After the news this week that Steps are set to knock Ed Sheeran off number one in the album charts, the Bananarama reunion and the realisation that Steps have now been reunited longer than they were together for in the first place, it seemed a good time to do a nothing lasts forever post for Steps.
I remember the first time I heard Steps. It was during Children in Need 1997 when they performed "5,6,7,8" and I thought it was absolutely dreadful. The so called "rapping" by the member nobody has heard of was particularly bad, maybe that's why he disappeared to the background afterwards. It was around the same time the equally dreadful "No Way No Way" by Vanilla came out and I couldn't decide which was worse. Incidentally both records peaked at number 14, quite poor for a commercial pop group. Whilst Vanilla had one further single (yes they really did) before disappearing, Steps would be torturing us for another 4 years.
The next single was their cover of Bananarama flop "Last Thing On My Mind". They wouldn't have had too much trouble getting permission as the man behind the group was Pete Waterman, the same man who was responsible for the said flop. He wasn't trying to make them the new Bananarama though, he was trying to make them the new Abba.
This became evident on the third single "One For Sorrow" which was basically "The Winner Takes It All" with different lyrics. As much as I find Abbas music awful, and I do, I appreciate there is a certain skill to writing rubbish songs so can appreciate Abba as musicians. On that basis I can't really see a manufactured pop group as being the new Abba, maybe a poor mans Abba.
Next up they hit the top spot with their karaoke version of "Tragedy" at the end of 1998 which is said to be their signature song. That kind of says it all really.
In 1999, all part of the whole marketing campaign no doubt, they collaborated with a few other pop singers on "Thank Abba for the Music" which was basically a karaoke version of Abba songs.
In 2000 I saw an interview with them on the TV where they were talking about their new album in which they had all written tracks on the album themselves. Quite often this is the kiss of death for pop groups, but fortunately for them none of these tracks were released as singles. Lead track "Stomp" reached number one all their remaining singles, including a karaoke version of another Gibb composition "Chain Reaction" made the top 5.
They finally called it a day at the end of 2001. I had learned by this point that this was not a cause for celebration because of the inevitable solo careers that would follow.
The following year gave us the duo H & Claire which was basically Steps without the others. Fortunately this didn't even last a year. Faye did some dreary crap with Russell Watson and that was it. Lisa unleashed her brothers 3SL to the world, but this was also short lived. Then she launched her own solo career which ended in 2005 when she had a reality show "Totally Scott-Lee" where she vowed to quit music if her single "Electric" didn't reach the top 10, which it didn't. To be fair though, at least she tried to do something a bit different from Steps without pretending to be a credible musician. As for the other member? well nobody knows who he is so he was never going to have a solo career.
Sadly though, Lisa's vow to quit music only lasted until 2011 when Steps reunited with a TV documentary accompanying it. Quite laughably their comeback song was a karaoke version of "Dancing Queen".
The reunion has somehow worked though and I can't put my finger on why. The successful comeback of Take That was down to the fact their new material actually had some credibility. The new Steps material is the same crap they always did, basically glorified karaoke.
This may have inspired the comeback of Bananarama, if a group that made it's name doing a karaoke version of one of their flops can make a successful comeback then anyone can.
Showing posts with label Nothing Lasts Forever. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Nothing Lasts Forever. Show all posts
Tuesday, 25 April 2017
Wednesday, 4 January 2017
Nothing Lasts Forever - The Honeyz
The general point made about most acts featured in this series so far is their career at the top was brief because they did generic rubbish to sell to the kids and then the kids grew up and moved on. Todays subject though were genuinely a good group and certainly left the spotlight prematurely in my opinion.
Like many, I first came across The Honeyz in 1998 towards the end of the summer when they debuted with their first single "Finally Found". With girl power still very much a thing at the time and the anti man attitude that came with it, it was good to hear a record from a female group which was more positive. At the time I found it a very soothing record and particularly liked it where Celena sang "its always been you" in the chorus.
They returned at the end of the year with their follow up single "End of the Line" which I also quite liked. It seemed like they were here to stay for a while. Then in March 1999 came the news that Honeyz member Heavenli had left the group prior to the release of their third single "Love of a Lifetime". In came Mariama from Solid HarmoniE who had their brief chart career the previous year. Again I thought this was quite a good song, but it didn't have the same impact as the previous two singles and I still hadn't felt the need to go out and buy their music yet.
