Something about Us
Encyclopedia
"Something About Us" is a song by all-female German pop band No Angels
. It was written by Thorsten Brötzmann
, Alexander Geringas
and band member Vanessa Petruo
for the group's second studio album Now... Us! (2002), and created as a response to what the band felt was intense and sometimes unfair and inaccurate media criticism at the time, predominantly resulting from their casting band
image. Produced by Brötzmann and co-producer Jeo, the uptempo track incorporates elements of both the contemporary R&B
and latin-pop genre as well as church music
during the ironical bridge.
Released as the album's leading single on May 6, 2002 in German-speaking Europe
, the record achieved major success by becoming the group's third non-consecutive number-one hit in Austria and Germany within a period of fifteen months. In addition, it reached number three on Eurochart Hot 100 Singles
chart and number eleven in Switzerland, eventually going platinum. The record was generally well-received by contemporary critics, who acclaimed the band for the production of self-written material, and was nominated for a 2002 Top of the Pops Awards
and Best National Single - Rock/Pop at the 2003 ECHO Awards.
The music video for the song was directed by Marcus Sternberg
, and won the 2003 ECHO Award in the category Videoclip National. Inspired by the media-critical subtext of the lyrics, the clip features the quintet as printers of the fictional tabloid newspaper
called Daily Express, each of them facing rumored page-one catchlines such as alleged bisexuality
, incest
, and physical aggression
.
, songwriter Alexander Geringas
, and producer Brötzmann worked on the track during the album's finishing process in the Park Studios in Tutzing, Bavaria
. Incorporating autobiographical features, it was inspired by Petruo's experiences with the media
the year before. "I recalled the past year, the good and the bad times, and I built my own personal résumé," she said about the song's writing process the following year
. "I was thinking about the people who never have believed in us and just don't accept that we are true musicians und see ourselves as artists [...] I just wanted to say: I see those prejudices and sometimes they hurt but generally we're laughing [them away]. That's the essence of the song!"
While the band regarded the song an early candidate to become the album's lead single in hopes of breaking away from the stereotyping Europop
widely associated with the group through previous singles, the group's record company Cheyenne Records declared the song too risky for the charts. Instead the label originally intended album cut "2 Get Over U," a duet with UK popstars Hear'Say
, as the band's next single with a release around Christmas 2001. However, due to Hear'Say's limited fame in Germany Polydor Records
and Cheyenne decided to exclude the band's vocals from the song and moved it back to a spring 2002 launch to enable the No Angels additional work on their second longplayer. Although the No Angels premiered the song on The Dome 21
in Stuttgart
on March 1, 2002 and a release date was set on March 18, 2002, "2 Get Over You" was eventually shelved in favour of the self-written "Something About Us."
"Something About Us" also was premiered on The Dome 21
in Stuttgart on March 1, and made its television debut on March 7, 2002 at the 11th ECHO Awards in Berlin. Officially released on May 6, 2002, the CD single spawned specially-produced extended and club mixes as well as an alternative "Latin Radio Edit," also released on the Special Winter Edition of the album, and the Langnese
jingle
"Like Ice in the Sunshine."
Marcus Sternberg
and American choreographer
Sean Cheesman. It was shot over twenty hours and features Jessica Wahls
' late spouse Sascha Dickreuter as a dancer.
Inspired by the song lyric's media-critical subtext, the clip ironically features the quintet as overall
-dressed printers of an all-fictional tabloid newspaper
called Daily Express. While they are seen dancing in front of running printing press
es throughout most of the video, intercut with face shots and some male dancers, close shots of the paper's pages reveal the background of the page-one catchline 'Girlband Shocker': Each of them has to deal with intense media scrutiny, including rumors of alleged bisexuality
, incest
, and physical aggression
, among others. Although slightly autobiographical, Lucy Diakovska has denied that the headlines were inspired by real-life events. "The video is not about certain events," Jessica Wahls added, "but [it's] about how we've felt the past year, [about] what happened to [each of] us and the band."
The video won an ECHO at the 2003 ECHO Awards in the category Videoclip National.
