Red Dress

## **Red Dress**Single by Sugababes

**Red Dress** is the third single and fifth track of the Sugababes' fourth studio album, *Taller in More Ways*. The song was written by members Keisha Buchanan, Mutya Buena, Heidi Range, and the production team Xenomania. It is an uptempo pop record that contains a sample from "Landslide", a Northern soul recording by Tony Clarke.

"Red Dress" was released in the United Kingdom on 6 March 2006 as the album's third single, and is the first to feature vocals by Amelle Berrabah, following the departure of Mutya Buena in December 2005.

## Background

"Red Dress" is an uptempo pop song with elements of funk. Its instrumentation consists of keyboards, bass and guitars. The song's main riff is sampled from "Landslide", a Northern soul recording by Tony Clarke. "Red Dress" features two choruses, as well as verses that are reminiscent of "Rapture" by American pop band Blondie. Talia Kraines of BBC noted that the song has a "foot-tapping" vibe to it. "Red Dress" features a girl power theme, and is lyrically about a woman who uses her sexuality to gain power over men. The Sugababes repeatedly sing the line "Cause I'm cooler than the red dress" during the beginning of the song and in the first chorus. Ross Hoffman of AllMusic noted that "Red Dress" is evocative of Xenomania's "frisky" productions for British girl group Girls Aloud.

### Release

On 21 December 2005 it was announced that Buena had left the Sugababes. Amelle Berrabah was revealed as her replacement one day later. As a result of the line-up change, Taller in More Ways was re-released to feature Berrabah's vocals on three tracks, which included "Red Dress", "Gotta Be You" and "Follow Me Home"."Red Dress" was subsequently chosen as the third single from the album. Buena later revealed that she had been uncomfortable with the original version of the song after recording it, clarifying that she "absolutely hated" it. Upon hearing the new version with Berrabah, she became "quite happy they did it."

The song was released as a CD single and digital download on 6 March 2006 by Island Records. It is featured on the Sugababes' greatest hits album, *Overloaded: The Singles Collection* (2006),and the soundtrack for the 2006 film It's a Boy Girl Thing. The Sugababes confirmed in January 2006 that the B-side to "Red Dress" would be a cover version of Arctic Monkeys' debut single "I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor", which replaced the group's 2005 single "Push The Button" at number one on the UK Singles Chart. Upon the recording of the B-side, the Sugababes said: "When our bosses asked us to think of covers for the B-side, we knew which song we would all love to do." Ben Thompson of The Observer praised Berrabah's "bluesy rasp" as a novelty, while Jimmy Draper of Time Out wrote: "It transforms the punky rave-up into a disco stomper that could make even the staunchiest pop-hater get up and dance".

### Reception

It received positive reviews from critics, who commended its composition and Xenomania's contribution in particular.

Stuart McCaighy of This Is Fake DIY described the song as "top of the range pop", and considered it an example that Xenomania "don't keep all their best songs for Girls Aloud." Peter Robinson of The Observer called the track a "thumping tour de force from Xenomania", and noted that it "flirts vivaciously with pop songwriting convention".A journalist from Virgin Media regarded "Red Dress" as an "irresistibly funky effort from the amorphous trio and their producers".AllMusic critic K. Ross Hoffman praised the bassline sampled from Tony Clarke's "Landslide",while Fiona Edwards of Digital Spy applauded the song's bass, beats, and chorus. Nick Southall of Stylus Magazine described the song as an "up-tempo floor-filler" with a "maximalist stomp". Writing for The Daily Telegraph, Joe Muggs praised "Red Dress" as a dancefloor hit; similarly, Digital Spy critics Nick Levine and David Balls considered it one of the group's most danceable singles. A journalist from The Scotsman characterised the track as "mechanically groovy", while a Birmingham Mail critic described it as "a stomping anthem with attitude-drenched verses and killer chorus". Alexis Petridis of The Guardian characterised "Red Dress" as a "brilliant, immaculately written pop song". However, Andrew Mueller of the same publication called it "a lazy and rather too obvious retread" of the group's 2004 single, "In the Middle".

