"Angels with Dirty Faces" | ||||
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Single by Sugababes | ||||
from the album Angels with Dirty Faces | ||||
A-side | "Stronger" | |||
Released | 11 November 2002 | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 3:49 | |||
Label | ||||
Songwriter(s) | ||||
Producer(s) |
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Sugababes singles chronology | ||||
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Music video | ||||
"Sugababes - Angels With Dirty Faces" on YouTube |
"Angels with Dirty Faces" is a song by British girl group Sugababes from their second studio album of the same name. It was written by the Sugababes in collaboration with the Xenomania members Brian Higgins, Bob Bradley, Tim Powell and Matthew Del Gray. Higgins, Bradley, Powell and Gifford Noel produced the song. An uptempo pop and R&B record with dance influences, it was released on 11 November 2002 as a double A-side with "Stronger", as the album's third single. The song received generally favourable reviews from critics, who praised its composition and highlighted it as one of the album's better tracks.
Upon release as a double A-side, the song peaked at number seven on the UK Singles Chart and inside the top forty on the Australian and New Zealand charts. "Angels with Dirty Faces" was heavily promoted through Cartoon Network's animated television series The Powerpuff Girls . Merchandise was created to promote the release of the theatrical film based on the series, while Cartoon Network Studios produced the song's music video, a reworking of the episode "Nano of the North" from the original series' fourth season. The Sugababes performed the song at London's Scala, and Liverpool's Royal Court Theatre and King's Dock.
"Angels with Dirty Faces" is the title track of the Sugababes' second studio album. [1] The group began working on the album soon after the departure of original member Siobhán Donaghy, who was replaced by former Atomic Kitten member Heidi Range in September 2001. [2] [3] Within seven months, they composed forty tracks for the album, ten of which made the final cut. [4] "Angels with Dirty Faces" was written by the Sugababes in collaboration with members of the British songwriting and production team Xenomania, including Brian Higgins, Bob Bradley, Tim Powell and Matthew Del Gray. [5] Higgins, Bradley, Powell and Gifford Noel produced the song. [5]
"Angels with Dirty Faces" is an uptempo fusion of pop and R&B. It is backed by a dance beat and contains elements of hip hop. [6] [7] According to the digital sheet music published by EMI Music Publishing, the song was composed in common time at a tempo of 110 beats per minute. [8] "Angels with Dirty Faces" features a girl power theme, and according to the Sugababes, is about being naughty. [9] Phil Udell from Hot Press magazine compared the song to American girl group Destiny Child's music, specifically their 2001 single "Bootylicious". [10]
"Angels with Dirty Faces" was released as the album's third single as part of a double A-side with "Stronger". [11] The double A-side was made available as a CD single, cassette tape and 12-inch single on 11 November 2002. [12] An Audio Drive remix of the song appears on the 12-inch and CD releases, the latter of which features the music video. [12] According to Julie Macaskill of Daily Record , the version which appears on the single release is "grittier" compared to the album version. [13]
The song received generally positive reviews from critics. NME critic Barry Nicholson suggested it was the better track from the double A-side and commended its "sleek garage sexiness". [14] He additionally praised the song as smooth and tantalising. [14] A critic from the Daily Mirror described "Angels with Dirty Faces", as well as the album track "Virgin Sexy", as "alive with wry palpitations". [15] Julie Macaskill of Daily Record commended the song's pop and R&B mixture, which she noted as "proof that there is nothing sweeter than the Sugababes". [13] Phil Udell from Hot Press admitted that although it is reminiscent of Destiny's Child's music, the song "lacks the American's sense of style". [10] The Village Voice's Jess Harvell criticised "Angels with Dirty Faces" as "generic in the post-swingbeat sense". [16]
"Angels with Dirty Faces" appeared on singles charts as part of its double A-side release with "Stronger". In the 23 November 2002 issue of the UK Singles Chart, the single debuted and peaked at number seven, [17] granting the band their third consecutive top ten hit from the album. [18] It appeared in the chart for thirteen weeks, [18] and by April 2010, sold 125,000 copies in the UK, placing it twelfth on the group's best-selling songs list. [19] The double A-side peaked at number thirty-four on the Australian Singles Chart, where it charted for nine weeks. [20] On the New Zealand Singles Chart, it debuted on 23 February 2003 at number forty-three and peaked at number twenty-four sixteen weeks later. [21] The single spent a total of eighteen weeks on the chart, and gave the Sugababes their third consecutive top forty hit in the country. [21]