, as well as the group's third non-consecutive number-one hit within a period of sixteen months. It stayed at the top of the chart for four consecutive weeks, seven weeks in the top ten, sixteen weeks inside the top 100 (making its last appearance on the chart one week prior to the entry of follow-up single "Still in Love with You"); and received a platinum certification by the German arm of the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry. However, the song was one of a total of eleven number-one hits that year, but failed to reach the top ten of the biggest-selling singles of the year and was eventually ranked eleventh on the German Media Control singles year-end charts.
The song also became the band's third number-one hit in Austria where it debuted at number four on May 19, 2002, before climbing to number one the next week. It spend one week on top of the singles charts only, but remained six weeks inside the Top 10 and twenty-one weeks in total, receiving a gold certification by the IFPI Austria and charting inside the thirty biggest-selling singles of 2002. In Switzerland, "Something About Us" underperformed in its first week, debuting on number thirty-one only. In the following week, it jumped to number eleven due to a major increase in sales and radio support, but it would become the band's first single not to reach the Top 10.
CD single I
No Angels
The No Angels are an all-female pop trio from Germany, consisting of band members Lucy Diakovska, Sandy Mölling, and Jessica Wahls. Critically acclaimed, the band has won dozen of awards and prizes since their establishment in the early 2000s, including three ECHOs, a World Music Awards, a NRJ...
. It was written by Thorsten Brötzmann
Thorsten Brötzmann
Thorsten Brötzmann is a German record producer, composer, and arranger. He is perhaps best known for his collaboration with the No Angels, Bro'Sis, Christina Stürmer, Monrose, Jeanette, Alexander Klaws, and Modern Talking.-Number-one singles:...
, Alexander Geringas
Alexander Geringas
Alexander Geringas is a music producer, songwriter, composer and lyricist based in Hamburg, Germany.-Early life:Alex Geringas was born in Moscow in 1971. His parents pianist Tatiana and cellist David Geringas left the Soviet Union in 1975...
and band member Vanessa Petruo
Vanessa Petruo
Vanessa Anneliese Petruo , also known as Vany, is a German singer–songwriter and actress. She came to international prominence as a member of the all–female pop band No Angels that was created during the talents show Popstars...
for the group's second studio album Now... Us! (2002), and created as a response to what the band felt was intense and sometimes unfair and inaccurate media criticism at the time, predominantly resulting from their casting band
Casting (performing arts)
In the performing arts, casting is a pre-production process for selecting a cast of actors, dancers, singers, models and other talent for a live or recorded performance.-Casting process:...
image. Produced by Brötzmann and co-producer Jeo, the uptempo track incorporates elements of both the contemporary R&B
Contemporary R&B
Contemporary R&B is a music genre that combines elements of hip hop, soul, R&B and funk.Although the abbreviation “R&B” originates from traditional rhythm and blues music, today the term R&B is most often used to describe a style of African American music originating after the demise of disco in...
and latin-pop genre as well as church music
Church music
Church music may be defined as music written for performance in church, or any musical setting of ecclestiacal liturgy, or music set to words expressing propositions of a sacred nature, such as a hymn. This article covers music in the Judaeo-Christian tradition. For sacred music outside this...
during the ironical bridge.
Released as the album's leading single on May 6, 2002 in German-speaking Europe
German-speaking Europe
The German language is spoken in a number of countries and territories in West, Central and Eastern Europe...
, the record achieved major success by becoming the group's third non-consecutive number-one hit in Austria and Germany within a period of fifteen months. In addition, it reached number three on Eurochart Hot 100 Singles
Eurochart Hot 100 Singles
The European Hot 100 Singles has been compiled by Billboard and Music & Media magazine since March, 1984. The chart is based on national singles sales charts in 15 European countries: Austria, Belgium , Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden,...
chart and number eleven in Switzerland, eventually going platinum. The record was generally well-received by contemporary critics, who acclaimed the band for the production of self-written material, and was nominated for a 2002 Top of the Pops Awards
Top of the Pops
Top of the Pops, also known as TOTP, is a British music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly from 1 January 1964 to 30 July 2006. After 25 December 2006 it became a radio program, now hosted by Tony Blackburn...
and Best National Single - Rock/Pop at the 2003 ECHO Awards.
