Red Dress (song)
Encyclopedia
"Red Dress" is a song performed by British girl group Sugababes from their fourth studio album, Taller in More Ways
Taller in More Ways
Taller in More Ways is the fourth studio album by British girl group Sugababes, released by Island Records on 10 October 2005 in the United Kingdom. It was primarily produced by Dallas Austin and Xenomania, with additional production from Cameron McVey and Guy Sigsworth...

. It was written by band members Keisha Buchanan
Keisha Buchanan
Keisha Kerreece Fayeanne Buchanan is an English singer-songwriter and was a founding member of the BRIT Award-winning girl group the Sugababes. With the Sugababes, Buchanan had six number one singles and two number one studio albums, making the Sugababes one of the most successful British pop acts...

, Mutya Buena
Mutya Buena
Rosa Isabel Mutya Buena is an English recording artist who rose to fame as a member of girl group the Sugababes. With the Sugababes, Buena had four UK number one singles, an additional six top-ten hits and three multi-platinum albums. After leaving the group in December 2005, she released her...

, Heidi Range
Heidi Range
Heidi India Range is an English singer, songwriter and member of the Sugababes. Range was an original member of girl group Atomic Kitten, although she left the group after two years of its formation with no album released...

, and Brian Higgins
Brian Higgins (producer)
Brian Thomas Higgins is a British music producer who has written and produced albums and tracks for several highly successful pop music singers and groups, most notably Girls Aloud, through his Xenomania production group...

, Miranda Cooper
Miranda Cooper
Miranda Eleanor De Fonbrune Cooper has been on the UK charts longer than any other female songwriter in the country. In 2007 Harper's Bazaar wrote of her: ‘If it's a hit you want, you'd better talk to Cooper...

, Tim Powell, Nick Coler, Shawn Lee, Lisa Cowling, and Bob Bradley
Bob bradley (composer/producer)
Bob Bradley is a British composer, producer, singer and songwriter.-Overview:Bob Bradley is an Award winning English composer, songwriter, musician and record producer. He was born in Teeside. He is the director of Organiq Music composition team based in Leeds who are responsible for the...

 of the Xenomania
Xenomania
Xenomania is a British songwriting and production team founded by Brian Higgins and based in Kent, England. Formed after Higgins met Miranda Cooper, Xenomania has written and produced for renowned artists such as Cher, Kylie Minogue, Dannii Minogue, Pet Shop Boys, and Sugababes...

 team. It is the first single to feature vocals by Amelle Berrabah
Amelle Berrabah
Amelle Berrabah is a British singer, songwriter and member of pop girl group the Sugababes. Since replacing founding member Mutya Buena in the group in December 2005, Berrabah has attained two UK number one singles, "About You Now" and "Walk This Way", as well as a number one album, Change...

. Produced by Higgins and Xenomania, the song was released on 6 March 2006 by Island Records
Island Records
Island Records is a record label that was founded by Chris Blackwell in Jamaica. It was based in the United Kingdom for many years and is now owned by Universal Music Group...

. It contains a sample of Northern Soul
Northern soul
Northern soul is a music and dance movement that emerged from the British mod scene, initially in northern England in the late 1960s. Northern soul mainly consists of a particular style of black American soul music based on the heavy beat and fast tempo of the mid-1960s Tamla Motown sound...

 track "Landslide" recorded by American singer Tony Clarke
Tony Clarke (singer)
Tony Clarke: Born Ralph Thomas Williams was an American soul singer-songwriter born circa 1944 in New York City and raised in Detroit. He wrote the songs "Pushover" and "Two Sides to Every Story", hits for Etta James. Clarke scored a chart hit of his own with "The Entertainer" which hit #10 R&B and...

. "Red Dress" has prominent dance-pop
Dance-pop
Dance-pop is dance-oriented pop music that originated in the early 1980s. Developing from post-disco, it is generally up-tempo music intended for clubs with the intention of being danceable or merely dancey...

, electropop, europop
Europop
Europop refers to a style of pop music that first developed in today's form in Europe, throughout the late 1970s. Europop topped the charts throughout the 1980s and ’90s...

, house
House music
House music is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in Chicago, Illinois, United States in the early 1980s. It was initially popularized in mid-1980s discothèques catering to the African-American, Latino American, and gay communities; first in Chicago circa 1984, then in other...

 and synthpop
Synthpop
Synthpop is a genre of popular music that first became prominent in the 1980s, in which the synthesizer is the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s and early 1970s by the use of synthesizers in progressive rock, electronic art rock, disco and particularly the "Kraut rock" of...

 characteristics in addition to influences of feminism
Feminism
Feminism is a collection of movements aimed at defining, establishing, and defending equal political, economic, and social rights and equal opportunities for women. Its concepts overlap with those of women's rights...

 and heterosexual attraction.

"Red Dress" received mainly positive reviews from contemporary music critics. It achieved a peak of number four on the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...

, becoming the group's third top ten hit in the United Kingdom from their fourth album, Taller In More Ways. It also garnered international chart success, reaching the top ten in Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...

 and The Netherlands, and the top twenty in Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

, New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

 and Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

.

The music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...

 accompanying "Red Dress" was directed by the late Tim Royes
Tim Royes
Tim Royes was a music video director and editor, producing videos for artists such as Melanie C , Emma Bunton , the Sugababes , Rachel Stevens , and Enya...

 and premiered on 10 February 2006 on TRL UK
TRL UK
TRL UK was a British version of the popular American Total Request Live which first aired in the states in 1998, however it was not brought to the UK until the last quarter of 2003....

. The video has a glamour
Glamour (presentation)
Glamour originally was a magical-occult spell cast on somebody to make them believe that something or somebody was attractive. In the late 19th century terminology a non magical item used to help create a more attractive appearance gradually became 'a glamour'...

 theme, showing the group's members walking up and down a catwalk runway
Runway
According to ICAO a runway is a "defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and take-off of aircraft." Runways may be a man-made surface or a natural surface .- Orientation and dimensions :Runways are named by a number between 01 and 36, which is generally one tenth...

 in the fashion of supermodel
Supermodel
The term supermodel refers to a highly-paid fashion model who usually has a worldwide reputation and often a background in haute couture and commercial modeling. The term became prominent in the popular culture of the 1980s. Supermodels usually work for top fashion designers and labels...

s wearing red dresses. Sugababes have performed "Red Dress" as part of their set-lists for their Taller In More Ways Tour, Overloaded: The Singles Tour
Overloaded: The Singles Tour
The Overloaded Singles Tour is a 2007 concert tour by British pop trio the Sugababes in support of their first Greatest Hits album touring the United Kingdom and Ireland...

 and Change Tour
Change Tour
The Change Tour is the fourth Sugababes concert tour. The tour began with 2 nights in Brentwood on 12 March and 13 March 2008, with the final show on 1 May 2008 in Derby. The 30-date tour is their longest yet. Harvey B-Brown, director of the Denial video, directed the tour...

