- Mutya Keisha Siobhan The Sacred Three Deluxe Set
- Mutya Keisha Siobhan The Sacred Three Deluxe Mix
- Mutya Keisha Siobhan The Sacred Three Deluxe Mixer
“Strange fear I ain’t felt for years…”
The Sugababes – Version 1.0, briefly known as Mutya Keisha Siobhan, or MKS, or the Origibabes – are making a grand return. Sort of.
The application was filed in the name of Sacred Three LLP – and if there were any doubts as to who the ‘sacred three’ are, Mutya, Keisha and Siobhan are listed as ‘designated members’ of the partnership. Assuming the application becomes registered without opposition, it marks the end of a decade-long struggle for the Sugababes name. Mutya Keisha Siobhan: Mutya Keisha Siobhan. World Heritage Encyclopedia, the aggregation of the largest online encyclopedias available, and the most.
Following a one-off comeback with DJ Spoony in the form of “Flowers” in 2019, and years of stop-start announcements (and trademark legal battles, and an album’s worth of leaks) ever since their brilliant “Flatline” in 2013, the trio revealed this month that their debut studio album, One Touch, is being re-released in October. Remixed, remastered…and very much still iconic, indeed.
The record, which was originally released in November of 2000, spawned the group’s ingeniously understated, ahead-of-its-time debut single “Overload,” their first Top 10 hit, as well as “New Year,” “Run for Cover” and “Soul Sound,” among other gems.
Released when the girls were no older than 16 and produced largely by Cameron McVey (father of Mabel, hello!), the critically acclaimed album set the bar for the girl group, which would go on to notch over a dozen Top 10 hits, despite enduring several member and sonic switch-ups. At a point, they were declared the most successful female act of the 21st century.
Mutya Keisha Siobhan The Sacred Three Deluxe Set
Now that the (original) ‘Babes are back, and the vaccines are rolling out steadily, there’s no better time for the postponed celebration of the group’s origin to begin.
“What I love is that One Touch is getting the justice it deserves because even though I love our other albums, I always thought it was a shame it didn’t get the push it truly deserved,” Keisha told NME.
It also came almost at the same time as Little Mix’s empowering speech after winning Best British Group at the 2021 BRITs – a first for an all-female group, in which they shouted out the ‘Babes among other legendary acts, including the Spice Girls, Girls Aloud and All Saints.
The massive tracklist of the One Touch (20 Year Anniversary Edition) is admittedly impressive, and proves that this is much more than just a vinyl reissue: there are demos, original mixes, new remixes by MNEK (whose fresh, pulsating take on “Run for Cover” is already available to listen to now – highly recommend), Dev Hynes (AKA Blood Orange) and Metronomy, as well as alternative and acoustic versions.
For diehard Sugacubes, it’s a full panic.
Hindsight is also everything, and the girls have been speaking out in recent interviews and documentaries about their experience with fame and the music industry, including Keisha’s reflection on the bullying accusations over the years, and Siobhan opening up about mental health struggles.
And before you ask, yes: new Sugababes music is coming. No, not immediately.
“COVID threw a spanner in the works. We were recording before the series of lockdowns in the past year, but we’ve got so much material that we need to work through. We probably need to do a little more recording. As soon as we can get back together in the studio, we’re going to work on something fresh. But there’s a lot of material that I feel we should collate together because it’s some of our best work ever and it would be a shame for it not to be released properly,” Siobhan said in that same interview.
“We recorded something quite interesting before lockdown that, for me, I haven’t felt that excited about a song since ‘Flatline,'” Keisha intriguingly added – which is quite high praise.
There are about 45 different bundle configurations available for pre-order now, but the big one is the Ultimate Bundle, which includes the remastered 2-CD album, a gold vinyl, a limited edition deluxe vinyl, an album tee, a logo tee, a tote bag and a signed and numbered “Overload” CD single. Honestly? Major.
Mutya Keisha Siobhan The Sacred Three Deluxe Mix
Sure, there have only been about two (official) new music releases in the past decade from the Sugas. But time and distance makes the heart grow fonder, and the music (soul) sound so much sweeter.
Welcome back, ‘Babes.
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Photo credit: London Music Stream
After years of speculation, the three original members of pop group Sugababes - Mutya Buena, Keisha Buchanan and Siobhan Donaghy – launched a second comeback last week, but this time with a very valuable asset up their sleeves: the original Sugababes name.