The Sugababes' record label, Universal Island, heavily promoted "Angels with Dirty Faces" through Cartoon Network's animated television series The Powerpuff Girls , and its 2002 film of the same name. [11] 250,000 posters which feature the Sugababes and the Powerpuff Girls were distributed throughout cinemas, while an additional 500,000 posters were delivered to stores of the supermarket chain Asda. [11] In total, Universal Island obtained the equivalent of an estimated £1.5 million worth of media coverage. [11] The label's stint with the series resulted in an animated music video for the song, produced by Cartoon Network Studios. [22] It was played before all screenings of the film during its cinema release as a support feature. [11] [23] The video was also included on the PlayStation 2 video game The Powerpuff Girls: Relish Rampage . [11] The Sugababes' cartoon characters from the video were featured on the desktops of custom computers that were promoted by the group. [23]
The video channels "Nano of the North", an episode from the fourth season of The Powerpuff Girls, [24] in which each Sugababes member portrays a Powerpuff Girl. [23] [24] The video opens with a clip of Professor Utonium driving in his car. [24] Meanwhile, a dark cloud hovers over Townsville and it soon begins to rain and dissolves the town. [24] When Professor Utonium arrives home, The Powerpuff Girls are shown watching the Sugababes on television, although the clip is interrupted with a News Flash that reads "Robot Rain Terrorises Townsville". [24] Professor Utonium manages to retrieve the Sugababes and infuses them with Chemical X. [24] He shrinks them to a microscopic size, places them in a glass jar and drives off in the car with them. [24] He exits the car but trips over, causing the jar to drop and break. [24] The Sugababes, playing the roles of The Powerpuff Girls, fight off the Nanobots with their superpowers. [24] However, a gigantic Nanobot soon appears, and subsequently defeats the Sugababes through superior strength. [24] Professor Utonium witnesses the incident and crushes the Nanobot with his foot. [24] The rain subsequently stops and the sun appears, in which the people of the town start to celebrate. [24] When the Sugababes were questioned about their reaction to the video and its animation, group member Keisha Buchanan responded: "It was so funny seeing us like that and the Powerpuff Girls cartoon itself. The video so much resembled our personalities with these three characters so it was very funny to watch actually." [25]
The Sugababes performed "Angels with Dirty Faces" at the Scala in London on 11 November 2002. [26] The Guardian's Betty Clarke described the group's vocals during the performance as "clean and pristine", and noted the presence of change in the group's sound and image. [26] The band performed it at the Royal Court Theatre, Liverpool on 27 March 2003 as the first show of their UK tour. [2] It was the opening song of the show, which contained a crowd of one thousand people. [2] "Angels with Dirty Faces" was also the first song they performed during their eighty-minute set on 11 July 2003 at the King's Dock, Port of Liverpool, as part of the Liverpool Summer Pops music festival. [27] [28]
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All entries charted as part of the double A-side release with "Stronger".
Weekly charts
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The Powerpuff Girls is an American superhero animated television series created by animator Craig McCracken and produced by Hanna-Barbera for Cartoon Network. The show centers on Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup, three kindergarten-aged girls with superpowers. They live in the fictional city of Townsville with their father and creator, a scientist named Professor Utonium, and are frequently called upon by the city's mayor to help fight nearby criminals and other enemies using their powers.
Three is the third studio album by British girl group Sugababes, released by Island Records on 27 October 2003. It generated four singles that charted in various parts of the world; the first, "Hole in the Head", became the group's third UK number one single. The three members of the Sugababes each recorded a "solo" song on the album—"Whatever Makes You Happy", "Sometimes" and "Maya". Three debuted at number three on the UK Albums Chart.
Angels with Dirty Faces is the second studio album by British girl group Sugababes. It was released by Island Records in the UK on 26 August 2002 and in most European territories by September 2002. The album marked the band's debut on the Island label following their split with London Records in 2001 and was their first regular release to be recorded under the second line-up, including new member Heidi Range, who replaced founding member Siobhán Donaghy.
Heidi India Partakis is an English singer, best known as a former member of the girl group Sugababes. She was an original member of girl group Atomic Kitten, however she left the group before they released any material. In 2001, Range replaced original member Siobhán Donaghy in the Sugababes, after which the group enjoyed higher commercial success and accumulated six UK number-one singles as well as two number-one studio albums over the course of a decade, before the line-up at the time disbanded in 2011.
