The Pipettes are a British indie pop girl group formed in 2003 in Brighton1 by "svengali" Robert "Monster Bobby" Barry. The group has 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.
Originally comprising Julia Clarke-Lowes, Rose Elinor Dougall and Rebecca Stephens, at the time of their debut album Clarke-Lowes had been replaced by Gwenno Saunders. In 2008, Dougall and Stephens also left the group. As of 2010, the line-up is Saunders and her sister Ani, and their next album release, "Earth vs. The Pipettes" is due in June 2010.2
The female members are backed by all-male band, The Cassette, which at present includes Monster Bobby, the Falcone brothers; Jon and Seb, and Alex White.
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,3 after noticing the reaction girl group songs got during his DJ sets.4 In collaboration with singer, poet, and photographer Julia Clark-Lowes, who was inspired by Bill Drummond and Jimmy Cauty's The Manual,5 he recruited friends from and around the local music scene.6 The Pipettes, as they were to become, were all first introduced to each other by Bobby at The Basketmakers pub in Brighton.1
Regarding the formation of the band, Rose said in an interview: "Well, basically our guitarist, Bobby had a contact with someone, and he kind of recruited us all individually. We all kind of knew each other, but not as a group. He asked us if we wanted to be involved and we said yes went for a drink and that was it. I think we had a few songs, he had a few songs, and we had ideas and gradually it evolved to what it is now because we all write songs, but it was Bobby who kind of started it off."7
The group have been called an "experiment in manufactured pop", although the members' take is that they "manufactured" themselves.89 Their name, which is a reference to a laboratory instrument,citation needed is a nod to the experimental origins of the group. The group's name is pronounced as the instrument is in British English, /pɪˈpɛt/, not /paɪˈpɛt/ as in American English. The male backing musicians, "The Cassette"10 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.6 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"11), 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 singles 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 Lulu12 and This City.
Lineup changes 2008–present
Ani, Gwenno and Beth performing at Turning Point Roundhouse in 2009.
On 18 April 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 3 May 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 10 June at the indigO2. On 16 July they appeared at the premiere of Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging, following the inclusion of Pull Shapes on the movie's soundtrack. On consecutive nights from 1st until 3 September they played a series of promotional gigs at The Fly Bar in London.
On 12 November, it was announced that Anna McDonald had left The Pipettes to pursue songwriting opportunities away from the band. On 11 February 2009, new member Beth Mburu-Bowie was announced as McDonald's replacement. This line-up made its live début on 5 March 2009 at the launch party of the British Music Experience.
In November 2009, a new track "Stop The Music" was played in BBC Wales, with the DJ saying that it will be released in February 2010.citation needed This appeared to imply the departure of Beth Mburu-Bowie, as Gwenno and Ani shared the verses which were previously sung by her. Subsequent photoshoots and Twitter updates claiming the band is a 6-piece backed this up, although no official announcement has yet been made.
On 12th February, a new track "Our Love Was Saved By Spacemen (song)" and an accompanying video were made available via the Pipettes official website13. It generally got positive reviews from websites such as PopJustice14 and PopMatters15.
| mid-2004-April 2005 |
April 2005-18 April 2008 |
18 April 2008-12 November 2008 |
11 February 2009-c. November 2009 |
c. November 2009-present |
| Julia Clarke-Lowes |
Gwenno Saunders |
| Rose Elinor Dougall |
Ani Saunders |
| Rebecca Stephens |
Anna McDonald |
Beth Mburu-Bowie |
|
Discography
Albums
Singles
Notes:
- "Pipettes Christmas Single" was a promotional single. 200 individually numbered copies of the single were given out free at concert gigs in December 2004 containing the song "In the Bleak Midwinter", recorded with Thomas White of The Electric Soft Parade.
+ Released as a free download on their official website.
EPs
Other activity
- Becki, Rose and Julia sing on "Sometimes Always," a track on Brakes' 2005 album Give Blood. Brakes members Thomas 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.
- Julia and Becki 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."
References
External links
![Clip The Pipettes Dirty Mind. Track 4 from their 06 album "We Are The Pipettes." Video](/viewVideo.html?title=The Pipettes Dirty Mind&videoType=YouTube&summary=The Pipettes Dirty Mind. Track 4 from their 06 album "We Are The Pipettes."&link=http://www.youtube.com/v/fkJLNBHFo-g&fs=1&source=uds&autoplay=1&thumb=http://0.gvt0.com/vi/fkJLNBHFo-g/default.jpg&celebrity=The Pipettes)