In October of that year came their first single recorded with Mariama, "Never Let You Down". Again, I quite liked it but still thought the first two singles were the best ones. Then in March 2000 came single number 5 "Won't Take It Lying Down" which I first heard when they performed it on Top of the Pops. This was definitely my least favourite of the singles so far, but still not a bad song.
Following this I didn't hear anything of The Honeyz for a while and gradually started to forget about them having never bought any of their music.
Then in February 2001 I bought a compilation with "Finally Found" on it and it reminded me how much I liked it and their other hits. Then shortly after I went to a second hand record shop and found 2 albums of theirs and bought both of them. After leaving the shop I noticed that both albums were the same, one was the original "Wonder No 8" album and the other was the repackaged album with the two extra tracks recorded when Mariama joined.
Looking on the internet I found they only had the one album so far, but they had released a single called "Not Even Gonna Trip" in October 2000 which only reached number 24 and completely passed me by. I also discovered that Mariama had now departed and Heavenli had re-joined the group.
A few months later after regularly listening to their album and really getting into their music, I was flicking through the music channels and saw they were back with a song called "I Don't Know". There was also a feature on "The Box" where they were talking about their new video. I thought it was a great song and when it got released in August I was straight down the record shop to buy it. Unfortunately not too many other people did as it only reached number 27. I also read rumors on the internet they were on the verge of getting dropped by their label which seemed typical as I'd only really just started listening to them.
In September they played a gig at Newcastle University students union and I was living in Newcastle at the time. However, it was fresher's week and you needed to be a fresher at Newcastle University to go to it, which I wasn't so I missed out.
Shortly after though I came across the promo for their next single "Talk to the Hand" at a record shop in Newcastle which I bought. I also heard on the internet about their new album Harmony so thought they would at least release that before they got dropped. Sadly they didn't, there was no new single or album released. No official confirmation was given, but it was quite obvious they had been dropped.
Fortunately I did manage to acquire a copy of the unreleased "Harmony" album, firstly via somebody on a Honeyz forum copying it onto tape for me but then I managed to buy the CD on eBay sometime later. I also managed to buy the promo video for "Talk to the Hand" which is now the only VHS I still own. I can honestly say that "Harmony" is a fantastic album and its a shame it never got released.
There were many rumors going round on the internet as to whether The Honeyz would continue or not, many were false. Then in 2002 I read they were finished but were still contractually obliged to do a few more gigs, one of which was at the Stadium of Light in Sunderland. For a group that had been dropped by their label and even their biggest fans were unsure what had happened to them it sounded a bit unrealistic for them to be playing at a football stadium. However, as I lived up the road in Newcastle I went down to the ticket office at the Stadium of Light to find out if it was true. Turned out it was true, but they weren't doing a gig as such, just performing a couple of songs before the football match started, needless to say I didn't bother going.
After a few attempted comebacks with varying line ups over the years, they appeared on The Big Reunion along with several other bands that had chart success a number of years ago. We never really got the true story of what had happened to them though as much of it was made up for good telly. The line up consisted of Celena, Mariama and Heavenli. Presumably because of this, the absent Naima was very much made the villain of the piece, that she was only in the group for her looks and couldn't sing and she was the one who created bad vibes in the group. Whether all that is true or not, one thing I will say is that on the unreleased "Harmony" album there is a track called "Love Is Strange" where Naima sings lead vocals and it sounds like she can very much sing on that. Furthermore, on the "Love of a Lifetime" single there is a version of "Finally Found" that only contains the backing vocals, and the harmonising you hear in that which is presumably Naima and Heavenli does not sound like that of someone who can't sing.
I didn't go to see them in concert though as they would tour with the rest of the groups on The Big Reunion so only do 2 or 3 songs, plus the rest of the groups from the show are quite frankly crap.
When I've brought up The Honeyz in conversations over the years, several people have dismissed them as pop music for young girls, but it really wasn't like that at all. Many of the people I spoke to on the forums at the time were grown men.
Also, I do remember a time when I was driving along listening to the "Wonder No 8" album back in 2001 and I was singing along to pretty much the whole album. I had 3 mates in the car, all grown men and when "End of the Line" came on they were all singing along too. Ok, admittedly it is perhaps a bit odd having four men in a car singing a love ballad, but the point is we all thought it was good music.
Despite "Finally Found" and "End of the Line" being the songs that appealed to me initially, after buying the album I found myself preferring "Love of a Lifetime" and "Never Let You Down". At the time, when me a flatmate were chatting whilst the album was on it became an unwritten rule that when it was the breakdown in "Never Let You Down" we would shut up and just listen to the harmonising.
