Phixx

This article does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (March 2009)

Phixx were an English boy band formed in 2003 from the five runners up on British TV show Popstars: The Rivals. The original members were Andrew Kinlochan, Chris Park, Mikey Green, Peter Smith, and Nikk Mager. Between 2003 and 2005 they had four top 20 singles in the UK. They broke up in 2006.

Band history

In February 2003, they signed to Hyperactive Management, who had previously been successful with Liberty X. In October 2003 they released their first single, "Hold On Me", on the Concept Records label, which charted at number 10 in the UK, selling over 60,000 copies.

March 2004 saw the release of their second single, "Love Revolution". This sold over 50,000 copies and charted at number 13.

The videos and dance routines for their first two singles aroused media attention for their content, as they often featured the band topless or naked, often in sexually suggestive, and aggressive situations, with dominating women.

The third single, released in June 2004, was a cover of Duran Duran's "Wild Boys". During the release week, one version of the single was disqualified from the chart for being a few seconds too long, so the single dropped from the midweek chart position of 9, to number 23; however, an appeal was made to the chart regulators and both versions were eventually counted, giving a final position of number 12. The single sold over 65,000 copies.

Just after the release of "Wild Boys", Peter announced he was leaving to pursue a solo career and to give him more time to write music.

In autumn 2004 Phixx toured South Africa, where they were already very popular. They released their debut album, Electrophonic Revolution, there and it became the best-selling album for their South African record company Sheer Music. The band co-wrote some of the songs for the album with Lee Ryan from Blue, Bryan McFadden (formerly of Westlife), Alistair Griffin, Ultra, and Theo from Liberty X. All the tracks were produced by John McLaughlin, who had previously worked with Busted.

In December 2004 the band recorded a Christmas song written by Matt Baker for the children's show Blue Peter. This song was available as a free download from the Blue Peter website in the weeks leading up to Christmas, but was never released for sale.

In January 2005, they released their fourth UK single, "Strange Love" (written by Judie Tzuke), which entered the British charts at number 19.

In May 2005 Nikk Mager also left the band. They continued to perform around England and Ireland as a three piece, and spent six months in the recording studio, writing and recording new material.

In November 2005 Chris announced that the remaining members of Phixx would be breaking up for good in 2006, in order to work on their own solo projects.

Perhaps of note are a few appearances band members made on music panel game, Never Mind the Buzzcocks. Mikey Green appeared on the show in 2004, followed by Chris Park a year later. Both appeared as panellists on Phill Jupitus' team. In 2006, fellow band member Nikk Mager appeared in the Identity Parade line-up, where the panellists were asked to pick out a forgotten star from a group of five.

In 2008 Nikk also appeared in the audition stage of The X Factor, the same series in which fellow Popstars: The Rivals contestant and successful Girls Aloud singer Cheryl Cole appeared as a judge in place of Sharon Osbourne. In a dramatic audition, in which Cheryl refused to judge, Nikk was eliminated after his performance of 'The Rose'.

Phixx appeared at number 35 in Chantelles Top 50 Reality TV Stars, beating fellow Popstars The Rivals stars Clea. The video for Hold On Me was shown.

Like Liberty X, who were formed from the runners up on the first series of Popstars, Phixx had a much longer career than the actual (male) winners of Popstars: The Rivals, One True Voice, who split up in 2003 after releasing just two singles. Phixx by contrast were active until 2006 and released several singles and an LP during their time together.

Discography

Singles

Album

Electrophonic Revolution was the only album released by Phixx. It was released on November 1, 2004 (see 2004 in British music).

See also

• One True Voice
• Clea
• Javine Hylton
• Girls Aloud
• Liberty X

External links

• Phixx's Official Myspace
• Phixx at Sheer Music SA
• Phixx at Allmusic