The wonderful carefree pop music of the 90s seemed to have a little bit of everything - from the sassy attitude of the Spice Girls to the icily cool All Saints - there was something for everyone.
You're probably very familiar with those two seismic acts of the decade, but how's your memory on lesser known outfits - like Shampoo? Not the hair product, but a bubblegum pop duo from the 90s?
How about the bright and breezy R&B of Cleopatra? Can you recall them ‘comin’ atcha’? What about popular Irish group B*Witched? Do you remember them blaming ‘it’ on the weatherman?
If your memory banks are starting to whir into motion and that lovely, warm fuzzy feeling known as nostalgia is beginning to invigorate those synapses, then you’re in the right place. Today we’re going to take a look at some of the girl groups of the 90s you may have forgotten about.
So crack open a Capri Sun - or maybe a Hooch, grab a packet of Chewitts (classic strawberry flavour if you please) - and let's do this ...
Eternal – 'And ... I … am … blessed, every time I look into my baby's eyes'
Who can forget that mega power ballad from 1995?
Perhaps best known these days as ‘that band Louise Redknapp used to be in’, Eternal had a string of hits in the 90s with their crowd-pleasing, R&B-infused pop.
Sisters Easther and Valerie Bennett, Kéllé Bryan and the aforementioned Louise (then Nurding) bagged a number one with the very danceable I Wanna Be The Only One in 1997, and achieved number 4 with Angel of Mine.
Shifting around 10million albums worldwide, their success sadly did not mirror their name.
Louise departed to pursue a solo career before the release of the group’s second album, Power of a Woman, in 1995, with Kéllé departing three years later.
Widely regarded as the UK’s answer to sassy American R&B act En Vogue, our Eternal’s flickering flame was finally extinguished in 2000 - with sisters Easther and Valerie the only two members left.
Cleopatra – 'Cleopatra comin’ atcha … Cleopatra comin’ atcha'
The reign of this R&B/pop girl group came nowhere near that of their Egyptian queen namesake (21 years if you’re asking) – but they sure burned brightly at the tale end of the 90s nonetheless.
These Manchester sisters were comin’ atcha with Cleopatra’s Theme in 1998. The sassy slice of funk-lite getting to number 3 in the charts.
Their next three singles, which included a stirring cover of The Jackson 5’s I Want You Back, all went top 5. The parent album Comin’ Atcha! went top 20 in the UK. So far so good.
But by the time second album Steppin’ Out reared its head, changes at their record label Warner meant the project stalled due to a lack of promotion. The lead-off single hit number 29 and the album was never actually even released in the UK. Warner wanted lead singer Cleo to go solo, and the band crumbled like a badly built pyramid.
B*Witched - 'Some people say I look like me dad What! Are you serious?!'
All together now – “say you will, say you won’t, say you’ll do what I don’t” – we ALL love 1998’s C’est la Vie – don’t we? (don’t we?!)
This Irish group made up of twin sisters Edele and Keavy Lynch, Lindsay Armaou and Sinéad O’Carroll enjoyed a decent chart run in the late 90s.
Of course, we’ve already mentioned the jaunty Irish stomp of their best known track, but there was also the poppy Rollercoaster, soul-searching To You I Belong and the sweepingly magisterial Blame It On The Weatherman.
But as the new decade mercilessly rolled into view, the world had seemingly had enough of the girls – and, after a string of lukewarmly received releases, they called it a day in 2002. A comeback in 2012 recaptured a little of the magic, but of course it was the 90s where we were really under their spell. C’est la Vie.
Shampoo – 'Uh-oh, we’re in trouble gotta get home quick march on the double!'
This day-glo bubblegum pop duo scored a huge hit with the incessantly catchy/irritating (delete as appropriate) song Trouble back in 1994.
London schoolfriends Jacqui Blake and Carrie Askew’s harder-edged pop managed the unusual feat of attracting fans from both the mainstream and ‘alternative’ crowds.
Trouble peaked at number 11 and the following year even featured in the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie. Shampoo followed this up with the fantastically titled Viva La Megababes.
In 1996 the girls released a song called Girl Power a mere week before the Spice Girls exploded onto the scene. But instead of surfing this all-girl buzz, the single stalled at number 25.
Over time, a steady stream of more successful acts eclipsed Shampoo and they called it a day in 2000.
“Something’s come along and it’s burst our bubble” indeed.
Daphne and Celeste – 'Ooh stick you, your mama too and your daddy'
This bubblegum pop duo from New Jersey brought the 90s to a close with some memorable lyrics but perhaps less memorable tunes.
They released three singles in the UK – the infantile but fun Ooh Stick You, the decidedly un-politically correct U.G.L.Y (sample lyric - “You ain't got no alibi you ugly eh! Hey! You ugly”) and an unnecessary cover of Alice Cooper’s School’s Out.
The girls Celeste Cruz and Karen ‘Daphne’ DiConcetto were infamously bottled off stage at the Reading festival as fans did not take kindly to what was perceived as incongruous music.
To their credit they kept singing but chose to abandon their set after their second song.
Despite a television and film deal, the pair were dropped by their label in the early noughties.
The girls had bottle, and later reformed and released a brazenly bizarre album in 2018 called Daphne & Celeste Save The World. It failed to chart.
Alisha’s Attic - 'And I am, I feel, like I wanna bite his head off'
Sisters Shelly and Karen Poole, whose father is Brian Poole of 60s band the Tremeloes, scored a modest hit with the alluringly infectious I Am, I Feel in 1996. This radio-friendly slice of perfect pop proved a strong debut, which they followed up with Alisha Rules The World.
Their platinum-selling and entirely self-penned debut album was produced by Eurythmics legend Dave Stewart. They were nominated for a Brit Award in 1997 and also an Ivor Novello the same year.
After a string of top 40 hits, including The Incidentals and Push It All Aside, and two more largely well-received albums, the sisters decided to each go their separate ways back in 2004.
You get the feeling there are still plenty more tunes locked away in that attic.
TLC – 'Don’t go chasing waterfalls, please stick to the river and the lakes that you’re used to'
American group TLC were on fire in the 90s.
Lisa ‘Left Eye’ Lopes, Tionne ‘T-Boz’ Watkins and Rozonda ‘Chilli’ Thomas lay down some phenomenal soul/R&B/pop/hip-hop numbers – the most famous of which possibly being the summery, carefree number one Waterfalls in 1995. They followed this up with the smokin’ Diggin’ On You before smashing it out of the park with the extremely fondly remembered sass of No Scrubs in 1999.
High-flying albums such as CrazySexyCool and FanMail showed the girls had what it took to take on the big guns.
At the close of the decade Lopes recorded a solo album, which was not very well received.
Sadly in 2002, Lopes was killed in a car crash.
After a hiatus, the group continued working on their current album and later vowed to carry on as a duo. The resultant 3D went on to be a huge success in America. They released their last album in 2017, simply called TLC.
