S Club 8
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| S Club 8 | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Country |  United Kingdom |
| Years active | 2002–2004 |
| Genres | Pop |
| Labels | 19 |
| Members | Jay Asforis Stacey McClean Aaron Renfree Frankie Sandford Rochelle Wiseman Hannah Richings Daisy Evans Calvin Goldspink |
S Club 8, previously known as S Club Juniors, were a spin-off of the highly popular UK pop music band S Club (7). The group's members, Jay Asforis, Stacey McClean, Aaron Renfree, Frankie Sandford, Calvin Goldspink, Hannah Richings, Daisy Evans and Rochelle Wiseman, were all in their early teens or younger when they were chosen from thousands of hopefuls on the S Club Search (2001) television series. The group were originally intended only as a support act on as part the competition to perform at Wembley Arena on S Club (7)'s S Club Carnival Tour. Following the success of the debut single One Step Closer, S Club Juniors released the album Together and a further three top 10 singles. The band also recorded a DVD, Dance The S Club Way in which they demonstrated S Club (7) dance routines.
Following the disciplining of several of the members for possession of sweets and reading under the covers after lights out, they disbanded in 2005..
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[edit] S Club Juniors
S Club Juniors were formed in 2001, through an auditioning process. The auditons were advertised on CBBC, in an advert which S Club 7 appeared in. The original concept was that the group would all be children and would perform at Wembley as a support act to S Club 7 on their Carnival tour. S Club Juniors' appearances at Wembley were considered a success and consequently 19 Entertainment, the management company that had created S Club 7 and auditioned S Club Juniors, decided they should perform as a support act at all of the venues on S Club 7's carnival tour.
By the end of the tour, S Club Juniors had created a following and, with the encouragement of 19, Polydor signed the group. Their first single was called 'One Step Closer'. The single was promoted by the TV series S Club Junior: The Story, which followed the group as they performed on S Club 7's 'The Carnival' tour and promoted the single. It was also heavily promoted on CDUK, The Saturday Show and SMTV: Live. It was even given a high budget video. The single debuted and peaked at Number 2 in the UK Singles chat and became a platinum single selling over 400,000 copies.
Off the back of the success of One Step Closer, a second single was created, called Automatic High. The single was a summer song and once again had a promotional video filmed in Malaga, Spain. The single was released on the 22nd July 2002 and peaked at Number 2, being beaten by Darius's single, 'Colourblind'.
Their third release was 'New Direction'. After the cheesy first two singles, this was a more serious song and was praised by critics. It was released on 13th October 2002. It reached Number 2 in the charts.
A fortnight after New Direction was released they released their first album, Together. The album hit Number 4 in the chart and eventually sold over 500,000 copies.
In the run up to Christmas 2002, S Club Juniors released a fourth single, 'Puppy Love', to further promote their album. The single peaked at Number 6.
After the success of their album, S Club Juniors went on a joint tour of the country with S Club. The Tour was called S Club United.
[edit] S Club 8
It was during the S Club United tour that S Club decided they would split. 19, S Club Juniors management firm decided to rebrand S Club Juniors as a consequence as they were no longer juniors as the seniors were no longer around. Hence S Club Juniors were rebranded S Club 8.
As S Club 8 the band attempted to become more mature, with outfits becoming more risque and their music becoming more RnB influenced, rather than the cheesy pop of the first album. It was thought the group seemed to be going through an identity crisis and thus alienated many fans inevitably this lead to their downfall[citation needed].
The first single released under this brand was 'Fool No More', on June 30, 2003. The single was heavily promoted and charted at number 4. It was beaten by the Fast Food Rockers and Evanescence. The Single was due to be released in May, however due to the split of S Club the single was pushed further back. It is one of the S Clubbers most successful tracks and is acclaimed for its electropop tinged sound[citation needed]. Like 'Fool No More' it received heavy video and airplay and constant promotion on Childrens' TV programmes such as CDUK and TOTP Saturday. The single charted at number 4.
