Let's go there tonight.
The Saturdays are planning the release of Album 3.5. They are currently the biggest girl group in the UK.
Because they are the ONLY girl group in the UK.
Now, let's go back a few years to when two girl groups - Sugababes and Girls Aloud - ruled the UK pop throne.
By the time of the fourth release, Sugababes already had three number one singles and two multi-platinum albums. Their lead single from Album 4,
Push the Button, was another number one and became one of their defining songs, joining
Overload,
Freak Like Me,
Round Round and
Hole in the Head as verifiable modern pop classics.
By the time of Girls Aloud's fourth studio release, they already had racked up two number one singles - Sound of the Underground, which started their career, and their cover of I'll Stand By You. They also had an unbroken streak of top ten hits. Album 4 would give them three more top tens, and one song -
Call the Shots - that would join SoTU, No Good Advice, Love Machine, Biology and Something Kinda Oooh as their standards.
Both groups were surprisingly respected for girl groups, and had considerable acclaim.
Now let's skip to the present. The Saturdays' latest single barely scrapped the top ten, and their upcoming single,
All Fired Up, doesn't look to do much better.
At this point, their predecessors had strongly, richly defined images and sounds that they were progressing.
By the looks of it, The Saturdays have not really progressed since their first album. They still haven't had a number one single, or a hit in any other territory, or any song that was truly beloved.
Will they ever? Or will they ride the wave they're on, never reaching the valley - but never reaching the peak?
