PCD (album)

PCD is the debut studio album by American girl group the Pussycat Dolls, released on September 12, 2005, by A&M Records. In 1995, the Pussycat Dolls were created as a burlesque troupe by choreographer Robin Antin. After attracting media attention, Antin struck a joint venture with Interscope Records to develop the Pussycat Dolls into a brand, with Jimmy Iovine assigning the project to Ron Fair. As one of the executive producers Fair produced the majority of the album and collaborated with producers like Kwamé, Polow da Don and Rich Harrison. The music style of PCD was described as pop/R&B and urban dance-pop. Lyrically the album incorporates sexual innuendo and explores the themes of feminism and romance. It features guest vocals from rappers Busta Rhymes, Timbaland and will.i.am.

PCD received mixed reviews from contemporary music critics who were favorable towards the selection of dance-pop songs but criticized the album's ballads and covers, feeling it contradicted the group's sexual image. PCD exceeded industry expectations and became a commercial success, reaching the summit in New Zealand and peaking in the top-ten in Australia, Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland. In the United States, it peaked at number five on the Billboard 200 selling nearly three million copies and currently stands as fourth best-selling album by a girl group in the United Kingdom (with sales of 1.3 million copies) where it reached number eight on the UK Albums Chart.

The first four singles from PCD—"Don't Cha", "Stickwitu", "Beep" and "Buttons"—were commercially successful topping the charts in various countries including New Zealand where all four of them reached atop the singles chart. Subsequent singles, "I Don't Need a Man" and "Wait a Minute", were less successful. Promotion includes radio appearances, print interviews, and live performances of its songs in various television shows such as the 2005 MTV Europe Music Awards and the American Music Awards of 2006. In conjunction with these appearances, the Pussycat Dolls extensively toured the album in a combination of headlining and supporting shows until 2007.

The Pussycat Dolls were created by choreographer Robin Antin and her roommate Christina Applegate in 1993 after inviting several dancers to explore Antin's idea of classic Las Vegas-style burlesque and give it a more contemporary spin. In 1995, the group began performing every Thursday at Johnny Depp's Los Angeles club, the Viper Room. In 2002, Gwen Stefani was invited to sing and perform with the Dolls by Carmit Bachar (The only member of the Burlesque Troupe to go on to become a member of the recording group) and brought along Interscope Geffen A&M chairman Jimmy Iovine and then-president of A&M Records; both took interest into turning it into a singing group. In 2003, Antin struck a joint venture with Interscope Records to develop the Pussycat Dolls into a brand, with Iovine assigning the project to Fair. Fair stated that he wanted to create an album which would "involve music and visuals". He explained that "there's going to be some technological changes as well as creative changes in the way we go about it." The auditions drew about 500 aspiring performers, of which two singers—Nicole Scherzinger and Melody Thornton—were recruited, joining Carmit Bachar, Ashley Roberts, Jessica Sutta and Kimberly Wyatt to form a new recording group. Fair stated that even though "there were some adequate voices in the original group," Scherzinger and Thornton where needed "to bring the ability." In 2004, they recorded "We Went as Far as We Felt Like Going" for the Shark Tale soundtrack and recorded their own version of "Sway", which was released as single to promote the movie Shall We Dance?.

At the suggestion of Doug Morris—then chairman of Universal Music Group, "Don't Cha", which was originally recorded by Tori Alamaze and became a minor success on Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, was given to the Pussycat Dolls as the label was trying to reinvent the girl group. While "Don't Cha" became an international success worldwide, an album had not been recorded yet. Fair stated, "we scrambled, got into formation" and worked on the album within 30 days at The Record Plant in Hollywood, California. According to Scherzinger, they took the time to put out the best record possible. She further explained that they were very selective with their songs and producers. As one of the executive producers, Fair enlisted a wide range of songwriters and producers for PCD, including CeeLo Green, Rich Harrison, Timbaland, and will.i.am. While searching for songs for the album, an A&R at Interscope Records and friend of Siobhan Fahey, a founding member of the girl group Bananarama, played to Iovine the song "Bitter Pill", which was included on Shakespears Sister's Songs from the Red Room (2009). After Fahey emailed the backing track to the label, it was radically altered and became "Hot Stuff (I Want You Back)", as they sampled Donna Summer's "Hot Stuff" in the chorus. Although Fahey did not like the group's version, financially she was delighted as it helped her fund her recordings.

