Mis-Teeq were a British girl group, consisting of Sabrina Washington, Su-Elise Nash and Alesha Dixon. They were active from 1999 to 2005. Mis-Teeq had two top-ten albums and seven consecutive top-ten singles on the UK Singles Chart, as well as success across Europe, Asia, Australia and the US. Their debut studio album '' Lickin' on Both Sides'' on 27 October 2001, peaked at number three on the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is the United Kingdom's industry-recognised national record chart for album, albums. Entries are ranked by sales and audio streaming. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the O ...

and was certified double platinum. The album featured the group's first five singles, all of which became UK top 10 hits, including their debut single " Why?" with McNally and " All I Want". On 29 March 2003, following a hiatus, they released their second studio album '' Eye Candy'', also a double platinum success. This album featured their biggest international hit " Scandalous", which peaked at No. 2 on the United States ''Billboard'' Dance charts. The group announced in February 2005 that they would be splitting to pursue solo careers, owing to the demise of their record label

Telstar Records Telstar Records was a British record label that operated from 1982 to 2004. Background Telstar Records was founded in 1982 by Sean O'Brien and Neil Palmer with a government loan of £120,000. It was launched as a specialist compilation marketi ...

. They released a greatest hits album on 25 April 2005 to coincide with their separation.

History

1997–2001: Formation and line-up changes

Alesha Dixon and Sabrina Washington met in 1997 at Dance Attic studios in

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies in a loop on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea, London, Chelsea ...

through Louise Porter, who was putting together a group for her production company Big Out Ltd. The two worked with Louise Porter for a couple of years before being joined by Tina Barrett to form a trio performing singing and dancing. They were named Face2Face, were unsigned, and all band members still worked day jobs. Barrett left to join S Club 7 after a successful audition for

Simon Fuller Simon Robert Fuller (born 17 May 1960) is a British entrepreneur, artist manager, and film and television producer. He is the creator of the Idols (franchise), ''Idols'' TV format, including the British series ''Pop Idol'' and the American ser ...

and was replaced by Zena McNally and Su-Elise Nash. Their then producer David Brant (writer of their first two hit singles, " Why?" and "All I Want") introduced them via DJ Darren Stokes (TinTinOut) to Inferno Records (sub pop) A&R man Pat Travers, who went on to sign them to

and changed their name to Mis-Teeq. After months of recording—including sessions with producers Norwegian duo

Stargate ''Stargate'' is a military science fiction media franchise owned by Amazon MGM Studios. It is based on Stargate (film), the film directed by Roland Emmerich, which he co-wrote with producer Dean Devlin; production company StudioCanal owns the ...

along with Brant (Vybrant Music), Ed Case,

Blacksmith A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from #Other metals, other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such ...

, Rishi Rich, and Ceri Evans—Mis-Teeq released their debut single in 2000, "Why?", a

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

-flavoured mid-tempo song co-written and produced by Brant. A garage

remix A remix, also sometimes called reorchestration or rework, is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, poem, or photograph ca ...

by Matt "Jam" Lamont soon became a success in the underground

UK garage UK garage, abbreviated as UKG, is a genre of electronic dance music which originated in England in the early to mid-1990s. The genre was most clearly inspired by garage house and jungle production methods, but also incorporates elements from ...

scene, and as a result a second

music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

for the song was filmed and released. "Why" became a hit on the UK Singles Chart with a peak position of number eight. McNally decided to leave the line-up in January 2001 saying she felt unhappy about "an unbalance in the group".

2001–2002: ''Lickin' on Both Sides'' and touring

The three remaining members went on to release their second single "All I Want" in June 2001. It was co-written and originally produced by David Brant, and produced and remixed by Ceri Evans (also known as Sunship). The song topped the success of the trio's debut single, becoming a number 2 hit in the UK and simultaneously entering the top 30 of the

Australian singles chart The ARIA Charts are the main Australian record chart, music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA beca ...

