Lemonescent

History

Lemonescent came together through auditions for singers held by former Johnny Hates Jazz songwriter/member Iain MacDonald; He had chosen eight girls and then cut down to four with singer and dance champion Lisa Rose Harrison, former waitress Nikki Maclachlan, singer and dancer Sarah Cassidy, and Shonagh Strachan. They were signed to Supertone Records, distributed by Universal Music and came up with the name Lemonescent.

They released their first single "Beautiful" on 17 June 2002 (originally recorded and released by Iain's band Purely Physical in 1991, and originally featured TV presenter Jenny Powell on vocals). The video was filmed at Culzean Castle by Brighter Pictures, Directed by Gavin Hay. It reached No.70 in the UK Singles Chart. They performed at the Irn Bru Live + Loud festival in 2002. They released their second single "Swing My Hips (Sex Dance)" on 29 October 2002 accompanied by a raunchy video showing them in tight denim shorts washing a car (inspired by cult film Cool Hand Luke). This performed slightly better peaking at No.48 in the UK charts, and topped DJ magazine's Beat charts. In March 2003, they released 3rd single "Help Me Mama", which charted at No.36, landing them their first UK top 40 hit, but shortly after it hit the chart, Harrison left the group. Harrison left the band due to disagreements with their manager over their sound. Their manager made several negative remarks about Lisa after she had left the band. After Harrison's departure, the remaining members auditioned for a replacement, eventually taking on two new members, Emma Cassidy (Sarah's cousin) and Leona Skimming. Their fourth single (and their first to include new members Emma and Leona), "Cinderella" was released in June 2003, and entered the UK charts at No.31, their highest charting hit of their career. In between releases the band would perform at roadshows up and down the UK, toured with boy band Triple 8, and performed at the Scotland v. Lithuania football match at Hampden Park in October 2003. Their fifth single "Unconditional Love", released September 2003, was on course to give them their biggest hit, appearing at No.20 in the midweeks, but was removed from the chart due to suspicions of chart-rigging by bulksale-buying. It was confirmed by the Official Charts Company that hundreds of copies of the single were being bought in bulk in and around Glasgow.

The band released their debut album, Unconditional Love in October 2003. The album sold poorly and failed to chart. They supported Atomic Kitten on their UK tour in 2004, and in the same year performed at the D-Code 2004 event, aimed at warning teenagers of the dangers of drink, drugs and smoking. Other charity work included involvement in the "Go Yellow" walk in Glasgow, for which they performed a fundraising concert. Their final single was a cover version of Free's "All Right Now", with a promotional video filmed in Egypt. It sparked interest from television networks, with appearances on BBC's Top of the Pops Saturday, Top of the Pops 2, and The Saturday Show, ITV's The Chart Show, and others, but only peaked at number 37 in the UK Singles Chart. Skimming left in 2004, citing 'musical differences', leaving the group back as a four-piece. The group continued to perform at roadshows, showcasing two new songs ("Model Life" and "Make My Fantasy Come True") but were never released, and the planned 2nd album was scrapped. Shonagh left shortly after, leaving the group down to a trio.

Lemonescent split up in early 2005, with Sarah Cassidy explaining "it couldn't really go any further, so we decided to call it a day".

Band members

Albums

Singles