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All Saints were formed in 1993 by
friends Melanie Blatt and Shaznay Lewis and were
named after All Saints Road in Notting Hill, where
the studio they made their first recordings is
located.
The duo were signed to ZTT Records in 1995 and
released one single 'If You Wanna Party', which
failed to chart. After leaving ZTT Blatt and Lewis
recruited a mutual friend Nicole Appleton who
brought with her sister, Natalie
The group found a new deal with London Records in
1996 and began working with a variety of producers.
All Saint's first single for the label 'I Know Where
It's At/ was released in August 1997.
It was produced by Karl 'K Gee' Gordon, a one time
member of the rap group Outlaw Posse. The single
reached No.4 and made the US Top 40, but was totally
eclipsed by the group's follow up hit, the down
tempo 'Never Ever' - produced by Neneh Cherry's
husband and producer Cameron McVey.
With a video shot by fashion photographer Sean Ellis
'Never Ever' spent over two months climbing to the
top of the chart, hitting No. 1 in January 1998, it
was also a Top 5 hit in the US.
The follow up to one of the year's biggest hits came
in the unlikely guise of 'Under The Bridge', a song
written and made famous by leading American
alternative rockers The Red Hot Chilli Peppers. The
song was suggested and produced for the group by
Nellee Hooper who is famed for his work with Soul II
Soul, Massive Attack and Bjork, amongst others.
'Under The Bridge' was backed with an All Saints
version of Labelle's 70's disco classic 'Lady
Marmalade'. The single would give the group their
second No. 1 and would soon be followed by a third,
'Bootie Call', in August 1998.
This trio of No 1. hits helped the group's self
titled debut album to become one of the biggest
selling releases of 1998, selling over 1.4 million
copies in the UK.
The group ended the year taking a break due to
Melanie Blatt's pregnancy with Jamiroquai's then
bass player Stuart Zender. However, the group was
rarely out of the press with the Appleton sister's
string of high profile boyfriends providing the
tabloids with a stream of stories.
November 1998 saw the fifth and final release from
the All Saints album, 'War of Nerves', it reached
No. 7.
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