The music video for the song was directed by Marcus Sternberg
Marcus Sternberg
Marcus Sternberg is a German music video director.- Biography :Sternberg studied at the International Film School in London and is currently living in Berlin and Buenos Aires. Besides music videos he also directs commercials...
, and won the 2003 ECHO Award in the category Videoclip National. Inspired by the media-critical subtext of the lyrics, the clip features the quintet as printers of the fictional tabloid newspaper
Newspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
called Daily Express, each of them facing rumored page-one catchlines such as alleged bisexuality
Bisexuality
Bisexuality is sexual behavior or an orientation involving physical or romantic attraction to both males and females, especially with regard to men and women. It is one of the three main classifications of sexual orientation, along with a heterosexual and a homosexual orientation, all a part of the...
, incest
Incest
Incest is sexual intercourse between close relatives that is usually illegal in the jurisdiction where it takes place and/or is conventionally considered a taboo. The term may apply to sexual activities between: individuals of close "blood relationship"; members of the same household; step...
, and physical aggression
Aggression
In psychology, as well as other social and behavioral sciences, aggression refers to behavior between members of the same species that is intended to cause humiliation, pain, or harm. Ferguson and Beaver defined aggressive behavior as "Behavior which is intended to increase the social dominance of...
.
Background and release
"Something About Us" is one out of five self-penned contributions to the Now... Us! album. Vanessa PetruoVanessa Petruo
Vanessa Anneliese Petruo , also known as Vany, is a German singer–songwriter and actress. She came to international prominence as a member of the all–female pop band No Angels that was created during the talents show Popstars...
, songwriter Alexander Geringas
Alexander Geringas
Alexander Geringas is a music producer, songwriter, composer and lyricist based in Hamburg, Germany.-Early life:Alex Geringas was born in Moscow in 1971. His parents pianist Tatiana and cellist David Geringas left the Soviet Union in 1975...
, and producer Brötzmann worked on the track during the album's finishing process in the Park Studios in Tutzing, Bavaria
Lake Starnberg
Lake Starnberg , 25 kilometers southwest of Munich in southern Bavaria, is Germany's fifth largest freshwater lake and, due to its large average depth, the second richest in water...
. Incorporating autobiographical features, it was inspired by Petruo's experiences with the media
News media
The news media are those elements of the mass media that focus on delivering news to the general public or a target public.These include print media , broadcast news , and more recently the Internet .-Etymology:A medium is a carrier of something...
the year before. "I recalled the past year, the good and the bad times, and I built my own personal résumé," she said about the song's writing process the following year
2003 in music
-January:* January – following an investigation by The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry and London detectives, police raids in England and the Netherlands recover nearly 500 original Beatles studio tapes, recorded during the Let It Be sessions. Five people are arrested...
. "I was thinking about the people who never have believed in us and just don't accept that we are true musicians und see ourselves as artists [...] I just wanted to say: I see those prejudices and sometimes they hurt but generally we're laughing [them away]. That's the essence of the song!"
While the band regarded the song an early candidate to become the album's lead single in hopes of breaking away from the stereotyping Europop
Europop
Europop refers to a style of pop music that first developed in today's form in Europe, throughout the late 1970s. Europop topped the charts throughout the 1980s and ’90s...
widely associated with the group through previous singles, the group's record company Cheyenne Records declared the song too risky for the charts. Instead the label originally intended album cut "2 Get Over U," a duet with UK popstars Hear'Say
Hear'Say
Hear'Say were a British manufactured pop group created in February 2001 from the winners of Popstars, an ITV reality TV show based on a New Zealand show of the same name. They enjoyed huge success with their debut single "Pure and Simple", helped by the publicity surrounding Popstars, the first of...
