Arguably the best UK-based girl group to emerge since Girls Aloud, The Saturdays have their sites set on an a U.S. takeover. With eleven top 10 singles and three top 10 albums, The Saturdays are already bonafied superstars in their native Great Britain but here in America success has been elusive, mainly due to the fact that they’ve been focusing their energies at maintaining a successful career back at home. That being said, the girls haven’t gone COMPLETELY unnoticed here in the U.S., receiving lots of coverage on various pop music blogs, even earning the love and adoration of the notoriously critical Perez Hilton. It was recently announced that the five-some consisting of Mollie, Una, Rochelle, Vanessa and Frankie, would be starring in their own reality series on the E! Network (home to Keeping Up With The Kardashians and Chelsea Lately), fittingly called Chasing The Saturdays. Premiering January 20th at 10 PM, each 30 minute episode follows the girls as they attempt to duplicate their success back home here in America, signing with Mercury/Island Def Jam Records all the while dealing with their own complicated personal lives. Sounds like the type of RIVETING television that only E! could bring us. Count me in!
Now seems as good a time as any to crack at America, especially given the recent success of UK boy bands like The Wanted and One Direction. Thinking about it, America really hasn’t seen a successful UK girl group since the 90s/2000s when the Spice Girls were spreading Girl Power all over the radio waves. Why shouldn’t The Saturdays be the group to fill that decade-long void here in the States? That being said, there’s always an audience for an attractive group of British boys. It’s not as easy for a girl group to find an audience. This means that the girls need to REALLY concentrate on putting together an OUTSTANDING and flaw-free debut single, not to mention an album chock-full of potential hits. The Saturdays TOTALLY have the potential to connect with the fanbases of groups like The Wanted and One Direction, (not to mention all of the gays) assuming that they’re marketed appropriately. Here’s hoping that their U.S. team does NOT fail them! Hey, a reality show isn’t a bad start.
The girls’ first U.S. single has been announced as “What About Us,” an infectious reggae/dance-pop-tinged tune featuring Sean Paul. The single will appear on the girls’ upcoming new album and is prominently featured in the first teaser of their new reality series, Chasing The Saturdays (ABOVE). While not much is known about the girls’ new album, we do know that they’ve been in the studio with Rodney “Darkchild” Jerkins (Michael Jackson, Destiny’s Child, Britney Spears) and Grammy-winning songwriter Diane Warren (Celine Dion, Tina Turner, Cher). While we can surely expect some new hitworthy material on their debut U.S. album, it would be nice if the label were to include some of the girls’ past UK hits…specifically my FAVORITE track of theirs, “Notorious.” Last Monday, The Saturdays teased listeners of Ryan Seacrest‘s radio program with a 33-second clip of the new single, “What About Us,” including a bit of Sean Paul‘s part. Check out the clip BELOW.
As a previous fan of The Saturdays, “What About Us” doesn’t sound like anything new but I think it’s as good an introduction piece as any here in America. While I still do think it’s unfortunate that artists from abroad need to rely so heavily on U.S. rappers/hip-hop artists (i.e. Flo-Rida, Akon) when attempting to break America, it does make sense and from the sound of it, “What About Us” could be The Saturdays‘ ticket to success. My fingers are crossed! Check out remixes by Buzz Junkies, Seamus Haji and 2nd Adventure BELOW!
The Saturdays first landed in the UK with their STUNNING debut single, “If This Is Love,” back in 2008, becoming the girls’ first top 10 hit. Taken from their debut album, Chasing Lights, “If This Is Love” was followed by equally fantastic pop singles “Up,” “Issues,” and “Just Can’t Get Enough,” a cover of the Depeche Mode track of the same name. The final single released from Chasing Lights, “Work,” became the girls’ lowest charting single to date (pity – I quite liked that song!). The Saturdays‘ 2009 sophomore album, the unfortunately titled Wordshaker produced two hits, the incredibly catchy “Forever Is Over” and equally fantastic “Ego.” Their next release, an EP called Headlines! featured a lovely little electro-pop ballad called “Missing You,” as well as a catchy dance-pop number called “Higher,” which later had a rap bit contributed by none other than…*SIGH*…Flo-Rida.
In 2011 The Saturdays‘ released their third album entitled, On Your Radar. The album was considerably more DANCE focused than any of their previous releases and featured flashy singles like “Notorious,” (BELOW), “All Fired Up,” and “My Heart Takes Over.” Unfortunately for the girls, On Your Radar was the group’s poorest charting album, missing the top 20 and peaking at #22. Disappointing, considering their first two albums were top 10 hits. Earlier in 2012, The Saturdays unveiled the FIRST single taken from their upcoming, untitled album, “30 Days,” seeing it debut on the UK Singles Chart at a respectable #7, becoming the eleventh top ten single of their career.
To prepare you guys for The Saturdays‘ upcoming U.S. debut, Popjustice has written up a sassy little introduction for American pop lovers. Check that out HERE and get excited for a new girl group, America!
Check out The Saturdays on the web: