Angels with Dirty Faces (Sugababes song)
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"Angels with Dirty Faces" is a song by British girl group
Sugababes Sugababes are a British girl group composed of Mutya Buena, Keisha Buchanan and Siobhán Donaghy. The lineup changed three times before returning to the original lineup in 2011. Formed in 1998 by All Saints manager Ron Tom, Sugababes releas ...
from their second studio album of the same name. It was written by the Sugababes in collaboration with the
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 ...
members
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 N ...
,
Bob Bradley Robert Frank Bradley (born March 3, 1958) is an American soccer coach who is the head coach and sporting director of Toronto FC. A native of New Jersey and graduate of Princeton University, Bradley coached in the American college game and Maj ...
, Tim Powell and Matthew Del Gray. Higgins, Bradley, Powell and Gifford Noel produced the song. An
uptempo A variety of musical terms are likely to be encountered in printed scores, music reviews, and program notes. Most of the terms are Italian, in accordance with the Italian origins of many European musical conventions. Sometimes, the special mus ...
pop and R&B record with dance influences, it was released on 11 November 2002 as a double A-side with " Stronger", as the album's third single. The song received generally favourable reviews from critics, who praised its composition and highlighted it as one of the album's better tracks. Upon release as a double A-side, the song peaked at number seven 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 ...
and inside the top forty on the Australian and New Zealand charts. "Angels with Dirty Faces" was heavily promoted through Cartoon Network's animated television series ''
The Powerpuff Girls ''The Powerpuff Girls'' is an American superhero animated television series created by animator Craig McCracken and produced by Hanna-Barbera (later Cartoon Network Studios) for Cartoon Network and distributed by Warner Bros. Domestic Telev ...
''. Merchandise was created to promote the release of the theatrical film based on the series, while Cartoon Network Studios produced the song's music video, a reworking of the episode " Nano of the North" from the original series' fourth season. The Sugababes performed the song at London's Scala, and Liverpool's
Royal Court Theatre The Royal Court Theatre, at different times known as the Court Theatre, the New Chelsea Theatre, and the Belgravia Theatre, is a non-commercial West End theatre in Sloane Square, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, England ...
and King's Dock.


Development and composition

"Angels with Dirty Faces" is the
title track A title track is a song that has the same name as the album or film in which it appears. In the Korean music industry, the term is used to describe a promoted song on an album, akin to a single, regardless of the song's title. Title track may a ...
of the Sugababes' second studio album. The group began working on the album soon after the departure of original member
Siobhán Donaghy Siobhán Emma Donaghy (born 14 June 1984) is an English-Irish singer and songwriter. She is best known as a founding member of the girl group Sugababes. Donaghy left the Sugababes in 2001 and released her debut solo album, '' Revolution in Me'', ...
, who was replaced by former
Atomic Kitten Atomic Kitten is an English girl group formed in Liverpool in 1998, whose current members are Liz McClarnon, Jenny Frost and Natasha Hamilton. The group was founded by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD) members Andy McCluskey and Stuart ...
member
Heidi Range Heidi India Partakis ( Range; born 23 May 1983) is an English singer, best known as a former member of the girl group Sugababes. She was an original member of girl group Atomic Kitten, although she left the group before they released any mater ...
in September 2001. Within seven months, they composed forty tracks for the album, ten of which made the final cut. "Angels with Dirty Faces" was written by the Sugababes in collaboration with members of the British songwriting and 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 ...
, including
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 N ...
,
Bob Bradley Robert Frank Bradley (born March 3, 1958) is an American soccer coach who is the head coach and sporting director of Toronto FC. A native of New Jersey and graduate of Princeton University, Bradley coached in the American college game and Maj ...
, Tim Powell and Matthew Del Gray. Higgins, Bradley, Powell and Gifford Noel produced the song. "Angels with Dirty Faces" is an
uptempo A variety of musical terms are likely to be encountered in printed scores, music reviews, and program notes. Most of the terms are Italian, in accordance with the Italian origins of many European musical conventions. Sometimes, the special mus ...
fusion of pop and R&B. It is backed by a dance
beat Beat, beats or beating may refer to: Common uses * Patrol, or beat, a group of personnel assigned to monitor a specific area ** Beat (police), the territory that a police officer patrols ** Gay beat, an area frequented by gay men * Battery (c ...
and contains elements of hip hop. According to the digital sheet music published by
EMI Music Publishing EMI Music Publishing Ltd. is a British multinational music publishing company headquartered in London, owned by parent company Sony Corporation of America. In May 2018, Sony Music Publishing agreed to increase its stake in EMI to 90%, pending ...
, the song was composed in
common time The time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, or measure signature) is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats (pulses) are contained in each measure (bar), and which note val ...
at a
tempo In musical terminology, tempo ( Italian, 'time'; plural ''tempos'', or ''tempi'' from the Italian plural) is the speed or pace of a given piece. In classical music, tempo is typically indicated with an instruction at the start of a piece (ofte ...
of 110
beats per minute Beat, beats or beating may refer to: Common uses * Patrol, or beat, a group of personnel assigned to monitor a specific area ** Beat (police), the territory that a police officer patrols ** Gay beat, an area frequented by gay men * Battery ...
. "Angels with Dirty Faces" features a
girl power Girl power is a slogan that encourages and celebrates women's empowerment, independence, confidence and strength. The slogan's invention is credited to the US punk band Bikini Kill, who published a zine called ''Bikini Kill #2: Girl Power'' i ...
theme, and according to the Sugababes, is about being naughty. Phil Udell from ''
Hot Press ''Hot Press'' is a fortnightly music and politics magazine based in Dublin, Ireland, founded in June 1977. The magazine has been edited since its inception by Niall Stokes. History ''Hot Press'' was founded in June 1977 by Niall Stokes, who co ...
'' magazine compared the song to American girl group Destiny Child's music, specifically their 2001 single "
Bootylicious "Bootylicious" is a song recorded by American group Destiny's Child for their third studio album '' Survivor'' (2001). It was written and produced by Rob Fusari, Beyoncé and Falonte Moore. The song contains a prominent sample from Stevie Nicks' ...
".


Release and reception

"Angels with Dirty Faces" was released as the album's third single as part of a double A-side with " Stronger". The double A-side was made available as a CD single, cassette tape and
12-inch single The twelve-inch single (often written as 12-inch or 12″) is a type of vinyl ( polyvinyl chloride or PVC) gramophone record that has wider groove spacing and shorter playing time with a 'single' or a few related sound tracks on each surfac ...
on 11 November 2002. An Audio Drive remix of the song appears on the 12-inch and CD releases, the latter of which features the music video. According to Julie Macaskill of '' Daily Record'', the version which appears on the single release is "grittier" compared to the album version.


Critical response

The song received generally positive reviews from critics. ''
NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...
'' critic Barry Nicholson suggested it was the better track from the double A-side and commended its "sleek garage sexiness". He additionally praised the song as smooth and tantalising. A critic from the ''
Daily Mirror The ''Daily Mirror'' is a British national daily tabloid. Founded in 1903, it is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the title on its masthead was simply ''The Mirror''. It had an average daily print c ...
'' described "Angels with Dirty Faces", as well as the album track "Virgin Sexy", as "alive with wry palpitations". Julie Macaskill of ''Daily Record'' commended the song's pop and R&B mixture, which she noted as "proof that there is nothing sweeter than the Sugababes". Phil Udell from ''Hot Press'' admitted that although it is reminiscent of Destiny's Child's music, the song "lacks the American's sense of style". ''
The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, th ...
s Jess Harvell criticised "Angels with Dirty Faces" as "generic in the post-swingbeat sense".


Commercial performance

"Angels with Dirty Faces" appeared on singles charts as part of its double A-side release with "Stronger". In the 23 November 2002 issue of 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 single debuted and peaked at number seven, granting the band their third consecutive top ten hit from the album. It appeared in the chart for thirteen weeks, and by April 2010, sold 125,000 copies in the UK, placing it twelfth on the group's best-selling songs list. The double A-side peaked at number thirty-four on the Australian Singles Chart, where it charted for nine weeks. On the
New Zealand Singles Chart The Official New Zealand Music Chart ( mi, Te Papa Tātai Waiata Matua o Aotearoa) is the weekly New Zealand top 40 singles and albums charts, issued weekly by Recorded Music NZ (formerly Recording Industry Association of New Zealand). The Music ...
, it debuted on 23 February 2003 at number forty-three and peaked at number twenty-four sixteen weeks later. The single spent a total of eighteen weeks on the chart, and gave the Sugababes their third consecutive top forty hit in the country.


Promotion


Products

The Sugababes' record label,
Universal Island Island Records is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded in 1959 by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall, and Leslie Kong in Jamaica, and was eventually sold to PolyGram in 1989. Island and A&M Records, another ...
, heavily promoted "Angels with Dirty Faces" through Cartoon Network's animated television series ''
The Powerpuff Girls ''The Powerpuff Girls'' is an American superhero animated television series created by animator Craig McCracken and produced by Hanna-Barbera (later Cartoon Network Studios) for Cartoon Network and distributed by Warner Bros. Domestic Telev ...
'', and its 2002 film of the same name. 250,000 posters which feature the Sugababes and the Powerpuff Girls were distributed throughout cinemas, while an additional 500,000 posters were delivered to stores of the supermarket chain
Asda Asda Stores Ltd. () (often styled as ASDA) is a British supermarket chain. It is headquartered in Leeds, England. The company was founded in 1949 when the Asquith family merged their retail business with the Associated Dairies company of Yorks ...
. In total, Universal Island obtained the equivalent of an estimated £1.5 million worth of media coverage. The label's stint with the series resulted in an animated music video for the song, produced by Cartoon Network Studios. It was played before all screenings of the film during its cinema release as a support feature. The video was also included on the PlayStation 2 video game '' The Powerpuff Girls: Relish Rampage''. The Sugababes' cartoon characters from the video were featured on the desktops of custom computers that were promoted by the group.


Music video

The video channels " Nano of the North", an episode from the fourth season of ''The Powerpuff Girls'', in which each Sugababes member portrays a Powerpuff Girl. The video opens with a clip of Professor Utonium driving in his car. Meanwhile, a dark cloud hovers over Townsville and it soon begins to rain and dissolves the town. When Professor Utonium arrives home, The Powerpuff Girls are shown watching the Sugababes on television, although the clip is interrupted with a News Flash that reads "Robot Rain Terrorises Townsville". Professor Utonium manages to retrieve the Sugababes and infuses them with
Chemical X ''The Powerpuff Girls'' is an American Superhero fiction, superhero List of animated television series, animated television series created by animator Craig McCracken and produced by Hanna-Barbera (later Cartoon Network Studios) for Cartoon N ...
. He shrinks them to a microscopic size, places them in a glass jar and drives off in the car with them. He exits the car but trips over, causing the jar to drop and break. The Sugababes, playing the roles of The Powerpuff Girls, fight off the Nanobots with their superpowers. However, a gigantic Nanobot soon appears, and subsequently defeats the Sugababes through superior strength. Professor Utonium witnesses the incident and crushes the Nanobot with his foot. The rain subsequently stops and the sun appears, in which the people of the town start to celebrate. When the Sugababes were questioned about their reaction to the video and its animation, group member
Keisha Buchanan Keisha Kerreece Fayeanne Buchanan (; born 30 September 1984) is an English singer and a founding member of the girl group Sugababes alongside Mutya Buena and Siobhán Donaghy. With the Sugababes, she had six number one singles and two number ...
responded: "It was so funny seeing us like that and the Powerpuff Girls cartoon itself. The video so much resembled our personalities with these three characters so it was very funny to watch actually."


Live performances

The Sugababes performed "Angels with Dirty Faces" at the Scala in London on 11 November 2002. ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
s Betty Clarke described the group's vocals during the performance as "clean and pristine", and noted the presence of change in the group's sound and image. The band performed it at the
Royal Court Theatre, Liverpool The Royal Court Theatre is a theatre located at 1 Roe Street in Liverpool, England. The current Royal Court Theatre was opened on 17 October 1938, after fire destroyed its predecessor. It was rebuilt in Art Deco style and soon became Liverpool's ...
on 27 March 2003 as the first show of their UK tour. It was the opening song of the show, which contained a crowd of one thousand people. "Angels with Dirty Faces" was also the first song they performed during their eighty-minute set on 11 July 2003 at the
King's Dock, Port of Liverpool King's Dock was a dock on the River Mersey in England and part of the Port of Liverpool. It was situated in the southern dock system, connected to Wapping Dock to the north and Queen's Dock to the south. It consisted of two branch docks. His ...
, as part of the
Liverpool Summer Pops The Liverpool Summer Pops is a summer music event in Liverpool. Now being branded as "Liverpool Summer Pops Festival", the event features performances by bands and artists in one venue over consecutive nights, as well as some events in other 'fr ...
music festival.


Track listings and formats

*CD1 single #"Stronger" (New Single Version) #"Angels with Dirty Faces" (Audio Drive Remix) #"Stronger" (Almighty Club Mix) #"Stronger" (Video) *CD2 single #"Angels with Dirty Faces" (Album Version) #"Stronger" (Antoine909 Remix) #"Stronger" (Live Remix at
Leeds University , mottoeng = And knowledge will be increased , established = 1831 – Leeds School of Medicine1874 – Yorkshire College of Science1884 - Yorkshire College1887 – affiliated to the federal Victoria University1904 – University of Leeds , ...
, 5 October 2002) #"Angels with Dirty Faces" (Video) *Cassette tape #"Stronger" (New Single Version) #"Angels with Dirty Faces" (Album Version) #"Stronger" (Almighty Club Mix) *12-inch single #"Stronger" (Almighty Club Mix) #"Stronger" (Antoine909 Remix) #"Angels with Dirty Faces" (Audio Drive Remix)


Charts

All entries charted as part of the double A-side release with "Stronger".


Weekly charts


Year-end charts


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Angels With Dirty Faces (Song) 2002 singles Animated music videos The Powerpuff Girls mass media Song recordings produced by Xenomania Songs written by Brian Higgins (producer) Songs written by Heidi Range Songs written by Keisha Buchanan Songs written by Miranda Cooper Songs written by Mutya Buena Sugababes songs