The group became infamous in the 2000s not just for being the most successful female act of the 21st century, but also for their regularly transforming line-up: the Sugababes’ revolving door also saw Heidi Range, Amelle Berrabah and Jade Ewen join the group over the years as the original members left. Behind the scenes, a secret battle for the naming rights to the band played out: one which the original members now appear to have finally won.
Sugababes are not the only band to have found themselves caught up In The Middle of a clash over the intellectual property rights in their name. Bucks Fizz and the Commodores (to name but a few) have also resorted to legal action in a ‘battle of the bandmates’ over naming rights.
Sugababes
On 23rd October 2019, days after a Sugababes collaboration with DJ Spoony was released, a UK trade mark application for the mark “SUGABABES” was filed, covering various music-related goods and services. The application was filed in the name of Sacred Three LLP – and if there were any doubts as to who the ‘sacred three’ are, Mutya, Keisha and Siobhan are listed as ‘designated members’ of the partnership.
Assuming the application becomes registered without opposition, it marks the end of a decade-long struggle for the Sugababes name. After leaving the band in 2005, original member Mutya filed an EU application for the trade mark SUGABABES in 2009. The application was swiftly opposed by the group at the time, Heidi, Amelle and Jade. Interestingly, the name had not been registered as a trade mark prior to Mutya’s application, so the ‘new’ Sugababes had to rely on their unregistered rights or ‘goodwill’ in the name to oppose it instead. The group argued that, as they had continued to perform and record under the name since Mutya left, the goodwill in the Sugababes name belonged to them.
The EU Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) agreed, and Mutya’s application was rejected for all goods and services except paper, cardboard and related goods – perhaps not the main focus of Ms. Buena’s application. A far broader EU mark for the name was subsequently registered in 2010, by a partnership of the current members at the time.
Mutya Keisha Siobhan The Sacred Three Deluxe Mixer
The original members made a short-lived comeback in 2011, simply under the name ‘Mutya, Keisha, Siobhan’. Their recent return under the original name suggests the original members are in a Stronger position now, and that the decade-long battle has finally stopped spinning Round Round in circles.
Bucks Fizz
The line-up of Eurovision winners Bucks Fizz has also changed significantly over the years, resulting in serious headaches over the ownership of the band name. Most recently, three of the original members of the famous 80s pop group – Cheryl Baker, Mike Nolan and Jay Aston – failed to convince the UK Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO) that they should own the rights to the name.
The trio performed under the name ‘The Original Bucks Fizz’ after leaving the band, and applied to revoke a UK trade mark for “BUCKS FIZZ” which had been registered by Heidi Manton, who had subsequently joined the group. The three original members argued that they owned the goodwill in the name.
The UKIPO decided that the original members had given up their claim to the goodwill when they left the band, and so could make no claim to use the Bucks Fizz name. Following the decision, the trio of original members have found continued success by performing as ‘The Fizz’.
The Commodores
Over in the US, soul group The Commodores have not always had it Easy when it comes to the band’s name either. The Grammy-award winning band, which once featured Lionel Richie at the helm in the 1970s and 1980s, was involved in a court case in 2016 when original members made conflicting claims to the ownership of the band name.
A US district judge ruled that Commodores Entertainment Group, comprised of original trumpet player William King and drummer Walter Orange, was the true owner of the legal rights to the band name – and not original guitarist Thomas McClary, who had been performing under variations of the name.
Lessons learned
Although battling bandmates can make for interesting stories in the media, the lessons learned from these cases can be applied to businesses more generally. Under the law, bands are treated as a partnership unless they have specifically created a separate commercial vehicle for their activities, such as a limited company. If the band members have not formally agreed otherwise, rights such as trade marks and goodwill will generally belong to the partnership, and not the individual partners. As demonstrated in the examples above, this can cause complex difficult legal problems when band members come and go, or when partners of a business leave and are replaced. Consequently, partnerships should formally agree the ownership of any IP – including unregistered rights such as goodwill and reputation – from the outset, so there is legal clarity as to who owns those rights if any members of the partnership leave.
These cases also demonstrate the importance of managing an IP portfolio clearly and effectively. Filing for trade marks as soon as possible can help avoid many problems later down the line – for example, the later generation of Sugababes may have had a much easier challenging Mutya Buena’s application if they had registered the trade mark in the first place.
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