I'm not a huge fan of Trouble or Goodies. I felt that Trouble was such a let down after the brilliant singles run from Missunaztood, i fact the Whole Try This era was a real let down for me. Thankfully P!nk went on to much bigger and better things after this

I like a few songs from Ciara. 1,2 Step, Oh, Like A Boy and Love Sex Magic are all good, this one not so much for me.

Turn Off The Light & Some Girls are both high up for top singles from each artist respectively.

7 Sugababes - Red Dress

avg: 8.10

👑 Pop Royalty: 10 (Doug, vibe, Viper*, JosephStyles, Lukuzz), 9.5 (Juranamo)

❌ Pop Flop: 4 (Julian_), 5 (Chez Wombat)

Sugababes have painted the town red and exit on a high with the first 8+ average, scoring 8.10.

The girls' fourth era Taller In More Ways had been off to a flying start with #1 smash 'Push The Button' and top 3 follow-up 'Ugly'. However, some turbulence arrived just two months after the album's release, as Mutya Buena announced her departure from the group in December 2005. She would later reveal that she was suffering from post natal depression at the time and was also struggling with the group's hectic schedule. It was a big blow to lose another original member, following the previous departure of Siobhán Donaghy, but the show must go on and their team wasted no time in shaping Sugababes 3.0. Amelle Berrabah received a call just days after Buena's exit, as the girls' manager had remembered her from an American showcase from a couple of years earlier. Berrabah recorded some demos to serve as an audition for remaining members Keisha Buchanan and Heidi Range and they liked what they heard. She was in.

Taller In More Ways was re-released in March 2006 with new artwork, fresh song 'Now You're Gone' and three re-recorded tracks with Amelle: 'Gotta Be You', 'Follow Me Home' and of course, 'Red Dress'. The latter was chosen as the album's third single and first with Berrabah's vocals. 'Red Dress' was penned by Heidi, Keisha and Mutya pre-departure, as well as several people from Xenomania, including familiar names from Girls Aloud's team like Brian Higgins and Miranda Cooper. The production was also handled by Xenomania and features a sample of the soulful 'Landslide' by Tony Clarke. The song is inspired by the perception that women must expose their bodies to be noticed. Structurally, the track is reminiscent of some of Xenomania's more out-there work with Girls Aloud, as it essentially contains two back-to-back choruses.

Another notable fact about 'Red Dress' is that former member Mutya Buena said she can't stand the song and was relieved she departed when she did, so she didn't have to promote a single she wasn't passionate about. Buena has seemingly softened towards it over time though, as she went on to perform it with original members Keisha and Siobhan in more recent years and claimed she likes how their band have since reworked it.

The music video features the girls in none other than red dresses. They also wear hosiery due to an endorsement with Pretty Polly at the time. The video was directed by the late Tim Royes who sadly passed away just a year after 'Red Dress' was released, due to a traffic accident. Sugababes would later dedicate their 'About You Now' video to him. He had also worked on their 'Easy' video, directed 'Sweet Dreams My L.A. Ex' by Rachel Stevens and many other video clips, with Melanie C's 'Carolyna' serving as his final credit. Annoyingly, the 'Red Dress' video cuts off early on YouTube and I believe that's the case for a couple of other Sugbabes videos too, so their team should seriously sort that out.

Sugababes 3.0 were here to stay as 'Red Dress' bagged the girls a new top 5 hit, their 6th to date. It was also their 11th top 10 result on the U.K. chart. 'Red Dress' was the highest new entry when it debuted and peaked at #4 in March 2006, while Chico's 'It's Chico Time' was at #1 for a second week. The single release also included the girls' cover of 'I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor' by Arctic Monkeys as a B-Side, a song that had knocked their 'Push The Button' off #1 the previous year.

It was 10s galore as Doug, vibe, Viper*, JosephStyles and Lukuzz thought the Sugababes were cooler than the red dress. Meanwhile, the girls stated that "if you don't love me, then I've got nothing to lose", so hopefully they won't mind a lowest mark of 4 from Julian_.

Now we’re back in business! An absolute bop

Pinks Trouble in my top 2 of her songs love it!

Not a huge fan of the Nelly song

Rachel and Sugababes both brilliant

Some Girls and Red Dress what absolute SONGS!! Staples of pop excellence.