"Ugly" is a song by British girl group Sugababes from their fourth studio album, Taller in More Ways (2005). Written and produced by Dallas Austin, inspiration for the song was conceptualised in the midst of reading negative comments about members of the band. The song released on 5 December 2005 in the United Kingdom as the second single from the album. "Ugly" is a midtempo pop rock and R&B ballad that contains lyrics about personality and body-image issues. It received comparisons to "Unpretty" by girl group TLC and "Beautiful" by Christina Aguilera. "Ugly" is the band's final single released under the second line up of Sugababes, after original member Mutya Buena departed the group on 21 December 2005.
"Caught in a Moment" is a song by English girl group Sugababes from their third studio album Three (2003). It was released in the United Kingdom on 23 August 2004 as the album's fourth and final single. The song was written by the group's members in collaboration with Karen Poole, Marius De Vries and its producer Jony Rockstar. "Caught in a Moment" is a downtempo pop, soul and R&B ballad backed by an orchestral musical arrangement, and contains emotive lyrics that explore concepts of melancholy and hopefulness. The track received mixed reviews from critics who were ambivalent towards its balladry.
"In the Middle" is a song by English girl group Sugababes, released on 22 March 2004 as the third single from their third studio album, Three (2003). The Sugababes were inspired to compose the song based upon the different situations experienced on a night out; they wrote it in collaboration with Miranda Cooper, Brian Higgins, Niara Scarlett, Shawn Lee, Lisa Cowling, Andre Tegler, Phil Fuldner and Michael Bellina. Higgins, Xenomania and Jeremy Wheatley produced the song. "In the Middle" is a dance-pop and funk-influenced record that contains a sample of German DJ Moguai's song "U Know Y".
"Too Lost in You" is a song by English girl group Sugababes from their third studio album, Three (2003). It was written by American songwriter Diane Warren as an English rendition of the song "Quand j'ai peur de tout" by French singer Patricia Kaas. The song was produced by the Australian musician Rob Dougan in collaboration with Andy Bradfield, and recorded at the Realsongs studio in Hollywood. "Too Lost in You" is prominently featured in the soundtrack to the 2003 film Love Actually, and was chosen for the film specifically by its director Richard Curtis. It is a pop rock and R&B ballad composed of an orchestral music arrangement and dark harmonies.
"Shape" is a song by English girl group Sugababes, released as the fourth and final single from their second studio album, Angels with Dirty Faces (2002). It was composed by Sting, Dominic Miller, and Craig Dodds, who produced the song. The midtempo pop and R&B ballad incorporates a sample of Sting's 1993 recording "Shape of My Heart", whose vocals are featured in the chorus. It received mixed reviews from critics, who were ambivalent towards the sample of "Shape of My Heart".
The discography of the British girl group Sugababes consists of eight studio albums, four compilation album, four extended plays, thirty one singles, two video albums and eight promotional singles. The Sugababes were formed in 1998 and, at various times, featured three vocalists from Siobhán Donaghy, Mutya Buena, Keisha Buchanan, Heidi Range, Amelle Berrabah, and Jade Ewen.
"Round Round" is a song performed by British girl group Sugababes. It was written by group members Keisha Buchanan, Mutya Buena, and Heidi Range, as well as Miranda Cooper, Brian Higgins, Tim Powell, Nick Coler, and Lisa Cowling. It samples the song "Tango Forte" by German production team Dublex Inc., so the songwriters of that track are credited as well. Produced by Kevin Bacon and Jonathan Quarmby, the song was released as the second single from the group's second studio album, Angels with Dirty Faces (2002).
"Stronger" is a song by the British girl group Sugababes from their second studio album, Angels with Dirty Faces (2002). The Sugababes wrote the song in collaboration with Jony Rockstar, Marius de Vries and Felix Howard; it was inspired by group member Heidi Range's experience of being separated from her family and friends. "Stronger" is a downtempo pop and R&B ballad with a self-empowerment theme. It is the third single from Angels with Dirty Faces and was released as a double A-side with the album's title track. The song received generally positive reviews from critics, who praised the lyrics and the group's vocals, although some were ambivalent towards its composition.
