The Scissor Sisters

The Scissor Sisters

· The Scissor Sisters are an American band that formed in 2001. Their style draws from disco, glam rock, pop and the club scene of New York City.

· The group consists of vocalists Jake Shears and Ana Matronic, multi-instrumentalist Babydaddy, lead guitar/bassist, Del Marquis, and drummer Randy Real (who joined in replacement of Paddy Boom) and their name is taken from a sexual position between women called tribadism.^[1] While experiencing only limited mainstream success in their homeland of the United States, the band has been hugely successful in Europe, Canada, Australia, and particularly the United Kingdom, where they have achieved a number of chart hits, with their debut album becoming best-selling album of 2004 in the UK. Their single "I Don't Feel Like Dancin'" was the fourth best-selling single in the UK in 2006 and stayed in the UK top 40 for 27 weeks.

History

Early career (2000–2003)

The core of the band formed in 2000, when Shears met Babydaddy while visiting a friend in Kentucky. After moving to New York City, the duo met Ana Matronic at a cabaret on Halloween, when she was dressed as an Andy Warhol factory reject, and Shears was dressed as a "late-term, back-alley abortion". The group soon began playing gigs, and they met Del Marquis while Shears was still working as a stripper at a tiny East Village bar called I.C. Guys.

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 performed drums and percussion live and on later 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.

Debut album and breakthrough success (2003–2005)

Their cover of "Comfortably Numb" became noticed in the UK when it was picked up by underground DJs in electroclubs. The Cock nightclub at London Queer alternative venue Ghetto staged their first British gig at this time. The song later came to the attention of British label Polydor, who signed them to a contract.

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 the 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 Party 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 "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 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.^[3] 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'),^[4] 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!"

Ta-Dah (2005–2007)

Recording of the second album, Ta-Dah, commenced in mid-May 2005, at the Discoball; sneak previews of new songs were played at live performances, including "Everybody Wants the Same Thing", performed at the Live 8 concert, "Paul McCartney", "I Can't Decide", "Hybrid Man", "Forever Right Now" and "Hair Baby" (a title which refers to the phenomenon of tumours containing partially formed fetuses). Among the assumed pseudonyms used to play a series of secret shows to test this new material were "Bridget Jones' Diarrhea", "Portion Control" and "Megapussi".

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 and played piano on a demo of the song Bad Shit (that can be found on the Lights CDsingle).

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.

Night Work (2008–present)

At the end of the band's 2007 World Tour, the band confirmed that they would be taking some time off to work on their next album, which would later be announced as Night Work.^[7] On October 13 and 14, 2008, they premiered new material at secret gigs in New York City's Mercury Lounge under the assumed band names Queef Latina (on the 13th) and Debbie's Hairy (on the 14th). New songs included on the set list were "Television", "Who's Your Money",

"Other Girls", "Major for You", "None of My Business", "Singularity", "Do The Strand", "Who's There", "Not the Loving Kind", "Taking Shape" (with Babydaddy on lead vocals), and "Uroboros". Shears later stated on the official Scissor Sisters website that there was a possibility that none of these songs would be on the album, as the band was less than satisfied with most of them. This was confirmed to be the case when the tracklist was revealed.

Drummer Paddy Boom was absent at these gigs and replacement drummer Randy "Real" Schrager introduced. On October 16, it was announced that Paddy Boom had amicably parted from the band. The Scissor Sisters also contributed a cover of the Roxy Music song "Do the Strand" to the 2009 compilation album War Child Presents Heroes.

Scissor Sisters spent much of 2008 and early 2009 in the recording studio. However, after working on new material for approximately 18 months, the band decided to shelve their third album. Shears explained: "In my heart I knew it wasn't right. I didn't really know what it was trying to say. It left me a little bit cold." On May 8, 2010, it was reported that the record had been "scrapped". Singer Jake Shears said: "If it wasn't something we could fully get behind and believe in, I think the band was going to be over."

The band returned to the studio and began work on new tracks in June 2009, which made it onto their replacement third album Night Work. Produced in collaboration with Stuart Price, Night Work was originally slated to be released in March 2010; the release was pushed back to June 28.^[12] The album, described as "supersexual and sleazy", was originally suggested by Shears to include the tracks "Hollywood Wives" and "Permanent Wave". However, when the album was officially announced, no songs by these titles were included. The first single was said to be "a really epic song that makes you feel really good".

"Invisible Light" has been described as "a magical song" by Ana Matronic in an update from the official Scissor Sisters website. In an update on the November 6, 2009, she talked about another song on the album, "Skin This Cat", which she wrote with Babydaddy.

The album, released on June 28, 2010, was preceded by the lead single "Fire With Fire" on June 20.

Content of music

The lyrics of their songs, largely written by Shears and Babydaddy, are known for their mixture of wit and tragedy. The songs on their debut album dealt with a number of subjects and issues in a variety of styles, from drug abuse within the gay community ("Return to Oz"), to Shears' deep platonic love for his best friend in real life, Mary ("Mary"). Mary died of a brain aneurysm in April 2006, news that devastated members of the band.

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 (Elton John also played the piano on "I Don't Feel Like Dancing"). 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, Madonna, and Lady Gaga 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.

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