"Pure and Simple" is a song by British

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

group

Hear'Say Hear'Say were a British pop group. They were created through the ITV (TV network), ITV reality TV show ''Popstars (British TV series), Popstars'' in February 2001, the first UK series of the international ''Popstars'' Media franchise, franch ...

, the winners of the UK version of ''

Popstars ''Popstars'' is an international reality television franchise aimed to find new singing talent. Serving as a precursor to the ''Idol'' franchise, '' Popstars'' first began in New Zealand in 1999 when producer Jonathan Dowling formed the girl gr ...

''. It was a cover of the original version recorded three years earlier by British-Dutch girl group

Girl Thing Girl Thing were a British–Dutch girl group, consisting of members Jodi Albert, Michelle Barber, Anika Bostelaar, Linzi Martin, and Nikki Stuart. They were formed in 1998 by Simon Cowell and were originally intended to rival the Spice Girls, b ...

, who were dropped from BMG before the song was given to Hear'Say. It was written by

Pete Kirtley Peter Edward Kirtley (born 14 April 1972) is an English songwriter, record producer and music entrepreneur. He has produced over 200 records worldwide with sales exceeding 15 million and 100 million streams, including seven number-one hit si ...

Tim Hawes Tim Hawes (born 30 April 1965) is an English born songwriter, record producer and music publisher who has achieved in excess of ten million record sales including five number one singles. He is also a recipient of the prestigious Ivor Novello a ...

, and

Betty Boo Alison Moira Clarkson (born 6 March 1970), better known as Betty Boo, is a British Singing, singer, songwriter and Rapping, rapper. She first came to mainstream prominence in the late 1980s following a collaboration with the Beatmasters on th ...

(under her real name, Alison Clarkson). The song was released on 12 March 2001 as the lead single from Hear'Say's debut studio album, ''

'' (2001). The B-side is a cover of

Simon & Garfunkel Simon & Garfunkel were an American folk rock duo comprising the singer-songwriter Paul Simon and the singer Art Garfunkel. They were one of the best-selling music acts of the 1960s. Their most famous recordings include three US number-one sing ...

's "

Bridge over Troubled Water ''Bridge Over Troubled Water'' is the fifth and final studio album by American folk rock duo Simon & Garfunkel, released on January 26, 1970, by Columbia Records. Following the duo's soundtrack for ''The Graduate'', Art Garfunkel took an acting ...

". "Pure and Simple" debuted at number one on the UK Singles Chart after selling 550,000 copies in its first week, which, at the time, made it the fastest-selling debut single of all time in the United Kingdom. It spent a total of three weeks at the top and has sold over 1.08 million copies in the UK. As of 2012, it is the seventh biggest-selling debut single of the 21st century in that country. The song also topped the

New Zealand Singles Chart The Official Aotearoa Music Charts, formerly the Official New Zealand Music Chart (), 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 M ...

for five weeks and reached number three in Ireland.

Background

The song was co-written by

and

(under her real name of Alison Clarkson); however, nearly 14 years after the song was released, Linzi Martin of the girl group

made the assertion that she was responsible for the majority of the song's composition, having written the verses after Pete Kirtley (her then boyfriend) had brought the chorus of the track to her as a gift. In the 2014 series of ''

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 ...

'' other members of the band including Michelle Barber recall the band being present and contributing to the song, but none received credit as co-writers. Girl Thing then found out, after the song was written, that their manager Chris Herbert (who also managed

) had given the song to the newer band as their debut single, an act that upset Girl Thing. Band member Nikki Stuart described the incident as "digging the knife in."

Critical reception

Many critics noted that the song had a distinct resemblance to

Oasis In ecology, an oasis (; : oases ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environmentAll Around the World" and All Saints' " Never Ever".

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and Contemporary hit radio, current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including ...

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even recorded a parody version of "Pure and Simple" that included the song lyrics from these two songs. Despite this,

Noel Gallagher Noel Thomas David Gallagher (born 29 May 1967) is an English musician, singer and songwriter. Gallagher is the primary songwriter, lead guitarist and a co-lead vocalist of the rock band Oasis (band), Oasis. After leaving Oasis, he formed Noel ...

took no legal action due to his own self-confessed borrowings from other artists. The song and band were also criticised by several contemporary musical acts at the time, including

Stereophonics Stereophonics are a Welsh pop and rock music, Welsh rock band formed in 1992 in the village of Cwmaman in the Cynon Valley. The band consists of Kelly Jones (lead vocals, lead guitar, keyboards), Richard Jones (Stereophonics), Richard Jones (n ...

, David Gray, and Blur.

Commercial reception

"Pure and Simple" was released on 12 March 2001 in the United Kingdom and received a continental European release in April 2001. On 18 March 2001, "Pure and Simple" debuted at number one on the UK Singles Chart. It sold 160,000 copies during its first day on sale and 549,823 copies during its first week, becoming the fastest-selling debut single of all time in the UK, a record beaten a year later by

Will Young William Robert Young (born 20 January 1979) is an English singer, songwriter and actor. He came to prominence after winning the 2002 inaugural series of the ITV talent contest '' Pop Idol'', making him the first winner of the worldwide '' Ido ...

