Printable version of thread
Click here to view this topic in its original format
BuzzJack Music Forum _ Girls Aloud _ Are Girls Aloud "tacky"?
Posted by: JosephStyles 15th January 2015, 11:16 AM
So I made a thread in The Lounge about a post I saw on another forum that was quite snobby but I thought I'd home in on one of the points in here. http://www.buzzjack.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=173813
So would you consider Girls Aloud a "tacky" pop band? I personally wouldn't at all, I think they were actually quite edgy from the very start, at least for a pop band. They came about following the likes of the Spice Girls, S Club 7 and Steps, who I'm not saying were "tacky" at all but did very fun enjoyable pop for the most part. Girls Aloud's sound (of the underground 
) from the beginning was quite different to this, still pop but definitely not what was expected of them, especially as talent show winners. I think their songs continued to be quite different to other songs out there and perhaps it was quite throwaway and meaningless but at the end of the day, they weren't just any old pop band. I think they kinda paved the way for a group like The Saturdays to do well afterwards also, and a lot of what they did was critically acclaimed.
Solo wise, it's a different story really, I can understand for example calling Cheryl's music more "tacky", she makes great pop songs but I think they stand out less than Girls Aloud's tracks did.
DISCUSS. Yes, a serious thread in the GA forum, what has the world come to 
Posted by: HausofKubrick 15th January 2015, 11:19 AM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FqaF26ReTJs 
Posted by: JosephStyles 15th January 2015, 11:20 AM
We don't talk about that x
Posted by: HausofKubrick 15th January 2015, 11:23 AM
But away from that, i don't think they were tacky at all. The image, especially in the first few eras, was quite ~tackychic~ i suppose but that didn't feed into the music too much. I'm not sure Spice Girls are in the same bracket as Steps/S Club 7 in terms of the "fun pop girl" group, by the way - they were very edgy too with their sounds, and i hear a lot of their style in GA's early albums 
I think from Tangled Up onwards, the band became anything but tacky, and dare i say this (with a group consisting of Cheryl, Nadine et al), they became a very classy act with songs like 'The Promise' and 'Call The Shots'.
Posted by: JosephStyles 15th January 2015, 11:26 AM
Oh yeah, the Spice Girls were very different to S Club/Steps, although I do think that you wouldn't have heard them do a song like Sound of the Underground (comparing to their other singles as I'm not familiar with album tracks), so perhaps a similar sound to the Spice Girls would've been more "expected" of them.
I totally agree with you about Tangled Up onwards. I think the transition kinda came about during the Sound of Girls Aloud era but was definitely most apparent in Tangled Up, which really is pop perfection I think.
Posted by: Joe. 15th January 2015, 11:35 AM
Yeah, they have their tacky moments but I actually think in terms of their lyrics and production they are in fact quite edgy for a chart girl-group.
I do categorise Steps, S Club and probably the Spice Girls in the 'tacky' group, but it doesn't mean we can't still enjoy them if we don't want to.
(I actually think Chemistry has lots of those grown up moments, too)
Posted by: AdamAloud 15th January 2015, 11:39 AM
It's the classic argument that people have over and over again isn't it, and it always comes down to personal opinion. One man's tat is another man's Parade so to speak.
Personally, when I hear the phrase 'tacky pop band', the likes of 'Fast Food Rockers and 'Cartoons' are the first to spring to my mind. 'Girls Aloud' could be cheesy, but never tacky in my opinion. Apart from 'Love Bomb' which is just shit.
Posted by: inyourroom 15th January 2015, 12:29 PM
Well, I'm a bit of a music snob and I'm here, so they can't be, can they?
Posted by: Jay ジ 16th January 2015, 12:17 AM
Basically what everyone else has said already! I wouldn't have said they were a tacky group. Perhaps the image was tacky in the early days, but that "grungy" look was quite a thing in 2003 anyway. Music wise, they were mostly always making cutting edge pop with maybe a few cheesy moments here and there, but that's pop for you! I think overall they were a class act.
Posted by: ░░░░ 16th January 2015, 01:12 AM
it's an easy label to pin on them, xenomania has produced some of the most forward thinking, interesting pop music with them. their back catalogue is so rich and so varied and goes against convention. they were quite widely accepted in indie circles (nme gave 'out of control' 8/10) and they also got better as time went along.
Posted by: Conderella 16th January 2015, 06:38 AM
GA has always been one of the classiest girl groups out there alongside Sugababes (1.0 + 2.0) and Spice Girls (yes really) for me. None of that pussy-popping Saturdays nonsense~
Posted by: ► ▲ N 16th January 2015, 07:28 AM
If Girls Aloud are tacky then I can't think of a single non-tacky girlband.
