When All Saints Reached the Pure Shores

CHART REWIND. Time to take a trip down memory lane. In February  2000, “Pure Shores” was released as the first single off the All Saints sophomore set Saints & Sinners. The track was produced by William Orbit, who recently had worked with Madonna. It was also specifically written for The Beach, the Danny Boyle-directed piece based on the 1996 novel with the same name. The soundtrack included music from Blur, Faithless and Orbital. The film score was composed by Angelo Badalamenti of Twin Peaks fame.

“Pure Shores” topped the UK singles chart, becoming the second biggest selling single of the year. All Saints succeeded Oasis “Go Let It Out,” only to be replaced by Madonna’s “American Pie” (also produced by Orbit). “Pure Shores” was a hit across Europe, topping the tallies in Belgium, Ireland and Italy. The single peaked at No.10 in Sweden.

Formed in 1993 as All Saints 1.9.7.5, the members were of British and Canadian origin. Their breakthrough came in 1997 as “I Know Where It’s At” reached No.4 in the UK. That hit was succeeded by “Never Ever” – their first chart-topper. Highly successful, the group racked up no less than five UK No.1s throughout the career.