You lose a Sugababe one day. You find another Sugababe the next day. It’s very easy to replace a band member who walks out when the band’s been assembled from a kit.
As the BBC reports this morning, only a day after the chavvy Mutya Buena declared she wanted to leave the aforementioned trio, the band’s management has found a replacement. Not bad going: I guess when your indentured help starts getting uppity, you need to have a plan in place to avoid losing a second of profit once she decides to up sticks.
What gets me is the reaction of the other ‘babes. Now, I’m under no illusions that pop stars have been some fount of honesty and truth for the last 50 years. But when did they start to talk like marketing drones?
“Our management introduced us to Amelle as someone they knew with an amazing voice, who looked great and, just as important, was already a big fan of the band.
”When we all met her, we instantly knew she was the only person to share the rest of the journey with us.“
Okay, that was Heidi Range, who had already been brought in to replace another departing Babe and had been in at least one other manufactured band beforehand; maybe she’s just infinitely pliable and willing to spout whatever the band’s communications officer sticks in front of her nose and everyone else’s conscience is intact.
But in an age when bands such as Keane hired their own branding consultant before they’d even signed to a record label, I can’t help but feel that a little charm and soul has disappeared from the whole business, not just the back office, to be replaced by people who really are in it only for the money and have the business studies degree to prove it.