### Performance

"Red Dress" peaked at number four on the UK Singles Chart, number seven on the Netherlands' Dutch Top 40 chart, and inside the top twenty on the singles charts of Ireland, New Zealand and Norway. Outside top twenty, it charted in top 40 and 100 subsequently across Europe, allowing it to chart in Billboard's European Hot 100 Singles chart, where it peaked at number fourteen. "Red Dress" debuted and peaked at number 22 on the Australian Singles Chart, where it charted for twelve weeks. The single peaked at number sixteen on the New Zealand Singles Chart and was the group's third consecutive top-twenty hit in the country. A writer from the Coventry Evening Telegraph noted that the line-up change did not affect the song's commercial performance.

## Track listing

CD Single 1
1. Red Dress - 3:38
2. I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor (Arctic Babes Mix) - 2:47

CD Single 2
1. Red Dress - 3:36
2. Red Dress (Cagedbaby Remix) - 5:07
3. Red Dress (Dennis Christopher Vocal Mix) - 7:16
4. Red Dress - 3:36

## Personnel

* Bass – Bob Bradley
* Guitar – Nick Coler, Shawn Lee
* Keyboards – Jon Shave, Tim "Rolf" Larcombe
* Keyboards, Programmed By [Programming] – Brian Higgins, Tim Powell
* Mixed By – Jeremy Wheatley, Tim Powell
* Mixed By [Assisted By] – Richard Edgeler
* Producer [Produced By] – Brian Higgins, Xenomania
* Recorded By [Vocals Recorded By] – Dario Dendi
* Recorded By [Vocals, Assisted By] – Chris Poulter, Zoe Smith
* Written By – Sugababes/Xenomania
* Written-By – Sugababes, Xenomania

Red Dress (Cagedbaby Remix)
* Remix by Cagedbaby and additional production by Tom Gandey

## Music video

The accompanying music video for "Red Dress" was directed by Tim Royes and filmed in January 2006. Berrabah revealed details about the music video during an interview that was published on the group's official website, saying: "We're shooting the vid this week with director Tim Royce. We're really looking forward to it as there are going to be lots of costume changes. It's going to have a catwalk show theme with lots of mad outfits – very over the top and extravagant – we can't wait!" Royes went on to direct the music video for Sugababes' single "Easy" in the same year. The Sugababes wore endorsed hosiery in scenes for the video as part of their endorsement with Pretty Polly.

## Live performances

"Red Dress" was first performed in Turin, Italy for the Top Of The Pops segment in Winter Olympics in February 2006. The song was included in various tours and gigs since its release in March 2006. It appeared the setlist of the Taller in More Ways tour in 2006 and in the Overloaded: The Singles Collection tour in 2007. The Rockamerica remix of "Red Dress", which is a mashup with Frankie Goes to Hollywood's 1984 single "Two Tribes", was included on the set list for the Sugababes' Change Tour in 2008 and in subsequent live performances. Corresponding with the title of the song, the trio wore red, cellophane dresses for the performance. Berrabah named the outfit one of her favourites to wear during the tour.

The fourth line-up of the Sugababes, consisting of Range, Berrabah and Jade Ewen, performed the single in November 2010 at the Yas Hotel in Abu Dhabi gig in 2010 and in September 2011 at London's nightclub, G-A-Y.

The Sugababes, consisting of original members Buchanan, Buena, and Siobhan Donaghy, reintroduced "Red Dress" in their setlist at their UK and Australia tour in October 2022 and February 2023 respectively.

## Mixes and Remixes

"Red Dress" has 2 official remixes from Cagedbaby and Dennis Christopher, an unofficial "Rockamerica" remix, and two official mixes with vocals from Buena in the original album release and Berrabah in the re-issued album and single respectively.

## References

1. ↑ Red Dress CD 1. Discogs. https://www.discogs.com/release/637218-Sugababes-Red-Dress
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Red Dress CD 2. Discogs. https://www.discogs.com/release/642423-Sugababes-Red-Dress
3. ↑ Taller in More Ways. Discogs. https://www.discogs.com/release/637218-Sugababes-Red-Dress

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