All Saints

About All Saints

The UK's all-girl quartet All Saints may be a lot of things; young, photogenic, a little bit wild. But don't you dare call them The Spice Girls. A proto version of All Saints formed in London in 1993 and recorded their first demos at ZZT Recording Studio, located on All Saints Road. They toured around the English countryside, gigging at various local country fairs and music festivals. They met up with the Appleton sisters Nicole and Natalie, who would round out the band's lineup and come to make headlines after the girls hit it big. In 1996 they hooked up with Karl Gordon, a former member of the influential, early 90's British hip hop group Outlaw Posse. Gordon mentored the girls on the road and in the studio. 1997's self-titled All Saints saw a newly confident vocal quartet. The group's songs were more PG-13 than G, and Gordon brought a distinctly urban element to the group's production values. Singles like "I Know Where It's At" and "Never Ever" consistently hit platinum, while their #1 collaboration with techno guru William Orbit, "Pure Shores," was used Leonardo Dicaprio's edgy blockbuster The Beach. Melanie, Natalie and Nicole were persuaded to take a role in ex-Eurythmics Dave Stewart's directorial debut Honest. The film, about the lives and loves of swinging 60's London, was mercilessly panned by critics and the girls' provocative nude acting turn earned them headlines for all the wrong reasons. The bad vibes from the experience added to mounting tensions within the band led to All Saints' official breakup.