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Alisha’s Attic were an English duo group of the 1990s and early 2000s.
The two members were sisters Shelly McErlaine (née Poole) and Karen Poole, born in Barking and Chadwell Heath respectively. Their father is Brian Poole of 1960s group Brian Poole and the Tremeloes. The “Alisha” referred to in the group’s name is a fictional character created by Shelly and Karen, based on an imaginary childhood friend of Shelly’s. “Attic” is a reference to the attic studio belonging to a composer friend, Terry Martin, where they originally recorded demos.
Discounting the sisters’ teenage material (recorded as “Keren & Chelle”), Karen and Shelly’s recording career began with the single “I Am, I Feel”, a chart hit in the UK, and this was quickly followed by their debut album Alisha Rules the World in November 1996. They were nominated for a 1997 Brit Award for Best Newcomer, losing out to Kula Shaker.They were also nominated that year for an Ivor Novello Award for the best lyrical and melodic composition. In July 1997 the band played on the first Lilith Fair tour.
They went on to release two more albums; Illumina, which produced the singles “The Incidentals”, “Wish I Were You” and “Barbarella”, and the critically acclaimed album The House We Built, a mostly live album recorded with Bill Bottrell in Mendocino, USA. The two singles from this album were “Pretender Got my Heart” and “Push it all Aside”. Both of these singles featured award-winning videos made by Sophie Muller. The group released one more album, in Japan – Japanese Dream – before they went their separate ways in 2003. Splitting with Mercury Records but staying with their publishers, they both continued to be successful pop writers for other artists.
A solo album entitled Hard time for The Dreamer was released by Shelly in 2005; She also wrote and appears on Michael Gray’s “Borderline”.
Their British Hit Singles, years, and top positions are:
- I Am, I Feel – 1996 – 14
- Alisha Rules the World – 1996 – 12
- Indestructible – 1997 – 12
- Air We Breathe – 1997 – 12
- The Incidentals – 1998 – 13
- Wish I Were You – 1999 – 29
- Barbarella – 1999 – 34
- Push It All Aside – 2001 – 24
- Pretender Got My Heart – 2001 – 43
Info from Wikipedia
