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PCD is the debut studio album by American girl group the Pussycat Dolls, released on September 12, 2005, by A&M Records. In 1993, the Pussycat Dolls was created as burlesque troupe by choreographer Robin Antin. After attracting media attention, Antin struck a joint venture with Interscope Records to develop the Pussycat Dolls into a brand, with Jimmy Iovine assigning the project to Ron Fair. As one of the executive producers Fair produced the majority of the album along with Tal Herzberg and collaborated with producers like Sean Garrett, Polow da Don and Rich Harrison. It features guest vocals from rappers Busta Rhymes, Timbaland and will.i.am.

Background
The Pussycat Dolls was conceived by choreographer Robin Antin in 1993, after inviting several dancers to explore idea of a classic Las Vegas-style burlesque revue and give it a more contemporary spin. Two years later, they presented the concept to actor Johnny Depp and secured a weekly spot at The Viper Room, a Los Angeles which club he owned. In the meantime, along with her brother, director Steve Antin, they began filming the show as she wanted to pitch the project as a film or soundtrack to various record labels, to no success. By 2002, they had moved to the Roxy Theatre where they increased their media presence and became more popular resulting in A-list celebrities such as, Christina Aguilera, Carmen Electra, Scarlett Johansson, Paris Hilton, Gwen Stefani and Charlize Theron, join and perform with the Pussycat Dolls onstage. At Stefani's recommendation, Jimmy Iovine who was Interscope Geffen A&M Records president at the time, saw their performance and took a liking into thinking he could turn it into a singing group. In an interview with the Los Angeles Times he recalled, "The day I saw it, I said, 'This could be Moulin Rouge meets the Spice Girls." In 2003, Antin struck a joint venture with Iovine's label, who assigned the project to producer Ron Fair, and began looking for permanent singers in December of that year, to support the Pussycat Dolls with recording an eventual album.

Development and recording
The development process of PCD began in 2004 with executive producers, Antin and Fair, meeting with the Neptunes, Outkast, Rockwilder, and Cory Rooney for the possibility of them producing songs. In an interview with MTV News, Antin described the album would be a blend of musical styles and sexy themes while Fair differentiated the project from other albums. "Don't call it an album. What we're making is going to be a surprise that involves music and visuals, [...] there's going to be some technological changes as well as creative changes in the way we go about it." Furthermore, they expressed their desire to collaborate with singer's Beyoncé, Mary J. Blige, and Nelly Furtado and rappers Eve and Queen Latifah as well as past guests from their burlesque review shows.

According to Fair, the majority of the album was recorded at The Record Plant in Hollywood, California while "Wait a Minute" was recorded at The Hit Factory in Miami, Florida. As the lead singer, Scherzinger assumed majority of the vocals while as the secondary vocalists, Bachar and Thornton supplied additional vocals. Sutta, Roberts, and Wyatt were credited in providing "additional background vocals". The Pussycat Dolls first recorded "We Went as Far as We Felt Like Going" for the Shark Tale soundtrack and recorded their own version of "Sway", which was released as single to promote the movie Shall We Dance?. Kaya Jones, a temporary member, is credited in providing background vocals to both songs. According to Fair, the recording group had to deviate from its burlesque roots and morph into a more traditional vocal pop group with R&B influences.

Jimmy Iovine commissioned Dave Stewart of Eurythmics and songwriter Kara DioGuardi to write songs for the Pussycat Dolls. Within 30 minutes they wrote and recorded a "guitar-driven" song, but felt it wasn't appropriate for the group. DioGuard ended up contributing to three songs: "Beep", "I Don't Need a Man", and "Flirt".

Composition
The standard edition of PCD is composed of 13 tracks.

"Don't Cha" also features "garrulous" rap vocals by Busta Rhymes. "Beep" veers from orchestral pop to a "loping and downplayed funk groove" with elements of 1980s pop music. The staccato-like chorus incorporates bleep censors that hides risqué lyrical parts emphasizing the "reality of shallow nightclub conversations." "Wait A Minute", which features Timbaland, explores "lustful desires" and explicitly talks about oral sex. The album's fourth track and second single "Stickwitu", which is a pop song incorporating elements of soul, celebrates monogamous relationships that is "ideal for the text-messaging age." "Buttons" is a hip hop-influenced pop track featuring snaky synths over a Middle Eastern rhythm, where the band adopt a submissive stance and plead a reluctant man to help them undress.

"How Many Times, How Many Lies" is a downtempo ballad with R&B influences that laments a past relationship.

