Makes me head hurt trying to understand the timelines, ha.
I think the pop album was much stronger and Victoria was deluded to think she could make it big in America and be the new J-lo.
Alesha Dixon said all the faffing around with Victoria is why the label went bankrupt and the third Mis-Teeq album never came out.
Alesha Dixon said all the faffing around with Victoria is why the label went bankrupt and the third Mis-Teeq album never came out.
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I don't think she ever expected to be the new J-Lo?
Also, I think it's been disproven that Telstar failed because of Victoria - I believe that this was something made up.
Disproven by who? Wouldn't Alesha Dixon know, as someone actually signed to said label?
I can’t imagine Victoria’s sessions with Damon were cheap, but I imagine it was easier to scapegoat her when telling the other acts on the label that they no longer had record deals than admitting to multiple failures on their behalf. It’s not like they would’ve given Victoria a credit card with unlimited spending for studio sessions, these things had to be agreed on/signed off. She was just the easy option to blame.
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Ah yes, oracle Alesha Dixon who just so happens to know every in and out of how a record company would fail. Since she's said that, I'm pretty sure it's been confirmed that Telstar were folding regardless of Victoria. In 2004 especially, Victoria was an easy punching bag for the press and her name attached to anything would generate more interest, negative or positive. Claire Sweeney was given a huge advance like Victoria was but she wasn't ragged over the coals because the public wouldn't have given a shit about that, whereas if there was a chance to bring Victoria down, then they would do so.
Also, her first album didn't exactly fly off the shelves, so Telstar would have been cautious not to greenlight absurd expenses. Her two videos with them didn't have massive budgets either.
You all seem to be in agreement that they spent too much on her project so I don't know what you're arguing for anyway. They may well have spent too much on other acts too, but the timing would suggest the excessive spending on Victoria and subsequent failure pushed them over the edge. They recorded two whole albums with her and not with cheap producers either.
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Her 'urban' album was actually recorded with a different label (Roc-A-Fella records I believe?), so I doubt Telstar had any hand financing those tracks. So they would have just provided some funding in relation to the earlier pop tracks.
It's unfair to blame the entire record label folding on Victoria when that same label housed Rosie Ribbons, Claire Sweeney, The Cheeky Girls and Maria Willson... all flops.
I'm also pretty sure the second Mis-Teeq album underperformed?
As @JMRGBY said though, obviously a label folding due to Victoria Beckham makes a much punchier headline than the truth.
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No argument, just statements.
Okay good point, I didn't know the "urban" album was funded overseas. Yeah the second Mis-Teeq album didn't sell as well as the first despite the success of Scandalous and it does seem crazy they even gave The Cheeky Girls more than one single... I remember them making bizarre decisions like having Robbie from Hollyoaks rap on one of their singles (the Sabrina cover)
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Compared to the first, definitely - then with Style 'only' entering at #13, I think the writing was on the wall. Hasn't Alesha also recently said she didn't want to continue in the band at that time anyway?
Holy hell….I’ve never seen this before. It’s absolutely amazing. Probably one of her best performances.
Victoria’s stuff at this time was her company licensing it to Simon Fuller’s company. Who then licenced it to Telstar.
I imagine Telstar would have paid a substantial sum (not the ridiculously high amounts that the press indicated) which was risky for an already financially precarious Telstar - let alone given the money falling out of the music industry at that time.
I imagine Telstar would have paid a substantial sum (not the ridiculously high amounts that the press indicated) which was risky for an already financially precarious Telstar - let alone given the money falling out of the music industry at that time.
It still irritates me so much that Let Your Head Go/This Groove wasn't a flop at all and actually peaked at #3, but it was paid dust. If an album had materialised out of the earlier pop stuff that leaked, whilst I doubt it would have changed the world, she would have easily gotten a top ten (or even five) album out of it.
Victoria really was all hands, wasn't she? And I loved it.
Their Telstar singles were selling very well though? All four singles went Top 10 the first three even being Top 5 UK hits. Why would they not give them more singles?
Even their album did well and probably cost 99p to make.
That wasn't Telstar
And then a year later you had artists like Nelly releasing two albums simultaneously with two different vibes so Victoria could’ve effectively have done the same (pop album and rnb album).