The Scissor Sisters is a Grammy Award-nominated American band that formed in 2001. Their style draws from disco, glam rock, pop and the club scene of New York City.
Live shows and performances have included John "JJ" Garden — son of Graeme Garden of The Goodies — on keyboards, guitar and bass guitar.
After becoming a quartet, the band was signed to independent record label " A Touch of Class", and recorded a single, "Electrobix", which had as its B-side a disco cover of the Pink Floyd classic "Comfortably Numb". Paddy Boom joined the band after the quartet placed a classified ad looking for a drummer and, though a drum machine was used for the majority of the first album (much of it was completed before he joined), he now performs drums/percussion, live and on recordings.
In September 2003 they were credited as the remixers of one of the versions of Blondie's hit single "Good Boys," which appeared on the 12-inch vinyl single.
The group's first single for the label, "Laura", had a limited release in 2003 (reaching #54 in the UK Singles Chart), receiving little attention with the exceptions of British music paper New Musical Express, Channel 4's entertainment programme V Graham Norton, and same channel's music programme Popworld for which they were interviewed. The track also garnered plenty of radio play in Australia. 2003 also saw the inclusion of the atmospheric "It Can't Come Quickly Enough" on the soundtrack of the film Mandy Monster; the song played over its ending credits.
Their first hit was in 2004 with the release of "Comfortably Numb", a Pink Floyd cover (reaching #10 in the UK), featuring Paul Leschen on piano and keyboards. This success was followed by fan favourite "Take Your Mama" (#17 in the UK), a re-release of "Laura" (#12 in the UK), the ballad "Mary" (#14 in the UK), and the gay/hedonist anthem "Filthy/Gorgeous" (#5 in the UK).
All the singles came from the eponymous debut album Scissor Sisters, which reached #1 on the UK Albums Chart and became the best selling album of 2004, beating Keane's Hopes and Fears by just 582 copies. As of 2006, it is the 10th biggest-selling album of the 21st century, and the 51st biggest-selling of all time in the UK. Several media outlets have noted that Scissor Sisters 'stick out like a sore thumb' on the list of artists who have sold over 2 million copies of an album in the UK in the 21st century — the others being James Blunt, Robbie Williams, Keane, Dido, Coldplay, and Norah Jones — all artists considered 'mainstream' or 'middle of the road', as opposed to the Scissor Sisters' brash and controversial image.
Despite substantial chart success in the UK (which they refer to as their 'spiritual home'), the band have had only a moderate impact on the public consciousness in their home country. "Take Your Mama" received popular radio airplay on US pop stations. "Filthy/Gorgeous" enjoyed a following in stateside gay clubs, and was featured in the soundtrack and ending cut-scene of Tony Hawk's American Wasteland.
The album was banned from the shelves of U.S. super chain Wal-Mart due to its "coarse language". The band have shown their dissatisfaction with the decision on a number of occasions. Shears is even heard in a Spanish live performance on the band's DVD saying, "Wal-Mart won't stock our album... well, ya know what? Fuck Wal-Mart!"
The band fulfilled one of its dreams: Elton John collaborated with them on "I Don't Feel Like Dancin'" (as pianist and co-writer). The song reached #1 in the UK on September 10, 2006 and remained in the top spot for four consecutive weeks. "I Don't Feel Like Dancin'" also peaked a number one on the Australian ARIA Singles Chart and the Euro Hot 100. "I Don't Feel Like Dancin'" became their biggest hit to date.
Elton John also contributed to the song "Intermission" on Ta-Dah.
The album was released on September 18, 2006 in the UK, and on September 26, 2006 in the USA. According to Shears, the album is a combination of sixties-era psychedelia, glam rock and disco.
In 2006 they acted as an opening act for Depeche Mode's Touring the Angel Tour. Their first gig in the UK for promotion of the second album took place at the KOKO Club, Camden, London, on August 31, 2006 and was filmed for MTV. 2006 performances at the Bowery Ballroom and Siren Music Festival in New York, and the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival have allowed for the band to showcase an array of songs taken from the new album. A free concert was given in Trafalgar square to 10,000 ballot winners on the September 16 in order to promote the Red charity.
