The song that convinced Girls Aloud‘s record label push forward with their second album almost went to Liberty X.
In 2003, bosses at Polydor Records were unsure about continuing working with the girl group, which formed a year prior on ‘Popstars: The Rivals’, despite them hitting the top of the charts with debut single ‘Sound of the Underground’.
@thepopprincess Who’s excited about the Hear’say and Liberty X joint tour? 🪩✨ The thought of hearing all those bangers on one night… goosebumps! Back last year I spoke to @Kelli Young about some songs that were almost Liberty X songs but eventually went on to find homes with @Girls Aloud and Jamelia. Kind of need to hear their versions of both #throwback #y2k #interview ♬ Jump – Live – Girls Aloud
Subsequent releases ‘No Good Advice’ and ‘Life Got Cold’, from parent album ‘Sound of the Underground’, peaked at No. 2 and 3, respectively, but that wasn’t enough to convince the label to push forward with a follow-up.
That is until they landed a placement on the soundtrack to hit rom-com ‘Love Actually’ with a cover of the Pointer Sisters‘ 1984 classic ‘Jump’, which rocketed up the charts and sparked renewed interest in the five-piece.
However, in an unearthed interview clip from last year, posted by TikTok influencer Pop Princess, Liberty X star Kelli Young reveals the song was also pitched to her band.
“They had already confirmed that it was going to be on the Love Actually movie,” she says. “You know, the producers of the film came to us and were like, ‘Would you like to do this song? It’s going to be a big, you know, really big film.’
“And at the time, we just felt that we’d done enough covers. And we didn’t want to, you know, become a covers band, even though it did seem like a really good opportunity.”
It’s a decision she says bandmate Jessica Taylor later regretted, even though she believes they made the right call.
“Jessica and I went and watched Girls Aloud on their tour last summer and they actually performed Jump and Jessica turned to me and said, ‘Should we should have done this one?’” she said.
“And I was like, ‘No, babe, no, everything happens for a reason’.”
Writing in the liner notes to the 20th anniversary reissue of Girls Aloud’s debut album, Kimberley Walsh addresses the impact ‘Jump’ had on the group’s trajectory, admitting: “It was a make-or-break song for us as a band.”
“It was four on the floor so it could be played in the clubs, but it was also familiar enough to be played on the radio,” adds Nicola Roberts. “And at this point, it was probably our most digestible single.”
Next year marks 25 years since Liberty X finished as runners-up to Hear’Say on ‘Popstars’, with both groups reuniting for a huge arena tour of the UK and Ireland. Tickets are on sale now and are available here.