6 hours ago, Lee_J11 said:

Now we’re back in business! An absolute bop

And yet you didn’t give it a 10? WHAT?

Red Dress feels a little low but I know there’s a couple of bangers coming…

I loved Red Dress at the time but it's far from a Sugababes favourite of mine now. It's decent enogh though.

Been a while since I last heard 'Red Dress' (until the rate) and my memory of it is it not being much of a standout back then / at the time. I would say now it has aged well, it sounds great.

Edited 18 hours ago18 hr by AllStarBySmashMouth

'Red Dress' is a tune!

6 Charlotte Church - Crazy Chick

avg: 8.40

👑 Pop Royalty: 11 (Doug, vibe, Scene), 10 (Juranamo, Josh!, Mack., Henessy Lake, HarryInnanen)

❌ Pop Flop: 5 (Julian_, pavi), 6 (Paddington James, blacksquare, troublepink)

Charlotte Church was an early leader with a mind-boggling 10+ average, as all three of her 11s came in early, but dropped off to a still strong 8.4 by the end.

The Welsh singer was initially a child star in the world of opera. She got her big break after singing a rendition of 'Pie Jesu' over the telephone on This Morning, when she was just 11 years old. She later performed on the Big, Big Talent Show that same year, another ITV programme. Church then received a vocal scholarship to Howell's School Llandaff and juggled both performing and school work with the help of tutors. Fellow singer Jem was an alumnus from this school too. Charlotte was also introduced to manager Jonathan Shalit who negotiated a contract with Sony Music for her. She then released her debut classical album Voice of an Angel in 1998. This was a success as Church became the youngest artist in history to top the British classical crossover charts. Follow-up album Charlotte Church spawned her first top 40 single when 'Just Wave Hello' reached #31 in the U.K. chart. She released two more classical albums as a teenager: Dream a Dream and Enchanted, then put out a greatest hits called Prelude: The Best of Charlotte Church in 2002.

Charlotte had a stopgap moment in 2003 when she appeared as the featured artist on Jurgen Vries' dance hit 'The Opera Song (Brave New World)', where she was credited as CMC, her initials. She still contributed her famous operatic vocals but got the chance to cross over to more mainstream charts, peaking at #3.

Church was hungry for change as she reached adulthood and felt classical music was too restrictive for her. So she wanted to dip her toes into the world of pop. Tissues and Issues was her first album as a pop singer and was a hit, reaching #5 in the U.K. chart. She had successfully made the transition from angelic child star to out-spoken adult talent. I can vividly remember reading about her feuds with Cheryl Tweedy at the time and recall her having an entertainment programme called The Charlotte Church Show a bit later on, which birthed a messy live duet of 'Beat It' by herself and Amy Winehouse. The Cheryl feud was born out of a comment made about Tissues and Issues lead 'Crazy Chick', where she reportedly claimed Charlotte had copied Girls Aloud's sound. Church then hit back with "Girls Aloud wouldn’t be able to sing Crazy Chick if they possibly tried. They just don’t have the range, darling. And when they’ve sold as many records as me, then they can comment. Maybe Cheryl is bitter." Ouch!

'Crazy Chick' was written by Sarah Buras, Wirlie "Wyl-e" Morris and Fitzgerald Scott, plus produced by Tore Johannson. Sarah Buras, aka Serabee, would later go on to audition for The Voice in her own right in 2011 and won a spot in Blake Shelton's team. The track was originally meant for Fame Academy winner Alex Parks but she turned it down. Charlotte Church was then approached after it became known that she wanted to transition to pop music. Church later claimed that she loathed the song and found it throwaway, but succumbed to her record label's demands at the time. The track is about a woman so madly in love that she feels like she needs professional help. Sonically it has a soulful sixties feel to it.

'Crazy Chick' was a smash and peaked at #2 in the U.K. for Charlotte. She was blocked by posthumous 2Pac chart-topper 'Ghetto Gospel', also featuring Elton John, during its second week at #1. 'Crazy Chick' spent four weeks in the top 10 and was later the 34th best selling song of 2005 in the U.K.

Doug, vibe and Scene were all crazy for this Charlotte hit and gave her their 11. However, it wasn't Julian_ and pavi's favourite thing in the rate, as her lowest scores were their average 5s.

The fact that she released this pop masterpiece when she was only 19 is absolutely insane. Still sounds as exciting as it did when I was a kid!! An all-time classic.