Round Round

"Round Round" is a song performed by British girl group Sugababes. It was written by group members Keisha Buchanan, Mutya Buena, and Heidi Range, as well as Miranda Cooper, Niara Scarlett, Brian Higgins, Tim Powell, Nick Coler, Shawn Lee, and Lisa Cowling and produced by Kevin Bacon and Jonathan Quarmby. It was released as the second single from the group's second studio album, Angels with Dirty Faces (2002).

"Round Round"
Single by Sugababes
from the album Angels with Dirty Faces
B-side"Groove Is Going On"
Released12 August 2002[1]
GenreDance-pop
Length3:54
LabelIsland
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
Sugababes singles chronology
"Freak like Me"
(2002)		 "Round Round"
(2002)		 "Stronger" / "Angels with Dirty Faces"
(2002)
Audio sample
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Following its release on 12 August 2002, "Round Round" peaked at number one on the UK Singles Chart, becoming the group's second number-one single domestically. It was eventually certified Silver by the BPI. "Round Round" also managed to reach the top ten in Ireland, Austria, New Zealand, and Italy among other countries. It is also an original soundtrack of the movies The Guru and Kangaroo Jack and was featured in the movie American Wedding. Alongside "Sound of the Underground" by Girls Aloud, this song has been credited in reshaping British pop music for the 2000s.[2]

Background

"Round Round" was written by Keisha Buchanan, Mutya Buena, Heidi Range, Miranda Cooper, Niara Scarlett, Brian Higgins, Tim Powell, Nick Coler, Shawn Lee, and Lisa Cowling.[3] Due to the inclusion of a sample from "Tango Forte" by German production team Dublex Inc., Florian Pflueger, Felix Stecher, Robin Hofmann, and Rino Spadavecchia are also credited as songwriters.[3] Production on "Round Round" was helmed by Kevin Bacon and Jonathan Quarmby for Manna Productions based on an original track Higgins and Powell had created for Xenomania Records, while Jeremy Wheatley provided additional production and handled the mixing.[3] Guitar recording and programming were overseen by Yoad Nevo for 247 Arists.[3]

Musically, "Round Round" was actually built up of a number of different songs.[4] On the BBC2 series Secrets of the Pop Song, Brian Higgins described the genesis of the song: "We had a drum track which was just stunning and so I sat down with Miranda [Cooper] on the one day we had the Sugababes in the studio and said 'Right, you know, this is a hit, this piece of music is a hit. I haven't got anything on it, we don't have any song attached to it. So what are we gonna do about that? You've got three hours to come up with something'."[4] Subsequently, Cooper went through her catalogue of unused tracks that she had written over the last two or three years and sung the chorus of every single song against Higgins' piece of drumming.[4] Three hours later, she sang the lyrics 'round round baby round round' to Higgins, who said "that's it, that's amazing."[4]

Music video
The Sugababes featured as a band performing on a rotating platform in the video for "Round Round".

The music video for "Round Round" was directed by Phil Griffin.[5] It has the group performing on a rotating platform, while being surrounded by a tornado with dust and rubble accumulating in it. There is a rusty caged wall with an audience watching, a pair of sunglasses and a ring get sucked into the tornado from them. When Heidi's verse comes up, everything moves in slow-motion, including the tornado, before speeding up again. The girls slowly walk around three male dancers in the middle, and for the end chorus it appears the tornado has dissipated.

Chart performance

"Round Round" debuted at number one on the UK Singles Chart and remained at the top spot for a week, giving the Sugababes their second consecutive UK number one single following "Freak like Me". The song was eventually certified silver by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI).[6] "Round Round" was also a success worldwide, reaching number 2 in Ireland, the Netherlands and New Zealand. The song also reached number 15 in Germany and number 8 in Austria. In Australia, "Round Round" debuted at number 21 and rose to a peak of #13, giving the group their first Australian top twenty hit. It was certified Gold by ARIA, making it the Sugababes' best selling Australian single up until the release of their 2005 single "Push the Button", which reached number 3 and was certified Platinum.

Cover versions

The song was covered by Hong Kong singer Emme Wong in Cantonese in 2003. It was Wong's first single after her record label Universal Music modified her image for a sexier direction. The song quickly became a hit, due to its sexually explicit lyrics and dance moves, as well as the TV-banned video. The song reached the top of several music charts across Southeast China. In the year end, it won a number of awards, including "Best Covered Song", "Best Dance Record", and "Best Stage Performance".

