#AONO20: Girls · 20th Anniversary
The Prodigy’s ‘Girls’ came out a week after Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned: the single was released on August 30, 2004, and just recently it turned exactly 20 years old! ‘A delicious red herring of electro and breakbeats’, as Pitchfork described this oldkool tune back in the day, still sounds fresh and relevant in 2024. Today we’ll share the most complete story of the track, its recording and visuals. What’s more, we chatted with the designers’ team and got a bunch of exclusive details that had never been shown to the public before…
As is known, Girls belongs to the period of the revamped album ‘Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned’, which was released in 2004, and at first glance, it shouldn’t be related to the preceding events of 2001-2002. However, it’s worth noting that work on it actually began in mid-2002 — around the time the band released the infamous single ‘Baby’s Got a Temper’.
The vocalists for ‘Girls’ were members of the London-based female trio Ping Pong Bitches. Apparently, Liam Howlett met them back in April 2002 at the Coachella festival in the USA. By June of that year, in an interview with the French magazine ‘TRAX’, Liam confirmed that the only collaboration at that point, aside from Massive Attack, was the work with Ping Pong Bitches on one of the tracks.
Trax: “Should we expect any other guests besides 3D from Massive Attack?”
Liam Howlett: “At the moment it’s just Ping Pong Bitches. They’re three girls from London who are absolutely insane. Their music is really crazy, somewhere between punk, electro and industrial.”
It’s unknown whether ‘Girls’ was the first result of the collaboration with Ping Pong Bitches, as several other demo tracks were recorded with the trio, including the crafted version of ‘Baby’s Got a Temper’, which was also mentioned around that time. However, even if ‘Girls’ wasn’t the first completed track, it was certainly at least the second after ‘Wake Up Call’, as Liam mentioned in an interview on MTV2’s Gonzo on July 20, 2004.
Liam Howlett (MTV2 Gonzo): “Yeah, you know, it was actually the second track i wrote for the record. ‘Wake Up Call’ was the first track, ‘Girls’ was the second tune. […] I finished the track and i kind of thought ‘it needs to kind of up another gear’. I want a certain sexiness in this track. Do you know what i mean? …That we haven’t had before”
Zane Lowe (MTV2 Gonzo): “And who are the girls that bring that?”
Liam Howlett (MTV2 Gonzo): “The Ping Pong Bitches, they’re lovely girls and they were actually on about four tracks in this record. A lot of the stuff is kind of “sound bite” vocals. But yeah, they just brought a kind of sleaziness and a sexiness to the track, which we didn’t have before.”
It’s also important to remember that the first ‘Wake Up Call’ and the second ‘Girls’ were linked together, as it was originally planned to add vocals by Kool Keith to ‘Girls’ as well.
Liam for Neko (September 28, 2004): “The second one I did with Kool Keith was actually a part of ‘Girls’ – at the end of ‘Girls’. It was basically all the beats of ‘Girls’ all slowed down and Kool Keith came in and did like one verse of lyrics. But in the end that didn’t work, so that got shelved.”
Despite the absence of Keith Flint and Maxim on the album, Liam paid special attention to recording the vocals. For ‘Girls’ and a few other tracks a rather unconventional approach was taken, which Howlett detailed in interview with Sound On Sound (SOS) in October 2004.
Liam for SOS: “The majority of the vocals were recorded at The Mews using a valve Neumann microphone and heavy compression. There isn’t a specific formula we use to record vocals. Usually it’s just a case of trying out whatever outboard equipment I’ve got in the studio and seeing what works. The Culture Vulture distortion unit was crucial to this album — we used that a lot. We also compressed Paul Jackson’s vocals two or three times on ‘Action RADAR’ to get them sounding really crunchy, and we used the [Logic plug-in] clip distortion on the Ping Pongs’ vocals because it added a definite trashy close sound, which was sexy.”