Since the whole big reunion thing faded away, Heavenli has left the group again and they have carried on as a duo. They have played a number of gigs since then, but none in London to my knowledge, but if they do play in London some point in the future I may pop along.
So to conclude, The Honeyz glory days in the charts lasted just over 18 months, but their glory days on my CD player lasted much longer.
Like many, I first came across The Honeyz in 1998 towards the end of the summer when they debuted with their first single "Finally Found". With girl power still very much a thing at the time and the anti man attitude that came with it, it was good to hear a record from a female group which was more positive. At the time I found it a very soothing record and particularly liked it where Celena sang "its always been you" in the chorus.
They returned at the end of the year with their follow up single "End of the Line" which I also quite liked. It seemed like they were here to stay for a while. Then in March 1999 came the news that Honeyz member Heavenli had left the group prior to the release of their third single "Love of a Lifetime". In came Mariama from Solid HarmoniE who had their brief chart career the previous year. Again I thought this was quite a good song, but it didn't have the same impact as the previous two singles and I still hadn't felt the need to go out and buy their music yet.
In October of that year came their first single recorded with Mariama, "Never Let You Down". Again, I quite liked it but still thought the first two singles were the best ones. Then in March 2000 came single number 5 "Won't Take It Lying Down" which I first heard when they performed it on Top of the Pops. This was definitely my least favourite of the singles so far, but still not a bad song.
Following this I didn't hear anything of The Honeyz for a while and gradually started to forget about them having never bought any of their music.
Then in February 2001 I bought a compilation with "Finally Found" on it and it reminded me how much I liked it and their other hits. Then shortly after I went to a second hand record shop and found 2 albums of theirs and bought both of them. After leaving the shop I noticed that both albums were the same, one was the original "Wonder No 8" album and the other was the repackaged album with the two extra tracks recorded when Mariama joined.
Looking on the internet I found they only had the one album so far, but they had released a single called "Not Even Gonna Trip" in October 2000 which only reached number 24 and completely passed me by. I also discovered that Mariama had now departed and Heavenli had re-joined the group.
A few months later after regularly listening to their album and really getting into their music, I was flicking through the music channels and saw they were back with a song called "I Don't Know". There was also a feature on "The Box" where they were talking about their new video. I thought it was a great song and when it got released in August I was straight down the record shop to buy it. Unfortunately not too many other people did as it only reached number 27. I also read rumors on the internet they were on the verge of getting dropped by their label which seemed typical as I'd only really just started listening to them.
In September they played a gig at Newcastle University students union and I was living in Newcastle at the time. However, it was fresher's week and you needed to be a fresher at Newcastle University to go to it, which I wasn't so I missed out.
Shortly after though I came across the promo for their next single "Talk to the Hand" at a record shop in Newcastle which I bought. I also heard on the internet about their new album Harmony so thought they would at least release that before they got dropped. Sadly they didn't, there was no new single or album released. No official confirmation was given, but it was quite obvious they had been dropped.
Fortunately I did manage to acquire a copy of the unreleased "Harmony" album, firstly via somebody on a Honeyz forum copying it onto tape for me but then I managed to buy the CD on eBay sometime later. I also managed to buy the promo video for "Talk to the Hand" which is now the only VHS I still own. I can honestly say that "Harmony" is a fantastic album and its a shame it never got released.
There were many rumors going round on the internet as to whether The Honeyz would continue or not, many were false. Then in 2002 I read they were finished but were still contractually obliged to do a few more gigs, one of which was at the Stadium of Light in Sunderland. For a group that had been dropped by their label and even their biggest fans were unsure what had happened to them it sounded a bit unrealistic for them to be playing at a football stadium. However, as I lived up the road in Newcastle I went down to the ticket office at the Stadium of Light to find out if it was true. Turned out it was true, but they weren't doing a gig as such, just performing a couple of songs before the football match started, needless to say I didn't bother going.
After a few attempted comebacks with varying line ups over the years, they appeared on The Big Reunion along with several other bands that had chart success a number of years ago. We never really got the true story of what had happened to them though as much of it was made up for good telly. The line up consisted of Celena, Mariama and Heavenli. Presumably because of this, the absent Naima was very much made the villain of the piece, that she was only in the group for her looks and couldn't sing and she was the one who created bad vibes in the group. Whether all that is true or not, one thing I will say is that on the unreleased "Harmony" album there is a track called "Love Is Strange" where Naima sings lead vocals and it sounds like she can very much sing on that. Furthermore, on the "Love of a Lifetime" single there is a version of "Finally Found" that only contains the backing vocals, and the harmonising you hear in that which is presumably Naima and Heavenli does not sound like that of someone who can't sing.