Track listings
CD single (CD1)[7]
No.TitleLength
1."Round Round" (Album Version)3:59
2."Groove Is Going On"4:04
3."Freak like Me" (Girls On Top Dancehall Mix)3:30
CD maxi single (CD2)[8]
No.TitleLength
1."Round Round" (Album Version)3:59
2."Round Round" (M.A.N.D.Y. Radio Mix)3:56
3."Round Round" (Craigie & Crichton Remix)5:03
4."Round Round" (Soulwax Remix)4:11
5."Round Round" (Seani B. Remix feat. Zaguzaar)4:25
Australian CD single[9]
No.TitleLength
1."Round Round" (Album Version)3:59
2."Round Round" (Craigie & Crichton Remix)5:02
3."Round Round" (Soulwax Remix)4:13
4."Freak like Me" (Girls On Top Dancehall Mix)3:30
5."Groove Is Going On"4:04

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Angels with Dirty Faces.[3]

Charts and certifications

References
  1. Hubner, Miriam (10 August 2002). "Airborne" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 20 no. 33. p. 10. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
  2. End of Decade: Sound Of The Overground (NME article, November 2009)
  3. Angels with Dirty Faces (Media notes). Sugababes. Island Records. 2002.CS1 maint: others (link)
  4. Kheraj, Alim (12 November 2016). "The surprising stories behind 6 of Sugababes' biggest hits". Digital Spy. Retrieved 16 January 2017.
  5. Overloaded: The Singles Collection (DVD liner notes). Island Records. November 2006.
  6. "Home". Bpi.co.uk. Retrieved 2 April 2014.
  7. "Sugababes – Round Round". Discogs. Retrieved 1 December 2016.
  8. "Sugababes – Round Round". Discogs. Retrieved 1 December 2016.
  9. "Sugababes – Round Round". Discogs. Retrieved 1 December 2016.
  10. "Australian-charts.com – Sugababes – Round Round". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved 20 July 2012.
  11. "Austriancharts.at – Sugababes – Round Round" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved 20 July 2012.
  12. "Ultratop.be – Sugababes – Round Round" (in French). Ultratip. Retrieved 15 August 2012.
  13. "Ultratop.be – Sugababes – Round Round" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 20 July 2012.
  14. "Oficiální Česká Hitparáda – Pro týden 41/2002" (in Czech). IFPI ČR. Archived from the original on 17 October 2002. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
  15. "Danishcharts.com – Sugababes – Round Round". Tracklisten. Retrieved 20 July 2012.
  16. "Eurochart Hot 100 Singles" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 20 no. 38. 24 September 2002. p. 15. Retrieved 10 February 2020.
  17. "Lescharts.com – Sugababes – Round Round" (in French). Les classement single. Retrieved 20 July 2012.
  18. "Offiziellecharts.de – Sugababes – Round Round". GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 20 July 2012.
  19. "Top 50 Singles" (in Greek). IFPI. Archived from the original on 1 December 2002. Retrieved 29 June 2020. See Best column.
  20. "Archívum – Slágerlisták – MAHASZ" (in Hungarian). Rádiós Top 40 játszási lista. Magyar Hanglemezkiadók Szövetsége. Retrieved 8 December 2010.
  21. "Archívum – Slágerlisták – MAHASZ" (in Hungarian). Single (track) Top 40 lista. Magyar Hanglemezkiadók Szövetsége. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
  22. "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Sugababes". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 26 January 2020.
  23. "Italiancharts.com – Sugababes – Round Round". Top Digital Download. Retrieved 20 July 2012.
  24. "Nederlandse Top 40 – week 40, 2002" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40 Retrieved 10 February 2020.
  25. "Dutchcharts.nl – Sugababes – Round Round" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 20 July 2012.
  26. "Charts.nz – Sugababes – Round Round". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved 20 July 2012.
  27. "Norwegiancharts.com – Sugababes – Round Round". VG-lista. Retrieved 20 July 2012.
  28. "Arhiva romanian top 100 – Editia 48, saptamina 2.12–8.12, 2002" (in Romanian). Romanian Top 100. Archived from the original on 17 February 2005. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
  29. "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 5 July 2018.
  30. "Swedishcharts.com – Sugababes – Round Round". Singles Top 100. Retrieved 20 July 2012.
  31. "Swisscharts.com – Sugababes – Round Round". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved 20 July 2012.
  32. "Sugababes: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
  33. "Sugababes Chart History (Dance Singles Sales)". Billboard. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
  34. "2002 ARIA Singles Chart". ARIA. Retrieved 11 May 2020.
  35. "Jaaroverzichten 2002" (in Dutch). Ultratop. Retrieved 27 January 2020.
  36. "Year in Review – Eurochart Hot 100 Singles 2002" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 21 no. 2–3. 11 January 2003. p. 14. Retrieved 10 February 2020.
  37. "Top of the Music – Mix e Singoli" (PDF) (in Italian). FIMI. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 May 2006. Retrieved 14 December 2020.
  38. "Top 100–Jaaroverzicht van 2002". Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 27 January 2020.
  39. "Jaaroverzichten – Single 2002" (in Dutch). MegaCharts. Retrieved 27 January 2020.
  40. "End of Year Charts 2002". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved 10 February 2020.
  41. "Swiss Year-End Charts 2002" (in German). Retrieved 10 May 2020.
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  44. "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2002 Singles". Australian Recording Industry Association. Archived from the original on 10 August 2020.
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  46. Myers, Justin (20 August 2020). "Official Charts Flashback 2002: Sugababes - Round Round". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 20 August 2020.
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