S Club

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S Club 7

Background information
Origin Flag of United Kingdom United Kingdom
Genre(s) Pop
Years active 1999–2003
Label(s) Polydor Records (UK)
Interscope Records (US 1999-2001)
A&M Records (US 1999-2001)
Polydor Records (US 2002)
Universal Records (US 2002)
Former members
Tina Barrett
Paul Cattermole (1999-2002)
Jon Lee
Bradley McIntosh
Jo O'Meara
Hannah Spearritt
Rachel Stevens

S Club 7 (later re-named S Club after the departure of Paul Cattermole from the band) were a Brit Award-winning English pop group created by former Spice Girls manager Simon Fuller, who rose to fame via their own BBC television programme.

Contents

[edit] History

S Club 7 first came to public attention through their television series. The programme was a sitcom based around the band members (who played themselves) living together and trying to become famous. The programme changed its name to reflect the location it was set in: Miami 7, LA 7, Hollywood 7, and finally Viva S Club, set in Spain. During each episode, the members would perform one of the songs from their current album. It was created and partially written by Kim Fuller, who also created and wrote Spiceworld. They also made a hit with their 2003 film, Seeing Double. The show also became popular in the United States[citation needed], where it originally aired on Fox Family and later on ABC Family. The programme was retitled S Club 7 in Miami, S Club 7 in L.A., S Club 7 in Hollywood and Viva S Club.

Towards the end of the first season, in June 1999, the group released their debut single, "Bring it All Back," an uptempo song written by Elliott Kennedy, who had previously worked with the Spice Girls and Take That. The single was followed by the Stargate-produced "S Club Party," which had a peak position of #2 in the UK in October 1999. In December 1999, a double A-side single "Two in a Million/You're My Number One" was released. It also had a peak position of #2 in the UK. Whereas "S Club Party" was an uptempo song in a style not far removed from the contemporary offerings of Britney Spears or the Backstreet Boys, "Two in a Million" was a ballad, co-written by Cathy Dennis, which showed off the group's musical diversity as well as the talents of singer Jo O'Meara. "You're My Number One," meanwhile, was a retro-styled uptempo track with a strong swing beat and, on the original album version, a prominent brass section. All these songs were featured on the group's first album, S Club, released in October 1999. The album also included various other songs from the TV series, as well as others (such as "Friday Night") which had not been previously performed.

S Club 7's second TV series, 'LA 7', began airing in March 2000. The series introduced the song "Reach," another retro-styled uptempo track in a similar vein to "You're My Number One" which was again co-written by Cathy Dennis. Released as a single in May, it reached #2 on the UK chart and rapidly became one of the group's well known tracks, paving the way for the group's second album, 7. This album was a departure from overtly pop stylings of S Club, with a much stronger R&B/rap feel evident in a number of the tracks. The second single from the 7 album, '"Natural," was featured lead vocalist Rachel Stevens. Remixed from the album version, the single reached number 3 in September 2000. It was then proposed to release "Bring the House Down" as a further single from the album, and remixes were commissioned; however, S Club 7 were invited to provide the official song of the UK's BBC Children in Need Campaign 2000 and so a new song, the ballad "Never Had a Dream Come True" was chosen instead[citation needed]. After topping the UK charts in November 2000, the song was added to a re-release of the 7 album.

"Never Had a Dream Come True" marked a more mature direction for the group which retained their pop sensibilities whilst broadening their appeal to a more adult audience. However, it was their next single which really proved to their breakthrough in this respect. "Don't Stop Movin'" was a classy dance/pop song which owed more than a little for its style to Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean." Also in the run-up to the single's release when the three male members of S Club 7 were arrested in London after being found with a small amount of cannabis on March 20, 2001[1]. The three individuals were cautioned by police at Charing Cross Police Station but released without charge. A month later, "Don't Stop Movin'" topped the UK charts. Although it was knocked off the top the following week by Geri Halliwell's single "It's Raining Men," it re-occupied the top spot two weeks later for a week after Geri went down to the number two placing.

There was then a longer than usual gap before a further single was released. Initially it was proposed to release a "Reach"-esque song called "You" as the next single in the autumn, to coincide with their third TV series ('Hollywood 7'). However, S Club 7 were then invited to once again be involved in the Children in Need campaign, and so a ballad was felt more appropriate. Hence the next single, in November 2001, was the Jo-led "Have You Ever (co-written by Ivor Novello Award-winning song writers Chris Braide and Cathy Dennis), This again topped the UK charts and acted as an introduction to the group's third album, Sunshine. This album was arguably their most accomplished yet. As well as "Never Had a Dream Come True," "Don't Stop Movin'," and "Have You Ever," it included a number of other very-strong tracks, notably the Rachel Stevens-led "Show Me Your Colours," and "Stronger," an uptempo club track with lead vocals by Tina Barrett. "Stronger" was to become the group's tenth single, but was pulled when Paul announced his departure.