Overall, writing the new single was quite atypical for Liam in those years. It’s safe to say it was almost entirely recorded literally while lying in his bed.
Liam to SOS: “I wrote ‘Spitfire’, ‘Wake Up’ and ‘Girls’, which is the single, in bed. I’d get the demos and ideas down on Reason — the beats, the programming, the basic layouts and the initial vibe — then I’d go into the studio the next day and play the boys the results. When they knew I was writing stuff in bed they joked about getting a replica of my bedroom set up in the control room because it worked so well.”
Finalizing certain elements of the tracks outside of Reason was due to the fact that this software didn’t provide the desired “live” bass. Therefore, special attention was paid to the sub and bass during the studio work.
Liam for Korg: “The microKORG, in particular, features heavily on the album. […] It was really good when I needed a bass or a sub sound. It provided the bass on Girls (the electro influenced track which is the first single) plus a lot of sub stuff that is tucked under tracks to give them more ‘body’.”
The bass in ‘Girls’ is actually based on a sample from the legendary Zero-G library, released in 2002. This is perhaps one of Liam Howlett’s favorite sample libraries, forming the basis of most of the tracks from ‘The Fat of the Land’.
- Sample: bass synth
- Sample source: Zero-G – Chemical Beats [2002] – Titanic Bass
One could even say that ‘Girls; is one of the few tracks on ‘AONO’ that, despite Liam’s reluctance to return to the sound of ‘The Fat of the Land’, came closest to it. This is especially evident in the approach to creating a typical Liam big-beat track, mostly made up of pieces from well-known old-school tracks and samples from the ‘Zero-G’ library. Not surprisingly, that ‘Girls’ was chosen as the first single aimed at a broad audience — most of whom were waiting for The Prodigy’s signature sound, which Howlett was so determined to distance himself from at the time.
Liam for SOS: “The first single, ‘Girls’, was written in an ‘Old Skool’ sense. Usually I write a track and then fit samples into it, but with this one I thought about the vocal sample first and wrote the track around it.”
- Sample: melody
- Interpolation source: D-Train – You’re The One For Me [You’re The One For Me, 1982]
- Sample: vocals & instrumental
- Sample source: Broken Glass – Style Of The Street (Original Mix) [Style Of The Street, 1984]
Liam Howlett (MTV2 Gonzo): “Originally it had just just the old ’84 ‘Broken Glass’ sample going for it and it was one of the few tracks where it actually started with thinking about ‘yeah I want to use a sample and then create a track from that’. I think ‘Out Of Space’ was the last time I did that and so it was good to kind of go back to just the idea of just taking a sample and rocking a beat over it.”
In the end, the final single featured two versions of the track. In addition to the original, an alternative version was released – More Girls, which included a few of Maxim’s lines from the legendary ‘Nuclear’.
It can be noticed that Maxim’s vocal parts in this track sound quite atypical for The Prodigy: it almost feels like a kind of parody of Pharrell from N.E.R.D., whose signature style was especially popular at that time. Perhaps this vocal was added at the very last stage before release, as six months earlier Liam had plans to use it for the track ‘Action’.
It’s also worth mentioning that the loop used in the bridge in the middle of ‘More Girls’ was previously used separately – as a demo for Paul Jackson, aka DirtCandy (the aforementioned vocalist on ‘Action Radar’).
Either way, the second version of the track turned out to be absolutely explosive and on par with the original. The single’s content reminded many fans of the good old days of the ‘Poison’ release, when in 1995 a heavier version of the track titled ‘Rat Poison’ unexpectedly appeared on the single. Interestingly, the band never performed it live back then, as they prioritized the original version. With ‘Girls’ and ‘More Girls’, Liam didn’t choose between them and made a powerful mix for live performances that combined both versions.
Neko: “Are you going to play this track live at all?”