I didn't go to see them in concert though as they would tour with the rest of the groups on The Big Reunion so only do 2 or 3 songs, plus the rest of the groups from the show are quite frankly crap.
When I've brought up The Honeyz in conversations over the years, several people have dismissed them as pop music for young girls, but it really wasn't like that at all. Many of the people I spoke to on the forums at the time were grown men.
Also, I do remember a time when I was driving along listening to the "Wonder No 8" album back in 2001 and I was singing along to pretty much the whole album. I had 3 mates in the car, all grown men and when "End of the Line" came on they were all singing along too. Ok, admittedly it is perhaps a bit odd having four men in a car singing a love ballad, but the point is we all thought it was good music.
Despite "Finally Found" and "End of the Line" being the songs that appealed to me initially, after buying the album I found myself preferring "Love of a Lifetime" and "Never Let You Down". At the time, when me a flatmate were chatting whilst the album was on it became an unwritten rule that when it was the breakdown in "Never Let You Down" we would shut up and just listen to the harmonising.
Since the whole big reunion thing faded away, Heavenli has left the group again and they have carried on as a duo. They have played a number of gigs since then, but none in London to my knowledge, but if they do play in London some point in the future I may pop along.
So to conclude, The Honeyz glory days in the charts lasted just over 18 months, but their glory days on my CD player lasted much longer.
Sunday, 9 October 2016
Nothing Lasts Forever - Bros
This week saw the announcement that Bros are to reunite next year for a gig at the O2. This sold out in 7 seconds so they've turned it into a full tour. So I thought it would be appropriate for them to be the next subject of my Nothing Lasts Forever series.
Bros first hit the charts at the beginning of 1988 with "When Will I Be Famous". At that time, it had been 18 months or so since Wham! had called it a day and there hadn't really been a boy band to fill that void since. Though singer Matt Goss has said since that Bros were not a boy band because Luke played the drums and Craig played the bass whereas the boy band concept is to all be vocalists. My argument is that several other boy bands had instrumentalists including arguably their nearest rivals Brother Beyond, but also future boy bands Take That and East 17 would occasionally play instruments too. Also, clearly not all the music of a Bros song was made just by a bass guitar and drums.
The follow up was "Drop the Boy" which could be seen as and early indication that Matt didn't want to be seen as a boy band. Then came their only number one hit "I Owe You Nothing", a sure sign that Bros mania was now in full swing. Their fourth single was called "I Quit" which is exactly what bass player Craig would do several months later. Just before Craig did quit they released their own version of "Silent Night" at Christmas time in 1988 which was a double A side with "Cat Among The Pigeons". This entered the charts at number 2, but fell to number 4 the following week with Cliff Richard taking the top spot with "Mistletoe and Wine" and Kylie and Jason taking number 2 with "Especially For You" and Kylie and Jason's wedding song on Neighbours "Suddenly" by Angry Anderson taking number 3. So as popular as Bros were, they couldn't compete with Neighbours. Still the first five singles all reaching to top 5 was a decent record.
So the beginning of 1989 saw Bros being reduced to just a singer and a drummer. They returned in the summer with the first single of their upcoming album "Too Much". My recollection of hearing this for the first time was that Matt appeared to be angrier in his vocals. This reached number 2 keeping up their record of top 5 hits and a couple of weeks later they played what turned out to be their last gig, at Wembley Stadium to 77,000 fans.
However, their next single "Chocolate Box" was their first not to reach the top 5, though it still reached a respectable 9. Then their Christmas time ballad "Sister" got to number 10. By this point, the UK had now been introduced to American boy band New Kids On The Block who were ready to steal their crown. The next single "Madly In Love" failed to reach the top 10 in early 1990.
Bros then seemed to disappear off the face of the earth until the summer of 1991. By this point they had parted ways with songwriter Nicky Graham and had written their own songs for their third album. They returned with single "Are You Mine" which I managed to listen to a few seconds of on the top 40 countdown until my uncle turned the radio off because it was Bros. Everyone else seemed to agree with my uncle with the song failing to reach the top 10. Their final single "Try" only managed number 27 and their final album spent just 2 weeks in the album chart. So they called it a day.
