The Scissor Sisters release new album & single this summer (including chart history of the band)

The New York City group Scissor Sisters may be NYC-underground royalty, but it’s their British influences that have allowed them to use their international success to fuel their career’s future.

The group is very reminiscent of 70s and 80s glam-pop-rock (pay attention Glambert) and with their dance, falsetto-filled camp tracks they pay homage to Elton John, Bee Gees, Cher and the dance divas of the time. Their instrumentals are a concoction of disco anthems via nostalgic singer/songwriters. Think Piano Man meets Believe.

Their self-titled debut album in 2004 didn’t break any records in the US, but it took over in the UK selling more than 2.5 million copies in the territory alone. The album became the best-selling album in the UK for the year 2004, despite only reaching the #1 spot for two weeks that year (and two weeks in early 2005).

The album hit #1 on July 4^th, 2004; July 18^th, 2004; January 9^th, 2005; February 20^th, 2005.

The album peaked at #102 on the Billboard 200.

Five singles releases happened from 2003-2005. The first single “Laura” (which was released twice), “Comfortably Numb” (a Pink Floyd cover), “Take Your Mama”, “Mary” (the only true ballad) and the last single being “Filthy/Gorgeous”.

Here are the UK chart positions of the singles:

“Laura” #12 (First released October 27^th, 2003; then in June 7^th, 2004)

“Comfortably Numb” #10 (January 2004)

“Take Your Mama” #17 (March 29^th, 2004)

“Mary” #14 (October 11^th, 2004)

“Filthy/Gorgeous” #5 (January 3^rd, 2005)

“Take Your Mama” was the only single that saw enough airplay as it was used as the launching single in the US, although it didn’t make any impact on the charts. “Numb” hit #1 on the US Dance Sales charts, and “Filthy” hit #16 on the same chart and #1 on the Hot Dance charts.

In late 2004, even though America had heard them in the mainstream for a handful of months, the UK had already taken the band under its wings. The band’s masterminds, front man Jake Shears and cuddly producer/performer Babydaddy, were sought after by many for their talented input.

Which is when dance-diva and Pop Princess extraordinaire Kylie Minogue, comes in.

 Although Minogue carries the track, 2004’s “I Believe in You” couldn’t have been put together by any other duo. The single stalled at #2 in the UK when it was released December 6^th, 2004. Also, it hit #4 on the US Dance Airplay Chart and #3 on the Dance Club Play Chart the same month.

The track, an overly synthesized dance extravaganza, is filled with the Disco Era’s frantic-depressive, happy-melancholic essence. The lyrics, written by Shears, Babydaddy and Minogue, are a roller-coaster ride of exquisite depth and rapid pace that at first glance appear to be vapid, yet at the second move a chill way past the skin.  

In 2005, the Brit Awards (England’s equivalent to the Grammy Awards) recognized the band with 3 wins, of the three categories they were nominated for: International Album, International Breakthrough and International Band; which made them the biggest winners of the night.

 Their second album didn’t come until the summer of 2006. Ta-Dah was a rockier-romp that relied heavily on the band’s eclectic song writing, in this case, reflected in the borderline morbid numbers like “I Can’t Decide” and “Intermission”.

The album stood its own in a summer filled with releases from Christina Aguilera Back to Basics, Justin Timberlake Future Sex/Love Sounds, The Killers Sam’s Town, Snow Patrol Eyes Open, Robbie Williams Rudebox and in the UK’s case, Girls Aloud, George Michael, Westlife and Take That.

The album hit #1 in the UK for two weeks on September 24^th and October 1^st 2006.

The album saw an increase in popularity in the US, when the September 15^th, 2006 release saw the set debuting at #19 with over 41,992 copies sold that first week. The album has sold over 1.2 million copies in the UK, and over 4 million copies worldwide.

Although Ta-Dah did better with sales, this album saw the demise of their single sales in the UK. Whereas the first album saw all of its releases hit the top 20, their second album only enjoyed two top 20 singles, including the #1 song “I Don’t Feel like Dancin’”.

“Dancin’” became the band’s first #1 in the UK, becoming the fourth best-selling single that year. The song stayed on the UK charts for 27 weeks and it features Elton John playing the piano (he’s also a co-writer).

The song stayed at #1 for four weeks from September 10^th until October 8^th, 2006.

The song became their first top 10 in Australia and Canada hitting #1 and #6 respectfully.

The song hit #2 and #1 on the US Dance Sales chart and Dance Airplay chart.

The album saw five released too from 2006’s “I Don’t Feel Like Dancin’” until the last UK release of “I Can’t Decide” in 2007.

Here are the UK chart positions of the singles:

“I Don’t Feel Like Dancing” #1 (September 4^th, 2006)

“Land of a Thousand Words” #19 (December 4^th, 2006)

“She’s My Man” #29 (March 5^th, 2007)

“Kiss You Off” #43 (May 28^th, 2007)

“I Can’t Decide” #64 (June 30^th, 2007 (on downloads only))

Now, on June 28^th (the same day Kylie releases her new single “All the Lovers” from the album Aphrodite, which Shears helped co-write and produce) and June 29^th their third studio album Night Work will be released internationally. Their first single will be “Fire with Fire” will be released on June 20^th, a week prior.

Listen to the first leaked track from the album titled “Invisible Light”: