S Club 8

S Club 8, formerly S Club Juniors, were a spin-off of the British pop group S Club 7. The group's members, Frankie Sandford, Jay Asforis, Daisy Evans, Calvin Goldspink, Stacey McClean, Aaron Renfree, Hannah Richings, and Rochelle Wiseman were all in their early teens or younger when they were chosen from thousands of hopefuls on the television series S Club Search in 2001.

The group was originally intended only as a support act at Wembley Arena on S Club 7's S Club Carnival Tour. The group also had its own documentary series, S Club Juniors: The Story.

History

2001–03: Formation, Carnival tour and Together

S Club Juniors was formed in 2001 through a reality television show. The auditions were aired on CBBC. S Club Juniors' appearances was 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 the tour. The juniors made their first television appearance on Children in Need on 16 November 2001.

By the end of the tour, S Club Juniors had created a following and, with the encouragement of 19, Polydor Records signed the group. Their first single was called "One Step Closer". It was promoted by the TV series S Club Junior: The Story and released in the UK on 22 April 2002 in a chart battle with the Sugababes who released their comeback single the same day. Although the Juniors remained number one in the midweek charts, the single dipped over the weekend and managed to sell 73,000 copies, compared to the Sugababes' 85,000. The Juniors stayed at number two for a second week selling a further 60,000 copies, compared to Holly Valance's 143,000. In excess of 250,000 copies were sold in the UK in total and they stayed in the UK top 75 for 11 weeks.

The group began working on their studio album in June 2002. A second single was named "Automatic High", filmed in Spain, while S Club 7 began their fourth TV series. Released on 22 July 2002, the single reached number two in the UK charts selling 52,000 copies, and spent eight weeks inside the UK top 75 and sold in excess of 110,000 copies in the UK.

The third single, "New Direction" released on 10 October reached number two in the UK charts selling 55,000 copies in the first week. It became their third consecutive top ten hit, selling 130,000 copies in six weeks. The Juniors released their debut album Together on 21 October reaching number five in its first week of sale and selling 40,000 copies.

Their fourth single, "Puppy Love/Sleigh Ride", was released on 9 December 2002. The single debuted at number six in the UK charts, and sold 85,000 copies in the UK, spending eight weeks inside the UK Top 40. The song was also used in the film Love Actually.

2003–05: Career as a stand-alone group, Sundown and I Dream

The band joined S Club on their S Club United tour in April 2003 where the announcement came of a name changed to S Club 8 and an upbeat fifth single, "Fool No More". The single released on 30 June reached number four in the UK chart, selling 26,000 copies in its first week and overall 75,000 copies in the UK. A second single, "Sundown", was released in the UK on 29 September 2003 reaching number four in the UK and became their sixth and final top ten hit and selling 37,000 copies in its first week and 80,000 altogether.

The album, Sundown, was released on 13 October 2003 and reached number 13 in the UK charts, falling to number 40 in the second week. Despite selling a total of 60,000 copies in the UK and 315,859 worldwide, the record company perceived the album as a failure.^[1] In a review for BBC Music, Jack Smith stated that some of Sundown's tracks, "Come across as brattier, livelier, younger relatives of... S Club('s)," and that, "The album only really flags when the '8 attempt to do more grown-up songs."^[2]

The third single, "Don't Tell Me You're Sorry", was released on 29 December 2003 in the UK where it reached number 11, becoming the band's first single to chart outside the top ten.

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. 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. The show featured many songs and dances: normally two songs per episode.

On 15 November 2004, the show's theme tune "Dreaming" was released as a single, sung by members Frankie and Calvin. The single flopped, charting at number 19, falling to 36 the following week, then out of the UK top 40.

On 29 November 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. The album debuted at number 133, having sold around 700 copies. The following week, it left the chart entirely.^[3]

The group disbanded in 2005, they, however, continued their careers as solo acts.

Members

Calvin

Calvin Goldspink (born 24 January 1989). At the age of 12, Goldspink auditioned for S Club Juniors. He later went on to appear in the only season of Life is Wild for the CW network in 2007. He has split his time between Los Angeles and the UK since January 2007, recording in various cities such as Los Angeles, New York City and London. He also auditions for acting roles. He married Melissa Caballero in March 2015 in Miami and currently lives in Los Angeles, California.

Daisy

Daisy Rebecca Evans (born 30 November 1989): from early 2007, Evans was a member of 5 piece female band, From Above. After touring the UK and a series of line-up changes, in September 2008 they were signed by Matthew Knowles and Music World Records. The band moved to the United States to work on their debut album, documented on the MTV reality show, Breaking From Above. A music video for debut "Not The Same Girl" was released on 2 December 2011. The single and the album, Breaking From Above was released on 12 December. They then arrived for the "Boot camp" stages for The X Factor, but were rejected. In 2013 Evans became engaged to footballer Jonjo Shelvey. In August 2013 the pair announced they were expecting their first child their daughter Lola Fleur Shelvey on 4 March 2014.

Jay

Jay Perry Asforis (born 30 October 1989) did not appear at the S Club Juniors auditions, instead sending a video tape of himself to S Club 7 who allowed him through to the final auditions. He trained at The Susi Earnshaw Theatre School and attended Roding Valley High School.

Stacey

Stacey McClean (born 17 February 1989) is from Blackpool, Lancashire. She appeared on series 6 of The X Factor in 2009 and made it to the Top 6 Girls.