The album's closing tracks are cover versions of "Right Now" and "Tainted Love/Where Did Our Love Go" and "Feeling Good". "Right Now", a big band song gives the impression of Broadway musical to the listener. The track incorporates accentuated horns and congas that pay homage to Shirley Bassey. Similarly like British duo Soft Cell, the group recorded a mashup between Gloria Jones' "Tainted Love" (1965) and The Supremes' "Where Did Our Love Go" (1964). The song was noted for utilizing the "elements of the synth pop classic." The standard edition's closing track "Feeling Good" was described as a "faux-jazz" version to the original song (has retro feel to it).

The revised edition of PCD contains three additional tracks. "Flirt" "is a shock to the system, being a heavy, propulsive, guitar-driven rock track."

Critical reception
Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic praised the producers and songwriters for being "eager to play with the Pussycat Dolls' hyper-sexual image, creating a sleek, sexy sound ideal for both nightclubs and strip joints across this great land."

Raymond Fiore of Entertainment Weekly commented that "not even B-squad urban cabaret pop from A-list production heavyweights can arouse our interest for a whole 45 minutes."

Writing for Slant Magazine, Sal Cinquemani deemed group's image as "cartoonish" though was surprised that PCD's content wasn't filled with filler songs.

Chart performance
PCD debuted at number five on the US Billboard 200 with first-week sales of 99,000 copies, according to data compiled by Nielsen SoundScan for the chart dated October 1, 2005. The album was released amidst an era of stagnant album sales due to the emergence of digital and physical piracy and a shift in consumer interest due to other entertainment products. The subsequent releases of its singles, "Stickwitu", "Beep", and "Buttons", helped the album remain within the top 50 for 45 weeks cementing the Pussycat Dolls reputation among the century's few breakout success among industry experts. Geoff Mayfield, then-senior analyst and director of charts for Billboard, commented that "it's unusual for any act to get as many as four hits off an album anymore. For much of this decade, it's been a real challenge to get a third or even a second hit. And that's not just for new artists. That's for established artists too." The album re-entered the top ten again, at number ten, on the chart dated July 26, 2006, and remained in the top ten, for a final time, the following week at number nine. As of September 2008, the record has sold 2.9 million copies in the US and has been certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).

The album entered the UK Albums Chart at number eight, as its lead single, "Don't Cha", registered its second week atop the UK Singles Chart. With sales of 23,900, PCD was the second highest new entry on the chart that week. PCD fell out of the top ten in its second week. After 12 weeks of being outside the top ten, PCD reached number ten on the chart dated December 12, 2005, due to the success of its single "Stickwitu", which remained atop the UK Singles Chart and helped the album improve its week-to-week sales. With the release of the albums fourth single, "Buttons," PCD's sales was increased for six consecutive weeks, reaching a new peak of seven on the chart dated July 3, 2006. As of May 2009, PCD has sold 1,246,769 copies in the United Kingdom.

Live performances and touring
On April 11, 2005, inaugurated by American actress Eva Longoria, the Pussycat Dolls opened a lounge named after them at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas; their performance was viewed by number of celebrity guests, including Busta Rhymes, who jumped on stage to perform with them. Prior "Don't Cha's" release, it was reported that, the group would perform at various radio shows across the country throughout the spring, including in Miami, Phoenix, and Los Angeles' KIIS-FM's Wango Tango on May 14, 2005. Prior their performance Scherzinger said, "We are so psyched [to play tonight]. We can't wait. It's going to be amazing." MTV's Brandee J. Tecson commented, "like a lot of the day's performers, the Dolls were newcomers to the Wango stage, but ended the night like veterans." On August 14, 2005, the Pussycat Dolls performed "Don't Cha" at the 2005 Teen Choice Awards. On November 4, 2005, the group appeared at the 2005 MTV Europe Music Awards in Lisbon, Portugal, and performed "Don't Cha" with a house remix at the end. After their performance in Lisbon, they traveled to Sydney, Australia for a three-day promotional trip which began with meeting the four Australian Idol finalists. This was followed with radio, television and print interviews and appeared at a party organised by Dolly magazine. On December 7, 2005, the Pussycat Dolls performed at the annual KIIS-FM Jingle Ball at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, California with some members wearing "festive candy-cane-striped belly shirts and red-and-green capri pants." The set list included "Don't Cha", "Stickwitu" and "Wait a Minute".

On January 27, 2006, the Pussycat Dolls performed "Sway" and "Don't Cha" during the results show of Dancing with the Stars. On March 4, 2006, the Pussycat Dolls and Avant performed "Stickwitu" at the 20th Soul Train Music Awards. That same month, they embarked as a support act on The Black Eyed Peas' Honda Civic Tour in Fresno, California; the tour included 34 dates that ran through to May of that same year. On June 30, 2006, the group performed "Don't Cha", Stickwitu and "Buttons" on Good Morning America as part of its Summer Concert Series. The following month, they embarked on their own headlining tour, PCD World Tour, which highlighted stops in both Asia and Europe. In September 2006, they performed "Buttons" at the annual charity fundraiser event Fashion Rocks with American rapper Jibbs, and performed "Sway" on the German TV show, Wetten, dass..?. The following month, they performed "Buttons" at the 2006 American Music Awards. To further promote the album, beginning February 20, 2007, the Pussycat Dolls toured in support of Christina Aguilera's Back to Basics Tour.

Singles and other songs
"Don't Cha" was released as the lead single from PCD on April 19, 2005. The song was a commercial success, topping the national charts of fifteen countries, including in Australia and the United Kingdom, where it debuted and remained in the pole position for seven non-consecutive weeks and three consecutive weeks respectively. In the United States, "Don't Cha", peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 for three consecutive weeks, being denied the number one position by Mariah Carey's We Belong Together", though it topped the Hot Dance Club Play and Pop 100 charts, and was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), signifying sales of 1,000,000 certified units. The music video, directed by Paul Hunter, focuses on the group's confidence and fun.

"Beep" (featuring will.i.am) had been slated for release as the second single from PCD but was cancelled in favor of "Stickwitu". It was released to US contemporary hit radio stations on Septenber 26, 2005 as the second single. An accompanying music video, directed by Nigel Dick, was released on October 13, 2005. The video is a "photographic rendition" of the group's day in the life as they tour. Commercially, the song became the group's second consecutive number one in New Zealand and United Kingdom, peaked at number two in Australia, Ireland, and the Netherlands, and peaked at number five on the US Billboard Hot 100. It received a nomination in the category for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals at the 49th Annual Grammy Awards (2007). The album's third single, "Beep", was sent to contemporary hit radio and rhythmic stations on February 6, 2006.

A remixed version of "Buttons", featuring rap verses from American rapper Snoop Dogg was released as a digital download on April 11, 2006 as the album's fourth single. Directed by filmmaker Francis Lawrence, the accompanying music video is an ode to the group's cabaret past, and features them in various sequences including a Bollywood-esque routine towards the end. Commercially, the song performed strongly on record charts, peaking at number one in Austria and New Zealand; in the latter country, "Buttons" was their fourth consecutive number one, logging their twelfth week in total.

"Wait a Minute", a duet with Timbaland, was serviced to contemporary hit radio stations on October 16, 2006, as the sixth and final single from the album in the United States. Directed by Marc Webb, its accompanying music video was filmed in the week of October 13, 2006.

In December 2006, the group was selected by the National Basketball Association (NBA) and American Broadcasting Company (ABC) to use song "Right Now" as the opening number for the ABC's coverage of the NBA. The song was used from Christmas through the end of the season and was previewed going into and out of commercial breaks during telecasts. The TV spots features the Dolls wearing jerseys and perform the song between NBA jump cuts. Subtitled as the "NBA Version", "Right Now" was available for digital download on January 23, 2007. Despite not being released as a singles, the Dolls' version of "Feeling Good" peaked at number 23 on Billboard's Smooth Jazz Songs chart, spending a total of eleven weeks on the chart, while "Hot Stuff (I Want You Back)" entered the Canadian Hot 100 at number 90.

Track listing
Notes
 * $undefined$ signifies an additional producer
 * $undefined$ signifies a vocal producer
 * $undefined$ signifies an incidental producer
 * $undefined$ signifies a co-producer
 * $undefined$ signifies "Tainted Love" beat producer
 * $undefined$ signifies an additional vocal producer
 * $undefined$ signifies a remixer
 * $undefined$ Brown was retrospectively credited for writing the middle 8 section of the song after the album booklet had been printed.

Sampling credits
 * "Don't Cha" contains interpolations of "Swass" performed by Sir Mix-a-Lot.
 * "Beep" contains a sample of the recording "Evil Woman" performed by Electric Light Orchestra.
 * "Hot Stuff (I Want You Back)" contains elements of "Hot Stuff" performed by Donna Summer.
 * "Bite The Dust" samples drums of "Soul Machine", as written by Hall-Gainey-Ash-James and performed by Harvey and The Phenomenals
 * "We Went as Far as We Felt Like Going" is a medley between "Far as We Felt Like Goin'" performed by Labelle and "Take Your Time (Do It Right)" performed by The S.O.S. Band.