The new album Ta-Dah leaked onto the Internet on September 10, 2006, five days before its release in the UK.
It reached number 1 in the UK Albums Chart in its first week of release, officially taking the top spot on Sunday, September 24, 2006, completing a historic first for the Scissor Sisters, a double consisting of a single and album at the top of the UK charts simultaneously.
The band has also been in the Latin America Top 40 Airplay. "I Don't Feel Like Dancin'" is still charting and is so far their biggest hit to date in Latin America, reaching #23, charting mostly in South America, particularly Peru.
"Land of a Thousand Words" was released as the second single from the album, peaking at #19 in the UK. "She's My Man" was the third single released in February 2007, only peaking at #29 despite moderate airplay.
"Kiss You Off" was the fourth and final single released in May 2007 but failed to dent the Top 40, their first single since their debut Laura to do so. The "Kiss You Off" video centred around Ana Matronic in a futuristic beauty salon.
Their music can be generally described as a mixture of glam rock, disco, and alternative music. They appear to have been heavily influenced by Elton John (Shears' singing, particularly, sometimes sounds uncannily like John). However, Shears has gone on record as not having been very familiar with John's work prior to the release of their record, although he's stated he's since become a big fan. The band echoes not only Elton John, but also ABBA, the Bee Gees, Blondie, KC and the Sunshine Band, Duran Duran ("the reason we got into music", as Ana says), Supertramp, Siouxsie and the Banshees (Ana said at the 2005 BRIT Awards that "she wouldn't be here without Siouxsie"), David Bowie, 1970s-era Kiss, Queen, Chic, Richard O'Brien and various other dance/disco, rock, and funk acts; they admit that their music is hard to categorise. During a public signing in Brisbane, Australia, Shears stated that The Beatles have been an influence for him, and that he is a huge fan of Paul McCartney and Wings.
They somewhat prefer not to be specifically labeled as a "gay band". In an interview featured on the We Are Scissor Sisters… And So Are You DVD, Jake states, "The fact that some of us are gay affects our music the same amount as it does that some of the members of Blondie are straight".
The band count David Gilmour of Pink Floyd, Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend of The Who, U2, Thom Yorke of Radiohead, Billy Joel, Elton John, TJ Stolk, M. de Groot and Anderson Cooper among its fans. They were the opening act for Duran Duran's 2004 reunion tour and opened for U2 on some of their UK dates for the Vertigo Tour. They also supported Depeche Mode on some of their dates of Touring the Angel.
In 2004, the gay members of the band, Jake Shears, Babydaddy, and Del Marquis, were honored in the Out 100, Out magazine's List of the 100 Most Intriguing Gay People of the Year. The band won a GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Music Artist on March 28, 2005. On July 2, 2005, the group performed at Live 8. Their set included the previously unheard song "Everybody Wants the Same Thing".
In November 2006, they won the German media award Bambi in the category "Shooting Star".
They have received some heavy attention in the United States by VH1 and magazines such as Out and Entertainment Weekly. They have also been interviewed on VH1's website and Del Marquis has been interviewed by the music section of IGN.com. It is a little known fact that there are several tracks recorded by the band before their eponymous debut which were never released; these tracks have entered the fan community and, although sometimes difficult to find, can be obtained freely. These songs include "Someone to Touch", "Doctor (I'm Only Seeing Dark)", "Bicycling with the Devil", "Electrobix", "Monkey Baby", a Billy Joel-Elton John-esque cover of Franz Ferdinand's "Take Me Out", as well as demo versions of "Laura", and "Filthy/Gorgeous".