.

Background

"Red Dress" was co-written by Sugababes
Sugababes
The Sugababes are an English pop girl group based in London, consisting of members Heidi Range, Amelle Berrabah and Jade Ewen. The Sugababes were formed in 1998 with founding members Siobhán Donaghy, Mutya Buena and Keisha Buchanan. Their debut album, One Touch, was released in 2000 under London...

 band members Keisha Buchanan
Keisha Buchanan
Keisha Kerreece Fayeanne Buchanan is an English singer-songwriter and was a founding member of the BRIT Award-winning girl group the Sugababes. With the Sugababes, Buchanan had six number one singles and two number one studio albums, making the Sugababes one of the most successful British pop acts...

, Mutya Buena
Mutya Buena
Rosa Isabel Mutya Buena is an English recording artist who rose to fame as a member of girl group the Sugababes. With the Sugababes, Buena had four UK number one singles, an additional six top-ten hits and three multi-platinum albums. After leaving the group in December 2005, she released her...

 and Heidi Range
Heidi Range
Heidi India Range is an English singer, songwriter and member of the Sugababes. Range was an original member of girl group Atomic Kitten, although she left the group after two years of its formation with no album released...

 in the following manner: "The three girls sit in separate corners of the studio
Studio
A studio is an artist's or worker's workroom, or the catchall term for an artist and his or her employees who work within that studio. This can be for the purpose of architecture, painting, pottery , sculpture, scrapbooking, photography, graphic design, filmmaking, animation, radio or television...

 each writing a verse or chorus
Refrain
A refrain is the line or lines that are repeated in music or in verse; the "chorus" of a song...

." The group co-wrote the song in collaboration with the Xenomania
Xenomania
Xenomania is a British songwriting and production team founded by Brian Higgins and based in Kent, England. Formed after Higgins met Miranda Cooper, Xenomania has written and produced for renowned artists such as Cher, Kylie Minogue, Dannii Minogue, Pet Shop Boys, and Sugababes...

 team that included: Brian Higgins
Brian Higgins
Brian Higgins is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 2005. He is a member of the Democratic Party. The district includes the southern two-thirds of Buffalo proper, most of that city's eastern and southern suburbs, and all of Chautauqua County.-Early life, education and career:A native of...

, Miranda Cooper
Miranda Cooper
Miranda Eleanor De Fonbrune Cooper has been on the UK charts longer than any other female songwriter in the country. In 2007 Harper's Bazaar wrote of her: ‘If it's a hit you want, you'd better talk to Cooper...

, Tim Powell, Shawn Lee, Lisa Cowling, Nick Coler and Bob Bradley
Bob bradley (composer/producer)
Bob Bradley is a British composer, producer, singer and songwriter.-Overview:Bob Bradley is an Award winning English composer, songwriter, musician and record producer. He was born in Teeside. He is the director of Organiq Music composition team based in Leeds who are responsible for the...

. "Red Dress" was one of two Sugababes-Xenomania-produced tracks chosen to feature on the group's fourth studio album Taller in More Ways
Taller in More Ways
Taller in More Ways is the fourth studio album by British girl group Sugababes, released by Island Records on 10 October 2005 in the United Kingdom. It was primarily produced by Dallas Austin and Xenomania, with additional production from Cameron McVey and Guy Sigsworth...

, the other track being "Ace Reject". Xenomania are most well known and highly acclaimed for their work with Girls Aloud
Girls Aloud
Girls Aloud are a British and Irish pop girl group based in London. They were created through the ITV1 talent show Popstars The Rivals in 2002. The group consists of Cheryl Cole , Nadine Coyle, Sarah Harding, Nicola Roberts and Kimberley Walsh. They are signed to Fascination Records, a Polydor...

 on their singles in addition to their work on previous Sugababes singles: "Round Round
Round Round
"Round Round" is a song performed by British girl group Sugababes, released on 12 August 2002 through Island Records. It was written by band members Mutya Buena, Keisha Buchanan and Heidi Range, as well as Miranda Cooper, Niara Scarlett, Brian Higgins, Tim Powell, Nick Coler, Shawn Lee, and Lisa...

," "Hole in the Head
Hole in the Head
"Hole in the Head" is a dance-pop song performed by Sugababes, released in October 2003 as the lead single from their third studio album Three...

" and "In the Middle
In the Middle
"In the Middle" is a pop song written by Miranda Cooper, Brian Higgins, Niara Scarlett, Shawn Lee, Lisa Cowling, Andre Tegler, Phil Fuldner, Michael Bellina, Keisha Buchanan, Mutya Buena, and Heidi Range for the Sugababes' third studio album Three...

." The song was mainly produced by Higgins with the assistance of his Xenomania team and Richard Edgeler. "Red Dress" was mixed by regular Sugababes mixer Jeremy Wheatley and Xenomania team member Tim Powell at the TwentyOne Studio in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. The track's vocals were recorded by Dario Dendi with the assistance of Chris Poulter and Zoe Smith at Eden Studios
Eden Studios
Eden Studios was a commercial recording facility in west London. It opened in 1967, originally at 11 Eden Street in Kingston upon Thames, before moving to 20-24 Beaumont Road in Chiswick in 1972. It was started by Philip Love, Mike Gardner and Piers Ford-Crush. Love and Gardner owned the studio and...

 in London in 2005. The song's mastering was courtesy of Chris Parmenidis. The keyboard
Keyboard instrument
A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...

 instrumentation in the track has been credited as being done by Tim Powell and Brian Higgins (also keyboard programmers), and Tim "Rolf" Larcombe and Jon Shave. The bass to "Red Dress" was developed by Bob Bradley (namely the opening track riff
RIFF
The Resource Interchange File Format is a generic file container format for storing data in tagged chunks. It is primarily used to store multimedia such as sound and video, though it may also be used to store any arbitrary data....

) and the track's guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...

ing was produced by Nick Coler and Shawn Lee.

