The Show (Girls Aloud Song) - Background and Release

Background and Release

Following a brief hiatus, Polydor Records enlisted Brian Higgins and Xenomania to produce Girls Aloud's second album in its entirety, following the success of their debut album. Higgins explained that Polydor were not going to continue with the group's contract unless he produced songs for the album. He continued, saying that his initial reaction was that he thought he would only be required to produce a couple of songs, however Polydor insisted that he produce the album in its entirety and that they thought only he understood what they wanted. The album was recorded from April to September 2004. For the lead single from What Will the Neighbours Say?, Polydor presented the band four singles choices, including "The Show", "Wake Me Up", "Graffiti My Soul", and "Androgynous Girls". Although "Wake Me Up" was the preferred choice, it was deemed too hard sounding and the record company didn't want to take the risk, and they also added "Androgynous Girls" as a b-side to the album's second single three months later. "The pressure to come up with singles was, as always, immense. But we were able to have a lot of fun working on ideas that were maybe a little too odd to be on the radio," Higgins said. They decided to release "The Show", which was debuted on 28 June 2004, less than six months after the release of "Jump". It was released on two different CD single formats, but did not feature any new b-sides. A remix of "Jump" appears on the first disc, while the Gravitas Club Mix of "The Show" and an exclusive interview both appeared on the second disc. "The Show" was also released in Australia two years later, on 3 June 2006, as the second single from the Australian version of Chemistry.