All Saints Speak Out About Sexism In Music Business

Being in a girl band takes a lot of hard graft. We’ve all dreamed of being in a girl band at some point in our lives – whether it was Destiny’s Child, Spice Girls, Girls Aloud, or B*Witched. Their lives seemed like the dream, with tonnes of free clothes, makeup, attention and, most importantly, money cast upon them. However, All Saints, one of our favourite 90s girl bands have opened up about the sexism they endured in the business during their careers. At a time where girl bands were expected to be provocative and sultry, All Saints challenged the popular image with their cool, hip-hop aesthetic and speaking with BBC, they divulged the sexist responses they used to receive. Melanie Blatt confessed, “if we didn't want to smile one day, or we weren't really interested in doing an interview, we'd be labelled as stroppy cows." The sexism continued in a more specific incident when the band were booked to do an episode of Top of the Pops. Bandmate Shaznay Lewis revealed the producers wanted to film the band from the shoulders up, giving the illusion that the girls were singing nude: "They were filming images of us to use as a backdrop and they wanted us to take our tops off." Upon protesting the producer's direction, Blatt remembers the band being told, "if you don't do it, you don't get to go on the show." Get your shit together, Top of the Pops. Absolutely not cool. Lead image via Youtube.com