On 17 December 2005 "Red Dress" was revealed by HMV
HMV
His Master's Voice is a trademark in the music business, and for many years was the name of a large record label. The name was coined in 1899 as the title of a painting of the dog Nipper listening to a wind-up gramophone...

 as the third single to be released from Taller in More Ways.

On 21 December 2005 it was announced that Mutya Buena had left Sugababes, according the announcement on the group's official website: "Mutya's decision was based purely on personal reasons and she will continue to remain the best of friends with Keisha and Heidi." Amelle Berrabah
Amelle Berrabah
Amelle Berrabah is a British singer, songwriter and member of pop girl group the Sugababes. Since replacing founding member Mutya Buena in the group in December 2005, Berrabah has attained two UK number one singles, "About You Now" and "Walk This Way", as well as a number one album, Change...

 then joined the band and replaced Buena's vacancy in order to continue the Sugababes brand. Because of this situation, Berrabah had to re-record Buena's vocals on "Red Dress" for its single release in addition to re-recording Buena's vocals on "Gotta Be You" and "Follow Me Home
Follow Me Home
"Follow Me Home" is a song by British girl group Sugababes from their fourth studio album, Taller in More Ways. It was written by band members Keisha Buchanan, Mutya Buena and Heidi Range in collaboration with Jonathan Lipsey, Karen Poole and Jeremy Shaw. It was produced by Jony Rockstar. The song...

" for the re-issuing of Taller in More Ways. The re-recorded version of "Red Dress" with Berrabah's vocals features on the group's first compilation album Overloaded: The Singles Collection
Overloaded: The Singles Collection
Overloaded: The Singles Collection is a compilation album by British girl group the Sugababes. It was released by Island Records on 13 November 2006 in the United Kingdom. The main version of the album was a 15-track collection of 13 Sugababes singles and two new tracks...

.

On 17 January 2006 Jo Whiley
Jo Whiley
Johanne "Jo" Whiley is a British radio disc jockey and television presenter. She was the host of the long running weekday Jo Whiley Show on Radio 1.-Early life and education:...

 premiered the re-recorded version of "Red Dress" for the first time on BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation which also broadcasts internationally, specialising in current popular music and chart hits throughout the day. Radio 1 provides alternative genres after 7:00pm including electronic dance, hip hop, rock...

. The version which features Berrabah's vocals gave the fans of the band the opportunity to hear her voice for the first time, Berrabah's vocals on the track were described by John Murphy of musicOMH
MusicOMH
musicOMH is a United Kingdom-based website which publishes independent reviews, featues and interviews from across all musical genres including classical, metal, rock and R&B.-History:...

 as being "Not all that different" to the original vocals of Buena.

The single cover art for "Red Dress" was revealed on 10 February 2006 and has been said to resemble the cover art that was present in the covers of the group's Angels with Dirty Faces era.
Like previously Xenomania-produced Sugababes singles "Round Round," "Hole in the Head" and "In the Middle" - "Red Dress" was developed to an electropop, europop
Europop
Europop refers to a style of pop music that first developed in today's form in Europe, throughout the late 1970s. Europop topped the charts throughout the 1980s and ’90s...

 and synthpop
Synthpop
Synthpop is a genre of popular music that first became prominent in the 1980s, in which the synthesizer is the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s and early 1970s by the use of synthesizers in progressive rock, electronic art rock, disco and particularly the "Kraut rock" of...

 up-beat groove, being composed to a tempo
Tempo
In musical terminology, tempo is the speed or pace of a given piece. Tempo is a crucial element of any musical composition, as it can affect the mood and difficulty of a piece.-Measuring tempo:...

 of 120 beats per minute and in a key of E/Em.
"Red Dress" is constructed in the following manner: Intro - 1 verse - bridge - chorus - 1.5 verse - bridge - chorus - chorus - outro. Amelle Berrabah sings the song's intro, two bridges, chorus melody and outro. Keisha Buchanan sings the first verse, chorus harmony, a third of the second verse and the ad-libs before the outro. Heidi Range sings two thirds of the second verse and in the call-response outro with Amelle Berrabah.

Lyrically, "Red Dress" is influenced by feminism
Feminism
Feminism is a collection of movements aimed at defining, establishing, and defending equal political, economic, and social rights and equal opportunities for women. Its concepts overlap with those of women's rights...

 and deals with issues of self-confidence and attraction. The song's lyrics mainly refer to how a woman does not want to wear attractive clothing or engage in seductive dancing to attract a man because she has done that in the past, and in the past it attracted the type of men she did not want. In contrast, the lyrics aim to portray that a woman should be herself, be confident in who she is and if a man does not want her for who she is then she is better off without him.

The song makes use of a rejiggered horn section sampled by a '60s Northern soul
Northern soul
Northern soul is a music and dance movement that emerged from the British mod scene, initially in northern England in the late 1960s. Northern soul mainly consists of a particular style of black American soul music based on the heavy beat and fast tempo of the mid-1960s Tamla Motown sound...

 cut from the song "Landslide" recorded by American singer Tony Clarke
Tony Clarke (singer)
Tony Clarke: Born Ralph Thomas Williams was an American soul singer-songwriter born circa 1944 in New York City and raised in Detroit. He wrote the songs "Pushover" and "Two Sides to Every Story", hits for Etta James. Clarke scored a chart hit of his own with "The Entertainer" which hit #10 R&B and...

.

Critical reception

"Red Dress" received critical acclaim from contemporary music critics alike in addition to garnering comparisons for Sugababes
Sugababes
The Sugababes are an English pop girl group based in London, consisting of members Heidi Range, Amelle Berrabah and Jade Ewen. The Sugababes were formed in 1998 with founding members Siobhán Donaghy, Mutya Buena and Keisha Buchanan. Their debut album, One Touch, was released in 2000 under London...

 in similarity to the singles released by rival British girlband Girls Aloud
Girls Aloud
Girls Aloud are a British and Irish pop girl group based in London. They were created through the ITV1 talent show Popstars The Rivals in 2002. The group consists of Cheryl Cole , Nadine Coyle, Sarah Harding, Nicola Roberts and Kimberley Walsh. They are signed to Fascination Records, a Polydor...

.

Stuart McCaighy of This Is Fake DIY
This Is Fake DIY
This Is Fake DIY is a United Kingdom-based music webzine dedicated to alternative music. It is named after a song by the Scottish alternative rock group Bis....

 said: "Red Dress is top of the range pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...

