Musical trends come and go in waves. Most recently, One Direction and The Wanted brought boy band hysteria back to the late nineties peak seen with acts like the Backstreet Boys, *NSYNC and, to a lesser extent, 98 Degrees. The girl group, however, has been on a bit of a hiatus (beyond the consistently successful K-pop and J-pop markets).
The aughts failed to deliver us the next Spice Girls, TLC, Destiny’s Child or En Vogue, the sassier successors to 1950s-1960s legends like The Supremes, The Ronettes and various other groups that went by “The” something. The Pussycat Dolls came close to achieving that level of glory, while Danity Kane could very well have done it with proper promotion from their label. Girls Aloud and Sugababes saw success overseas, yet failed to resonate with the American audience.
They were, all in all, never international pop icons like their nineties counterparts. Everyone knew what a “Beyoncé” or “Posh Spice” was, but to this day, most normal people couldn’t tell you how to spell “Scherzinger”… But could a new era of chart-topping girl groups be upon us? Perhaps!
The X Factor franchise has brought us a pair of promising new acts, Little Mix and Fifth Harmony. The latter group has yet to find their bearings, despite moderate success of their single “Miss Movin’ On” and a surprisingly excellent Vanity 6 ripoff “Don’t Want To Dance Alone“. Little Mix, however, has bucked current pop trends to channel the acts that made the nineties so damn great.
Take their latest single “Boy” for example. It could very well be an outtake from Destiny’s Child’s 1999 album The Writings On The Wall with a dash of Timbaland thrown in for good measure.
Does a song like this prove that girl groups are making a comeback? Nope! Yet if groups like Little Mix continue to make songs that don’t sound exactly like current solo output by Kelly Clarkson or Rihanna, they might have hope in distinguishing themselves and finding a voice within the pop landscape.
They did a good job with this with their highly unappreciated Missy Elliott collaboration “How You Doin’?” and their recent, somewhat zany single “Move”. Although both songs failed to capture the success of their biggest hit “Wings“, it’s tracks like that which will get people talking and solidify their place as ones to watch… Or they could just make cookie-cutter pop and probably be more successful. I’m an idealist, I’ll admit.
– Dewitt
Watch the music video for Little Mix’s “Move” below:
_______________________________________________________________________________
YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE…
–
–
Look, I have been with Little Mix since they were randomly put together for XFactor… These girls have grown so much, it blows my mind. They are certainly the best girl group since Destiny’s Child (which, I suppose, there isn’t much competition, but still) Their songs are typical pop fare but with a nod to the 90s, and their vocals are on point and harmonies are tighter than any of your puckers. I hope they explode like they deserve .
When I first heard “Boy”, Destiny’s Child definitely came to mind but that’s not a bad thing. I love the “Move” music video.
I am always a fan of those music groups that were created on reality television – Little Mix, Girls Aloud, Danity Kane, Eden’s Crush (Nicole Scherzinger’s pre-Pussycat Dolls days) and so many more groups overseas.
Ha! I LOVED “Get Over Yourself” by Eden’s Crush. After the group collapsed, one of the members did choreography at a local Catholic school near me.
I haven’t been able to love a girl group since TLC. I like others, but TLC were the queens to me. I remember I cried when I heard Left Eye died. I think it’s because they were unique. They weren’t cookie cutter & they had a style and sound all their own. To this day if a guy really wants to get on my good side and get me in the mood, just put on Red Light Special or Take Our Time.
I’d rather a Spice Girls reunion every single day.
CrazySexyCool all day!!! Loved that album!
Yeah there hasn’t been a recent girl group that I have had any interest in since Danity Kane. I hope Little Mix does really well. Each of them have great voices… especially love the pipes on the blonde girl!
And Dewitt, you are right about Danity Kane. If they were signed to a different label they’d be a superstar group now. I mean, are there any big artists today that are signed with Bad Boy???
Janelle Monae is signed to Bad Boy, believe it or not!
They’re not bad, nothing special. Then again I miss tearing it up to the Pussycat Dolls.
i am not a huge fan of little mix but then again i wud listen to them over anything one direction does any day………..i want them fellas to just give up…
“MOVE” just became an instant favorite!
Which is ironic because Perrie (the blond one with the killer pipes) is engaged to Zayn from One Direction!