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Lily Allen · S2 E7
From Bedroom to Main Stage
The fastest rise British pop had seen in years
Bush Hall, Shepherd's Bush, July 18, 2006. Lily Allen walks on stage in a puffball dress, opens with LDN, and a crowd who learned every word from a MySpace page sings it back louder than the PA.
Arctic Monkeys, I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor. The other MySpace breakthrough of 2006, proof that the internet was rewriting the rules of British music.
Smile Hits Number One
The debut single enters the chart at 13 on downloads alone, before a single physical copy ships. One week later it jumps to number one, knocking Shakira's "Hips Don't Lie" off the top. It stays there for two weeks.
Sources
Official Charts Company, UK Singles Chart, July 2006.
TAP TO REVEAL: The festival that accidentally booked a number one artist
I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor, Arctic Monkeys (2005)
Debut single, straight to number one. Alex Turner's vocal is half sneer, half desperation as a disco-punk guitar riff tears through the verses at 165 BPM. The song captures a very specific British nightlife moment: all confidence on the outside, all nerves underneath. Arctic Monkeys and Lily Allen were the two sides of the 2006 MySpace breakthrough: Sheffield and London, indie rock and pop, both proving that the internet had rewritten the rules of who gets to be famous.
The Tour Covers
Cheryl Tweedy
A cheeky Alright, Still bonus track about the nation's sweetheart, because nobody was safe from Lily Allen's pen. The kind of song only she could write and get away with.
Cheryl Tweedy, Lily Allen (2006)
Follow the lyrics while you listen. A cheeky bonus track about the nation's sweetheart, because nobody was safe from Lily Allen's pen.
What did Lily Allen regularly cover live on the Alright, Still tour?
From a MySpace page to a number one single in eight months, from bedroom demos to 2.6 million albums sold. The internet built Lily Allen, but it could not protect her from what came next.
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