 [...], demonstrating that Xenomania
Xenomania
Xenomania is a British songwriting and production team founded by Brian Higgins and based in Kent, England. Formed after Higgins met Miranda Cooper, Xenomania has written and produced for renowned artists such as Cher, Kylie Minogue, Dannii Minogue, Pet Shop Boys, and Sugababes...

 don't keep all their best songs for Girls Aloud."
Peter Robinson of The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...

 highlighted the song as a stand-out track on the group's fourth studio album Taller in More Ways
Taller in More Ways
Taller in More Ways is the fourth studio album by British girl group Sugababes, released by Island Records on 10 October 2005 in the United Kingdom. It was primarily produced by Dallas Austin and Xenomania, with additional production from Cameron McVey and Guy Sigsworth...

and further mentioning: "Red Dress is a thumping tour de force from Xenomania, the hitmakers behind signature Sugababes hits 'Round Round
Round Round
"Round Round" is a song performed by British girl group Sugababes, released on 12 August 2002 through Island Records. It was written by band members Mutya Buena, Keisha Buchanan and Heidi Range, as well as Miranda Cooper, Niara Scarlett, Brian Higgins, Tim Powell, Nick Coler, Shawn Lee, and Lisa...

' and 'Hole in the Head
Hole in the Head
"Hole in the Head" is a dance-pop song performed by Sugababes, released in October 2003 as the lead single from their third studio album Three...

'. Not unexpectedly, it flirts vivaciously with pop songwriting convention, boasting not one but two killer choruses
Refrain
A refrain is the line or lines that are repeated in music or in verse; the "chorus" of a song...

."
John Murphy of musicOMH
MusicOMH
musicOMH is a United Kingdom-based website which publishes independent reviews, featues and interviews from across all musical genres including classical, metal, rock and R&B.-History:...

 reviewed the single as follows: "Red Dress is fresh, sassy and catchy as hell, with new girl Amelle Berrabah
Amelle Berrabah
Amelle Berrabah is a British singer, songwriter and member of pop girl group the Sugababes. Since replacing founding member Mutya Buena in the group in December 2005, Berrabah has attained two UK number one singles, "About You Now" and "Walk This Way", as well as a number one album, Change...

's vocals sounding, well, not all that different to the departed Mutya
Mutya Buena
Rosa Isabel Mutya Buena is an English recording artist who rose to fame as a member of girl group the Sugababes. With the Sugababes, Buena had four UK number one singles, an additional six top-ten hits and three multi-platinum albums. After leaving the group in December 2005, she released her...

's to be honest. There's also thankfully no 'message' behind the song unlike the rather contrived 'why can't we all just get along' lyrics of the girls' last single Ugly
Ugly (Sugababes song)
"Ugly" is a pop song by British girl group Sugababes. It was written and produced by Dallas Austin for the group's fourth studio album, Taller In More Ways. It is the last single to feature founding member Mutya Buena...

. It also sounds a bit similar to Girls Aloud, which is no doubt due to the presence of the Xenomania team on production and writing credits. Another great single."
Ross Hoffman of Allmusic reviewed as follows: "[...] the monstrously funk
Funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in the mid-late 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground...

y "Red Dress," a Xenomania track reminiscent of their frisky Girls Aloud productions, that makes excellent use of a rejiggered horn section sampled from a '60s Northern soul
Northern soul
Northern soul is a music and dance movement that emerged from the British mod scene, initially in northern England in the late 1960s. Northern soul mainly consists of a particular style of black American soul music based on the heavy beat and fast tempo of the mid-1960s Tamla Motown sound...

 cut." "Red Dress" also got a thumbs-up from Virgin Media
Virgin Media
Virgin Media Inc. is a company which provides fixed and mobile telephone, television and broadband internet services to businesses and consumers in the United Kingdom...

: "Red Dress is an irresistibly funky effort from the amorphous trio and their producers - good enough, in fact, to erase all memory of its disappointing predecessor, Ugly. On first impression it sound rather like they've swiped a large leaf from Girls Aloud's book [...] - shedloads of quirky sassiness mixed with an infectous fuzzy bassline
Bassline
A bassline is the term used in many styles of popular music, such as jazz, blues, funk, dub and electronic music for the low-pitched instrumental part or line played by a rhythm section instrument such as the electric bass, double bass, tuba or keyboard...

, borrowed from Tony Clarke's Northern soul classic, Landslide." Liz McGrath of Electronicbeats.net said that the song is the group's "token house
House music
House music is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in Chicago, Illinois, United States in the early 1980s. It was initially popularized in mid-1980s discothèques catering to the African-American, Latino American, and gay communities; first in Chicago circa 1984, then in other...

y song" from Taller in More Ways. Nick Southall of Stylus Magazine
Stylus Magazine
Stylus Magazine was an online music and film magazine launched in 2002. It featured long-form music journalism, four daily music reviews, movie reviews, a number of different podcasts, an MP3 blog, and a text blog....

 referred to the track as being an "up-tempo
Tempo
In musical terminology, tempo is the speed or pace of a given piece. Tempo is a crucial element of any musical composition, as it can affect the mood and difficulty of a piece.-Measuring tempo:...

 floor filler [...] with maximalist stomp." BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

 used the adjective
Adjective
In grammar, an adjective is a 'describing' word; the main syntactic role of which is to qualify a noun or noun phrase, giving more information about the object signified....

 "foot tapping" in its take on "Red Dress". Sputnikmusic
Sputnikmusic
Sputnikmusic, or simply Sputnik, is a music website offering music criticism and music news alongside features commonly associated with wiki-style websites...

 positively reviewed the track: "Red Dress is one of the stand out tracks on Taller in More Ways is a superb dance
Dance music
Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement...

