting role as a band. They played a singing group called the Syrens in a modern version of The Odyssey, with Una Foden as "Peisone".[82] In 2010, the Saturdays filmed a documentary series, The Saturdays: 24/7, for ITV2, which witnessed the group touring while promoting the upcoming release of their single "Missing You", and recording sessions for their first extended play, Headlines!. The documentary had six episodes. The group later announced that the show aimed to prove that there is no bitchiness in the group like the papers always rumour. "You always see in the papers, that me and girls are always arguing, we really don't, and there is no bitching at all."[83] In the first episode of The Saturdays: 24/7 the band were shown gigging around the UK, without King, after she was taken ill after being bitten by a horse-fly[84] The show was a success and later the band confirmed another show, The Saturdays: What Goes On Tour, which was also a six-part fly on the wall documentary for Channel 4. The programme featured the girls on tour and what happens on tour with the group and promotional activities including beginning to record their third studio album. The Saturdays then appeared in an episode of Ghosthunting with... towards the end of 2010, in which Yvette Fielding guided them through haunted locations. The Saturdays later released a DVD of them performing on tour, titled The Saturdays: Headlines Live! which was only included with the Deluxe Fan Edition of On Your Radar.[85]
Before the group, Frankie Bridge (then Sandford) and Rochelle Humes (then Wiseman) were regular cast members in children's musical television comedy, I Dream, where they appeared along with other members from S Club 8. The programme, aimed at (and mostly about) teenagers, which aired in 2004 (see 2004 in British television). It was set at an esteemed performing arts college near Barcelona, Spain, and focuses on thirteen youths who are invited to enroll at the college, Avalon Heights, over the summer. Mollie King appeared on The X Factor as a solo act and in a group in a bid to find fame as a singer. Vanessa White made common appearances on Almost Famous as well as a Cheesestrings advert.[86]
Chasing the Saturdays[edit]
It was announced that the group's management were in talks with a number of different American network television programmes to broadcast a reality television series, which would feature the group's day-to-day lives.[87] It was later announced that the Saturdays had signed a contract for their show to be shown through, E! and their programme would be titled Chasing the Saturdays.[87] The series was available on E! and later available on MTV. The series was 10 episodes long and was first broadcast on 10 January. The iTunes download included an extra-minute snippet of the show back in London and was only if you bought the entire series through iTunes.
All of the members of the Saturdays have appeared on the BBC Three late-night panel show Sweat the Small Stuff. Humes was a regular panel member in series 1, and a team captain in series 2. In the second half of series 1 (from June 2013), Rochelle was on maternity leave, and each of the other Saturdays replaced her in the later episodes.
Testimonials[edit]
In 2010 the Saturdays each contributed their part to a book The Saturdays: Our Story an autobiography which was released on 25 October 2010. The book was written with a ghostwriter and published by the Transworld imprint Bantam Press.[88][89][90] The group also began a book signing tour starting at WH Smith in Bluewater.[90] The book gives an insight into the world of each band members, where they explain the success with the band and before their lives in the group (Humes and Bridge's case their time in S Club 8). They also talk about they love life, their friendship within the group and a personal insight before they found fame. They give fashion and beauty tips throughout the book and gossip accompanied by photos from each other group's own collection.[91] The Saturdays became the new face of hair removal products brand Veet in 2009.[21] In 2010 the Saturdays became the face of Impulse, a body fragrance range.[92] They became ambassadors for Nintendo 3DS game, Nintendogs + Cats prior to the release of their third studio album, taking over from Girls Aloud.[93] The Saturdays also worked with Fashionista to release a new brand of nail varnish, which was launched in Superdrug.[94]
Philanthropy[edit]
All five of the members have been involved in charity work. The Saturdays released a cover of Depeche Mode's "Just Can't Get Enough". The single was released on 1 March 2009 in aid to 2009's Comic Relief. The song debuted at number-two making the groups the first artist to miss the number-one spot with a Comic Relief single. However, the single out sold the original version. The Saturdays later changed to yellow tabards and they toured London's Westfield Shopping Mall with buckets and asked customers to part with their cash. The Saturdays have supported Marie Curie, which provides nurses to help care for people with terminal cancer.[95] King and Wiseman appeared on 24 March 2012 episode of The Million Pound Drop to raise money for Marie Curie, leaving with a £5000 consolation prize after missing the 8th and final question. The band also have done a charity gig for Sport Relief.[96] The band went on to become supporters of Elton John's charity, Elton John AIDS Foundation.[97] They also went on to do a charity gig with other artists for Help for Heroes to raise money for injured British soldiers.[98]
Artistry[edit]
Musical style[edit]
The Saturdays music is pop but throughout the group's lifetime they have experimented and recorded R&B which features styles urban, contemporary and dance-pop. The group have also recorded Synthpop.[10] To create the music the group have closely worked with Ina Wroldsen, Quiz & Larossi, Louis Biancaniello, Steve Mac throughout their career. Their first album was described as "sassy, modern, chart-ready pop is more straightforward than most Girls Aloud singles and younger than the music Sugababes are now recording."[10] Petridis of Allmusic described Wordshaker "combining aggressive basslines and vocals that are a pinch of prowess" and "praised the catchiness [that the songs] can't be denied".[99] And said "If anything, the girls are showing even more confidence this time around" and said that the album was a "fresh-sounding".[100] Later, when the band released their first Extended play, Headlines! critics said "offers a tantalising glimpse of what to expect from the group's next album proper".[101] Others said that the band had "a feisty edge", and concluded by calling the album "short but sweet".[102]