Most of their singles I wouldn't say are tacky, they have done some really good pop like Biology/Sound of the Underground
Posted by: Atonement 16th January 2015, 10:36 AM
Honestly I feel Spice Girls is one of the most tacky girl groups ever. But maybe that's 'cause I didn't really grow up with them. And I didn't/don't like their music.
I LOVE Girls Alouds singles and their pop hooks but at times it does feel a bit impersonal. Probably because they had minimal input themselves. But who cares when you've got Tangled Up in your discography *.*
Posted by: Conderella 16th January 2015, 10:55 AM
There's one tacky girl group I'd want to put out there and it's TLC.
Atomic Kitten were also pretty classy in my eyes btw~
Posted by: ░░░░ 16th January 2015, 11:14 AM
Atomic Kitten were also pretty classy in my eyes btw~
are you trolling?!!!
the pregnant dancing tops it all off *.*
Posted by: JosephStyles 16th January 2015, 11:22 AM
I think Atomic Kitten began quite "tacky" with their first album but became quite classy following Whole Again, both Feels So Good and Ladies Night were pretty mature pop albums. Basically it all turned classy when Kerry left 
Posted by: ░░░░ 16th January 2015, 11:34 AM
textbook tacky joseff 
Posted by: Atonement 16th January 2015, 12:05 PM
Oh my I was just reminded of 'If You Come to Me'. Please don't do that to me again.
Off you go.
Posted by: Jay ジ 16th January 2015, 10:42 PM
Spice Girls. 
That is all. x
Posted by: JosephStyles 16th January 2015, 11:02 PM
OK Jake I'll give you them But as a whole, they were pretty classy after Whole Again I think, Ladies Night (the album) especially!
Posted by: ░░░░ 16th January 2015, 11:10 PM
But as a whole, they were pretty classy after Whole Again I think, Ladies Night (the album) especially!joseph! you will not win this one. please point out any sign of classiness in this package:
how old were you when the 'ladies night' album came out, i'm surprised you know it so well, actually i'm not at all
Posted by: JosephStyles 16th January 2015, 11:12 PM
That was from the first album!!!11!
I was 6 
I remember getting it for Christmas that year (2003) 
Posted by: ░░░░ 16th January 2015, 11:18 PM
out of interest what do you think to this, i assume you know it:
Posted by: JosephStyles 16th January 2015, 11:24 PM
Actually hadn't heard that song before (am familiar with her name but not any of her songs) but just listened to a bit of it and it's very pleasant! Quite classy for a pop ballad I guess but also tacky at the same time, that doesn't make any sense at all but I can't think of a better way to explain it Maybe it's just because it sounds a little dated (understandably).
(I feel like that post made no sense at all)
Posted by: ░░░░ 16th January 2015, 11:26 PM
Maybe it's just because it sounds a little dated (understandably).(I feel like that post made no sense at all)
i think nobody on this forum knows what tacky means after today. i am SHOCKED you haven't heard of her, you would very much like the album this came off of, which of course, naturally flopped.
see im a suggester of good music too! still waiting for an invite to the skype conversation
Posted by: JosephStyles 16th January 2015, 11:29 PM
I'll have to check her out on Spotify, she has a lovely voice and I am a sucker for old female popstars. I mean, if I can get into Billie Piper's music for the first time in ~2012
Posted by: Jay ジ 17th January 2015, 02:40 AM
That song did pretty well in my personal chart...
29/01/2006 Keisha White - The Weakness In Me #10, 12 weeks
22-21-12-11-10-10-10-10-15-22-26-36-xx
I'm sure Keisha herself was pleased with this. x
Posted by: ░░░░ 17th January 2015, 02:45 AM
29/01/2006 Keisha White - The Weakness In Me #10, 12 weeks
22-21-12-11-10-10-10-10-15-22-26-36-xx
I'm sure Keisha herself was pleased with this. x
tbh the peak of her career when it's put into context
where did you post your personal chart during those days jayella?
Posted by: Jay ジ 17th January 2015, 03:24 AM
I used to post them on a forum called Chart Refugees (a Dotmusic offshoot)! I think I only started to post them here from 2010.
Posted by: ░░░░ 17th January 2015, 01:34 PM
this remix is the height of tacky AND ALL THE BETTER FOR IT
Posted by: Calum Hood 17th January 2015, 01:45 PM
the original tho
Powered by Invision Power Board
© Invision Power Services