Where It's At: A Short History of Girlbands

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Where It's At: A Short History of Girlbands - Mollie King dives into girlband history.

Girl Power: A token or a defining musical moment? Mollie King dives into the great British girlband history.

Where It's At: A Short History of Girlbands: 3. Where It’s At

3. Where It’s At

BBC Radio 1 - Where It's At: A Short History of Girlbands, 3. Where It’s At

How All Saints popped the girlband bubble.

The UK in the late 90s was awash with girlbands. Spice Girls fever had given us another golden era for girl groups, where the bubblegum likes of B*Witched, Atomic Kitten and Cleopatra put the fun back into conventional pop. But the next band to crack the big time were different.

All Saints looked to American R&B and hip-hop bands like TLC and SWV, and positioned themselves as the anti-pop band who wrote all their songs and wouldn’t do what they were told. But it had consequences, as the band’s Melanie Blatt and Shaznay Lewis explain…

In this episode we hear how All Saints’ style and sound is everywhere in music today, from Georgia to Confidence Man. And we find out how the band made their iconic 2000 hit single, Pure Shores.

But they also lift the lid on the dark side of the 90s, the double standards and the blatant sexism, as well as why it was important to stay true to themselves, as Mel and Shaznay consider All Saints’ legacy.

In this episode we hear from: All Saints’ Melanie Blatt and Shaznay Lewis, journalist Michael Cragg, producer William Orbit and pop artists Georgia and Confidence Man.

Presenter: Mollie King
Producer: Kate Hutchinson
Written by: Kate Hutchinson
Assistant Producer: Nadine Peters
Additional production: Holly Fisher
Script consultants: Owen Myers, Sharon O’Connell
Mix Engineer: Gareth Isles
Executive Producer: Joe Haddow
Commissioning producers: Jonathan O’Sullivan, Sarah Gosling
Commissioner for BBC Music: Will Wilkin

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