Posted May 28, 20214 yr 6v_0zPGhh-g Happy Birthday to Real Girl! Realised 14 years ago today. Stopped from its assent to #1 only by Rihanna and Umberellalallalaalalala that would go on to be #1 for what felt like a f***ing lifetime. #2 is still a bloody good result and this is still a bloody good song.
May 29, 20214 yr Remember when we had actual digital cameras because the camera on our cellphones were so crappy?
May 29, 20214 yr Wow 14 years? I can remember being SO HYPED for this. I think this was the most excited I was for a solo release ever. I don’t love it now as much as I did then but it’s still decent.
May 29, 20214 yr Queen Buena! Love Real Girl (the single), but I can't help but think what could've been if they'd went down the more urban route with the album. The demos are flawless, whereas I find a lot of the songs on the album to be rather lifeless.
May 29, 20214 yr Author I agree with that. The album defo didn’t live up to its potential for me. I do have a soft spot for Real Girl the Song tho
May 29, 20214 yr The song is very cute, incredibly radio friendly and I can see why it was a hit. However it doesn't seem very Mutya to me and therefore I am not surprised the rest of the album campaign didn't do as good as we all hoped. (still happy it hit #2 ofcourse as I did like it a lot and always loved her cover of Naive as the b-track).
May 31, 20214 yr The song is very cute, incredibly radio friendly and I can see why it was a hit. However it doesn't seem very Mutya to me and therefore I am not surprised the rest of the album campaign didn't do as good as we all hoped. (still happy it hit #2 ofcourse as I did like it a lot and always loved her cover of Naive as the b-track). Totally agree. I love Naive - it's not far from one million plays on Spotify, so clearly we're not alone here. Although, Fast Car is her best cover. I so wish it was available on streaming. It appears to be available in some countries: https://open.spotify.com/album/0iUTHMCzrC37...sZWlei1LEitYJ3C
June 3, 20214 yr I love this song it’s fab. I agree the album didn’t quite live up to it though although I loved Song for mutya and strung out. Got a soft spot for heartbreak hotel purely cos of gorgeous her voice is on it!
June 4, 20214 yr It Ain’t Over Til It’s Over came on the radio today and my first thought was ‘ooh great Real Girl’ then I realised quickly it wasn’t.
June 4, 20214 yr So nice to see Mutya acknowledging the 14th anniversary of the Real Girl album: @1400728352160370688
June 4, 20214 yr I never really bother with this one anymore, but in terms of the album tracks I utterly adored 'Strung Out'! 'Wonderful' was quite lovely too.
June 4, 20214 yr It must've been over a decade since I gave it a proper spin; I do remember thinking It's Not Easy and Not Your Baby being better choices ahead of Just A Little Bit, especially if they didn't want to go for a ballad at that point. Strung Out had the Amelle connection which meant that Mutya would've put the foot down if they wanted to release that.
June 4, 20214 yr Strung Out had the Amelle connection which meant that Mutya would've put the foot down if they wanted to release that. And that's probably why her career was immediately in the dumpster when she/they thought 'Just A Little Bit' would be a better idea. :lol:
June 4, 20214 yr I agree Not Your Baby or It’s Not Easy would’ve been better single options. I also really liked Breakdown Motel and Paper Bag but they probably wouldn’t have been good singles choices.
June 4, 20214 yr And that's probably why her career was immediately in the dumpster when she/they thought 'Just A Little Bit' would be a better idea. :lol: I kind of think Just A Little Bit was always earmarked as a single since it's track one and clearly a bought one (written by Eg White, later of Chasing Pavements fame). But yeah, Just A Little Bit is pleasant, but not exactly something that sticks out as a single. I do think it deserved a bit better than #65 though. My singles run probably would've been: Real Girl Song 4 Mutya If not Strung Out, either It's Not Easy or Not Your Baby Suffer for Love / B Boy Baby It probably still wouldn't have set the world on fire, but I do think overall it would've gone a bit better.
June 9, 20214 yr Listening to Real Girl on my stereo system! It sounds better than you expect when you have proper bass in it. I really hope Sugababes cover Song 4 Mutya because it would just suit them and I have performance in my head ready.
June 9, 20214 yr I swear I hear Keisha sometimes on this album. It's Not Easy deserved some banging remixes. Edited June 9, 20214 yr by tommie
June 9, 20214 yr Author I still think the biggest mistake was not aligning the release of Song4Mutya better with Groove Armadas team. It should have been a pre-album single so it couldn’t be cherry picked to death and it should have gone to radio a smidge later and got a video that cost more than 60p. So so so so much about that release was botched. Actually so much about the Real Girl era was botched. You could tell as soon as AYN hit she dropped off the radar in terms of priority. She could feel it and stopped putting efforts in in turn. So sad because the album had some real strong moments. I still adore Just A Little Bit and It’s a strong song to sell the album I think. But there was other great tracks if maybe have put ahead
June 9, 20214 yr It's Not Easy deserved some banging remixes. It's Not Easy. :wub: Honestly, what a song. One of the Real Girl tracks that I've always really appreciated. Love that she worked with Felix Howard and Paul Simm again. I still think the biggest mistake was not aligning the release of Song4Mutya better with Groove Armadas team. It should have been a pre-album single so it couldn’t be cherry picked to death and it should have gone to radio a smidge later and got a video that cost more than 60p. So so so so much about that release was botched. Actually so much about the Real Girl era was botched. You could tell as soon as AYN hit she dropped off the radar in terms of priority. She could feel it and stopped putting efforts in in turn. So sad because the album had some real strong moments. I still adore Just A Little Bit and It’s a strong song to sell the album I think. But there was other great tracks if maybe have put ahead This. :cry: Song 4 Mutya had so much hype, and could have done much more had it been released pre-album. Like you said, the entire campaign was poorly managed.