/pop song where they [Sugababes] claim they are "cooler than the red dress". Even with just one chorus it would be a good song, but Red Dress has two, one following the other to make it super catchy." Dooyoo.co.uk said that the song is: "Quite similar to Joy Division, a very pop feel to it, sounds slightly Girls Aloud". IndieLondon.co.uk's review: "[...] the effortlessly catchy Red Dress [..] evokes memories of the easy-going style of [Sugababes] past hits Round Round and Hole In The Head." MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....

 gave "Red Dress" a four-star rating, mentioning: "Red Dress is undoubtedly one of the better songs in the album [Taller in More Ways]. Its dancefloor destroying beats and two catchy choruses showcase the true Sugababes brilliance that we've known from their previous #1's, Round Round and Hole In The Head to name a few."
Digital Spy
Digital Spy
Digital Spy is a British entertainment and media news website. According to Alexa Internet traffic statistics, as of February 2011, Digital Spy is the 93rd most popular website in the United Kingdom, with an overall Alexa ranking of 2,088....

 said that "Red Dress" is among the group's most danceable of songs. HMV
HMV
His Master's Voice is a trademark in the music business, and for many years was the name of a large record label. The name was coined in 1899 as the title of a painting of the dog Nipper listening to a wind-up gramophone...

 reviewed the song as follows: "Impossibly catchy [...] with a thrillingly infectious pop chorus that will burrow into your brain and take up residency for the rest of the year."

Chart performance

"Red Dress" was a chart hit both in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 and internationally. It is the group's most successful third single to-date in terms of its chart peak of number four in the United Kingdom, but is yet to surpass the sales of "Stronger"/"Angels with Dirty Faces
Angels with Dirty Faces (song)
This article relates to the Sugababes song "Angels With Dirty Faces." For the Sham 69 song of the same name see Sham 69.For other uses, see Angels with Dirty Faces ....

", the third single from the group's second studio album Angels with Dirty Faces.

On 18 March 2006 "Red Dress" debuted at number four on the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...

, and in addition it was also the highest new entry of the week on the chart. In its second week, for the chart issue date of 25 March, it dropped three places to number seven and then a further three places to number ten in its third week in the UK top ten. It then continued to steadily drop down the chart, falling six places to number sixteen in its fourth week and then a further six places to number twenty-two in its fifth week on the chart. On 22 April the single fell a mere three places to number twenty-five in its sixth week on the chart before freefalling to number thirty-seven and then to number fifty-three in its seventh and eighth weeks in the chart. The single was at number fifty-five and then number sixty-seven in its ninth and tenth weeks on the chart before exiting the chart on 27 May 2006. At the time it became the band's sixth highest charting success in the UK, behind Sugababes number-one singles "Freak Like Me
Freak Like Me
"Freak like Me" is the first single from Adina Howard's 1995 R&B debut album Do You Wanna Ride?. Like Howard's image, the song can be best described as hypersexual. It reached #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was certified platinum by the RIAA....

," "Round Round
Round Round
"Round Round" is a song performed by British girl group Sugababes, released on 12 August 2002 through Island Records. It was written by band members Mutya Buena, Keisha Buchanan and Heidi Range, as well as Miranda Cooper, Niara Scarlett, Brian Higgins, Tim Powell, Nick Coler, Shawn Lee, and Lisa...

," "Hole in the Head
Hole in the Head
"Hole in the Head" is a dance-pop song performed by Sugababes, released in October 2003 as the lead single from their third studio album Three...

" and "Push the Button", and previous single "Ugly
Ugly (Sugababes song)
"Ugly" is a pop song by British girl group Sugababes. It was written and produced by Dallas Austin for the group's fourth studio album, Taller In More Ways. It is the last single to feature founding member Mutya Buena...

" which peaked at one position higher than it at number three. This, in turn meant that Taller in More Ways
Taller in More Ways
Taller in More Ways is the fourth studio album by British girl group Sugababes, released by Island Records on 10 October 2005 in the United Kingdom. It was primarily produced by Dallas Austin and Xenomania, with additional production from Cameron McVey and Guy Sigsworth...

"
became the first Sugababes album to yield three top five hit singles. In addition to the above mentioned singles, "Red Dress" failed to outsell the following Sugababes singles which peaked lower in the charts than it: "Overload," "Stronger"/"Angels with Dirty Faces" and "Too Lost in You
Too Lost in You
"Too Lost in You" is a pop/R&B song covered by British girl group Sugababes from their third studio album Three . The song was released on 15 December, 2003 as the album's second single. It was written by Diane Warren and co-produced by Andy Bradfield and Rob Dougan...

". As of 29 June 2009 "Red Dress" had sold a total of 98,428 copies in the United Kingdom alone.

"Red Dress" missed out on becoming the band's seventh top ten hit in Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

 due to greater popularity in other chart debuts of that week: George Murphy
George Murphy
George Lloyd Murphy was an American dancer, actor, and politician.-Life and career:He was born in New Haven, Connecticut of Irish Catholic extraction, the son of Michael Charles "Mike" Murphy, athletic trainer and coach, and Nora Long. He was educated at Peddie School, Trinity-Pawling School, and...

's "Something Outta Nothing" which debuted at number seven and Bow Wow's "Like You
Like You
"Like You" is a 2005 hit song duetted by rapper Bow Wow and singer Ciara. It was written by Jermaine Dupri, Jaron Alston, and Johnta Austin, and produced by Dupri and Bryan Michael Cox for Bow Wow's fourth album entitled Wanted. The song includes the keyboard chord of New Edition's "I'm Leaving You...

" which debuted at number nine - "Red Dress" debuted at number twelve on 9 March 2006 as the third highest new entry of the week. It went on to spend eight weeks within this chart and become Sugababes's eleventh Irish top twenty hit. On 18 March 2006 the single debuted at number seventeen on the Dutch Top 40
Dutch Top 40
The Dutch Top 40 is a weekly music chart, which started as the "Veronica Top 40", because the offshore radio station Radio Veronica was the first to introduce it. It remained "The Veronica Top 40" until 1974, when the station was forced to stop broadcasting...

 before climbing seven places to reach a peak of number ten in its second week on this chart. It spent a total of thirteen weeks in the chart and became Sugababes' seventh top ten hit in Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

 and second top ten chart placing for "Red Dress". "Red Dress" debuted at number thirty-seven on the Mahasz
Mahasz
Mahasz is the Hungarian music industry association, founded in 1992. Mahasz hands out the Hungarian Music Awards and maintains the music charts for Hungary....

 Singles Chart on 27 March 2006. It went on to peak at number ten for two consecutive weeks and spend a total of fourteen weeks on the chart. This became the single's third top ten chart placing after "Red Dress" also reached the top ten in the United Kingdom and Netherlands. It became Sugababes' fifth top ten and fifth most successful hit in Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...

 behind "Hole in the Head," "In the Middle
In the Middle
"In the Middle" is a pop song written by Miranda Cooper, Brian Higgins, Niara Scarlett, Shawn Lee, Lisa Cowling, Andre Tegler, Phil Fuldner, Michael Bellina, Keisha Buchanan, Mutya Buena, and Heidi Range for the Sugababes' third studio album Three...

