The Ting Tings

As Katie White's dreams of superstardom in girl group TKO crumbled into support slots with Steps and Atomic Kitten, Jules De Martino's life as bit-part Brit pop leftover led him to a bohemian artist's commune in Salford. United by a mutual love of Portishead, the duo made waves on the Manchester party scene before catching the ear of BBC Radio 6 Music DJ Marc Riley. A slot at the 2007 Glastonbury Festival and an appearance on Later...with Jools Holland increased interest and, by 2008, they were being tipped as the next big thing. The chiming, angular infectiousness of their first major single Great DJ laid down a marker, but it was the jaunty rhythms and sugar-pop harmonies of That's Not My Name that rocketed them to fame, selling over 500,000 and topping the UK chart. The use of Shut Up and Let Me in an Apple iPod commercial gave them another huge hit as debut album We Started Nothing (2008) achieved worldwide success.

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