"Red Dress" is a song by British girl group Sugababes from their fourth studio album, Taller in More Ways (2005). The group's members wrote the song in collaboration with its producers, the British songwriting and production team Xenomania, based on the perception that women must expose their body to be noticed. "Red Dress" was released in the United Kingdom on 6 March 2006 as the album's third single, and is the first to feature vocals by Amelle Berrabah, following the departure of Mutya Buena in December 2005. The Sugababes performed a cover of the Arctic Monkeys' song "I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor" as the single's B-side.
"Freak like Me" is a song by American R&B singer Adina Howard, released on January 25, 1995 by East West and Lola Waxx, as the debut single from her first album, Do You Wanna Ride? (1995). The song reached number two on the US Billboard Hot 100 for two weeks, as well as number two on the Billboard Hot R&B Singles chart for four weeks, and was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for sales of one million copies. Its music video was directed by Hype Williams. In 2023, Billboard ranked "Freak like Me" among the "500 Best Pop Songs of All Time". The song has been covered by several artists, most notably by British girl group Sugababes, who reached number one on the UK Singles Chart with their version in 2002.
"Soul Sound" is a song by British girl group Sugababes from their debut studio album One Touch (2000). It was written by Charlotte Gordon Cumming during a trip to Kenya, Africa, where she was inspired to compose it based on her experiences there. Produced by Ron Tom, "Soul Sound" is a pop song featuring guitar and bass instrumentation. It was released in the United Kingdom on 16 July 2001 as the album's fourth and final single. Critics praised the song for the group's demeanour although some regarded it as inferior in comparison to the album's other tracks.
"Obsession" is a 1983 song by Holly Knight and Michael Des Barres, covered in 1984 by American synth-pop band Animotion. The song hit number six in the United States, and number five in the United Kingdom in June 1985, helped by a distinctive video that MTV played frequently. "Obsession" also hit the top 40 on the US dance chart, twice: once in 1984 ; then in 1986, as a double-sided hit, along with the track "I Engineer".
"Denial" is a song by English girl group Sugababes from their fifth studio album, Change (2007). Coinciding with the commencement of the group's 2008 Change Tour, it was released on 10 March 2008 as the album's third and final single. V V Brown wrote "Denial" for the band while she was on London Underground's Victoria line, and attempted to "get into their mindsets" in the process. The Sugababes and the song's producers, Flex Turner and Elliot Malloy, co-wrote it. Composed of staccato verses, a harmonious chorus and a solo middle eight, "Denial" is a pop rock and disco song that samples "Standing in the Way of Control" by the Gossip.
"My Love Is Pink" is a song by English girl group Sugababes from their fifth studio album, Change (2007). It was written by band members Keisha Buchanan and Heidi Range in collaboration with the songwriting and production team Xenomania, who produced the song. "My Love Is Pink" is an uptempo dance-pop and electropop song, reminiscent of those performed by British girl group, Girls Aloud. The song was released on 10 December 2007 in the United Kingdom and Ireland as the second single from Change. It received mixed reviews from critics, who praised the composition and sound, but criticised its lyrical content. The song peaked at number five on the UK Commercial Pop Club chart and number 51 on the Slovakian Singles Chart.
"She's like a Star" is a song written, produced and performed by British singer and songwriter Taio Cruz. It was released on 18 August 2008 as the fifth single from his debut studio album Departure (2008). An R&B ballad, the lyrics of "She's like a Star" are about the theme of parenthood, an idea which inspired Cruz to compose the song. The song was remixed to feature vocals from English girl group Sugababes and American rapper Busta Rhymes. Another remix features rapper K.R. "She's like a Star" received generally mixed reviews from critics, who were ambivalent towards the composition. Upon release, it peaked at number twenty on the UK Singles Chart. The song's music video features Hollyoaks actress Roxanne McKee as Cruz's love interest. Cruz performed the song with the Sugababes at the 2008 MOBO Awards ceremony, and at Radio 1's Big Weekend 2011.
"Wear My Kiss" is a song by British girl group Sugababes, released as the third and final single from their seventh studio album, Sweet 7 (2010). It was the final single from the band before they disbanded in 2011. It was written by Fernando Garibay, Bruno Mars, Philip Lawrence, and The Jackie Boyz, and produced by Garibay. The song's development began while the Sugababes travelled to the United States during April 2009, in which they collaborated with various high-profile producers. The song was re-recorded to feature the vocals of Jade Ewen following the departure of Keisha Buchanan in September 2009. "Wear My Kiss" is an uptempo dance-pop song that references the items which compose a man's outfit.
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