B*Witched is a group that would be known as one of the successful pop girl groups of the late ’90s, and while Ireland is known for producing popular boy bands, B*Witched is an Irish girl group that took the world by surprise, made their mark with amazing success with four consecutive No. 1 songs, over three million albums sold. Aside from the double denim fashion they were known for during the late ’90s, I’m quite proud of what the four members have accomplished and this compilation is one I do recommend for those who are curious or who loves the music of B*Witched.
Click here to purchase B*Witched – C’est la vie – The Collection on Amazon
GROUP: B*Witched
ALBUM: C’est la vie – The Collection
DURATION: 34 Songs (2 hours, 12 Minutes)
YEAR OF RELEASE: 2016
Disc: 1
1 C’est la Vie
2 Rollercoaster
3 Get Happy
4 Blame It on the Weatherman (Chicane Vocal Edit)
5 We Four Girls
6 Jesse Hold on
7 Oh Mr. Postman
8 Don’t Say Never
9 My Superman
10 Play That Funky Music
11 Jump Down
12 Fly Away
13 Castles in the Air
14 Coming Around Again
15 Together We’ll Be Fine
16 Red Indian Girl
17 To You I Belong
18 I Shall Be There (Feat. Ladysmith Black Mambazo)
Disc: 2
1 Champagne or Guinness
2 The Stars Are Ours
3 Mickey
4 Never Giving Up
5 Does Your Mother Know
6 Freak Out
7 Leaves
8 Someday
9 The Shy One
10 Like the Rose
11 In Fields Where We Lay
12 Rev It Up
13 Blame It on the Weatherman
14 C’est la Vie (Dog in the River Mix)
15 Jesse Hold on (The Bold & the Beautiful Glamour Mix)
16 Jump Down (Almighty Definitive Mix)
17 Rollercoaster (Silk’s Uplifting Extended Mix)
18 Megamix
Back in 1997, an Irish girl group consisting of twins Edele and Keavy Lynch, Lindsay Armaoiu and Sinead O’Carroll burst into the scene.
Four teenagers who met regular working jobs and in class. In fact, Sinead O’Carroll met Keavy Lynch at a garage where she was working as a part-time mechanic and became friends discussing music aspirations, while Lindsay Armaou met Keavy at a kickboxing class and discussed musical aspirations. And with their own money, they would record and write songs, train at a dance center and were discovered. Putting the dedication into their music in hoping to make it big and had a tentative name “Butterfly Farm”, but changing it to D’sire and Sister.
It helped that Edele and Keavy’s brother Shane was a member of the popular Irish boy band of the ’90s, Boyzone (not related but younger sister Naomi Lynch would become a member of the pop duo Buffalo G and Tara would be a member of FAB!) and he introduced her to a manager, Kim Glover, who would sign the group to a music label she co-founded, Glowworm Records.
And the band’s producer who was not interested in forming a girl group, was “bewitched” by the group and thus “B*Witched” would become the name of the pop group.
At the time, it was rather interesting time in music in the UK because as Britpop had Blur vs. Oasis, for female pop groups, we saw the Spice Girls vs. All Saints. But Ireland would introduced two groups that would actually have wonderful success during their peak years. The family band, The Corrs and for girl groups, B*Witched.
And what B*Witched was able to do was something that surprised everyone.
For one, as the Spice Girls and also All Saints had their own fashionable style, B*Witched featured four girls sporting blue denim. Double denim. In fact, denim would be the clothing that you would often see the members wearing in their music videos and would become a signature style of the group.
And then they would dance and incorporate traditional Irish dance and they were absolutely bubbly and while I wouldn’t use the word “cheesy”, they were quite wholesome.
Actually, their presence on television and interviews seemed to work because they were hardworking members that were for the most part pure. They didn’t want to look too sexy, they didn’t want to be like the other girl groups. They were young girls wanting to show the world their style of music.
And sure enough, in 1998, B*Witched would become the youngest performers to take the No. 1 spot on the UK Charts with “C’est la vie”. And the song became No. 1 in various countries around the world. And in the US, the group reached No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100.
With the success of “C’est la vie”, the group would release a second single four months later titled “Rollercoaster”, to see if they can achieve another hit. And again, B*Witched would achieve a No. 1 single on the UK Singles Chart in Oct. 1998 and also No. 1 in Australia and New Zealand.
Released in October was the group’s debut self-titled album which would reach No. 3 on the UK Albums Chart and the group would become popular and even be called the “junior Spice Girls”.
Needless to say, the girls were hot and wanting to capitalize on the group’s popularity during the holidays, the group released their third single,a ballad titled “To You I Belong” two months later which reached No. 1 on the UK Charts.
With three No. 1 hits off their debut album, Glowworm released the fourth single from the album titled “Blame It on the Weatherman” and sure enough, the group achieved their fourth consecutive No. 1 song, becoming the first act to accomplish this (A record that would be beaten by the Irish boyband, Westlife). The song would be the last song by B*Witched to make it to the No. 1 spot but the group would continue to achieve commercial success.
But the group would have the opportunity to extend their popularity as they became the opening act for Britney Spears and also NYSYNC.