The event, dubbed "Scissor Sisters Day," culminated in them actually standing in for presenter Pete Tong and hosting his three hour slot themselves. The show took an unexpected turn when a woman in labour telephoned the show to share her experience with the band and they played "Push It" by Salt-N-Pepa for her. Several performances, interviews, and a humorous jingle that was written in an hour, were filmed and edited into a special seven-day, looped broadcast on BBCi.| Year | Album | UK | IRL | US | AUS | AUT | FRA | NETH | SWE | FIN | NOR | DEN | ESP | POR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | The Demo Album | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 2004 | Scissor Sisters | 1 | 1 | 102 | 7 | 75 | 100 | 67 | 13 | 40 | 33 | 18 | 70 | 19 |
| Remixed! | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 2006 | Ta-Dah | 1 | 1 | 19 | 1 | 3 | 17 | 11 | 3 | 14 | 2 | 6 | 21 | 15 |
| Year | Song | UK | IRL | US Dance Sales | US Hot Dance | GER | AUS | SWE | JP | China | DK | AR | ESP | FR | Euro Hot 100 | LV | ITA | NZL | NETH | AUS | Album |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | "Electrobix" | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | The Demo Album |
| 2003 | "Laura" | 54 | 5 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 39 | - | - | - | - | - | Scissor Sisters |
| 2004 | "Comfortably Numb" | 10 | 30 | 1 | - | 97 | 73 | 27 | 32 | 50 | 12 | 44 | 57 | 99 | 37 | - | 59 | - | 84 | - | |
| "Take Your Mama" | 17 | 25 | - | - | 99 | 40 | 53 | 16 | 33 | - | 2 | 2 | 2 | 61 | - | - | 11 | 80 | 40 | ||
| "Laura" | 12 | 17 | - | - | - | 66 | - | 64 | 50 | 64 | 33 | - | 6 | - | 9 | - | - | - | - | ||
| "Mary" | 14 | 8 | - | - | - | - | - | 21 | 27 | 72 | 56 | - | 13 | - | 30 | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2005 | "Filthy/Gorgeous" | 5 | 13 | 16 | 1 | - | 29 | - | 3 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 38 | 30 | 55 | - | - | 29 | |
| 2006 | "I Don't Feel Like Dancin'" | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 23 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 8 | 16 | 5 | 6 | 2 | 1 | Ta-Dah |
| "Land of a Thousand Words" | 19 | 44 | - | - | 50 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 69 | 24 | 18 | - | 60 | - | ||
| 2007 | "She's My Man" | 29 | - | - | - | 57 | 39 | 39 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 23 | - | 94 | 39 | |
| "Kiss You Off" | 43 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| "I Can't Decide" | 64 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
Interviews
Reviews
Others
The Scissor Sisters is a Grammy Award-nominated American band that formed in 2001. Their style draws from disco, glam rock, pop and the club scene of New York City.
Live shows and performances have included John "JJ" Garden — son of Graeme Garden of The Goodies — on keyboards, guitar and bass guitar.
After becoming a quartet, the band was signed to independent record label " A Touch of Class", and recorded a single, "Electrobix", which had as its B-side a disco cover of the Pink Floyd classic "Comfortably Numb". Paddy Boom joined the band after the quartet placed a classified ad looking for a drummer and, though a drum machine was used for the majority of the first album (much of it was completed before he joined), he now performs drums/percussion, live and on recordings.
In September 2003 they were credited as the remixers of one of the versions of Blondie's hit single "Good Boys," which appeared on the 12-inch vinyl single.
The group's first single for the label, "Laura", had a limited release in 2003 (reaching #54 in the UK Singles Chart), receiving little attention with the exceptions of British music paper New Musical Express, Channel 4's entertainment programme V Graham Norton, and same channel's music programme Popworld for which they were interviewed. The track also garnered plenty of radio play in Australia. 2003 also saw the inclusion of the atmospheric "It Can't Come Quickly Enough" on the soundtrack of the film Mandy Monster; the song played over its ending credits.
Their first hit was in 2004 with the release of "Comfortably Numb", a Pink Floyd cover (reaching #10 in the UK), featuring Paul Leschen on piano and keyboards. This success was followed by fan favourite "Take Your Mama" (#17 in the UK), a re-release of "Laura" (#12 in the UK), the ballad "Mary" (#14 in the UK), and the gay/hedonist anthem "Filthy/Gorgeous" (#5 in the UK).
All the singles came from the eponymous debut album Scissor Sisters, which reached #1 on the UK Albums Chart and became the best selling album of 2004, beating Keane's Hopes and Fears by just 582 copies. As of 2006, it is the 10th biggest-selling album of the 21st century, and the 51st biggest-selling of all time in the UK. Several media outlets have noted that Scissor Sisters 'stick out like a sore thumb' on the list of artists who have sold over 2 million copies of an album in the UK in the 21st century — the others being James Blunt, Robbie Williams, Keane, Dido, Coldplay, and Norah Jones — all artists considered 'mainstream' or 'middle of the road', as opposed to the Scissor Sisters' brash and controversial image.
