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The Pipettes

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The Pipettes are a British indie pop girl group formed in Brighton.[1]

The current line-up consists of Anna McDonald, and sisters, Gwenno and Ani Saunders. Founding member, Julia Clarke-Lowes, left the band in 2005, with Rose Elinor Dougall and Rebecca Stephens also choosing to part ways at the beginning of 2008. The female members are backed by all-male band, The Cassettes, which have also had several member changes, but at present include: Monster Bobby, the Falcone brothers; Jon and Seb, and Alex White.

To date, The Pipettes have released one album, We Are The Pipettes, and released numerous singles to support it; the most successful being Pull Shapes, which peaked at #26 in the UK Singles Chart.

Overview

Formation–2007

The Pipettes were formed in mid-2003 by singer-songwriter and promoter Monster Bobby with the intention of reviving the Phil Spector pop sound and giving it a modern twist,[2] after noticing the reaction girl group songs got during his DJ sets.[3] In collaboration with singer, poet, and photographer Julia Clark-Lowes, who was inspired by Bill Drummond and Jimmy Cauty's The Manual,[4] he recruited friends from and around the local music scene.[5] The Pipettes, as they were to become, were all first introduced to each other by Bobby at The Basketmakers pub in Brighton.[1]

The group have been called an experiment in manufactured pop, although the members' take is that they "manufactured" themselves.[6][7] Their name, which is a reference to a laboratory instrument, is a nod to the experimental origins of the group. It should be noted that the groups' name is pronounced the same way as the instrument in British English: /pɪ ˈpɛt/ -- not /pai ˈpɛt/, as in American English. The male backing musicians, "The Cassettes"[8] never appear in interviews or photoshoots, emphasising the role of the singers. The three frontwomen wear polka dot dresses with synchronised choreography being a major part of their live shows, whereas The Cassettes can be seeing wearing knitted tanktops with their initials sewn onto them. Additionally, despite their "manufactured" origins, all songs are credited to The Pipettes as a whole. Generally one member has a concept and basic outline for a song, on which the other members subsequently have an input as to arrangement or lyric changes.[5] As a result all members share credit on their original songs.

The line-up consisting of Rose ("Rosay"), Julia ("The Duchess (of Darkness)" or "Julia Caesar"[9]), RiotBecki, Jon, Seb, Joe ("Robin Of Loxley") and Bobby settled in mid-2004, after earlier line-ups included members of The Electric Soft Parade and Marc Beatty of Brakes. In April 2005 founder member Julia left to concentrate on her own project, The Indelicates, and was replaced by former Welsh-language solo artist Gwenno Saunders. Three limited edition vinyls were released in 2005, leading to the group being signed to Memphis Industries shortly after touring with the label's The Go! Team. Debut album "We Are the Pipettes" was released in the United Kingdom on 17 July, 2006 and reached #41 in the UK Album Chart.

In 2007, the band signed with Cherrytree Records, part of Interscope, to release their material in America, Asia and Australasia. After a series of well-received performances at the SXSW festival, an EP led by the track Your Kisses Are Wasted On Me was released on 5 June, peaking at #5 on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Sales chart. The album was released in North America on 2 October, where it reached #18 on Billboard's Top Heatseekers chart, and in Asia on October 17, with both releases containing new bonus tracks. Both of these versions of the album were remixed and produced by Greg Wells, thus resulting in a differing sound from the original European release.

In June 2007, original drummer Joe left to concentrate on his own band Joe Lean and the Jing Jang Jong and was replaced by Jason Adelinia, formerly of Teasing Lulu[10] and This City.

Lineup change 2008–present

On April 18 2008, it was announced on the band's official website and in a blog post on their MySpace that RiotBecki and Rosay had left "to pursue other musical projects", and had been replaced by Ani, who is Gwenno's younger sister, and Anna McDonald. This means that none of the original female members (Julia, Rose, Becki) remain. Jason Adelinia also left the band and was replaced by Alex White from The Electric Soft Parade and Brakes. Adelinia is now playing drums for The Ghost Frequency.

The new line-up made its live début on May 3 when they joined Mark Ronson on stage at the Corsa Presents Bandstand event in Old Billingsgate, London. They played their first full show in support of REO Speedwagon on June 10 at the indigO2. On 16th July they appeared at the premiere of Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging, following the inclusion of Pull Shapes on the movie's soundtrack. On the 1st thru 3rd September they played a series of promo gigs at The Fly Bar in London.

Discography

Main article: The Pipettes discography

Albums

Year Title UK Albums Chart
2006 We Are the Pipettes 41

Singles

Year Song UK Singles Chart Album
2004 Pipettes Christmas Single* - -
2005 "I Like a Boy in Uniform (School Uniform)" - -
2005 "ABC" - -
2005 "Judy" - -
2005 "Dirty Mind" 63 We Are the Pipettes
2006 "Your Kisses Are Wasted on Me" 35 We Are the Pipettes
2006 "Pull Shapes 26 We Are the Pipettes
2006 "Judy" 46 We Are the Pipettes

*Note: Limited edition CD of 200 individually numbered copies given out free at gigs in December 2004 containing the song "In the Bleak Midwinter". An a capella version of the song was available at the same time to download from Audiojunkies.

EPs

Other activity

  • Becki, Rose and Julia sing on Sometimes Always, a track on Brakes' 2005 album "Give Blood". Brakes members Tom White, Alex White and Marc Beatty acted as Cassettes at some of the band's early concerts.
  • Monster Bobby released a solo album, Gaps, in August 2007.
  • Becki and Julia sang the chorus on When U See The Future, on Y.Misdaq aka Yoshi's 2005 album 'Flowers & Trees'.
  • Rose sang on The Young Playthings' song Life Is Great, featured on their Yr So Fit (For Me) single. She also features on two demo tracks by Dr Colossus titled Sleep and Fallen In Love.

Notes and references

  1. ^ a b BBC.co.uk: Joining the dots with Brighton's hottest new prospect
  2. ^ CatOnTheWall.net: Pipettes Interview
  3. ^ The Unofficial Pipettes Forum FAQ
  4. ^ TheGuardian.co.uk: Leaders of the pack
  5. ^ a b CMU's Chris Cooke Interviews the Pipettes
  6. ^ PopWorld.com: Pipettes Popworld Interview
  7. ^ The Observer: The Pipettes interview
  8. ^ As introduced in their SXSW music festival appearances in March 2007. Previously Becki stated on John Kennedy’s XFM X-Posure show 2005-07-05, they are called "The Cassette", not "The Cassettes"
  9. ^ Indigo Flow: The Pipettes
  10. ^ ComfortComes.com: Teasing Lulu interview

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to The Pipettes.
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