Personnel and credits
Credits adapted from the liner notes of PCD.

Personnel

 * Performers


 * Avant – vocals (track 2.03)
 * Carmit Bachar – additional lead and background vocals
 * Vanessa Brown – background vocals (tracks 2, 4, 6, 9)
 * Kara DioGuardi – background vocals (track 14)
 * Snoop Dogg – vocals (track 2.04)
 * Kaya Jones – additional background vocals (tracks 13, 15)
 * Ashley Roberts – additional background vocals
 * Busta Rhymes – vocals (track 1)
 * Nicole Scherzinger – lead and background vocals
 * Jessica Sutta – additional background vocals
 * Melody Thornton – additional lead and background vocals
 * Timbaland – vocals (track 3)
 * Kimberly Wyatt – additional background vocals
 * will.i.am – vocals (track 2)


 * Musicians and the PCD Orchestra


 * Alex Al – bass
 * John Beasley – piano (track 13)
 * Wayne Bergeron – trumpet (tracks 10, 13)
 * Charlie Bisharat – electric violin (tracks 2, 5), violin
 * Jackie Brand – violin
 * Roberto Cani – violin
 * Tim Carmon – organ (tracks 8, 15)
 * George Doering – guitar (track 13)
 * Bill Churchville – trumpet (track 1)
 * Vinnie Colaiuta – drum (track 10, 13, 15)
 * Luis Conte – percussion (tracks 10, 13, 15)
 * Larry Corbett – cello
 * Mario Deleon – violin
 * Bryan Dembow – viola
 * Joel Derouin – violin
 * Bruce Dukov – violin
 * Steve Erbody – cello
 * Ron Fair – wurlitzer (tracks 2, 6, 8), organ (tracks 4, 12) , rhodes (tracks 4, 12) , glockenspiel (tracks 4, 6) , harmonica (track 4, 8, 12, 15) , clarinet (track 8) , piano (tracks 4, 6, 8, 12, 15) , keyboard (track 11) , marimba (track 13)
 * Brandon Fields – woodwind (tracks 10, 13)
 * Marlow Fisher – viola
 * Sam Formicola – viola
 * Matt Funes – viola
 * Armen Garabedian – violin
 * John Goux – guitar (tracks 1, 11)
 * Endre Granat – violin
 * Gary Grant – horn (tracks 3, 6, 9, 11, 15), trumpet (tracks 10, 13)
 * Julie Gigante – violin (track 13)
 * Alan Grunfeld – violin
 * Larry Hall – trombones, trumpet (track 10)
 * Tammy Hatwan – violin
 * Ray Herrmann – saxophone (track 1)
 * Kim Hutchcroft – woodwinds
 * Tal Herzberg – bass (tracks 2, 4, 6, 11, 15)
 * Jerry Hey – horn (tracks 3, 6, 9, 11, 15), trumpet (tracks 10, 13)
 * Dan Higgins – horn (tracks 3, 6, 9, 11, 15), woodwind (tracks 10, 13) , flute (track 15)
 * Steve Holpman – horn (track 15)
 * Bill Hughes - orchestra contractor
 * Paul Jackson Jr., – guitar (track 15)
 * Cori Jacobs – rhodes (tracks 4, 12)
 * Suzie Katayama – cello
 * Armen Ksajikian – cello
 * Abe Laboriel Jr. – drum (track 12)
 * Songa Lee – violin
 * Natalie Leggett – violin
 * Phillip Levy – violin
 * Gayle Levant – harp
 * Bill Liston – woodwind (track 10)
 * David Low – cello
 * Andy Martin - trombone (tracks 10, 13)
 * Rene Mandel – violin
 * Darrin McCann – viola
 * Rickey Minor – piano (track 13), minimoog (track 15)
 * Vicky Miskolczy – viola
 * Ralph Morrison – violin (track 13)
 * Robin Olson – violin
 * Simon Oswell – viola
 * Bruce Otto – trombone (track 10)
 * Sid Page – violin
 * Alyssa Park – violin
 * Sara Parkins – violin
 * Joel Peskin – woodwind (tracks 10, 13)
 * Michael Ross – brass, strings (track 13)
 * Katia Popov – violin
 * Bill Reichenbach – horn (tracks 3, 6, 9, 11, 15), trombone (track 13)
 * Charlie Loper – trombone (track 13)
 * Theresa Stanislov – violin
 * Sarah Thornblade – violin
 * Cecilia Tsan – cello
 * Mike Valerio – bass (track 10)
 * Josefina Vergara – violin
 * Greg Wells – guitar, keys (track 14)
 * Larry Williams – woodwind (track 10)
 * Bob Zimmitti – timpani (track 10)


