"Pure and Simple"
Single by Hear'Say
from the album Popstars
Released	March 12, 2001
Format	CD single: Worldwide
Recorded	2001
Genre	Pop
Length	3:47
Label	Polydor
Writer(s)	Tim Hawes, Pete Kirley & Alison Clarkson
Producer	Tim Hawes & Pete Kirley
Hear'Say singles chronology
"Pure and Simple" (2001) "The Way to Your Love" (2001)

"Pure and Simple" is a popular song, released as the debut single by Hear'Say, the original winners of the UK version of Popstars. It was released as a double A-side with "Bridge Over Troubled Water", which was a fan favourite at the live shows.

The single spent 3 weeks at the top of the UK Singles Chart and, at the time, it was the fastest selling debut single of all time in the UK, selling just under 550,000 copies in the first week,^[1] a record beaten a year later by Will Young, the first UK Pop Idol, with his debut single "Anything Is Possible"/"Evergreen". It was the second highest selling single of 2001 behind "It Wasn't Me" by Shaggy, and in total, more than 1.2 million copies were sold,^[2] meaning it achieved a Double Platinum certification, one of the few singles to achieve the feat that decade.

The song was a cover version of a song originally released a year earlier by Girl Thing, who were dropped from Polydor Records to make way for Hear'Say. In 2006, it was covered by American's Got Talent winner Bianca Ryan on her self-titled album.

The song was co-written by Betty Boo under her real name of Alison Clarkson and at the time of release many critics noted that the song had an uncanny resemblance to the Oasis song 'All around the world', and the All Saints song 'Never Ever'. Chris Moyles from Radio 1 even recorded a parody version of the song that included the song lyrics from these two songs. The drumbeat also appears to sample TLC's "Waterfalls", although this was not credited.

The song has sold 1,080,000 copies in the UK as stated by the Official UK Charts Company.

[edit] Tracklisting

1. Pure and Simple
2. Bridge Over Troubled Water
3. Can't Stop Thinking About It

[edit] References

Preceded by "Uptown Girl" by Westlife

UK number one single 18 March 2001 - 8 April 2001

Succeeded by "What Took You So Long?" by Emma Bunton