Vanilla were a British pop

girl group A girl group is a music act featuring two or more women in music, female singers who generally vocal harmony, harmonize together. The term "girl group" is also used in a narrower sense in the United States to denote the wave of American female p ...

from Barnet, London, England, formed in 1996.

History

The band members were sisters Frances and Alison Potter, Alida Swart and Sharon Selby. They released two singles for EMI in the late 1990s. The band's first single was "No Way, No Way", released in December 1997 and based on

Piero Umiliani Piero Umiliani (17 July 1926 – 14 February 2001) was an Italian composer of film scores. Biography Umiliani was born in Florence, Tuscany. Like many of his Italian colleagues at that time, he composed the scores for many exploitation fil ...

's " Mah Nà Mah Nà". The song peaked at number 14 on the UK Singles Chart and number 24 in New Zealand. It was later featured on several compilations, including ''

Now That's What I Call Music! ''Now That's What I Call Music!'' (often shortened to ''NOW'') is a series of various artists compilation albums released in the United Kingdom and Ireland by Sony Music and Universal Music ( Universal/Sony Music) which began in 1983. Spinof ...

'' volume 39 and '' Dancemania 8'', both released in 1998. The accompanying music video was filmed at Brockwell Lido in Brixton, South London. The clip won the title of "Worst Music Video Ever" on the 1997

ITV Chart Show ''The Chart Show'' (also known as ''The ITV Chart Show'' between 1989 and 1998) is a weekly syndicated music video programme, which ran in the United Kingdom from April 1986 until August 1998, with revivals in 2003 and 2008–2009. ''The Char ...

end-of-year special and was voted number 26 on Channel 4's "100 Worst Pop Records". The follow-up was "True to Us", released in April 1998, which rose to number 36 in the UK. Although mocked on Channel 4's morning programme ''

The Big Breakfast ''The Big Breakfast'' is a British breakfast light entertainment television programme that was broadcast on Channel 4 from 1992 to 2002, and as a revival from 2021 to 2022. The show had various presenters, starting with Chris Evans (presenter), ...

'', the group regularly took part in the show's "Vanilla's Thrillers" feature, including making a return for

Johnny Vaughan Jonathan Randal Vaughan (born 16 July 1966) is an English television and radio presenter and a film critic. He was the main presenter of '' Capital Breakfast'' alongside Lisa Snowdon on 95.8 Capital FM between 2004 and 2011. Vaughan currently ...

and Denise van Outen's final week hosting the show. While promoting their two singles with EMI, Vanilla made media appearances, including a performance of "No Way, No Way" on ''

Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British record chart television programme, made by the BBC and broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show. For most of its histo ...

'', and performing a spoof version of "True to Us" on ''

Blue Peter ''Blue Peter'' is a British children's television entertainment programme created by John Hunter Blair. It is the longest-running children's TV show in the world, having been broadcast since October 1958. It was broadcast primarily from BBC ...

''. They also obtained a feature on ''

Men & Motors Men & Motors was a men's lifestyle television channel in the UK. It was the last remaining station operated by the former Granada Sky Broadcasting joint venture, set up by Granada Television (now part of ITV plc) and satellite broadcaster Brit ...

''. They embarked on a tour of schools around the UK and were a minor act on the 1998

Disney Channel UK Disney Channel was a children's pay television channel that operated in the UK and Ireland from 1 October 1995 to 1 October 2020 as the variant of the namesake American television channel. It was owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company ...

tour. After their contract with EMI ended, Vanilla continued to perform. They made various appearances at London's PopShow Party events where they played a cover of

Nancy Sinatra Nancy Sandra Sinatra (born June 8, 1940) is an American singer, actress, film producer and author. She is the elder daughter of Frank Sinatra and Nancy Sinatra ( Barbato) and is known for her 1965 signature hit " These Boots Are Made for Walki ...

's "

These Boots Are Made for Walkin' "These Boots Are Made for Walkin' is a hit song written by Lee Hazlewood and recorded by American singer Nancy Sinatra. It charted on January 22, 1966, and reached No.1 in the United States ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and in the UK Singles Chart. ...

" as well as promotional single "Realise", with temporary member Ashley. In 2011, Frances appeared on the identity parade segment in Episode No. 25.8 of ''

Never Mind the Buzzcocks ''Never Mind the Buzzcocks'' is a British comedy panel game show with a pop music theme. It has aired on Sky Max since September 2021, having originally aired between November 1996 and January 2015 on BBC Two. The original series was first host ...

'', hosted by

James Blunt James Blunt (born James Hillier Blount, 22 February 1974) is an English singer, songwriter and musician. He is known for his songs "You're Beautiful" and "Goodbye My Lover". As a British Army captain in the aftermath of the Kosovo War, Blunt ...

. In 2014, Swart was interviewed for an article in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' about the pitfalls of having a hit

novelty record A novelty song is a type of song built upon some form of novel concept, such as a gimmick, a piece of humor, or a sample of popular culture. Novelty songs partially overlap with comedy songs, which are more explicitly based on humor, and w ...

. In 2021, an EP titled ''Vanilla'' containing promotional single "Realise" and two other tracks was briefly released to digital music outlets.

Discography

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vanilla British pop girl groups English girl groups English pop music groups Musical groups established in 1996 Musical groups disestablished in 1998 Musical groups from the London Borough of Barnet EMI Records artists