The group's public profile was boosted by regular appearances by Rachel Stevens and Hannah Spearritt as regular pin-ups in dozens of magazines and regulars in the FHM Top 100 Sexiest Women polls between 2000 and 2004. Jo O'Meara who did not receive such exposure has subsequently attracted a lot more press coverage following the widespread criticism of her racist conduct on Big Brother towards fellow housemate Shilpa Shetty.

[edit] Breakup

In March 2002, Paul Cattermole announced he was leaving to join a nu-metal band formed by his school-friends, though he remained with S Club 7 until June and continued to date fellow member Hannah Spearritt. The remaining six members stayed together under the name S Club, releasing a further album, Seeing Double in late 2002. This album, preceded by the single "Alive" in November 2002 (#5 UK), built upon the strengths of the group's earlier work and adopted a pop/dance approach with an R&B feel on several of the tracks. However, despite a good reception[citation needed], the album stalled at number 17 on the UK charts and no further singles were immediately forthcoming.

Bradley hinted that the band were thinking about life after S Club in February 2003, saying to Sneak magazine, "We could decide to split after the tour if we wanted to."

S Club released their movie Seeing Double in April 2003. The film's release was marked by rumours that the group were about to split[citation needed], rumours which came true shortly afterwards when it was announced that, after a final single and greatest hits album, S Club would indeed break up. The final single was a double A-side, coupling "Love Ain't Gonna Wait for You" from the Seeing Double album with a new ballad, "Say Goodbye" (Chris Braide, Cathy Dennis co-write). Like their first single, "Bring It All Back," "Say Goodbye" saw lead vocals shared around the group. The single reached number 2 in the UK, beaten to the top spot by R. Kelly's Ignition (Remix), and was included on S Club's greatest hits album, Best - The Greatest Hits, released in June 2003. This compilation brought together the group's single A-sides (many of which had been remixed slightly from their original album versions) with a previously-unreleased track, "Everybody Get Pumped."

In many ways, S Club were an anachronism by 2003, with the musical landscape having shifted away from such overtly-'manufactured' groups towards a more 'organic' presentation with groups being presented as writing their own songs and playing their own instruments. Nonetheless, their relatively-long career (for this genre) is noteworthy. Unlike many 'pop' groups, they did not rely on cover versions to generate hit singles: "Natural" was the closest they came to releasing a cover version as a single, as this song was based on a French song which in turn had sampled Gabriel Faure's "Pavane." In addition, their output was of a consistently higher standard than many of their contemporaries like Steps or B*witched, with "Don't Stop Movin'" in particular still being played in clubs and on radio several years later.

[edit] S Club Juniors / S Club 8

Main article: S Club 8

A contest asking for children to join S Club 7 during a performance at Wembley Arena resulted in 9 children forming another band, originally called S Club Juniors. One of them, Connor, left the band early but the others kept the S Club brand alive until 2004. The group also had a small role in Viva S Club. When S Club split, S Club Juniors rebranded under the name of S Club 8. Their hits include: "One Step Closer," "Automatic High," "New Direction," "Puppy Love" (a cover), "Fool No More," "Sundown," and "Don't Tell Me You're Sorry." S Club 8 went on to film CBBC show I Dream however in 2004, the group disbanded. Rochelle Wiseman later went on to present CBBC's Smile.

[edit] Discography

Main article: S Club 7 discography

[edit] Albums

Album Statistics Singles
S Club Singles Released
7 Singles Released
7 (re-release) Singles Released
Sunshine Singles Released
Seeing Double Singles Released
Don't Stop Movin' Singles Released
Best - The Greatest Hits Singles Released

[edit] Singles

From S Club
From 7
  • "Reach"
    • Release Date: 22nd May, 2000
    • Chart Peak Position: #2 UK Top 75 Singles
    • UK Certification: Gold (400,000)
From Sunshine
From Seeing Double
From BeSt - The Greatest Hits of S Club 7

S Club was one of the many artists to record songs on the album DisneyMania. They recorded the song "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" from The Lion King.

[edit] External links

S Club 7
Tina Barrett - Paul Cattermole - Jon Lee - Bradley McIntosh - Jo O'Meara - Hannah Spearritt - Rachel Stevens
Discography
Studio albums: S Club - 7 - Sunshine - Seeing Double - Don't Stop Movin' (US) - Best - The Greatest Hits
Singles: "Bring it All Back" - "S Club Party" - "Two in a Million/You're My Number One" - "Reach" - "Natural" - "Never Had a Dream Come True" - "Don't Stop Movin'" - "Have You Ever" - "You" - "Alive" - "Say Goodbye/Love Ain't Gonna Wait for You"
Filmography
Movies: Seeing Double - Back to the 50s (TV) - Boyfriends & Birthdays (TV) - Christmas Special (TV) - Artistic Differences (TV)
Television: "Miami 7" - "LA 7" - "Hollywood 7" - "Viva S Club" - "S Club Go Wild"
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