"Ugly" | ||||
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Single by Sugababes | ||||
from the album Taller in More Ways | ||||
B-side |
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Released | 5 December 2005 | |||
Recorded |
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Genre | ||||
Length | 3:50 | |||
Label | Island | |||
Songwriter(s) | Dallas Austin | |||
Producer(s) | Dallas Austin | |||
Sugababes singles chronology | ||||
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Music video | ||||
"Sugababes - Ugly" on YouTube |
"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.
"Ugly" garnered positive reviews from music critics, many of whom praised the emotional and empowering concept behind it. The song peaked at number three on the UK Singles Chart. It achieved international commercial success, where it reached the top five in Denmark and New Zealand, and the top-ten the Czech Republic, Finland, Hungary, Ireland, the Netherlands and Norway. The song's accompanying music video is set in a warehouse in New York City, and features people of different ages and races showcasing their talents. The Sugababes have performed the song at the V Festival in both 2006 and 2008, and at the Indig02 in London, all of which received positive reviews from critics. "Ugly" has been used in schools within Wales to promote diversity and eliminate prejudice.
"Ugly" was written and produced by Dallas Austin for the Sugababes' fourth studio album, Taller in More Ways . [1] Paul Sheehy, Doug Harms, Graham Marsh and Ian Rossiter served as the assistant recording engineers for the song. [1] "Ugly" was mixed by Jeremy Wheatley for 365 Artists at TwentyOne Studio, London. [1] Tony Reyes provided the accompanying guitar and bass guitar for the track, while the drums and keys were provided by Austin. [1] "Ugly" was recorded at DARP Studios, at Atlanta & Home Recordings, London. [1]
During an interview with Jess Cartner-Morley of The Guardian , the Sugababes revealed that Austin wrote the song after reading "the cuttings file he was sent about the band". [2] Keisha Buchanan, one of the group's members, elaborated upon this: "All the rubbish and nasty stuff that's been written about us, calling us the Sugalumps, that sort of thing." [2] The title of the song's parent album, Taller in More Ways, was inspired by a line in "Ugly", which reads: "I grew taller than them in more ways / But there'll always be one who will say / Something bad to make them feel great". [2]
"Ugly" is a midtempo pop rock [3] and R&B [4] ballad that has a length of three minutes and fifty-three seconds. [5] [6] The song was composed in the key of C major using common time with a tempo of 117 beats per minute. [7] The Sugababes' vocal range on the song span from the lower note of G3 to the higher note of E5. [7] Instrumentation consists of a guitar, bass guitar, drums and keys. [1] Nick Southall of Stylus Magazine noted that the song incorporates acoustic guitars "buoyed by peripheral detail". [8]
K. Ross Hoffman of Allmusic described "Ugly" as a "towering ballad" with romantic and body-image issues. [9] The song received numerous comparisons to "Unpretty" by American girl group TLC, another track composed by Austin. [3] [10] Group member Heidi Range compared the song's lyrics to "Beautiful", a song performed by American recording artist Christina Aguilera. [2] Harry Rubenstein of The Jerusalem Post also noted that the song is reminiscent of both "Unpretty" and "Beautiful". [11] The lyrical content makes reference to feeling ugly from having different eyes and hair, in addition to being shorter than other people. [12]
"Ugly" was released as a CD single in the United Kingdom on 5 December 2005, [6] containing the radio edit of the song, and "Come Together". [13] The extended play version of "Ugly" was released on the same day and contains the album version of the song, a B-side titled "Future Shokk!", a Desert Eagle Discs remix, and a Suga Shaker Vocal Mix. On 9 December 2005, "Ugly" was released as a CD single in Germany, which contains the same tracks on the extended play release, in addition to the single's music video. [14] In Australia, Island Records released the song as a CD single on 16 January 2006. [15]
"Ugly" garnered generally positive reviews from music critics. Phil Udell of Hot Press regarded it as a "classy, catchy pop tune with a human heart". [3] Peter Robinson of The Observer felt that the track was one of the album's standouts, stating that it "immediately hits on the Sugababes' core values", which according to him are "cool, but so unswervingly radio-friendly that it would hardly be out of place as this year's Children in Need single". [10] Talia Kraines of BBC described "Ugly" as a "ballad full of true Sugababes attitude". [16] K. Ross Hoffman of AllMusic considered the track as an "aptly pitched inspirational mini-epic", [9] and a writer for The Liverpool Daily Post & Echo characterised it as an "empowering anthem". [17] Nick Southall of Stylus Magazine called it "vastly superior self-help pop" and "lovingly produced". [8] However, Ben Hogwood of musicOMH thought the song was unconvincing, [18] while Alex Roginski of Sydney Morning Herald criticized the songwriting as "flat". [19]