," "Push the Button" and "Ugly". On the Ultratop
Ultratop
Ultratop is an organization which generates and publishes the official record charts in Belgium, and it is also the name of most of those charts...

 Flanders Chart in Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

, "Red Dress" debuted and peaked at number thirty-five on 22 April 2006. It spent four weeks on the chart and became Sugababes' tenth top forty hit in Belgium. In Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

, the single debuted and peaked at number twenty-two on 14 May 2006. In turn becoming the band's fourth most successful single in Australia behind "Push the Button," "Round Round" and "Ugly". It went on to spend a total of twelve weeks on the chart, and became Sugababes' tenth and last top forty hit in this country. On 21 May 2006 "Red Dress" debuted and peaked at number thirty-one on the Swiss Singles Chart, spending twelve weeks on the chart and becoming the trio's twelfth top forty hit in Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

. "Red Dress" debuted and peaked at number seventeen in week eighteen of 2006 on the Norwegian Singles Chart, becoming the twelfth top twenty hit for the 'Babes in Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

. The single debuted and peaked at number sixteen on the RIANZ New Zealand Singles Chart, spending seven weeks on the chart and becoming the band's sixth top twenty hit in New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

.

"Red Dress" also garnered chart success for Sugababes in Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

, Czech Republic
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....

, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 and on the European Hot 100 Singles Chart.

Music video

On 17 December 2005 MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....

 revealed the following details regarding the music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...

 for "Red Dress":
The video for Red Dress will be shot in black and white with only the color 'red' visible. The story features two alternate versions of the girls: one group will show them as prostitutes working in a bar (all three wearing red dresses), and one group will show them as clean, goody-goody girls. It will be film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...

ed in Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...

 on February.

In an interview prior to the video, Amelle announced: "We're re-shooting the video with director Tim Royes. We're really looking forward to it as there are going to be lots of costume changes. Its going to have a catwalk show theme with lots of mad outfits, very over the top and extravagant, we can't wait!"
The video premiered on TRL UK
TRL UK
TRL UK was a British version of the popular American Total Request Live which first aired in the states in 1998, however it was not brought to the UK until the last quarter of 2003....

 on 10 February 2006. The video was directed by the late Tim Royes
Tim Royes
Tim Royes was a music video director and editor, producing videos for artists such as Melanie C , Emma Bunton , the Sugababes , Rachel Stevens , and Enya...

, well known for his work with Holly Valance
Holly Valance
Holly Valance is an Australian actress, singer, and model, who has dual United Kingdom citizenship. Valance began her career as Felicity "Flick" Scully on the Australian soap opera Neighbours...

, Rachel Stevens
Rachel Stevens
Rachel Lauren Stevens is an English singer-songwriter, actress, presenter, dancer, television personality and model. She is a former member of the successful pop group S Club, and launched a solo recording career in 2003, releasing seven singles and two albums in the UK between 2003 and 2005...

 and Emma Bunton
Emma Bunton
Emma Lee Bunton is an English pop singer/songwriter and TV and radio presenter. She was a member of the 1990s girl group, the Spice Girls, in which she was known as Baby Spice as she was the youngest member. In 2010, she joined the judging panel on ITV's Dancing on Ice...

 among others, as well as for later directing the music video for Sugababes 2006 single "Easy
Easy (Sugababes song)
"Easy" is a song by British girlband Sugababes from their first compilation album, Overloaded: The Singles Collection. It was written by band members Keisha Buchanan, Amelle Berrabah and Heidi Range, and Jason Pebworth and George Astasio from the band Orson. It was produced by Brio Taliaferro,...

". Royes later passed away on 13 August 2007 after being struck dead in a car accident in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

, Sugababes later dedicated the music video for their single "About You Now
About You Now
"About You Now" is a 2007 single by English girl group Sugababes, written by Cathy Dennis and producer Dr. Luke for the group's fifth studio album, Change...

" to Royes. As part of their endorsement with Pretty Polly
Pretty Polly (hosiery)
Pretty Polly is a British brand of women's tights based in Daybrook, Nottinghamshire.-History:The company began in 1919 when Harry Hibbert and Oswald Buckland built a factory in Sutton-in-Ashfield, near Mansfield in Nottinghamshire...

, Sugababes wore endorsed hosiery in scenes in the video. As The main theme of the video is glamour, with flashing lights, reflective surfaces, and classy surroundings heavily effected by stage lighting instruments mostly in the colors of pink, red, blue and black in addition to the circular orange spotlights that continuously focuses on Heidi Range
Heidi Range
Heidi India Range is an English singer, songwriter and member of the Sugababes. Range was an original member of girl group Atomic Kitten, although she left the group after two years of its formation with no album released...

, in a strapless red dress and black outfit throughout the video. The video begins with Amelle Berrabah
Amelle Berrabah
Amelle Berrabah is a British singer, songwriter and member of pop girl group the Sugababes. Since replacing founding member Mutya Buena in the group in December 2005, Berrabah has attained two UK number one singles, "About You Now" and "Walk This Way", as well as a number one album, Change...

 modelling up and down the catwalk runway wearing a red polar-necked dress that is cleaveged on her upper back and held together by a black material belt
Belt (clothing)
A belt is a flexible band or strap, typically made of leather or heavy cloth, and worn around the waist. A belt supports trousers or other articles of clothing.-History:...

 around her waist. Her hair is short and covered in a black-netted veil
Veil
A veil is an article of clothing, worn almost exclusively by women, that is intended to cover some part of the head or face.One view is that as a religious item, it is intended to show honor to an object or space...

