The Reynolds Girls

The Reynolds Girls in the music video for their first and only major hit single, "I'd Rather Jack" (1989)

The Reynolds Girls were a British vocal duo composed of sisters Linda (born in 1971) and Aisling (born in 1973). They are best known for their hit single "I'd Rather Jack", which peaked at number 8 on the UK Singles Chart[1] in April 1989, as well as number 8 in the Netherlands[2] and number 7 in the Flanders region of Belgium.[3] It remained in the UK Singles Chart for 12 weeks.[4] The sisters signed to the PWL record label after giving Pete Waterman a demo tape.[5] Their single was produced by Stock Aitken and Waterman.

The sisters grew up in Litherland, a suburb of Sefton, Liverpool and were of Irish descent.[5] The duo's younger sister, Debbie, played the original Katie Rogers, in Brookside, from 1987 to 1989.

"I'd Rather Jack" started out as a response to music critics who ignored the younger pop acts in the UK at the time, and to radio DJs who continued to play older bands on their playlists rather than Stock Aitken and Waterman songs. It was also a response to a perceived snub at the Brit Awards, where SAW acts lost out to more "mature" acts such as Enya and Steve Winwood. After their one hit, The Reynolds Girls were dropped by the label. A second single, "Get Real", was released but this failed to chart and the duo have not made any real media appearance since.[5]

In a public poll conducted by Channel 4 in 2003, "I'd Rather Jack" was voted number 91 in a list of the 100 Worst Pop Records of All Time.[6] In a documentary about PWL that aired in 2012, the people interviewed admitted that the single was indeed a tongue-in-cheek response to the critics, and in part did ruin the siblings' career after they'd recorded it.[7]

References

  1. "Reynolds Girls". The Official Charts Company. Retrieved 3 October 2014.
  2. "I'd Rather Jack (in Dutch chart)" (in Dutch). Retrieved 3 October 2014.
  3. "I'd Rather Jack (in Flanders chart)" (in Dutch). Ultratop. Hung Medien. Retrieved 3 October 2014.
  4. Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 459. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 "The Reynolds Girls". web.archive.org. Archived from the original on 2007-06-21. Retrieved 2009-12-24.
  6. "C4 - 100 Worst Pop Records". www.channel4.com. Archived from the original on 2009-12-16. Retrieved 2009-12-24.
  7. "The Hit Factory: The Stock Aitken Waterman Story" posted on YouTube by Lonnie Gordon