"Ugly" entered the UK Singles Chart at number three on 11 December 2005 ― for the week ending dated 17 December 2005 ― with sales of 21,107, [20] becoming the Sugababes' second consecutive top-three single and their tenth top ten hit overall. [21] The song spent four weeks in the chart's top-ten and 20 weeks on the chart overall. [22] "Ugly" had sold 170,000 copies in the UK and ranks as the group's seventh best-selling single in the country as of 2010, and has since been certified silver for sales of over 200,000 units. [23] "Ugly" debuted and peaked at number seven on the Irish Singles Chart, becoming the Sugababes' sixth top ten single in Ireland. [24] The song peaked at number four in Denmark, becoming the Sugababes' fourth top-five single in the country. [25] "Ugly" also reached number seven in Hungary and the Netherlands, earning the Sugababes their fourth top ten hit in the former and their seventh one in the latter respectively. [26] [27]
"Ugly" also became a commercial success in many other European countries. The single number eight in the Czech Republic [28] and Finland, [29] and number nine in Norway. [30] In Belgium, the song reached numbers eight and 13 on the Wallonia Ultratip and Flanders Ultratop charts, respectively. [31] [32] "Ugly" attained top-twenty positions in Austria, [33] Sweden [34] and Switzerland; [35] it charted at number 26 in Germany [36] and number 68 in Slovakia. [37] "Ugly" also achieved success outside of Europe. In New Zealand, it entered the chart at number seven and peaked at number five two weeks later, becoming the Sugababes' second consecutive top-five single in the country and their fourth one overall. [38] It remained in the chart for 16 weeks. [38] In Australia, "Ugly" debuted at number 16 and peaked at number 13 on its fourth week on the chart, becoming their second-best performing single in the country. [39]
The accompanying music video for "Ugly" was directed by Toby Tremlett and filmed on 1 November 2005. [40] It is set in a warehouse in New York City that is used for people who are taking part in an audition. [41] It begins with a yellow taxi driving on a New York City road with apartment complexes. [41] As the song begins, Buena sings her verse while looking into a mirror, and other people in the warehouse begin to hold up signs of the song's lyrics. [41] During the chorus, they begin to showcase their talents such as dancing and juggling. [41] Buchanan's chorus features her sitting on a staircase; during this part, a child holds up a sign reading "short" while a woman carries a sign saying "loneliness". [41] As Range sings the bridge, she is leaning on a wall in the warehouse while more people begin dancing. [41] When Sugababes sing the chorus again, they dance with the people who also begin to show other talents, including instrumentation and magic tricks. [41] As the video ends, a row of people hold up signs containing one word from the song's lyrics, "people are all the same", and then another message "don't be afraid to be you", with Buchanan, Buena and Range holding each letter of the last word. [41]
Sugababes performed "Ugly" at the V Festival in 2006 as part of a set list, which included "Hole in the Head", "Red Dress" and "Push the Button". In 2008, they performed the song at the same event in the JJB Champion Arena, as part of a set list which included Push the Button and About You Now. [42] The performance received positive reviews, with a reviewer from MTV UK calling it "a highlight of our festival in the JJB Arena". [42] In August 2007, former group member Mutya Buena, who left the band shortly following the single's release, performed the song at the V Festival in Chelmsford. [43] On 18 September 2007, Sugababes performed an acoustic version of "Ugly" at the Indig02 as part of a set list, which included such songs as "Freak Like Me", "Round Round", "In the Middle", "Red Dress" and "Too Lost In You". Nick Levine of Digital Spy felt the performance "proves that no member's a slacker in the trilling department". [44]
In March 2006, it was announced by The Commission for Racial Equality Croeso initiative that the Sugababes would take part in supporting diversity and opposing injustice in Wales. [45] The group allowed all schools located in Wales to use "Ugly" as part of an assembly, in which the schools can use the same resources provided by the Croeso initiative. [45]
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Weekly charts
| Year-end charts
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Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
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United Kingdom (BPI) [62] | Silver | 200,000‡ |
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. |
Region | Date | Format(s) | Label(s) | Ref. |
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United Kingdom | 5 December 2005 |
| Island | |
Germany | 9 December 2005 | Maxi CD | Universal Music | |
16 December 2005 | CD | |||
Australia | 16 January 2006 | Maxi CD |
The Sugababes are an English girl group composed of Mutya Buena, Keisha Buchanan, and Siobhán Donaghy. The lineup changed three times before returning to the original lineup in 2011.
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.
Taller in More Ways is the fourth studio album by British girl group Sugababes, released by Island Records on 10 October 2005. It was primarily produced by Dallas Austin and Jony Rockstar, with additional production from Cameron McVey, Xenomania and Guy Sigsworth. The title of the album was inspired by a line in the album's second single, "Ugly".