By 1999-2000, the group would followup with their sophomore album “Awake and Breathe” released in October 1999. The first single off the album to be released was “Jesse Hold On”, the single reached No. 6 on the Irish Singles Chart and No. 4 on the UK Singles Chart. The video would be shot in Campo, California.
Two months later, a second single of their single album (their sixth single overall) titled “I Shall Be There” featured a collaboration with South African male choral group Ladysmith Black Mambazo. Edele Lynch said they met each other at the Brit Awards in 1999 and the group wanted to work with them and they came into the studio and collaborated. The song reached No. 13 on the UK Singles Chart.
By March 2000, the third single from their second album (their seventh overall) titled “Jump Down” was released and it would debut at No. 16 on the UK Charts. And while the song would feature a maturity (as well as ditching the double denim), to the shock of everyone, this was the last single for the popular B*Witched.
The group were working on their third album and they had recorded songs for films such as “Hold On” (which would be featured in “The Princess Diaries”), a cover of Tony Basil’s “Mickey” (for the film “Bring it On”) and a cover of Wild Cherry’s “Play That Funky Music”.
They even appeared on the American soap opera “General’s Hospital” in 2001. And as they were to release the single “Where Will You Go?” from an upcoming third album, the group received a call from their record label Sony (which owned Epic/Glowworm) that they had been dropped from the label (despite their commercial success). And shocking the girls who didn’t have a chance to release a third album but also shocked with the rug being pulled under them.
And after a year without signing a new record deal, member Sinead O’Carroll who was unhappy with the hiatus decided to leave the group and by 2022, the group decided to disband. Still in shock that in a period of four years, of having consecutive hits, selling over three million albums worldwide, touring with Britney Spears and NSYNC, appearing in an American soap opera and then told it was over.
O’Carrol had said at the time, she bought a new house and was scared, but at the same time feeling that the group would probably not reach the same level of success that they had and had to step away and considering having a family and settling down. O’Carroll tried again in 2004 with Minx but they were not signed to a record label and in 2006, would found a music school in Dublin.
Keavy and Edele would form the group Barbarellas, but for Keavy, being dropped by their group led to her suffering from depression and contemplating suicide. But eventually getting the help that she needed and would complete a degree and became a qualified humanistic counselor.
While Edele, would appear on television and winning “Celebrity Apprentice Ireland” in 2013 and appearing in the 14th “Celebrity Big Brother”. And with twin sister, Keavy, being part of the Barbarellas until 2012, Edele has talked about her life raising her third children as a single mother and also having to work as an admin during the pandemic, to help pay the bills.
Lindsay Armaou is an actress and recently appeared in the 2021 Netflix drama, “Stay Close” and was once married to 911 boyband lead vocalist, Lee Brennan and now happily married with two children.
The members would eventually reunite in Oct. 2012 for the show “The Big Reunion” but they had to work through their past tensions and the group would eventually release an EP titled “Champagne or Guinness” in 2014, and released a cover of Wilson Phillips’ “Hold On” in 2019 but also now hosting a new podcast “Starting Over with B*Witched” since 2021.
And their most recent announcement (and the double denim is back):
***SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT***
We are very excited to announce that we have the privilege of joining @officialblue on their massive 20th Anniversary Heart & Soul UK Arena tour this December 2022!!! 😍🔥🎉💯❤️ #soexcited #cantwait #blue #officialblue @meganmckenna #2022tour #bwitched pic.twitter.com/btKvy4Bb2A— OfficialBWitched (@BwitchedReunion) September 22, 2022
The members have been inspirational to many people, as they have discussed their success and heartbreak of losing their recording contract, moving on past B*Witched, but also the financial, personal and mental health issues that some had in their lives.
And to be truthful, I think that seeing how the members have evolved overtime, I have become more of a listener to B*Witched now than they were back when they were popular and making chart topping hits, but it’s not out of pity but because while they were candy pop, they were group that had a say in the direction of their careers, but they also were another group that had their lives affected by the music industry, in not a good way. Something that was common in the ’80s but still happened through the ’90s and early ‘2000s but to see it happen in this manner, considering that their songs still were in the top 20 of the UK Charts, with the majority of their single and album releases in the top 5 of the singles and album charts, their dropping from the label was a bit of a shock.
But if anything, I’m glad the group is now in a good place and the members are still active.
So, with the 2016 release of their compilation, “C’est la Vie: The Collection”, what you get are the popular hit singles from their first two albums, a selection of non-singles from their first two albums, their EP “Across America 2000” (featuring their songs from movie soundtracks), including B-sides, as well as a single remix from their popular singles.
This is a solid collection for those who want a remastered album featuring the group’s popular music but also want those songs, B-sides and remixes.
If anything, B*Witched is a group that would be known as one of the successful pop girl groups of the late ’90s, and while Ireland is known for producing popular boy bands, B*Witched is an Irish girl group that took the world by surprise, made their mark with amazing success with four consecutive No. 1 songs, over three million albums sold.
Aside from the double denim fashion they were known for during the late ’90s, I’m quite proud of what the four members have accomplished and this compilation is one I do recommend for those who are curious or who loves the music of B*Witched.
Click here to purchase B*Witched – C’est la vie – The Collection on Amazon
