Pool Of Sound - Atomic Kitten

Atomic Kitten - Natasha, Liz and Kerry

'Atomic Kitten' is a Liverpool girl band conceived in 1998 by Andy McCluskey, the former frontman of 'OMD' who had split up in 1996, after Karl Bartos of 'Kraftwerk' suggested it as a vehicle for his songs.
So Andy founded 'Atomic Kitten' alongside fellow OMD member Stuart Kershaw, with the pair being the principal songwriters on the group's studio recordings in the late 1990s and early 2000s. The initial line-up was Liz McClarnon, Kerry Katona and Heidi Range, who was later to quit because of artistic differences and join 'The Sugarbabes'. Natasha Hamilton replaced Heidi Range before the release of the band's debut single 'Right Now' in November 1999 which reached No.10 in the UK Singles Chart. This was followed by 'See Ya', released in March 2000, which was to do even better, reaching a chart position of No.6.
Following this initial success, 'Atomic Kitten' performed an Asian tour and had their first No.1 hit there with 'Cradle'. Their first album, 'Right Now' was released in Japan on the 16th of March 2000 and was subsequently released in the UK on the 23rd of October 2000 following the release of two further singles, 'I Want Your Love' and 'Follow Me'.

In Europe, the album was unsuccessful upon its first release, peaking at No. 39 in the UK Album Charts, with their record company Innocent Records considering dropping them because of their limited success. However, they were persuaded to let the group release one more single from the album, 'Whole Again', which became their first UK No.1 hit staying at the top for four weeks. It was subsequently released globally, and reached No.1 in 18 other countries, including 6 weeks in Germany and New Zealand and 27 weeks at number one in the Republic of Moldova.
A pregnant Kerry Katona, who had originally featured on the song and video, left before the single's release and was replaced by former 'Precious' singer Jenny Frost and the single's music video was re-shot with a US video for 'Whole Again' also released.

L-R  Liz, Natasha and Jenny

The Katona-Frost switch led to the decision to partially re-record and re-release the 'Right Now' album which then went to No.1 in the UK in August 2001, and was certified double Platinum. The album also reached the Top 10 in several European countries, including Germany and Denmark. Their follow up single, a cover of 'The Bangles' 1989 hit 'Eternal Flame', became their second No.1 single in the UK and New Zealand. It also became their biggest single in France reaching No.2 and eventually went Gold.
A new album 'Feels So Good' followed the success of 'Right Now' but the songwriting and production agreement with Andy McCluskey and Stuart Kershaw was an increasing source of tension within the group and with their record company, resulting in the pair departing during the recording of the album. The first single from the album, 'It's OK', reached No.3 in the UK but the next single 'The Tide Is High', a remake of the 1965 song by 'The Paragons' that 'Blondie' had also covered in 1980, gave the group their third No.1 single in the UK and New Zealand.

'Atomic Kitten' spent late 2002 and early 2003 in the studio recording their third and final studio album 'Ladies Night'. Up until then they had mainly relied on songwriters, though they had occasionally co-written songs featured on their albums. However they decided to be directly involved in the creation of eight of the fifteen songs on this album. Released on the10th of November 2003 it peaked at No.5 in the UK album chart and was certified Platinum for sales in excess of 300,000 copies. With singles from the album 'Be With You' and 'If You Come To Me' charting at No.2 and No.3 respectively, in early 2004 a tour to support the 'Ladies Night' album and a 'Greatest Hits' album was planned. Shortly before the tour kicked off, the group announced they would be taking an extended break after the tour, the reason later revealed was that Hamilton had decided to quit the group under the pressure of being a new mum and touring, which led to the band splitting because they didn't want to replace her.

see also :- http://www.thefootballvoice.com/2020/04/pool-of-sound-amsterdam.html