Sound of the Underground (album) written with the aim of launching their own girl group. The song was originally recorded in 2001 by London girl group Orchid, who disbanded before gaining a firm record deal. It was chosen by Girls Aloud's manager Louis Walsh as their debut single. "Sound of the Underground" was 2002's Christmas number one single and spent a further three weeks at number one. "Sound of the Underground" and another Xenomania production, Sugababes' "Round Round", have been called "two huge groundbreaking hits", credited with reshaping British pop music for the 2000s. Following the single's success, Girls Aloud proceeded to begin recording their
Daniel Pearce Shaw. Their debut single, "Sacred Trust/After You're Gone", went head-to-head with Girls Aloud on 16 December 2002, for the Christmas number one spot. One True Voice lost out to the girls and had to settle for the number 2 position. One more Top 10 hit followed, in the form of "Shakespeare's (Way With) Words", which reached number 10 in the UK, in June 2003. A few weeks later, it was announced that Daniel Pearce, who as arranger and co-writer of some of their songs had quit the group to pursue a solo career. The next day the group disbanded. The