The mid 90s saw Matt Goss attempt a solo career. I recall seeing the video to his cover of Alexander O'Neal's "If You Were Her Tonight" and if it wasn't for his voice I wouldn't think it was the same person. He eventually made it as a solo artist though, performing regularly in Las Vegas and popular enough to do a solo gig at Wembley Arena. Luke has made a name for himself as an actor whilst Craig has now made the move into music management and will not be part of the Bros reunion.
So the glory days of Bros lasted just 2 years, from the beginning of 1988 to the end of 1989. Despite this, Bros fans will need to wait almost a year to see them in concert.
Bros first hit the charts at the beginning of 1988 with "When Will I Be Famous". At that time, it had been 18 months or so since Wham! had called it a day and there hadn't really been a boy band to fill that void since. Though singer Matt Goss has said since that Bros were not a boy band because Luke played the drums and Craig played the bass whereas the boy band concept is to all be vocalists. My argument is that several other boy bands had instrumentalists including arguably their nearest rivals Brother Beyond, but also future boy bands Take That and East 17 would occasionally play instruments too. Also, clearly not all the music of a Bros song was made just by a bass guitar and drums.
The follow up was "Drop the Boy" which could be seen as and early indication that Matt didn't want to be seen as a boy band. Then came their only number one hit "I Owe You Nothing", a sure sign that Bros mania was now in full swing. Their fourth single was called "I Quit" which is exactly what bass player Craig would do several months later. Just before Craig did quit they released their own version of "Silent Night" at Christmas time in 1988 which was a double A side with "Cat Among The Pigeons". This entered the charts at number 2, but fell to number 4 the following week with Cliff Richard taking the top spot with "Mistletoe and Wine" and Kylie and Jason taking number 2 with "Especially For You" and Kylie and Jason's wedding song on Neighbours "Suddenly" by Angry Anderson taking number 3. So as popular as Bros were, they couldn't compete with Neighbours. Still the first five singles all reaching to top 5 was a decent record.
So the beginning of 1989 saw Bros being reduced to just a singer and a drummer. They returned in the summer with the first single of their upcoming album "Too Much". My recollection of hearing this for the first time was that Matt appeared to be angrier in his vocals. This reached number 2 keeping up their record of top 5 hits and a couple of weeks later they played what turned out to be their last gig, at Wembley Stadium to 77,000 fans.
However, their next single "Chocolate Box" was their first not to reach the top 5, though it still reached a respectable 9. Then their Christmas time ballad "Sister" got to number 10. By this point, the UK had now been introduced to American boy band New Kids On The Block who were ready to steal their crown. The next single "Madly In Love" failed to reach the top 10 in early 1990.
Bros then seemed to disappear off the face of the earth until the summer of 1991. By this point they had parted ways with songwriter Nicky Graham and had written their own songs for their third album. They returned with single "Are You Mine" which I managed to listen to a few seconds of on the top 40 countdown until my uncle turned the radio off because it was Bros. Everyone else seemed to agree with my uncle with the song failing to reach the top 10. Their final single "Try" only managed number 27 and their final album spent just 2 weeks in the album chart. So they called it a day.
The mid 90s saw Matt Goss attempt a solo career. I recall seeing the video to his cover of Alexander O'Neal's "If You Were Her Tonight" and if it wasn't for his voice I wouldn't think it was the same person. He eventually made it as a solo artist though, performing regularly in Las Vegas and popular enough to do a solo gig at Wembley Arena. Luke has made a name for himself as an actor whilst Craig has now made the move into music management and will not be part of the Bros reunion.
So the glory days of Bros lasted just 2 years, from the beginning of 1988 to the end of 1989. Despite this, Bros fans will need to wait almost a year to see them in concert.
Sunday, 25 September 2016
Nothing Lasts Forever - B*witched
You may have read recently that B*witched will be headlining a tour of pop groups from the 90s and 00s in Australia. They are most likely billed as the headline act because they are the only group to have all its original members there. Joining them is Atomic Kitten (the Kerry Katona version with Michelle from Liberty X taking the place of Liz), East 17 (without Brian or Tony but with one time UK Garage singer Robbie Craig) and S Club 3 (no that is not a typo, it really is S Club 3).
I thought this would be a good opportunity to look back on the very brief career of B*witched which follows on nicely from the post I did on the Spice Girls a few weeks ago.