. In the next scene, Keisha Buchanan
Keisha Buchanan
Keisha Kerreece Fayeanne Buchanan is an English singer-songwriter and was a founding member of the BRIT Award-winning girl group the Sugababes. With the Sugababes, Buchanan had six number one singles and two number one studio albums, making the Sugababes one of the most successful British pop acts...

 is hiding behind massive feather fans overshadowed in sharp light blue lighting. The main scene involves all three girls engaging in synchronised attitude-marching. Keisha is wearing a traditional red dress, with her hair tied back in a ball and her nails polished in black - she models with her one hand on her hip. In another separate scene, Keisha is dancing like a stripper in an enclosed room, wearing a polar-neck top striped in the colors beige and red. Her hair is loose in this scene and large circular ear-rings are also visible in this scene and throughout the video she is against a wall dancing to the camera. Amelle, in another scene is singing whilst lying on a black chaise longue in a black outfit with her hair long and loose. Heidi is seen is sitting and swinging on a massive suspended steel hoop, and dotted throughout the video sitting on a red floor playing with a large disco ball
Disco ball
A disco ball is a roughly spherical object that reflects light directed at it in many directions, producing a complex display...

 under her high heel, and later leaning on it seductively with her elbow. She is wearing large stick-like earrings, a black outfit, loose hair and a black strap-like accessory around her wrists.
There are several closeups of the girls' faces, and main group shots of them all in a room with pink colored shag carpets and cushions all around them with a light purple curtain as a backdrop, laughing, smiling and conversing with one another. In this scene, Keisha is wearing a pink sleeveless top with matching knee-height socks and baby blue beach shorts. Amelle is wearing a white sleeveless top with pink beach shorts and matching pink knee-height socks. Heidi is wearing a baby blue sleeveless top with matching knee-height socks and black beach shorts. All the girls' hair is loose in this scene as they roll around and pose on the carpet.
The video runs and switches between scenes at a very fast pace, namely between the shagged carpet, runway and solo scenes to contribute to its glamour/dance floor vibe and theme.
The video itself garnered comparisons to the music videos of En Vogue
En Vogue
En Vogue is an American female R&B vocal group from Oakland, California assembled by music producers Denzil Foster and Thomas McElroy.The group has won more MTV Video Music Awards than any other female group in MTV history, a total of seven, along with four Soul Train Awards, six American Music...

's "Free Your Mind
Free Your Mind
"Free Your Mind" is the name of a Grammy Award-nominated hit single released by the American all-female R&B group En Vogue. Released on September 24, 1992 "Free Your Mind" is the third single released from En Vogue's critically acclaimed album Funky Divas...

" and Sophie Ellis-Bextor
Sophie Ellis-Bextor
Sophie Michelle Ellis-Bextor is an English singer, songwriter, model and occasional DJ. She first came to prominence in the late 1990s, as the lead singer of the indie rock band Theaudience. After the group disbanded, Ellis-Bextor went solo, achieving widespread success in the early 2000s...

's "Get Over You".

B-sides

According to an announcement MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....

 made in December 2005, the CD single
CD single
A CD single is a music single in the form of a standard size Compact Disc, not to be confused with the 3-inch CD single, which uses a smaller form factor. The format was introduced in the mid-1980s, but did not gain its place in the market until the early 1990s...

 of "Red Dress" was to be accompanied by two brand-new b-sides
B-Sides
B-Sides is an iTunes-exclusive album from the Coventry Trio The Enemy, consisting of ten songs that were B-sides to the single releases from their debut album We'll Live and Die in These Towns.-Track list:#Fear Killed the Youth of Our Nation...

 entitled "Lustful Dancefloor" and "Heatwave" - both of which were Xenomania
Xenomania
Xenomania is a British songwriting and production team founded by Brian Higgins and based in Kent, England. Formed after Higgins met Miranda Cooper, Xenomania has written and produced for renowned artists such as Cher, Kylie Minogue, Dannii Minogue, Pet Shop Boys, and Sugababes...

-produced. This plan was later aborted. Instead, the b-sides to the single were: "I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor
I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor
-Charts:-External links:* Mapped on Platial....

" originally done by British rock band Arctic Monkeys
Arctic Monkeys
Arctic Monkeys are an English indie rock band. Formed in 2002 in High Green, a suburb of Sheffield, the band currently consists of Alex Turner , Jamie Cook , Nick O'Malley and Matt Helders...

 and "Obsession
Obsession (song)
"Obsession" is a 1983 song covered in 1984 by the Synthpop-New Wave group Animotion. The song hit number six in the United States, and number five in the United Kingdom in early 1985, helped by a distinctive video that received heavy rotation on MTV....

" an album track from the group's album Taller in More Ways
Taller in More Ways
Taller in More Ways is the fourth studio album by British girl group Sugababes, released by Island Records on 10 October 2005 in the United Kingdom. It was primarily produced by Dallas Austin and Xenomania, with additional production from Cameron McVey and Guy Sigsworth...

originally recorded by Animotion
Animotion
Animotion is a 1980s U.S. New Wave/synthpop band from Los Angeles, California best known for their songs "Obsession" , "Let Him Go", "I Engineer" and "Room to Move"...

.

"I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor"

In January 2006 the group announced they were going to cover Arctic Monkeys
Arctic Monkeys
Arctic Monkeys are an English indie rock band. Formed in 2002 in High Green, a suburb of Sheffield, the band currently consists of Alex Turner , Jamie Cook , Nick O'Malley and Matt Helders...

' number-one hit "I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor
I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor
-Charts:-External links:* Mapped on Platial....

" as a b-side to "Red Dress". This was to be the first Sugababes song with Amelle Berrabah
Amelle Berrabah
Amelle Berrabah is a British singer, songwriter and member of pop girl group the Sugababes. Since replacing founding member Mutya Buena in the group in December 2005, Berrabah has attained two UK number one singles, "About You Now" and "Walk This Way", as well as a number one album, Change...

 on vocals that were not originally recorded by Mutya Buena
Mutya Buena
Rosa Isabel Mutya Buena is an English recording artist who rose to fame as a member of girl group the Sugababes. With the Sugababes, Buena had four UK number one singles, an additional six top-ten hits and three multi-platinum albums. After leaving the group in December 2005, she released her...

. The girl group unanimously decided to recreate the rock band's song, saying: "We loved it even though it knocked us off number one! ("Push the Button" in October 2005) When our bosses asked us to think of covers for the b-side, we knew which song we would all love to do." A thirty-second preview audio clip of the song leaked on 15 February 2006 with the full version leaking two days later on 17 February. Sugababes performed a live cover version of "I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor" on Top of the Pops
Top of the Pops
Top of the Pops, also known as TOTP, is a British music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly from 1 January 1964 to 30 July 2006. After 25 December 2006 it became a radio program, now hosted by Tony Blackburn...

 which later aired on Sunday, 14 May 2006. Q
Q (magazine)
Q is a popular music magazine published monthly in the United Kingdom.Founders Mark Ellen and David Hepworth were dismayed by the music press of the time, which they felt was ignoring a generation of older music buyers who were buying CDs — then still a new technology...

 named the b-side within the top twenty best cover versions for the last twenty years (1986–2006) where it features as the second track on Q's Best Of compilation album for this particular recognition list. Jimmy Draper of Time Out said: "Sugababes transform the punky rave-up
Rave music
Rave music may either refer the late 1980s genre or any genre of electronic dance music that may be played at an electronic dance party such as a rave. Very rarely, the term is used to refer to less electronic related genres glam, powerpop, psychedelic rock and dub music parties...

 into a disco
Disco
Disco is a genre of dance music. Disco acts charted high during the mid-1970s, and the genre's popularity peaked during the late 1970s. It had its roots in clubs that catered to African American, gay, psychedelic, and other communities in New York City and Philadelphia during the late 1960s and...

 stomper that [...] could make even the staunchiest pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...