Liam: “Yeah, it’s going to be remixed. I’m excited how the tracks can evolve now for live .I guess it’s the same for a lot of bands, changing arrangements and speeds of tunes to fit in with the right vibe. I’ve worked on ‘Wake Up’ and ‘Girls’, they kind of sound the same but they are more pumped – it gives it a different fresh angle.”
This version is what our team worked on! But without sample pack it turned out to be quite challenging, so we’re sharing the working version of this re-chamber with you.
The track was also officially remixed by a third party artist – Rex The Dog, aka Jake Williams, a British electro house producer from the UK. Apparently, the remix was requested for the single, but for some reason never made it in. Perhaps Rex didn’t manage to finish the work in time for the single’s quick release after the album, or maybe Liam didn’t want to release a single with three versions of the same track — eventually, the remix was later included on the ‘Hotride’ single.
It’s unknown who else The Prodigy’s team approached for a remix during that period, but not many people know that Liam planned to hold a full-fledged remix competition for ‘Girls’. Unfortunately, this idea never came to fruition, probably due to Liam’s busy schedule at the time.
Liam on his personal blog (September 24, 2004): “Ah yeah, u will have to wait a bit more for the girls parts (stems), coz i’ve been too busy doing new music.”
We decided to fill this gap and bring the idea to life! Look for the hidden contest-page on our website – there we’ve posted the ‘Girls’ acapella for your remixes!
The single was also atypical in that it lacked an official shortened radio version. This Radio Edit version (3:33) was only released on certain promos, as well as a special Edit version (3:48) for the music video.
Additionally, there’s an officially released special DJ-edit (re-drum) with a duration of 5:27 that can be found online. This edit was made by a certain Mark Roberts for special promo compilations for DJs. The track had a slightly edited arrangement, and an additional drum loop was added at the very beginning and end of the track to make it easier for DJs to mix the track into their sets.
Design & Visuals
‘The vampires that landed from space and created the culture of Ancient Egypt were also very into electro club music. They decamped to Miami and continued to dance’ — that’s how the Intro UK team describes their ‘Girls’ promo. It was art directed by Anna Bergfors & Julian House with the invaluable help of Nikki Hildesley.
INTRO UK is an independent creative agency with a longstanding reputation for producing ground-breaking work across all media. Established in 1988, Intro pioneered cross-media working: they worked with Depeche Mode, Primal Scream, Placebo, Oasis, Can, and dozens of other great artists. As well as designing the ‘Always Outnumbered Never Outgunned’ album packaging and sleeve back in 2004, Intro also created a ‘Girls’ video and a TV campaign to promote the album. Julian House & Anna Bergfors were responsible for art direction, and Nikki Hildesley also made a huge contribution to the work.
Produced by INTRO | intro-uk.com
Directors: Anna Bergfors & Julian House
Producer: Nikki Hildesley
Production Assistant: Alice Javor
DOP: Pete Bateson
Art Department: Henry E Jones
All post-production: Anna Bergfors & Julian House @ INTRO
The music video grew out of the album visuals for ‘Always Outnumbered Never Outgunned’, and the idea was initially to bring the album sleeve to live. It uses a variety of film techniques, including stop-frame animation, 3D modelling and live action. Wikipedia states that the music video was made in late-2003 and early 2004, but that’s not too precise. Anna Bergfors recalls that the delivery would have been in September 2004, and the production must had started in Spring 2004.
Anna Bergfors for All Souvenirs: The production process took at least 2 months I think. A little more to shoot and do all the post… And the 3D modelling took an ages. Essentially 24/7 in the edit suite with 3D going along site for weeks. Pizzas and beers and no sleep to speak of. Nearly ruined me but cool!
Nikki Hildesley for All Souvenirs: The whole process took weeks, days of late hours. I’d leave Anna at the studio late and return to watch the recently created magic the next morning. She worked so hard editing that film. Julian House researched and created images and ideas with Anna. It was hard to know when they’d finish! Rendering also was a large part of the process, took ages and was frustrating at times! Finally, after some input from Liam Howlett, we got to a point where everyone was happy.