, as the band's next single with a release around Christmas 2001. However, due to Hear'Say's limited fame in Germany Polydor Records
Polydor Records
Polydor is a record label owned by Universal Music Group, headquartered in the United Kingdom.-Beginnings:Polydor was originally an independent branch of the Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft. Its name was first used as an export label in 1924, the British and German branches of the Gramophone...
and Cheyenne decided to exclude the band's vocals from the song and moved it back to a spring 2002 launch to enable the No Angels additional work on their second longplayer. Although the No Angels premiered the song on The Dome 21
The Dome (television program)
The Dome is a German television program and music event, produced and broadcast by RTL 2. Roughly every three months, a new show is recorded in an event hall in different cities in Germany and Austria. In each episode, several national, but also international bands and musicians perform their...
in Stuttgart
Stuttgart
Stuttgart is the capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. The sixth-largest city in Germany, Stuttgart has a population of 600,038 while the metropolitan area has a population of 5.3 million ....
on March 1, 2002 and a release date was set on March 18, 2002, "2 Get Over You" was eventually shelved in favour of the self-written "Something About Us."
"Something About Us" also was premiered on The Dome 21
The Dome
The Dome commonly refers to:*Millennium Dome, a former Millennium exhibition venue in London, England, now redeveloped as The O2 entertainment venue*Louisiana Superdome, home of the New Orleans Saints american football team*Hubert H...
in Stuttgart on March 1, and made its television debut on March 7, 2002 at the 11th ECHO Awards in Berlin. Officially released on May 6, 2002, the CD single spawned specially-produced extended and club mixes as well as an alternative "Latin Radio Edit," also released on the Special Winter Edition of the album, and the Langnese
Langnese
right|thumb|300px|Langnese billboard advertisement as seen in Berlin, Germany.Langnese is the German Heartbrand subsidiary of the Anglo-Dutch company Unilever...
jingle
Jingle
A jingle is a short tune used in advertising and for other commercial uses. The jingle contains one or more hooks and lyrics that explicitly promote the product being advertised, usually through the use of one or more advertising slogans. Ad buyers use jingles in radio and television...
"Like Ice in the Sunshine."
Music video
The single's music video was filmed inside a Berlin printing plant in early April 2002 and the No Angels' first collaboration with both directorMusic video director
A music video director is driven by a given music track. These are called music videos and are then used as promotional tools for popular music singles...
Marcus Sternberg
Marcus Sternberg
Marcus Sternberg is a German music video director.- Biography :Sternberg studied at the International Film School in London and is currently living in Berlin and Buenos Aires. Besides music videos he also directs commercials...
and American choreographer
Choreography
Choreography is the art of designing sequences of movements in which motion, form, or both are specified. Choreography may also refer to the design itself, which is sometimes expressed by means of dance notation. The word choreography literally means "dance-writing" from the Greek words "χορεία" ...
Sean Cheesman. It was shot over twenty hours and features Jessica Wahls
Jessica Wahls
Jessica Martina Wahls , also known under her nickname Jess, is a German pop singer, songwriter and television host, who rose to fame as one of the founding members of the successful all-female pop band No Angels, the "biggest-selling German girlband to date," according to the German media.-Early...
' late spouse Sascha Dickreuter as a dancer.
Inspired by the song lyric's media-critical subtext, the clip ironically features the quintet as overall
Overall
An overall, coverall, over all, or dungarees, is a type of garment which is usually used as protective clothing when working...
-dressed printers of an all-fictional tabloid newspaper
Newspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
called Daily Express. While they are seen dancing in front of running printing press
Printing press
A printing press is a device for applying pressure to an inked surface resting upon a print medium , thereby transferring the ink...
es throughout most of the video, intercut with face shots and some male dancers, close shots of the paper's pages reveal the background of the page-one catchline 'Girlband Shocker': Each of them has to deal with intense media scrutiny, including rumors of alleged bisexuality
Bisexuality
Bisexuality is sexual behavior or an orientation involving physical or romantic attraction to both males and females, especially with regard to men and women. It is one of the three main classifications of sexual orientation, along with a heterosexual and a homosexual orientation, all a part of the...
, incest
Incest
Incest is sexual intercourse between close relatives that is usually illegal in the jurisdiction where it takes place and/or is conventionally considered a taboo. The term may apply to sexual activities between: individuals of close "blood relationship"; members of the same household; step...
, and physical aggression
Aggression
In psychology, as well as other social and behavioral sciences, aggression refers to behavior between members of the same species that is intended to cause humiliation, pain, or harm. Ferguson and Beaver defined aggressive behavior as "Behavior which is intended to increase the social dominance of...
