Girls Aloud – the pop group of the noughties – finally score a second chart-topper, slaying the curse of the reality TV show winner…
I’ll Stand By You, by Girls Aloud (their 2nd of four #1s)
2 weeks, from 21st November – 5th December 2004
Of course, the fact that bangers like ‘The Show’, ‘Love Machine’, and ‘No Good Advice’ had all stalled at #2 in between their debut and this #1 was a travesty. It is a perfectly serviceable cover of the Pretenders’ 1994 #10 hit, recorded for the BBC’s annual ‘Children in Need’ telethon – which has already brought us number ones from S Club 7, and the all-star collective with ‘Perfect Day’ – but it is the dictionary definition of “nothing special”.
For a girl group, Girls Aloud were thankfully not very ballad-heavy. But this was proof that they could indeed handle some balladry, and that they could properly sing. That’s probably the best thing you can say about this record, though, as it goes down the bells and tinkles, over-produced route that so many songs of this ilk do. I prefer the opening verse, which is nicely stripped-back. After that it drowns in schmaltz. (Some might also call the original schmaltzy – and Chrissie Hynde certainly isn’t the song’s biggest fan, claiming that it sounded too desperate to be a hit – but it still has far more edge than this cover.)
Making this sound even worse is the knowledge that Girls Aloud’s chart-topping fortunes wouldn’t improve after this second #1 either. Further classics like ‘Biology’, ‘Something Kinda Ooh’ and ‘Long Hot Summer’ would stumble before their next chart-topper – another charity effort – over two years away…
But charity records always buck trends and do well, especially in the run-up to Christmas. For confirmation of this, just take a look at what’s up next…
The UK Number Ones Blog 
On the one hand I’m a fan of the original version, Chrissie is being too hard on her song, albeit with added assist Tom Kelly & Billy Steinberg – see Eternal Flame, Like A Virgin, Alone, True Colors, I Drove All Night. This version, yes a bit pedestrian, but nice to see Chrissie write a second number one, and totally agree about Girls Aloud and Xenomania’s run of classic pop singles, Sexy No No No, and Something Kinda Ooh being just two that topped my own charts that deserved to do the same in the UK charts. And of course Pet Shop Boys donated a hit song, as Xenomania produced an album for them too. I think their involvement says something about the quality given, y’know, Dusty, Liza, Bowie, Yoko, madonna, soft cell, Electronic, Killers, Gaga, and various other notable collabs they’ve done, not to mention the odd film soundtrack, ballet, musical….
Girls Aloud have tons of great singles, but sadly, only “The Sound of the Underground” was one of those great singles to reach the top. At least, that’s what I thought until I relistened to this song. It’s actually pretty damn good IMO. It has a bit of muscle to it, it almost sounds like a power ballad, the girls sound very good on it. It helps that the song they’re interpreting is a great song. I stand corrected, this is quite enjoyable.
I personally prefer the Sugababes and would consider them the definitive 2000s British girl group but Girls Aloud, they have some terrific singles and they probably have a more interesting and ecletic sound. And they are more interesting group in terms of their members and their personalities. It’s criminal “No Good Advice” (my favourite song of theirs), “Long Hot Summer”, “Love Machine” or “Biology” didn’t reach #1. Hell, even their cover of “Jump (For Your Love)” is pretty damn good.
YAY GIRLS ALOUD!!
But not so yay for this song…..
I’ve never liked this song in its original incarnation, which I heard a fair bit of as a kid. GA do a good job with this song, but it’s far from their best. It’s just….. there.
I will never understand why structure-bending and insanely catchy songs like No Good Advice, Sexy No No No, Long Hot Summer, Biology, or The Show never made the top, but their covers, like this one, always did.
Side note: I never were into them during their heyday but I would’ve been if I’d known who they were. Their music was never marketed or released in the US, so I didn’t get into them until much later. In fact, it wasn’t until the pandemic that I really got into their music. (And as much as I could speculate about how their music might’ve fared in the US at that time, I really don’t think it would’ve done well. The American top 40 station was playing music with a hard hip-hop/R&B edge. Girls Aloud’s kind of pop music wasn’t what was popular.)
For me, GA helped me through a dark period of my life and I’ve been a fan since then. Only wish I could’ve seen them on their reunion tour a few years ago but I was on the wrong side of the pond for that one.
Well said. All their classic non-number ones will get their moment when I do my Girls Aloud Best of the Rest post. Though we’ll have to wait until I reach late-2008 before I can…
Its fine, but nowhere near their best.