Nikki Hildesley worked really closely with Anna and Julian to enable them to create and capture the multiple elements for the films. There were several separate shoots during the process. The team shot the dancer girl and her pink lips with a full crew in a London studio. ‘The vampire teeth were proper ones and not joke shop stuff. I think used by folk that drink blood’ — Anna Bergfors laughs. They also set up a studio at Intro with their own lighting and camera equipment to enable the crew to film the rest of the props and the models required. It meant that the directors could be more flexible with how they shaped and dreamt up the visuals for the film.
‘It was a film where as soon as we all thought the film was ready, the beginning would need some more work!’ — Nikki recalls.
Nikki Hildesley for All Souvenirs: The process was key. It was great to have a decent schedule to work with. The band was quite hands-off through most of it. They trusted Anna and Julian to create something completely unique and it was. Always nice to be a gifted time and trust from a band. I was always surprised that it didn’t completely take off! I loved working with Anna and Julian and being part of it. It was a great team, a brilliant experience. Everyone should know this film!
Originally there were two versions of the video. The first edit was a bit more static than the final one and was more reminiscent of concert visuals than a full-fledged music video. Nevertheless, it had already set the bar high and looked really stylish and sexy! Then the team thought that this edit didn’t work well for the band, so they invited this kid, a friend of Rachel Howlett, to make some lip-synch and grimaces. Intro also added some more environment and the story to it, and that’s when it all came together!
Nikki Hildesley for All Souvenirs: So much Intro work hasn’t aged at all. I see reflections of it everywhere. Always loved the meticulously deeply researched and positioned collage work that Intro created and we all produced. It was a joy if sometimes hair-raising and I feel dead proud of that era of my life.
Anna Bergfors for All Souvenirs: That was indeed a number and very ‘now’ now. Lots of brain cells on the floor of the edit suite too, and obviously a star producer. Essentially the Ancient Egyptians were a race of outer space vampires who invented disco. That was the video treatment top level … fair enough really as I’m sure they knew how to party! At the end, we zoom out of the planet and it becomes a disco ball. The track samples made me think of Art Deco Miami which references Ancient Egypt. All the Miami tower blacks in the video are constructed from Akai samplers and drum machines.
Anna Bergfors for All Souvenirs: Another fun fact is that the original ‘Star Wars’ film was a big influence on some of the set piece 3d scenes with the parade and pyramids. Essentially the Death Star tie-fighter scenes!
Designed by Intro | intro-uk.com
Anna Bergfors for All Souvenirs: Where did all these toy planes, toy pistols and the drummer dolls come from? Well, we built the model plane, it was one plane duplicated in post. We when shopping for most of the props which we’re all customized. The dolls we hand made by a stop frame animator. A guy called Henry Jones was the prop genius with myself and Julian House making the more simple stuff.
The world-famous shark shot located on both sides of the ‘Girls’ cover was captured back in 1994 by Carl Roessler. It is called ‘Maddened Attack’ and you must have seen it dozens of times in various forms.
Liam Howlett recalled back in the days: ‘I like the ‘Girls’ visuals, it suits the song, it’s kinda rock’n’electro, trashy. I’ve actually got that drummer doll from the video in my studio there, it’s rock memorabilia!’. Liam also lamented that Audio Bullys had ripped some ‘Girls’ ideas for their video ‘Shot You Down’, released in spring 2005.
Produced by Intro | intro-uk.com
Compiled by Eugene Riecansky & Rockstar | rock-star.co.uk
INTRO: Did technology play a big part? Well, technology is essential to finally composite the work but all maner of handmade and older production methods are used in the process, we find the hand made nature of the technique lends a raw and human quality to it. Don’t think that software updates are the answer.
Headmaster: SIXSHOT, SPLIT
Additional thanks to: Anna Bergfors, Nikki Hildesley
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