, the winner of the

first series First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

of ''

Pop Idol ''Pop Idol'' is a British music competition television series created by Simon Fuller which ran on ITV from 2001 to 2003. The aim of the show was to decide the best new young pop singer (or "pop idol") in the UK based on viewer voting and pa ...

'', with his debut single "

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" / " Anything Is Possible". It was also the third-fastest-selling single in UK chart history at that point, behind "

Do They Know It's Christmas? "Do They Know It's Christmas?" is a charity song written in 1984 by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to raise money for the 1983–1985 famine in Ethiopia. It was first recorded by Band Aid, a supergroup assembled by Geldof and Ure consisting of pop ...

by Band Aid and "

Candle in the Wind 1997 "Candle in the Wind 1997", also known as "Goodbye England's Rose" and "Candle in the Wind '97", is a threnody by English musician Elton John and songwriter Bernie Taupin, a re-written and re-recorded version of their 1973 song " Candle in the ...

" by

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, songwriter and pianist. His music and showmanship have had a significant, lasting impact on the music industry, and his songwriting partnership with l ...

. The song spent a total of three weeks at the top of the UK chart. "Pure and Simple" sold 1.07 million copies in 2001, making it that year's second best-selling single. It was beaten only by

Shaggy Shaggy may refer to: People *Shaggy (musician) (born 1968), Jamaican American reggae rapper and singer *Shaggy 2 Dope, half of the hip hop, horrorcore band Insane Clown Posse *Shaggy Flores (born 1973), Nuyorican poet, writer and African diaspora ...

's "

It Wasn't Me "It Wasn't Me" is the first single from Jamaican-American reggae musician Shaggy's fifth studio album, '' Hot Shot'' (2000). The song features vocals from British-Jamaican singer RikRok (credited as Ricardo "RikRok" Ducent). The lyrics of the ...

", which sold 80,000 copies more. By the time Hear'Say split up in 2002, the song had been certified double platinum for sales of over 1.2 million copies, making it one of the few singles to achieve that feat during the 2000s. It is also one of only 167 singles ever to sell 1 million copies in the UK, and has sold over 1.09 million as of November 2016. "Pure and Simple" is the seventh biggest-selling debut single of the 21st century in the UK, the second biggest seller by a mixed-gender group and the UK's 96th best-selling song of all time. The song was also a number-one hit in New Zealand, where it topped the

RIANZ Singles Chart Recorded Music NZ (formerly the Recording Industry Association of New Zealand (RIANZ)) is a non-profit trade association of record producers, distributors and recording artists who sell recorded music in New Zealand. Membership of Recorded Mus ...

for five consecutive weeks in July and August 2001, earning a gold certification for selling over 25,000 copies.

Track listings

UK CD single # "Pure and Simple" # "

" UK cassette single :A. "Pure and Simple" :B. "Bridge over Troubled Water" European maxi-CD and Australasian CD single # "Pure and Simple" – 3:47 # "Bridge over Troubled Water" – 4:44 # "Can't Stop Thinkin' About It" – 3:23 UK DVD single # "Pure and Simple" (audio only) # "Bridge over Troubled Water" (video) # "Popstars Greatest Hits" :# Popstars Auditions – The Good, the Bad & the Ugly :#

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– Hit Me Baby One More Time :# The Final Five Hear the Good News :# The Final Five Move In

Credits and personnel

Credits are lifted from the ''

'' album booklet. Studios * Recorded at

Mayfair Studios Mayfair Recording Studios was a recording studio in London, England, which was in operation from the 1960s until 2008. Background The studio, located at 64 South Molton Street in the Mayfair area of the West End of London, was originally establi ...

and The Strongroom (London, England) * Mastered at Transfermation (London, England) Personnel *

Jiant Jiant was a British record production and songwriting team, headed by Tim Hawes and Pete Kirtley, working in the genres of pop, R&B and dance. Following their formation in 1999, the team collaborated with other composers and performers, inclu ...

– production **

– writing, additional programming **

– writing, beats, programming * Alison Clarkson – writing * Hear'Say – all vocals * Milton McDonald – guitar * Ian Sedgewick – bass guitar * Keith Beauvais –

Rhodes Rhodes (; ) is the largest of the Dodecanese islands of Greece and is their historical capital; it is the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, ninth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Administratively, the island forms a separ ...

, strings * Tim "Spag" Speight – mixing, engineering * Andy Ward – assistant engineering * Ed Chadwick – assistant engineering * Richard Dowling – mastering

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

Other versions

"Pure and Simple" was covered by ''

America's Got Talent ''America's Got Talent'' (often abbreviated as ''AGT'') is an American talent show competition, and is part of the global ''Got Talent'' franchise created by Simon Cowell. The program is produced by Fremantle (as well as distributed by) and ...

'' winner

Bianca Ryan Bianca Taylor Ryan (born September 1, 1994) is an American musician, singer and songwriter from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Ryan was the first winner of NBC's ''America's Got Talent (season 1), America's Got Talent'' at the age of eleven. Singi ...

for her self-titled debut album in 2006.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pure And Simple 2000 songs 2001 debut singles Girl Thing songs Hear'Say songs Number-one singles in New Zealand Number-one singles in Scotland Polydor Records singles Songs written by Betty Boo Songs written by Pete Kirtley Songs written by Tim Hawes UK singles chart number-one singles