, among others. Although slightly autobiographical, Lucy Diakovska has denied that the headlines were inspired by real-life events. "The video is not about certain events," Jessica Wahls added, "but [it's] about how we've felt the past year, [about] what happened to [each of] us and the band."
The video won an ECHO at the 2003 ECHO Awards in the category Videoclip National.
Chart performance
Upon its release on May 6, 2002, "Something About Us" became the band's third single to debut on the top position of the German Media Control singles chartMedia Control Charts
The official music charts in Germany are gathered and published by the company Media Control GfK International on behalf of Bundesverband Musikindustrie...
, as well as the group's third non-consecutive number-one hit within a period of sixteen months. It stayed at the top of the chart for four consecutive weeks, seven weeks in the top ten, sixteen weeks inside the top 100 (making its last appearance on the chart one week prior to the entry of follow-up single "Still in Love with You"); and received a platinum certification by the German arm of the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry. However, the song was one of a total of eleven number-one hits that year, but failed to reach the top ten of the biggest-selling singles of the year and was eventually ranked eleventh on the German Media Control singles year-end charts.
The song also became the band's third number-one hit in Austria where it debuted at number four on May 19, 2002, before climbing to number one the next week. It spend one week on top of the singles charts only, but remained six weeks inside the Top 10 and twenty-one weeks in total, receiving a gold certification by the IFPI Austria and charting inside the thirty biggest-selling singles of 2002. In Switzerland, "Something About Us" underperformed in its first week, debuting on number thirty-one only. In the following week, it jumped to number eleven due to a major increase in sales and radio support, but it would become the band's first single not to reach the Top 10.
Formats and track listings
These are the formats and track listings of major single-releases of "Something About Us".CD single I
- "Something About Us" (latin radio edit) — 3:05
- "Something About Us" (R&B single edit) — 3:25
- "Something About Us" (club radio edit) — 3:28
- "Something About Us" (extended edit) — 4:50
- "Like Ice in the Sunshine" — 3:00
Credits and personnel
- Vocals: N. BenaissaNadja BenaissaNadja Benaissa is a German singer, songwriter and occasional actress, who rose to fame as one of the founding members of the successful all-female pop band No Angels, the "biggest-selling German girlband to date", according to the German media.After a series of commercially successful releases...
, L. DiakovskaLudmilla DiakovskaLudmilla "Lucy" Diakovska is a Bulgarian singer-songwriter, music producer, dancer, stage actress and television personality, who rose to fame as one of the founding members of the successful all-female pop band No Angels, the "biggest-selling German girlband to date," according to the German...
, S. MöllingSandy MöllingSandy Mölling , known professionally as Sandy, is a German singer-songwriter, dancer, television presenter and occasional actress, who rose to fame as one of the founding members of the successful all-female pop band No Angels, the "biggest-selling German girlband to date," according to the German...
, V. PetruoVanessa PetruoVanessa Anneliese Petruo , also known as Vany, is a German singer–songwriter and actress. She came to international prominence as a member of the all–female pop band No Angels that was created during the talents show Popstars...
, J. WahlsJessica WahlsJessica Martina Wahls , also known under her nickname Jess, is a German pop singer, songwriter and television host, who rose to fame as one of the founding members of the successful all-female pop band No Angels, the "biggest-selling German girlband to date," according to the German media.-Early... - WritersSongwriterA songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
: V. Petruo, Thorsten Brötzmann, Alexander Geringas - Producer: T. Brötzmann
- Co-production and mixingAudio mixing (recorded music)In audio recording, audio mixing is the process by which multiple recorded sounds are combined into one or more channels, most commonly two-channel stereo. In the process, the source signals' level, frequency content, dynamics, and panoramic position are manipulated and effects such as reverb may...
: Jeo
- Keyboards: T. Brötzmann, Jeo
- Drum programming: T. Brötzmann, Jeo
- Guitar: Peter Weihe
- Recorded at the Park Studios, Tutzing, Lake StarnbergLake StarnbergLake Starnberg , 25 kilometers southwest of Munich in southern Bavaria, is Germany's fifth largest freshwater lake and, due to its large average depth, the second richest in water...
Charts
| Chart (2002) | Peak position |
|---|