A fortnight after the single release 'Sundown' the group's second album (named Sundown) was released. Like the more recent singles, the album didn't chart as well as earlier material, entering at 13, dropping to 36 the next week and leaving the top 75 three weeks later.
Sundown lacked a song that stood out as a clear single. Consequently, 'Don't Tell Me Your Sorry' was remixed and released. This was to be S Club 8's final singe as it charted at number 11; their lowest position to date and failed to improve their slumping album sales. However, as the track was released during the run for New Year No 1 spot the track is not regarded as a flop and remains a favourite with fans[citation needed].
[edit] I Dream
After the failure of Sundown, 19 management chose to send the group in a radical new direction. Consequently in 2004, S Club 8 returned as cast members in the BBC children's television show I Dream. Unlike the S Club (7) shows which focused upon the band's fictional exploits, I Dream saw S Club 8 as members of a larger ensemble cast (see side bar). I Dream revolved around the summer school Avalon Heights, run by Professor Toone (played by Christopher Lloyd), where the characters tried to improve on their talents in the performing arts. Not surprisingly, the show featured many songs and dances: normally two songs per episode.
In the run to the shows airing it was marketted as an S Club 8 TV Show. However, several weeks before it went to air it was unofficially announced by a forumer Easty, that the show would actually mainly feature five additional actors, to whom S Club 8 would play second fiddle. It was in this manner that S Club 8 were rebranded iDream. This angered all S Club 8 fans who felt cheated.
On November 15th 2005, the shows theme tune, 'Dreaming' was released as a single, it was sang by Frankie and Calvin. The single failed charting at number 19, falling to 36 the next week then out of the UK top 40. The album was released 2 weeks later and also failed charting at 133.
| Additional Cast | |
|---|---|
| Matt Di Angelo | Felix |
| Rachel Hyde-Harvey | Amy |
| Helen Kurup | Khush |
| Lorna Want | Natalie |
| George Wood | Ollie |
The show's theme tune, Dreaming, was performed by band members Frankie and Calvin only and was released on November 15, 2004. On November 29, 2004 an album titled Welcome To Avalon Heights was released, containing songs from the show performed by S Club 8 members and the rest of the cast. As of 13/02/07 no further information of S Club 8 or I Dream has been received by the respective record companies.
[edit] Discography
[edit] S Club Juniors/8 Singles
| Single | Year | Country | Chart |
|---|---|---|---|
| "One Step Closer" | 2002 | UK | #2 |
| "Automatic High" | 2002 | UK | #2 |
| "New Direction" | 2002 | UK | #2 |
| "Puppy Love / Sleigh Ride" | 2002 | UK | #6 |
| "Fool No More" | 2003 | UK | #4 |
| "Sundown" | 2003 | UK | #4 |
| "Don't Tell Me You're Sorry" | 2003 | UK | #11 |
| "Say It's Alright" | 2005 | France | #34 |
[edit] S Club Juniors/8 Albums
| Album | Year | UK Chart |
|---|---|---|
| Together | 2002 | #5 |
| Sundown | 2003 | #13 |
[edit] I Dream Singles
| Single | Year | Country | Chart |
|---|---|---|---|
| Welcome to Avalon Heights | 2004 | UK | #113 |
| "Dreaming" | 2004 | UK | #19 |
[edit] 19 Entertainment
| 19 Entertainment |
 |
| Past Clients |
| S Club 7 |
| S Club 8 |
| American Juniors |
| Clay Aiken |
| Fantasia Barrino |
| Zoe Birkett |
| Kelly Clarkson |
| Diana DeGarmo |
| Tamyra Gray |
| Justin Guarini |
| Ryan Malcolm |
| Audrey De Montigny |
| Michelle McManus |
| Kurt Nilsen |
| Gary Barlow |
| 21st Century Girls |
| Spice Girls |
[edit] External links
- I Dream at the Internet Movie Database
- I Dream at TV.com
- S Club 8 Lyrics
- S Club 8 Lyrics by Albums
- S Club 8 Alive (Fansite)
S Club Juniors : The Story
