POPFESSIONS

Alex Murray

For a couple of years, I was obsessed with Atomic Kitten – mostly Liz
McClarnon. I’ve listened to the first three singles ‘Right Now’, ‘See Ya’ and ‘I Want Your Love’ more than almost anything else on my iTunes.
 
Three gobby moments of pop wonderment, borderline feral songs held together by personality and spirit as much as by the musical skills.
Almost something cynical about the construction, but the charm overcame the stench of provincial nightclubs.
 
My love of Atomic Kitten runs parallel to a lifelong obsession with the Manic Street Preachers. Perhaps Atomic Kitten filled a hole where Shampoo once were. I could have loved the Sugababes - who were more sophisticated – but Atomic Kitten took less effort from my brain to understand.
 
I knew dance routines, I knew everything about their background and
how the band came to be, the hallmarks of a proper pop obsession, I
even had a long sleeved top that had ”I *heart* AK” on it and which I
wore with pride.
 
This wasn’t an act in defiance of taste. I genuinely loved their first album, not the re-issue after ‘Whole Again’. I’ve even got a copy of the original version of ‘Whole Again’, which is basically a pastiche of All Saints’ ‘Never Ever’.
 
NB: I was in my 20s at the time of this obsession.