Aaron

Aaron Paul Renfree (born 19 December 1987) was not origninally selected to be a part of S Club Juniors but joined two days later. He was the oldest member of S Club 8 and starred in I Dream but did not appear in every episode due to studying for his GCSEs at the time of filming. After S Club 8 split in 2004, Renfree joined dancing company TK Spin, who work at Pineapple Dance Studios in London. He left the company a year later.^[4]

He went on to Laine Theatre Arts where he trained for three years for a National Diploma in Musical Theatre Acting. In 2007, Renfree starred in Flashdance: The Musical, which ran for a year. In 2009, he appeared in the West End production of We Will Rock You: The Musical .

Aaron was assistant choreographer and show director for the X Factor Live Tour 2009 and 2010 and also did some choreography for recording artist Little Boots. He has recently joined up with former S Club Junior members Frankie Sandford and Rochelle Wiseman, as a back up dancer for The Saturdays in multiple live shows.

In 2012, he appeared as a dancer on The Voice UK and The X Factor.

Hannah

Hannah Lorraine Richings (born 30 November 1990) was not originally selected to be a part of S Club Juniors but she joined two days later when Simon Fuller said he didn't want to go ahead without Hannah being a part of the group. She was the youngest member of S Club 8, and also a cast member on I Dream. She was never given a distinct solo during her time in the group, but had solo parts in two unperformed songs which were recorded as b-sides for the singles Sundown and Automatic High (Richings performed on "Wherever Your Heart Beats" and "We Got You" respectively). She also had a solo in the song, "Here We Go", which was not released commercially but appeared on a free CD with a summer S Club Juniors magazine special.

Frankie

Frankie Sandford (born 14 January 1989) was the second oldest member of S Club 8 and was the group's more prominent singer. She attended Hall Mead School, in Upminster, and already knew fellow band member Rochelle, a few years before they both got in S Club Juniors.

In 2007 Sandford added two tracks to a MySpace music page, called Bored and Swallow. Later on that year she auditioned for and was accepted into The Saturdays, along with S Club Juniors bandmate Rochelle, and they toured with Girls Aloud in May 2008 as the support act for the Tangled Up Tour. The group's first single, "If This Is Love", was released on 28 July 2008 and reached number eight in the UK. They also released "Up", "Issues", "Just Can't Get Enough" for Comic Relief and "Work". They have so far released 4 albums to critical and commercial success.

On 9 October 2008, Frankie appeared as a guest on Never Mind the Buzzcocks on Phill Jupitus' team.

In 2010, Frankie appeared as a featured artist in the Kids in Glass Houses' song "Undercover Lover" from their album, Dirt.

Since December 2010 Sandford has been in a relationship with footballer Wayne Bridge. Sandford announded her engagement to Bridge on 8 April 2013 via Twitter.^[5] On 2 May 2013 she announced that she was expecting her first child with Bridge, who was born on 18 October 2013, a son, Parker. Again this was announced via Twitter.^[5] She gave birth to the couple's second child, another son, Carter, on August 15, 2015.

She took part in, and finished runner-up in, the 2014 series of Strictly Come Dancing, partnered with professional dancer Kevin Clifton.

Rochelle

Rochelle Humes (née Wiseman, born 21 March 1989) was a member of S Club 8 and a cast member on I Dream. She is part Sierra Leonean. She attended Coopers Company and Coborn School in Upminster, and already knew fellow band member Frankie, a few years before S Club Juniors. During her time in the group Wiseman had a stint as presenter on the BBC children's programme Smile. She is also part of pop-group the Saturdays along with fellow band member, Frankie Sandford.

In February 2007, Wiseman appeared briefly on the BBC Two quiz show Never Mind The Buzzcocks as part of the show's regular Identity Parade feature, where contestants guess which person out of a lineup of five was featured in an old music video played only to the audience and viewers. The team, consisting of Bill Bailey, Russell Howard and Romeo Stodart (from the band The Magic Numbers), correctly picked Wiseman from the lineup. On 22 October 2009, Rochelle appeared as a guest on Never Mind the Buzzcocks on Phill Jupitus' team.

Wiseman modelled for Love Me Love My Clothes (LMLC) and also took part in the Miss England contest, finishing in third place. In late October 2006 Wiseman was a member of a group called The TigerLilys, who had a MySpace page displaying two tracks. The group disbanded without being signed by a label or releasing any material commercially. Wiseman is now a member of girl group The Saturdays. With these she has achieved 13 UK top ten singles and 4 UK top 10 albums.

Wiseman has been in a relationship with JLS member Marvin Humes since March 2010.^[6] They got engaged on 31 December 2011 and married on 27 July 2012 at Blenheim Palace.^[7] She is now professionally known by her married name, Rochelle Humes. On Twitter, on 22 November 2012, Rochelle announced she was expecting her first child, due in 2013. She gave birth to a daughter named Alaia-Mai Humes on the morning of 20 May 2013.^[8]

Timeline

• Note: those in bold are current members.

Discography

• 2002: Together
• 2003: Sundown

Filmography

Tours

• S Club United (2003) - double-headlining tour with S Club

as supporting act

• S Club 7: Carnival Tour (2002)

References

External links

• S CLUB JUNIORS on Twitter
• I Dream at the Internet Movie Database
• S Club 8 World