. The group finally released their debut album '' Lickin' on Both Sides'' on 27 October 2001. It was certified

Platinum Platinum is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a density, dense, malleable, ductility, ductile, highly unreactive, precious metal, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name origina ...

by the

British Phonographic Industry BPI (British Recorded Music Industry) Limited, trading as British Phonographic Industry (BPI), is the British recorded music industry's trade association. It runs the BRIT Awards; is home to the Mercury Prize; co-owns the Official Charts C ...

on 7 September 2001. Nevertheless, Mis-Teeq saw instant international success with their Stargate-produced third single "One Night Stand". While the song peaked at number 5 on the UK singles chart, it also entered the top 20 in Australia,

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

, and

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

. In 2002, the band's fourth single, "B with Me", continued the group's remarkable sales with another top 10 entry in the UK; once again entering at number 5. The last release from ''Lickin' on Both Sides'' was a double A-side of "Roll on" and the Montell Jordan cover " This Is How We Do It", latter song being featured on the soundtrack for Ali G's 2002 film '' Ali G Indahouse''. This release entered the charts at number 7 on 29 June 2002. The band supported Shaggy on his UK tour in 2002.

2003–2005: ''Eye Candy'', international breakthrough and split

Returning from a short hiatus, Mis-Teeq released their second album, '' Eye Candy'' on 29 March 2003. The album featured production by Stargate, Ed Case, Salaam Remi, singer Joe, Delroy "D-Roy" Andrews, and JD (of the group So Solid Crew) and debuted at its peak position of number 6 on the

While ''Eye Candys sales failed to link to the sudden success of ''Lickin' on Both Sides'', pre-released lead single " Scandalous" became the group's most successful single by then: It reached number 2 in the UK and top 10 in

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

, Australia, and Denmark. In June 2003, the album's second single " Can't Get It Back" became the band's seventh and final domestic top-ten single. Originally a remake of the same-titled unreleased Blaque single, Mis-Teeq and Telstar agreed not to use the album version, instead releasing the alternate "Ignorants Radio Edit" as an official single version, which entered the UK charts at number 8 on 12 July 2003. The song also was included on a Special Edition of ''Eye Candy'' which was released in December of the same year and spawned a third single with "Style". The song peaked at number 13. " Scandalous" was released in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

in May 2004 (under another label, Reprise Records) and reached number 35 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart in June, making it their only single to chart in the U.S. The song was featured as the theme of the film '' Catwoman'', starring Halle Berry, in the summer of 2004. Also in 2004, Mis-Teeq began promoting their music in the US. Following the release of their third album ''Mis-Teeq'' and the single " Scandalous" in 2004, the band's

record label "Big Three" music labels A record label or record company is a brand or trademark of Sound recording and reproduction, music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a Music publisher, ...

went bankrupt, leaving them with no direction. After the announcement of their split in February 2005, they released a compilation album, '' Greatest Hits'', containing a new track, a cover of the Andrews Sisters 1940s song "Shoo Shoo Baby" and were nominated for a 2005 Soul Train Lady of Soul Award. On 9 February 2011, it was reported that the group was in talks to reform for a comeback tour but Dixon denied this. Two years later, Dixon said that she would never rule out a reunion. In September 2014, Su-Elise stated in an interview with ''Fashion Plus Magazine'' that the group were in talks for a reunion.

Members

* Alesha Dixon (2000–2005) * Sabrina Washington (2000–2005) * Su-Elise Nash (2000–2005) * Zena McNally (2000–2001)

Discography

Studio albums

*'' Lickin' on Both Sides'' (2001) *'' Eye Candy'' (2003)

Compilation albums

*'' Mis-Teeq'' (2004) * '' Mis-Teeq: Greatest Hits'' (2005)

References

External links

Mis-Teeq MyspaceInterview with Alesha in 2006 on I Like Music
{{Authority control Musical groups established in 1999 Musical groups disestablished in 2005 English dance girl groups British contemporary R&B musical groups UK garage groups English dance music groups English hip-hop groups Black British musical groups English musical quartets English musical trios Contemporary R&B musical groups from London Telstar Records artists Warner Records artists Reprise Records artists 1999 establishments in England Women hip-hop groups British hip-hop girl groups British R&B girl groups