 * Technical


 * JD Andrew – recording (tracks 2, 11), additional recording (track 15) , engineer (tracks 5 - 8, 10, 11) , assistant mix engineer (track 13)
 * Marcella Araicia – recording (track 3)
 * Avant – Avant's vocals producer (track 2.03)
 * Steve Baughman – mixing (track 1)
 * Scotty Beats – engineering (track 6)
 * "Bassy" Bob Brockmann – mixing (track 13)
 * Demacio "Demo" Castellon – recording (track 3)
 * Andy Chatterley – arrangement (track 7)
 * Ariel Chobaz – assistant mix engineer (tracks 2, 3, 5, 9)
 * Tyler Coomes - programming (track 8)
 * Kara DioGuardi – producer (track 14)
 * The Droyds – producer (track 7)
 * Polow Da Don – producer, arrangement, programming (track 5)
 * Mike "Angry" Eleopoulos – recording (tracks 4, 11), engineering (tracks 5 - 8, 10 - 12) , additional engineering (tracks 2, 9)
 * Siobhan Fahey – producer (track 7)
 * Ron Fair – producer (track 4, 5, 8, 10 - 13, 15), additional production (tracks 2, 3, 5, 6, 9) , vocal production (tracks 2, 5 - 7) , arrangement (tracks 2, 4, 8, 11, 12, 15) , conduct (tracks 4, 8, 11, 12) , strings arrangement (tracks 2, 9, 10) ,strings conduct (tracks 2, 9) , vocal arrangement (tracks 6, 7, 15) , mixing (tracks 3, 7)
 * Steven Gallifent – producer (track 7)
 * Brian Gardner – mastering
 * Sean "The Pen" Garett – producer (track 5)
 * CeeLo Green – producer (track 1)
 * Rich Harrison – producer, programming (track 6)
 * Tal Herzberg – co-producer (tracks 4, 5, 8, 10 - 13, 15), recording (tracks 13, 15) , additional programming (track 2) , engineering (tracks 2 - 12) , Pro Tools (tracks 2 - 13, 15)
 * Jerry Hey – arrangement, conduct (tracks 10, 13), horns arrangement (tracks 3, 6, 9)
 * Keri Hilson – vocal production (tracks 3, 9)
 * Mike Hogue – assistant mix engineer (tracks 4, 6)
 * Jun Ishizeki – assistant mix engineer (tracks 8, 11, 13)
 * Jack Joseph – mixing (track 12)
 * Anthony Kilhoffer – Pro Tools, engineering (track 9)
 * Kwamé "K1MiL" – producer (track 9)
 * Nick Lane – trombone (track 1)
 * Chris Lorde-Alge – mixing (track 14)
 * Steve MacMillan – engineer (track 14)
 * Ethan Mates – engineer (track 1)
 * Tony Maserati – mixing (tracks 4, 6, 8)
 * Peter Mokran – mixing (tracks 4, 6, 8), remixer (track 2.03) , Avant's vocals producer (track 2.03)
 * Dean Nelson – assistant mix engineer (track 12)
 * Robert Palmer – original drum programming (track 4)
 * Dave "Hard Drive" Pensado – mixing (tracks 2, 3, 5, 9, 15)
 * Michael Ross – mixing (track 10), engineering (track 13)
 * Nicole Scherzinger – vocal arrangement (track 7)
 * Bill Schnee – strings recording (tracks 2, 7 - 10, 12)
 * Chris Steffen – engineer (track 14)
 * Allen Sides – strings recording (track 4)
 * Young Smoke – co-producer (track 5)
 * Derek "Big Tank" Thornton – "Tainted Love" beat producer (track 10), beat programming (track 10)
 * Chris Tedesco – trumpet and horn contractor (track 1)
 * Timbaland – producer (track 3)
 * Fabien Waltmann – additional programming (track 14)
 * Greg Wells – producer, engineer, programming (track 14)
 * will.i.am – producer (track 2)
 * Ethan Willoughby – additional recording (track 15)
 * Frank Wolf – horns recording (track 10)
 * Brian Vibberts – assistant mix engineer (track 10)