Scissor Sisters

2000–2003: Early career

Originally named Dead Lesbian and the Fibrillating Scissor Sisters, the final two words being derived from the lesbian sexual act of tribadism, the band was founded in 2000 after friends Jason "Jake Shears" Sellards and Scott "Babydaddy" Hoffman (who had met in 1999 in Lexington, Kentucky) both moved to New York City, enjoying its open and gay-friendly ethos. They began producing music together, with Babydaddy composing music and Shears writing lyrics. The duo released a couple of singles to little success and began appearing at underground clubs on New York's Lower East Side. On a trip to Disneyland, the pair met Ana "Matronic" Lynch at a screening of Michael Jackson's Captain EO. During a subsequent teacup ride, they discovered that they...

Musical style

Scissor Sisters' music can be generally described as a mixture of glam rock, disco and alternative music. They appear to have been heavily influenced by Elton John (who co-wrote and played piano on "I Don't Feel Like Dancin'") despite Shears commenting that he was not familiar with his work prior to the release of their record. Shears has since stated that he has become a big fan. The band also has been compared to ABBA, the Bee Gees, Blondie, KC and the Sunshine Band, Duran Duran who were "the reason we got into music", Matronic stated, Supertramp, Siouxsie and the Banshees who Matronic "wouldn't be here without", David Bowie, 1970s-era Kiss, Queen, Chic, Richard O'Brien and various other dance, disco, rock, and funk acts. Shears also...

Performance style

The visuals for Scissor Sisters' self-titled first album and its singles featured artwork by an English illustrator named Spookytim, who had a studio in Brighton called Studiospooky. The artwork was created by a wide variety of techniques and mixed traditional paper-based processes with digital and photographic elements in order to reflect the multi-referential nature of the band's music.

Any Which Way

"Any Which Way" is the second single from Scissor Sisters' third studio album Night Work, and was released on September 20, 2010. Australian pop singer Kylie Minogue provides uncredited backing vocals.

Filthy/Gorgeous

"Filthy/Gorgeous" is a song by American pop-rock band Scissor Sisters. It is the seventh track on their self-titled debut album.

Released as the album's fifth and final single in the United Kingdom on January 3, 2005, the song peaked at number five on the UK Singles Chart, making it the band's first British top-five single. It also reached number one on the UK Dance Singles Chart and on the US Billboard Dance Club Play chart.

Music video

Two versions of the music video, directed by John Cameron Mitchell, were made: a full-length, raunchier version featuring semi-explicit scenes in a sex club, and an edited version where those scenes are shown more briefly, out of context, and occasionally obscured. Some scenes are removed completely.

In popular culture

This song appeared on the soundtrack to Tony Hawk's American Wasteland and also is the theme to the NBC show Kath & Kim. It was also used in the 2006 film It's a Boy Girl Thing and the 2014 film Dumb and Dumber To.

Kiss You Off

"Kiss You Off" is the fourth and final radio-released single from the Scissor Sisters' second studio album, Ta-Dah. Plans for a fifth radio-released single from Ta-Dah had been cancelled due to poor charting positions on prior single releases.

The single was followed by the limited edition "fan-only" release of "Lights".

Let's Have A Kiki

"Let's Have a Kiki" is a song by American band Scissor Sisters. The third single from their fourth studio album Magic Hour, was released on September 11, 2012 in the United States and September 18, 2012 in the United Kingdom.

The song was written by Jason Sellards, Scott Hoffman, Ana Lynch and produced by Scissor Sisters. The single reached number 119 on the official UK Singles Chart, following their performance on Strictly Come Dancing in October 2012.

Background

A "kiki" is a meeting of friends for the purpose of gossiping and chit-chat, used mainly in gay culture.

Music video

A music video to accompany the release of "Let's Have a Kiki" was first released on YouTube on July 27, 2012 at a total length of four minutes and four seconds. The video shows the band members performing a dance routine in a hall for the clip, which is labeled as an "Instructional Video". The video was directed by Vern Moen and choreographed by Brad Landers. On November 26, 2019, Billboard included it in the Top 100 Greatest Music Videos of the 2010s, coming in at #79.

Cover versions

"Let's Have a Kiki" inspired several viral video parodies from the drag queen community. Lady Bunny & Bianca Del Rio, Sherry Vine, and Willam Belli have all released their own versions of the song. Willam Belli released his version as a single, featuring Rhea Litré, from his album The Wreckoning.