"Memory of You" is a song by British all-female

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop!, a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Albums * ''Pop'' (G ...

group Girls Aloud recorded during sessions for their fifth studio album '' Out of Control'' (2008). The song was written by Girls Aloud, Miranda Cooper,

Brian Higgins Brian Michael Higgins (born October 6, 1959) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for , serving since 2005. The district, numbered as the 27th district from 2005 to 2013 but as the 26th since 2013, includes Buffalo and Ni ...

and his production team

Xenomania Xenomania is an English songwriting and production team founded by Brian Higgins and based in Kent, England. Formed by Higgins with his Creative Director Miranda Cooper and Business Director Sarah Stennett of First Access Entertainment, Xenoman ...

, and produced by Higgins and Xenomania. Described as "more dance oriented than pop," the track is influenced by

trance Trance is a state of semi-consciousness in which a person is not self-aware and is either altogether unresponsive to external stimuli (but nevertheless capable of pursuing and realizing an aim) or is selectively responsive in following the dir ...

and

progressive house music Progressive house is a subgenre of house music. The progressive house style emerged in the early 1990s. It initially developed in the United Kingdom as a natural progression of American and European house music of the late 1980s.Gerard, Morgan; ...

, originating as a track entitled "Japan" by trance project Cadence. The song was originally released as a

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

to the

7" vinyl In music, a single is a type of Art release#Music, release, typically a song Sound recording, recording of fewer tracks than an LP record or an album. One can be released for record sales, sale to the public in a variety of formats. In most ca ...

format of their 2009 single " The Loving Kind". Due to its overwhelming popularity with fans, it was later released in high quality on Girls Aloud's ''Singles Box Set'' (2009). The song received positive reviews from contemporary music critics, some of whom suggested that the track was better than its A-side.

Nicola Roberts Nicola Maria Roberts (born 5 October 1985) is a British pop singer. She rose to prominence in late 2002 upon winning a place in Girls Aloud, a girl group created through ITV's '' Popstars: The Rivals''. The group's success helped them win the c ...

also included a solo version of "Memory of You" as a B-side to her single " Yo-Yo" (2012).

Background and composition

"Memory of You" originated in 2004 as a song by Cadence, a trance project composed of

Grammy The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pre ...

-nominated DJ and producer

Mike Koglin Mike may refer to: Animals * Mike (cat), cat and guardian of the British Museum * Mike the Headless Chicken, chicken that lived for 18 months after his head had been cut off * Mike (chimpanzee), a chimpanzee featured in several books and documen ...

, Darren Edge and Paul Woods. The song, then entitled "Japan," was written by Koglin, Miranda Cooper,

Tim Powell Tim Powell (born 14 April 1968) is a former Australian rules footballer who played with Richmond and Carlton in the Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the only fully professional competition of Australian ...

, and Giselle Sommerville, all members of Higgins' production team

, while

Louise Griffiths Louise Griffiths (born 31 July 1978) is an English singer, songwriter, model and actress. Early life Griffiths was born in Hertfordshire, England. She is the daughter of a London taxicab driver. She plays the saxophone, and was a contestant in ...

provided vocals. Girls Aloud's "Memory of You" retained the same melody and lyrics, although the instrumental was completely different. A new verse was also added, earning Girls Aloud a co-writing credit. The Girls Aloud version of the track retains Cadence's trance roots, having been described as "far more dance oriented than pop." Kimberley Walsh and

are the only singers on this track, causing tabloid paper ''

News of the World The ''News of the World'' was a weekly national Tabloid journalism#Red tops, red top Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published every Sunday in the United Kingdom from 1843 to 2011. It was at one time the world's highest-selling En ...

'' to wrongly identify the track as an "underground tune" recorded by Walsh and Roberts outside of Girls Aloud.

Release

The song was originally released as a

to the

format of their 2009 single " The Loving Kind".

Popjustice Popjustice is a music website founded in 2000 by UK freelance music journalist Peter Robinson, who has worked for ''NME'', ''The Guardian'', ''Attitude'' and many others. It is composed of the work of editor Robinson, features editor Michael Cra ...

featured a 30-second clip of "Memory of You" as their Song of the Day prior to release. Due to its overwhelming popularity with fans, it was later released in high quality on Girls Aloud's '' Singles Box Set'' (2009). In 2012, Girls Aloud fans selected "Memory of You" to be one of ten songs included on the deluxe edition bonus disc of their greatest hits collection ''

Ten Ten, TEN or 10 may refer to: * 10, an even natural number following 9 and preceding 11 * one of the years 10 BC, AD 10, 1910 and 2010 * October, the tenth month of the year Places * Mount Ten, in Vietnam * Tongren Fenghuang Airport (IATA code ...

'' (2012), receiving more votes than any other track.

also included a solo version of "Memory of You" as a B-side to her 2012 single " Yo-Yo", available as a "pre-order only" track. Roberts also included the Solo Version of “Memory of You” on the 10th anniversary album “Behind

Cinderella's Eyes ''Cinderella's Eyes'' is the debut studio album by English recording artist Nicola Roberts. It was released on 23 September 2011 by Polydor Records. As a member of the British girl group Girls Aloud, Roberts drew inspiration from her time with t ...

“, released in 2022.

Critical response

Bradley Stern of MuuMuse labeled the song Girls Aloud's best b-side to date and stated that the song "near eclipses its host single."

Peter Robinson Peter Robinson may refer to: Entertainment * Peter Robinson (sideshow artist) (1873–1947), American actor and sideshow performer, known for his appearance in film ''Freaks'' (1932) * J. Peter Robinson (born 1945), British musician and film score ...

, founder of

, expressed confusion regarding the song's lack of inclusion on ''Out of Control'', stating, "the track’s chorus is better than a lot of the choruses that ''did'' make it onto the album." Robinson described "Memory of You" as a "glossy euro rave-up." In a review for ''Ten'',

Digital Spy Digital Spy (DS) is a British-based entertainment, television and film website and brand and is the largest digital property at Hearst UK. Since its launch in 1999, Digital Spy has focused on entertainment news related to television programmes, ...

's Robert Copsey described "Memory of You" as one of the best tracks on the album's second disc of fan favourites. James Fyfe of imediamonkey wrote, "Memory of You represents one of the few career misjudgements the group ever made; it’s ridiculous that this wasn’t a single, let alone that it wasn’t even included on their 2008 record ''Out of Control''. It’s a truly phenomenal track."

Credits and personnel

*Songwriting: Brian Higgins, Girls Aloud, Giselle Sommerville, Miranda Cooper, Tim Powell *Production: Brian Higgins, Xenomania *Keyboards: Brian Higgins, Sacha Collision, Tim Powell *Mixing: Sacha Collision, Tim Powell *Mastering engineer: Dick Beetham at 360 Mastering. *Published by Warner Chappell/Xenomania/EMI Music Publishing Ltd.

References

{{authority control 2009 songs Girls Aloud songs Song recordings produced by Xenomania Songs written by Brian Higgins (producer) Songs written by Miranda Cooper Songs written by Tim Powell (producer) Songs written by Giselle Sommerville Songs about heartache