Keisha Kerreece Fayeanne Buchanan is an English singer and songwriter and a founding member of the girl group Sugababes alongside Mutya Buena and Siobhán Donaghy. With Sugababes, she has had six number-one singles and two number-one studio albums, making them one of the most successful-charting British pop acts of the 21st century so far. Buchanan was sacked from the group in September 2009 and replaced by Jade Ewen. Buchanan returned to the group in 2012 with the original line-up.
"Push the Button" is a song recorded by English girl group the Sugababes for their fourth studio album Taller in More Ways (2005). Composed by Dallas Austin and the Sugababes, it was inspired by an infatuation that group member Keisha Buchanan developed with another artist. Musically, the song is an electropop and R&B song with various computer effects. It was released as the lead single from Taller in More Ways on 23 September 2005, by Island Records.
"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.
"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.
"Hole in the Head" is a song performed by British girl group Sugababes, released on 13 October 2003 as the lead single from their third studio album, Three. It was written by Brian Higgins, Miranda Cooper, Tim Powell, Nick Coler, Niara Scarlett, Keisha Buchanan, Mutya Buena, and Heidi Range, and co-produced by Higgins and Jeremy Wheatley. The song was met with acclaim from critics and was a commercial success, entering at the top of the UK Singles Chart. Outside the United Kingdom, the single peaked within the top ten of the charts in ten other countries. It became their only single to chart in the United States, peaking at number ninety-six on the Billboard Hot 100 and topping the Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs chart.
"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-four singles, two video albums, six promotional singles, and thirty music videos. 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).
"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.
"Overload" is the debut single of British girl group Sugababes. It was released on 11 September 2000 through London Records as the lead single from the group's debut studio album, One Touch (2000). At the time, the group consisted of Siobhán Donaghy, Mutya Buena and Keisha Buchanan. It was co-produced and co-written by British songwriters and producers Paul Simm, Felix Howard, Jony Rockstar and Cameron McVey. The general theme of the song involves a teenage girl's crush towards a boy and her finding the situation difficult to manage.
"Follow Me Home" is a song by British girl group the Sugababes, released as the fourth single from their fourth studio album, Taller in More Ways (2005). The pop and R&B ballad was written by band members Keisha Buchanan, Mutya Buena and Heidi Range, with Jony Rockstar, Karen Poole and Jeremy Shaw. The producer, Rockstar, developed the idea of a close person as its inspiration. Buena wrote a verse about her daughter, while Buchanan wrote a verse based on her close friend. The song was released as the album's fourth single on 5 June 2006 and contains vocals from Amelle Berrabah in replacement of Buena's, who left the band in December 2005.
"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".
Overloaded: The Singles Collection is the first greatest hits album of British girl group Sugababes. It was released on 10 November 2006—almost one year following the departure of founding member Mutya Buena and the introduction of her replacement, Amelle Berrabah. Overloaded features twelve of the group's singles, four of which reached number one in the UK; "Freak like Me", "Round Round", "Hole in the Head", and "Push the Button". The Sugababes collaborated with members from Orson to produce two new tracks for the album, "Easy" and "Good to Be Gone". Overloaded received positive reviews from critics, who generally praised it as a reflection of the group's success.
"Easy" is a song by British girl group Sugababes, released as the lead single from their greatest hits album Overloaded: The Singles Collection (2006). Development of "Easy" began when the American rock band Orson discovered that the Sugababes were working on a new album, in which they proposed ideas for new tracks. They subsequently wrote the song with the group, and produced it. Backed by bass synthesizers, it is an uptempo electropop and pop rock song that features metaphorical lyrical content containing sexual euphemisms. The song is the group's first single to feature written contributions from then-new member Amelle Berrabah, who had previously sung on re-recorded versions of three songs from the album Taller in More Ways, including the singles "Red Dress" and "Follow Me Home".
This is a summary of 2005 in music in the United Kingdom, including the official charts. Average sales for a number-one single were 80,437 per week.
"Gotta Be You" is a song by English girl group Sugababes from their fourth studio album, Taller in More Ways (2005). It was written by Tricky Stewart, Penelope Magnet and Terius Nash, while Dallas Austin produced the song. There are two versions of the song, one with vocals by founding member Mutya Buena, and another featuring Amelle Berrabah's vocals, Buena's replacement. "Gotta Be You" is a crunk&B song that lyrically discuss reacting to judgements created by the media. Several music critics noted similarities between the song and "Try Again" by Aaliyah. Upon the release of the album, "Gotta Be You" garnered mixed reviews from critics.
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