Reach (S Club 7 song)

"Reach"
Single by S Club 7
from the album 7
B-side	"Someday, Someway"
Released	22 May 2000
Format	CD single, cassette
Recorded	London, England, UK
Genre	Pop
Length	4:02
Label	Polydor
Writer(s)	Cathy Dennis, Andrew Todd
Producer(s)	Cathy Dennis, Andrew Todd
S Club 7 singles chronology
"You're My Number One" (1999) "Reach" (2000) "Natural" (2000)

"Reach" is a song by English pop group S Club 7. It was released as a single on 22 May 2000. "Reach" is an up-tempo track co-written by Cathy Dennis and Republica keyboardist Andy Todd.^[1] The song debut at its number two peak on the UK Singles Chart, with first week sales of almost 124,000 (more than the first week sales of their two previous singles). It spent three weeks at its peak, unable to dislodge Sonique's "It Feels So Good" from number one. It is one of the group's most popular songs.

"Reach" was the theme tune to the second series of the group's CBBC series, L.A. 7. The song has sold over 570,000 copies in the UK, according to the Official Charts Company.^[2]

Single information

"Reach", the fifth single from S Club 7, is an uptempo, feel-good track. The song discusses how, if you follow your dreams, and "reach for the stars", you're destined to fulfill your goals. Like songs before it, "Reach" sees vocals shared around the group. "Reach" was originally recorded for S Club 7's first album, and was performed by the group as a featured track on the "Boyfriends & Birthdays" TV special which aired on 12 December 1999. This track instantly became popular and, after some minor adjustments, was chosen as the first single from the group's second album "7". The song was a popular track on all three of the band's arena tours. The group often commented on how audience members of all ages would "go crazy" for the song. On the "S Club United" tour, a clip from the "Reach" video of Paul singing was played during his part, due to his departure from the band the year before. The Almighty remix of "Reach", featuring on the "Never Had a Dream Come True", has Jon singing Jo's first verse, however there has been no official word on why these vocals exist or indeed why they were used on the band's official remixes. The band later recorded a "United" version of the song with S Club 8 following Cattermole's departure from the band.

The single was notable for not being released in either Australia nor the United States, both of whom had received releases of the band's first three singles from their debut album. The reason for this was not given, so in both countries, Natural served as the lead single from 7. The single contains an additional remix by Eiffel 65, while a limited edition 3" CD available with cans of Pepsi contains a further remix by Steve Anderson. This version has Jo and Bradley dividing Jon's verse between them, and Jo also takes Paul's middle 8 section. For the first time, the cassette format features an exclusive track, a Karaoke version of "Reach". Also included on the single are two B-sides, "I'll be There" and "Someday, Someway", and a remix of "S Club Party" by Paul and Bradley. "I'll be There" was later included on 7, while "Someday, Someway" remained as a B-side. It was later performed during episode ten of L.A. 7, "Making Movies".

Music video

The music video takes place in a small, quiet American town in California called Littlerock. At the start of the video, many of the townsfolk and going about with their everyday lives, until, all of a sudden S Club arrive in a large pink bus. There are strong contrasting colours in this music video, with the dull appearance of the town and the people in it, contrasting with the bright colours of S Club's pink and yellow bus. In the video, S Club 7 have arrived to spread a little joy to the people in the town. To symbolise this, they distribute neon bubblegum which, when the townsfolk chew them, they become happy and realise that their dreams can be met, and are not limited to just a small town. Throughout the video, many groups of people – such as the local school kids and a brass band – come to see the group as their drive through their town. At the end of the video, with their job done, S Club exit the town in their pink bus, by driving into the distance, eventually lifting up off the ground and disappearing. It was revealed that the smoke that was emitted from the S Club bus when any candies were given made the extras on set cough and splutter, meaning many shots had to be taken more than once.

Tracklisting

Charts

Weekly charts

Decade-end charts

References