In 2005, The Pipettes completed successful headline tours in the UK and Europe, as well as high-profile support slots with The Magic Numbers, Graham Coxon, British Sea Power and The Go! Team, that has won them fans in high places including Radio One DJ Huw Stephens, and Radio 2's Mark Radcliffe.
A very small tour of America took place in early 2007; every show played was sold-out, culminating in six successful showcases at SXSW 2007. A tour of the UK and Europe in April and May 2007 was followed by a tour across north america, coinciding with the release of the EP Your Kisses Are Wasted On Me in the US which reached #5. Through summer 2007 they played a number of festivals in Europe and Japan. October saw a tour of North America, although delayed by visa difficulties, along with the US launch of We Are The Pipettes, including two new songs. A Japanese launch followed with a Japanese tour in December, and 2008 was seen in by the band with a mini-tour in Australia.
In February 2008, Gwenno and Becki appeared at several events without Rose, namely a DJ set in Glasgow and three gigs with Mark Ronson in Brighton and London, leading to speculation that he would be producing their second album.
On April 18th 2008, The Pipettes announced the departure of Rose and Becki, meaning that the group now featured none of the original singers. They were replaced with Ani (Gwenno's sister) and a BRIT School graduate, Anna McDonald. They also reported they were currently demoing twenty to twenty-five new songs with a view to recording their second album in the summer of 2008.
The new lineup made its debut at Corsa Presents Bandstand with Mark Ronson on May 3rd 2008. The band performed Because It's Not Love (But It's Still A Feeling).
On November 12th 2008, the band announced another departure; this time of Anna, who had only been in the band for seven months. Anna's unexpected decision to leave and concentrate on her songwriting meant the band had to cancel their appearance at S?n Festival.
On February 11th 2009, the band posted a video blog on their website to introduce the newest Pipette, Beth Mburu-Bowie. With Beth, they are currently finishing work on their second album.
Previous members of the band include Julia Clark-Lowes (now of The Indelicates), Rose Elinor Dougall, Becki Stephens, Joe van Moyland (now of Joe Lean and the Jing Jang Jong) and Anna McDonald.
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From Wikipedia:The Pipettes are a British indie pop girl group formed in 2003 in Brighton by "svengali" Robert "Monster Bobby" Barry. The group has released one album, We Are the Pipettes, and released numerous singles to support it; the most successful being "Pull Shapes" which peaked at #26 in the UK Singles Chart.
Originally comprising Julia Clarke-Lowes, Rose Elinor Dougall and Rebecca Stephens, at the time of their debut album Clarke-Lowes had been replaced by Gwenno Saunders. In 2008, Dougall and Stephens also left the group. As of 2010, the line-up is Saunders and her sister Ani, and their next album release, "Earth vs. The Pipettes" is due in June 2010.
The female members are backed by all-male band, The Cassettes, which at present includes Monster Bobby, the Falcone brothers; Jon and Seb, and Alex White.