Atomic Kitten - the little group that could

Ah, Atomic Kitten. Where to begin? Formed in 1998, when Kerry Katona met Elizabeth "Liz / Lil" McClarnon and decided to set up a group with Natasha "Tash" Hamilton. After a while, they signed a record deal with Innocent in 1999, and released their first single "Right Now" in December of that same year. (Rumours that they were to be called Nuclear Pussy are incorrect and forwarded only by Mr. B. Molko of Placebo. It is a great name though...) The record did okay, ending up in the Top 10, and was followed by more singles, including the stonking "I Want Your Love", a mix of the High Chapperal theme and a funky pop song. An album was released, "Right Now", which did very little, very quickly.

We at the kinkyMachine had adopted the girls, mainly because we felt they were going nowhere. We liked their underdog spirit, their northern charms, and their determination to do their thing, even if the general public seemed to be ignoring them. These days, it seems like you have to be a success immediately in the pop game, or else you'll be out before you can say Chesney Hawkes. We heard all the rumours, that Kerry was suffering from exhaustion and depression. The end is nigh, we felt.

And then a few strange things happened. Kerry appeared in Hello! magazine with her boyfriend Bryan from Westlife. Then the band released "Whole Again", a quite nice ballad, with a Sugababes styled video. Then Kerry said she was leaving the band because she was pregnant. The world was shocked, and not just because one of Westlife has been allowed to reproduce. Bang zoom, she was gone. The Kittens thought about it for a while, as they had a single to promote, and so drafted in Jenny Frost, an ex-member of one-time Eurovision hopefuls, Precious. And then "Whole Again" went to number one, beating U2's "Stuck in a moment..." ("We've been licked by the Kitten" - Bono) and stayed there for four weeks. At the time of writing, the song was spending its sixth week inside the top three. Live performances ensued, with the girls holding their own, and now Atomic Kitten are big news.

Publicity stunt? Methinks not. It did seem a strange time for Kerry to bail out of the band she started, but that's pregnancy for you. It did give them some wider recognition, but enough to make them the biggest selling act of the year so far? The song is good, but nothing special. Anyway, whatever reasons, the Kittens have proved that they can do it, and also keeping their cool at a time when most lightweight bands would have collapsed.