"X" is a song by English-Irish
pop group
Liberty X
Liberty X (originally called Liberty) are a British-Irish group originally consisting of Michelle Heaton, Tony Lundon, Kevin Simm, Jessica Taylor and Kelli Young. The group was formed by the five finalists of the 2001 ITV talent show ''Popstars' ...
. It was released on 19 June 2006 as the third and final single from their third studio album ''
X'' (2005). It was the written by band members
Tony Lundon
Tony may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Tony (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters
* Gregory Tony (born 1978), American law enforcement officer
* Motu Tony (born 1981), New Zealand international rugby leagu ...
,
Kelli Young
Kelli Young (born 7 April 1982) is an English pop singer. She was a member and lead singer of British pop group Liberty X from 2001 until they split in 2007 and again in 2012 when they reformed for a one-off reunion for an ITV2 series and perfo ...
,
Jessica Taylor
Jessica Pietersen (; born 23 June 1980) is a British singer, television personality and dancer who was a member of the pop group Liberty X.
Personal life
As a teenager she was a member of the Preston Musical Comedy Society and played the title ...
and
Kevin Simm
Kevin Ian Simm (born 5 September 1980) is an English pop singer. He won ''The Voice UK'' on 9 April 2016. Simm was in the group Liberty X from 2001 until their split in 2007, and is currently the lead singer of the group Wet Wet Wet.
Early lif ...
, alongside Johnny Douglas, and was the band's last single before the announcement of their split.
[X: Amazon.co.uk: Music]
/ref> and became their lowest-charting single of their career, only peaking at number 47 on the UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
.
Background
Following the release of Liberty X's '' Children in Need'' single, " A Night to Remember", it was announced that due to poor sales of their third album '' X'', which sold just over 10,000 copies in the United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
, that the band would extensively tour the album, in an attempt to promote the failing release. On 7 May 2006, the band were featured in the line up of Aberystwyth University May ball, alongside Chesney Hawkes
Chesney Lee Hawkes (born 22 September 1971) is an English pop singer and occasional actor. He started his career at the age of 19 when he appeared in the film '' Buddy's Song'', which featured his best-known single " The One and Only", which to ...
and BodyRockers
BodyRockers were an English–Australian electronic music duo, consisting of Dylan Burns and Kaz James, which formed in 2004. Their 2005 single, "I Like the Way (BodyRockers song), I Like the Way", reached No. 3 on the United Kingdom UK S ...
. However, their set was cut short when a smoke bomb was set off during the first two minutes, filling the room with smoke. Firefighters gave the all-clear after 50 minutes, but Liberty X failed to reappear. Students were told the band were not returning to finish their set, and this was met by jeers, as students had paid £37 for the evening.
Music video
The music video for "X" was filmed on a budget of just £4,750, as revealed by Taylor during ''The Big Reunion
''The Big Reunion'' is a British reality-documentary series that began airing on ITV2 on 31 January 2013. The show featured chart-topping bands who were big in the UK pop music scene between the 1990s and early 2000s, and the programme followed ...
'', which was a considerably smaller budget compared to some of the band's other videos, such as the £200,000 budget given to the "Got to Have Your Love
"Got to Have Your Love" is a song by American hip hop and Electro (music), electro funk group Mantronix, featuring vocals from American recording artist Wondress Hutchinson, Wondress. It was released by Capitol Records in December 1989 as the l ...
" video. The band later revealed that they believed the poor outcome of the video contributed to the single's overall chart position.
The video features the band performing the song atop a number of CGI buildings and structures, whilst fighting an evil record company boss, shown on a large TV screen atop a skyline skyscraper. At the time, it was reported that the video was a dig at the band's former manager Richard Branson
Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson (born 18 July 1950) is a British billionaire, entrepreneur, and business magnate. In the 1970s he founded the Virgin Group, which today controls more than 400 companies in various fields.
Branson expressed ...
, who dropped them after the "poor" chart position of "Everybody Cries
"Everybody Cries" is the third and final single to be released from English-Irish pop-group Liberty X's second studio album, ''Being Somebody''. The single was released on 12 January 2004, peaking at number 13 on the UK Singles Chart and number ...
", despite the single peaking at number 13 on the UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
. The entire video was filmed against a green screen
Chroma key compositing, or chroma keying, is a visual-effects and post-production technique for compositing (layering) two images or video streams together based on colour hues ( chroma range). The technique has been used in many fields to r ...
.
Track listings
* UK CD single
# "X" (Original Mix) – 3:03
# "X" (Single Radio Edit) – 2:51
* UK DVD single
# "X" (Original Mix) (Audio) – 3:23
# "X" (Brooklyn Heights Remix) (Audio) – 5:34
# "X" (Video) – 3:03
# "Song 4 Lovers" (Video) – 3:00
# "X" (Behind the Scenes) – 2:00
Charts
Release history
References
{{Authority control
Liberty X songs
2005 songs
2006 singles
Songs written by Kevin Simm
Virgin Records singles