Inspired by the chorus of "Swass" by Sir Mix-a-Lot, CeeLo Green wrote and produced the opening track, "Don't Cha"; using "controlled and competent" vocals, the Pussycat Dolls taunt a "hapless man" in the chorus because his girlfriend can't be compared to the group. "Don't Cha" also features "garrulous" rap vocals by Busta Rhymes. "Beep", featuring will.i.am, veers from orchestral pop to a "loping and downplayed funk groove" with elements of 1980s pop music. The staccato-like chorus incorporates bleep censors that hides risqué lyrical parts and rejects objectification. It interpolates the song "Evil Woman" by the British rock band Electric Light Orchestra. "Wait a Minute" features the final guest of the album, Timbaland whom with the Pussycat Dolls have a "boy-girl give-and-take". It also includes "sassy handclaps". In the pop ballad "Stickwitu", the group celebrates monogamous relationships. "Buttons" is a hip hop-influenced pop and R&B track featuring "snaky synths" over a Middle Eastern rhythm. Its lyrics "fits right into the burlesque strip tease performances" that the Pussycat Dolls originated from. The post-disco "I Don't Need a Man" sharing the same "quasi-feminism" themes with "Beep", sees the group expressing disinterest in co-dependency towards a male partner. "How Many Times, How Many Lies" is a downtempo ballad which sees Scherzinger lamenting. The seventh track, "Hot Stuff (I Want You Back)", contains elements of "Hot Stuff" performed by Donna Summer. The song is a "throwback mock disco" with elements of electropop. "Bite the Dust" uses "dramatic strings" and was compared to the works of Destiny's Child. "Right Now", a big band song gives the impression of Broadway musical to the listener. The track incorporates accentuated horns and congas that pay homage to Shirley Bassey. Similarly like British duo Soft Cell, the group recorded a mashup between Gloria Jones' "Tainted Love" (1965) and the Supremes' "Where Did Our Love Go" (1964). The song was noted for utilizing the "elements of the synth pop classic". The standard edition's closing track, a cover of Nina Simone's "Feeling Good" was described as a "faux-jazz" version of the original song.

"Don't Cha" was released as the lead single from PCD on April 19, 2005. It received positive reviews from music critics, who praised its catchiness, energy, and, sheer attitude. The song remains the Pussycat Dolls most successful single, topping the national charts of more than ten countries and peaking within the top 10 in eight others. In the United States, "Don't Cha" peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 for three weeks, topped the Hot Dance Club Play and Pop 100 charts for three and seven weeks respectively, and was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), signifying sales of 1,000,000 certified units. An accompanying music video, directed by Paul Hunter was filmed around a week before the single's release. The video shows scenes of the group jumping on a trampoline, drag racing in an abandoned waterway, and performing "provocative dance moves" with the intent to showcase the group's confidence and fun.

"Beep" (featuring will.i.am) had been slated for release as the second single from PCD but was cancelled in favor of "Stickwitu". "Stickwitu" was serviced to US contemporary hit radio stations on September 27, 2005, as the second single. The accompanying music video, directed by Nigel Dick, was released on October 13, 2005. Dick describes the video as a "photographic rendition" of the group's day in the life while being on tour. "Stickwitu" attained top ten status in the United States and other 12 countries, including Australia, New Zealand, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom; in the latter two territories, the song became the Pussycat Dolls' second consecutive number one. As the third single, "Beep" was serviced to US contemporary hit radio on February 7, 2006. For further promotion, the song was accompanied by a music video directed by the Benny Boom. Commercially, "Beep" became the Pussycat Dolls' third consecutive top-three single in Australia, Belgium (Flanders), New Zealand, the Netherlands, and Norway.