-hater get up and dance."
The song was produced by Dennis Christopher, the primary remixer for the single release of "Red Dress". The group's cover version, in addition, went under the alias
Pseudonym
A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...

 of 'Arctic Babes Mix'.

Formats and track listings

  • CD1 Single
    (CID922,987753-3, Released: 6 March 2006)
  1. "Red Dress" - 3:37
  2. "I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor
    I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor
    -Charts:-External links:* Mapped on Platial....

    " (Arctic Babes Mix) - 2:47

  • CD2 Maxi-Single
    (CIDX922,987753-4, Released: 6 March 2006)
  1. "Red Dress" - 3:37
  2. "Red Dress" (Caged Baby Remix) - 5:07
  3. "Red Dress" (Dennis Christopher Vocal Mix) - 7:18
  4. "Red Dress" (Music Video) - 3:37

  • Promo 12" Single
    (12SUGA14, Released: 6 March 2006)
  1. "Red Dress" (Dennis Christopher More Energy Dub) - 7:18
  2. "Red Dress" (Caged Baby Remix) - 5:07
  3. "Red Dress" (Dennis Christopher Vocal Mix) - 7:18
  4. "Obsession
    Obsession (song)
    "Obsession" is a 1983 song covered in 1984 by the Synthpop-New Wave group Animotion. The song hit number six in the United States, and number five in the United Kingdom in early 1985, helped by a distinctive video that received heavy rotation on MTV....

    " (D-Bop Vocal) - 7:07

  • iTunes Exclusive Single
  1. "Red Dress" (Extended Mix) - 4:12

  • UK / Europe 12" Single
    (12IS922,9877535, Released: 2006)
  1. "Red Dress" (Caged Baby Remix) - 5:07
  2. "Red Dress" (Dennis Christopher More Energy Dub) - 7:18
  3. "Obsession" (D-Bop Dub) - 7:07

  • Germany CD Maxi-Single
    (985336-7, Released: 21 April 2006)
  1. "Red Dress" - 3:37
  2. "Red Dress" (Caged Baby Remix) - 5:07
  3. "Red Dress" (Dennis Christopher Vocal Mix) - 7:18

  • Australia CD Maxi-Single
    (980074-1, Released: 2006)
  1. "Red Dress" - 3:37
  2. "I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor" (Arctic Babes Mix) - 2:47
  3. "Red Dress" (Dennis Christopher Vocal Mix) - 7:18
  4. "Red Dress" (Caged Baby Remix) - 5:07
  5. "Red Dress" (Music Video) - 3:37


Promotion and live performances

"Red Dress" was substantially backed by airplay
Airplay
* Airplay is the amount of time a song is played on the radio.It may also refer to:* AirPlay, an audio & video streaming technology from Apple Inc.* Airplay , Foster & Graydon music project from 1980* Citroën C1, Citroën C1 Airplay...

 promotion, it became Sugababes' tenth airplay top five hit in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 after peaking at number four on the UK Airplay Chart. In addition, the single became the group's ninth song to be A-listed on BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation which also broadcasts internationally, specialising in current popular music and chart hits throughout the day. Radio 1 provides alternative genres after 7:00pm including electronic dance, hip hop, rock...

.

Charts

>
Chart (2006) Peak
position
Australia (ARIA
Australian Recording Industry Association
The Australian Recording Industry Association is a trade group representing the Australian recording industry which was established in 1983 by six major record companies, EMI, Festival, CBS, RCA, WEA and Universal replacing the Association of Australian Record Manufacturers which was formed in 1956...

)
22
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40
Ö3 Austria Top 40
Ö3 Austria Top 40 is the name of the official Austrian singles chart, as well as the radio show which presents it, aired Fridays on Hitradio Ö3. The show presents the Austrian singles, ringtones and downloads chart. It premiered on 26 November 1968 as Disc Parade and was presented by Ernst Grissemann...

)
41
Belgium (Ultratop
Ultratop
Ultratop is an organization which generates and publishes the official record charts in Belgium, and it is also the name of most of those charts...

 Flanders)
35
Czech Republic (IFPI
IFPI
The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry is the organisation that represents the interests of the recording industry worldwide. It is a not-for-profit members' organisation registered in Switzerland...

)
61
European Hot 100 Singles 14
Germany (Media Control AG
Media Control Charts
The official music charts in Germany are gathered and published by the company Media Control GfK International on behalf of Bundesverband Musikindustrie...

)
44
Hungary (Mahasz
Mahasz
Mahasz is the Hungarian music industry association, founded in 1992. Mahasz hands out the Hungarian Music Awards and maintains the music charts for Hungary....

)
10
Ireland (IRMA
Irish Recorded Music Association
Irish Recorded Music Association is the Irish record industry association. IRMA is a non-profit association set up to manage and control the music industry in the Republic of Ireland.-Goals and activities:...

)
12
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40
Dutch Top 40
The Dutch Top 40 is a weekly music chart, which started as the "Veronica Top 40", because the offshore radio station Radio Veronica was the first to introduce it. It remained "The Veronica Top 40" until 1974, when the station was forced to stop broadcasting...

)
10
New Zealand (RIANZ) 16
Norway (VG-Lista
VG-lista
VG-listen is a Norwegian record chart. It is weekly presented in the newspaper VG and the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation program Topp 20. It is considered the primary Norwegian record chart, charting albums and singles from countries and continent around the world. The data is collected by...

)
17
Switzerland (Media Control AG
Media Control Charts
The official music charts in Germany are gathered and published by the company Media Control GfK International on behalf of Bundesverband Musikindustrie...

)
31
4
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