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Mutya warms-up Sugababes leftovers
Amelle out of the Sugababes wrote a song which she thought her band should record. The management, however, thought otherwise, and passed the ropey track on to the record company, who, in turn, gave it to - what larks - Mutya to record instead.
Buena didn't see the funny side of this, and so now the track is going out with a made-up name on the writer's credits. Although since everyone knows about it now, it hardly seems to have been worth all the effort.
3 comments:
The only Sugababes song on Mutya's album is "Strung Out" which is a rejected track from Taller In More Ways. The writing credits for the song reads: Peter Kirtley, Tim Hawes, Obi Mhondera, Mutya Buena.
Here's a brief of each songwriter's credentials:
Peter (or Pete) Kirtley – started musical career at 18 with the Alan Price Set; has written and recorded with the likes of Champion Jack Dupree, Bert Jansch, Liane Carroll and Sir Paul McCartney.
Tim Hawes – Ivor-Novello winning songwriter and producer who co-wrote and co-produced with Peter Kirtley Hear’Say’s 2001 #1 hit, “Pure and Simple.”
Obi (Simbarashe) Mhondera – ace remixer from 33Hertz who has remixed tracks for Christina Aguilera, Natasha Bedingfield and Blue.
Mutya Buena - is definitely not a pen name for Amelle Berrabah.
Writing credits for Mutya’s solo single Real Girl only include Niara Scarlett, Matt Ward, Dean Gillard and Lenny Kravitz. All names are legitimate songwriters with legitimate credentials.
To insinuate that the songs’ writing credits include a made-up songwriter or a ghost writer is to say the least, unfair to the legitimate songwriters of Strung Out and Real Girl. Isn’t it illegal to publish a song without crediting everyone who has contributed to its writing? If Ms. Berrabah is indeed a co-writer, as she reportedly claims (which I doubt), then by all means, she must consult with her solicitors and sue. In the meantime, let’s get our facts straight and safeguard intellectual property rights.
The original story appeared in Closer magazine, so - on that basis alone - might be built on misunderstanding, confusion or downright fibs.
I'm not sure your spirited defence necessarily proves anything one way or the other, though - clearly, the song in question can't have been offered to the Sugababes for Taller In More Ways, as Buena was, of course, still a member of the band at that point so it would have been unlikely that Berrabah would have been offering songs to them at that stage.
It is, as you say, illegal to not list the names of contributors to songwriting - however, if the songwriter agrees to appear under a pseudonym, that's perfectly acceptable. Many songwriters do this: Nanker/Phelge, for example.
So, if there is any truth in Closer's story, it's notas if you're going to see the credit, say, "Brian Smith - shhh, it's really Amelle Berrabah."
As it stands, no pseudonyms appear in the writing credits for Strung Out or Real Girl.
For Real Girl, Dean Gillard & Matt Ward are the Full Phatt duo, and Niara Scarlett needs no introduction with her work for Xenomania. Lenny Kravitz is credited for the sampling, and undoubtedly not a nom de guerre for Ms. Amelle Berrabah.
If Amelle's a ghostwriter then, true to form, she just made a haunting with her reported claim of writing the track.
But then again, the article in question is a rubbish, sh!t-stirring gossip item.
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