Despite substantial chart success in the UK (which they refer to as their 'spiritual home'), the band have had only a moderate impact on the public consciousness in their home country. "Take Your Mama" received popular radio airplay on US pop stations. "Filthy/Gorgeous" enjoyed a following in stateside gay clubs, and was featured in the soundtrack and ending cut-scene of Tony Hawk's American Wasteland.
The album was banned from the shelves of U.S. super chain Wal-Mart due to its "coarse language". The band have shown their dissatisfaction with the decision on a number of occasions. Shears is even heard in a Spanish live performance on the band's DVD saying, "Wal-Mart won't stock our album... well, ya know what? Fuck Wal-Mart!"
The band fulfilled one of its dreams: Elton John collaborated with them on "I Don't Feel Like Dancin'" (as pianist and co-writer). The song reached #1 in the UK on September 10, 2006 and remained in the top spot for four consecutive weeks. "I Don't Feel Like Dancin'" also peaked a number one on the Australian ARIA Singles Chart and the Euro Hot 100. "I Don't Feel Like Dancin'" became their biggest hit to date.
Elton John also contributed to the song "Intermission" on Ta-Dah.
The album was released on September 18, 2006 in the UK, and on September 26, 2006 in the USA. According to Shears, the album is a combination of sixties-era psychedelia, glam rock and disco.
In 2006 they acted as an opening act for Depeche Mode's Touring the Angel Tour. Their first gig in the UK for promotion of the second album took place at the KOKO Club, Camden, London, on August 31, 2006 and was filmed for MTV. 2006 performances at the Bowery Ballroom and Siren Music Festival in New York, and the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival have allowed for the band to showcase an array of songs taken from the new album. A free concert was given in Trafalgar square to 10,000 ballot winners on the September 16 in order to promote the Red charity.
The new album Ta-Dah leaked onto the Internet on September 10, 2006, five days before its release in the UK.
It reached number 1 in the UK Albums Chart in its first week of release, officially taking the top spot on Sunday, September 24, 2006, completing a historic first for the Scissor Sisters, a double consisting of a single and album at the top of the UK charts simultaneously.
The band has also been in the Latin America Top 40 Airplay. "I Don't Feel Like Dancin'" is still charting and is so far their biggest hit to date in Latin America, reaching #23, charting mostly in South America, particularly Peru.
"Land of a Thousand Words" was released as the second single from the album, peaking at #19 in the UK. "She's My Man" was the third single released in February 2007, only peaking at #29 despite moderate airplay.
"Kiss You Off" was the fourth and final single released in May 2007 but failed to dent the Top 40, their first single since their debut Laura to do so. The "Kiss You Off" video centred around Ana Matronic in a futuristic beauty salon.
Their music can be generally described as a mixture of glam rock, disco, and alternative music. They appear to have been heavily influenced by Elton John (Shears' singing, particularly, sometimes sounds uncannily like John). However, Shears has gone on record as not having been very familiar with John's work prior to the release of their record, although he's stated he's since become a big fan. The band echoes not only Elton John, but also ABBA, the Bee Gees, Blondie, KC and the Sunshine Band, Duran Duran ("the reason we got into music", as Ana says), Supertramp, Siouxsie and the Banshees (Ana said at the 2005 BRIT Awards that "she wouldn't be here without Siouxsie"), David Bowie, 1970s-era Kiss, Queen, Chic, Richard O'Brien and various other dance/disco, rock, and funk acts; they admit that their music is hard to categorise. During a public signing in Brisbane, Australia, Shears stated that The Beatles have been an influence for him, and that he is a huge fan of Paul McCartney and Wings.
They somewhat prefer not to be specifically labeled as a "gay band". In an interview featured on the We Are Scissor Sisters… And So Are You DVD, Jake states, "The fact that some of us are gay affects our music the same amount as it does that some of the members of Blondie are straight".
The band count David Gilmour of Pink Floyd, Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend of The Who, U2, Thom Yorke of Radiohead, Billy Joel, Elton John, TJ Stolk, M. de Groot and Anderson Cooper among its fans. They were the opening act for Duran Duran's 2004 reunion tour and opened for U2 on some of their UK dates for the Vertigo Tour. They also supported Depeche Mode on some of their dates of Touring the Angel.
In 2004, the gay members of the band, Jake Shears, Babydaddy, and Del Marquis, were honored in the Out 100, Out magazine's List of the 100 Most Intriguing Gay People of the Year. The band won a GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Music Artist on March 28, 2005. On July 2, 2005, the group performed at Live 8. Their set included the previously unheard song "Everybody Wants the Same Thing".
In November 2006, they won the German media award Bambi in the category "Shooting Star".
They have received some heavy attention in the United States by VH1 and magazines such as Out and Entertainment Weekly. They have also been interviewed on VH1's website and Del Marquis has been interviewed by the music section of IGN.com. It is a little known fact that there are several tracks recorded by the band before their eponymous debut which were never released; these tracks have entered the fan community and, although sometimes difficult to find, can be obtained freely. These songs include "Someone to Touch", "Doctor (I'm Only Seeing Dark)", "Bicycling with the Devil", "Electrobix", "Monkey Baby", a Billy Joel-Elton John-esque cover of Franz Ferdinand's "Take Me Out", as well as demo versions of "Laura", and "Filthy/Gorgeous".
The event, dubbed "Scissor Sisters Day," culminated in them actually standing in for presenter Pete Tong and hosting his three hour slot themselves. The show took an unexpected turn when a woman in labour telephoned the show to share her experience with the band and they played "Push It" by Salt-N-Pepa for her. Several performances, interviews, and a humorous jingle that was written in an hour, were filmed and edited into a special seven-day, looped broadcast on BBCi.| Year | Album | UK | IRL | US | AUS | AUT | FRA | NETH | SWE | FIN | NOR | DEN | ESP | POR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | The Demo Album | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 2004 | Scissor Sisters | 1 | 1 | 102 | 7 | 75 | 100 | 67 | 13 | 40 | 33 | 18 | 70 | 19 |
| Remixed! | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 2006 | Ta-Dah | 1 | 1 | 19 | 1 | 3 | 17 | 11 | 3 | 14 | 2 | 6 | 21 | 15 |
| Year | Song | UK | IRL | US Dance Sales | US Hot Dance | GER | AUS | SWE | JP | China | DK | AR | ESP | FR | Euro Hot 100 | LV | ITA | NZL | NETH | AUS | Album |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | "Electrobix" | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | The Demo Album |
| 2003 | "Laura" | 54 | 5 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 39 | - | - | - | - | - | Scissor Sisters |
| 2004 | "Comfortably Numb" | 10 | 30 | 1 | - | 97 | 73 | 27 | 32 | 50 | 12 | 44 | 57 | 99 | 37 | - | 59 | - | 84 | - | |
| "Take Your Mama" | 17 | 25 | - | - | 99 | 40 | 53 | 16 | 33 | - | 2 | 2 | 2 | 61 | - | - | 11 | 80 | 40 | ||
| "Laura" | 12 | 17 | - | - | - | 66 | - | 64 | 50 | 64 | 33 | - | 6 | - | 9 | - | - | - | - | ||
| "Mary" | 14 | 8 | - | - | - | - | - | 21 | 27 | 72 | 56 | - | 13 | - | 30 | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2005 | "Filthy/Gorgeous" | 5 | 13 | 16 | 1 | - | 29 | - | 3 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 38 | 30 | 55 | - | - | 29 | |
| 2006 | "I Don't Feel Like Dancin'" | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 23 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 8 | 16 | 5 | 6 | 2 | 1 | Ta-Dah |
| "Land of a Thousand Words" | 19 | 44 | - | - | 50 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 69 | 24 | 18 | - | 60 | - | ||
| 2007 | "She's My Man" | 29 | - | - | - | 57 | 39 | 39 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 23 | - | 94 | 39 | |
| "Kiss You Off" | 43 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| "I Can't Decide" | 64 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
Interviews
Reviews
Others
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|