When the Spice Girls said Goodbye at the end of 1998, they seemed top have a ready made replacement to lead the world of girl groups in B*witched who had already hit number one with their first three hits. Whilst the Spice Girls were all in their early 20s when they started out 2 years earlier, B*witched consisted of 3 teenagers, Lindsay (17) and twins Keavy and Edele (18), whilst the other member had already hit her mid 20s, Sinead (25). Their unique selling point was that the twins were sisters with Shane from Boyzone and their love of denim.
The start of their chart success did pretty much mirror that of the Spice Girls. It began in the summer of 1998 with the annoyingly catchy debut everyone remembers, "C'est La Vie", followed up by the you had to be there to remember "Rollercoaster" and then the Christmastime ballad "Too You I Belong" which was knocked off the top spot Christmas week by the Spice Girls. They also managed to get to number one with their fourth hit "Blame it on the Weatherman" which unlike the Spice Girls fourth hit, didn't have the comic relief single tag helping it to number one, instead it knocked off the comic relief single "When the Going Gets Tough" by brother Shanes group Boyzone.
By this point B*witched had set the record for the first act to have their first four singles go straight in at number one and were all now old enough to have a celebratory drink. With the Spice Girls now out of the picture, this was the opportunity to truly dominate the world of girl groups.
They recorded their second album which was said to have a more mature sound. In October 1999 the first single from the new album was released, "Jesse Hold On", which didn't really sound too different to "Rollercoaster". This would be their first single (excluding the Abba tribute thing they did with other groups) that didn't reach number one, it reached number four. Then in December 1999 they had the Christmastime ballad "I Shall be There" which failed to even make the top 10. With the twins turning 20 that same month, maybe they were now seen as being too old. Another blow came the following week when Westlife equalled their record of first four singles going straight in at number one.
At a last ditch attempt to get back to the top, they ditched the denims and tried to sex things up with a FHM photoshoot. Along came the single "Jump Down" which only made number 16 and that spelled the end. That same week, Westlife went straight in at number one with their 5th single therefore beating the record set by B*witched a year earlier.
They didn't split up until 2002 and afterwards the twins attempted a comeback as Ms Lynch and Barbarella without any success. Then in 2013 they reunited for the Big Reunion, so their reunion has now lasted longer than their glory days did.
So their chart career including their flop singles towards the end lasted less than two years and one of them was still a teenager when they were finished.
In terms of girl groups, the next big thing created by Simon Cowell was waiting in the wings in early 2000. Much hype was made about them, they were going to dominate the world of pop music and be even bigger than the Spice Girls. The band was called Girl Thing. Who are they? I hear you ask and many people asked when they appeared on the Big Reunion. Well when they finally released their single, "Last One Standing", it failed to make number one, reaching number eight. The follow up, "Girls on Top" was an even bigger flop and that was the end of them. Sadly as we all know,it wasn't the end of Simon Cowell.
I thought this would be a good opportunity to look back on the very brief career of B*witched which follows on nicely from the post I did on the Spice Girls a few weeks ago.
When the Spice Girls said Goodbye at the end of 1998, they seemed top have a ready made replacement to lead the world of girl groups in B*witched who had already hit number one with their first three hits. Whilst the Spice Girls were all in their early 20s when they started out 2 years earlier, B*witched consisted of 3 teenagers, Lindsay (17) and twins Keavy and Edele (18), whilst the other member had already hit her mid 20s, Sinead (25). Their unique selling point was that the twins were sisters with Shane from Boyzone and their love of denim.
The start of their chart success did pretty much mirror that of the Spice Girls. It began in the summer of 1998 with the annoyingly catchy debut everyone remembers, "C'est La Vie", followed up by the you had to be there to remember "Rollercoaster" and then the Christmastime ballad "Too You I Belong" which was knocked off the top spot Christmas week by the Spice Girls. They also managed to get to number one with their fourth hit "Blame it on the Weatherman" which unlike the Spice Girls fourth hit, didn't have the comic relief single tag helping it to number one, instead it knocked off the comic relief single "When the Going Gets Tough" by brother Shanes group Boyzone.
By this point B*witched had set the record for the first act to have their first four singles go straight in at number one and were all now old enough to have a celebratory drink. With the Spice Girls now out of the picture, this was the opportunity to truly dominate the world of girl groups.
They recorded their second album which was said to have a more mature sound. In October 1999 the first single from the new album was released, "Jesse Hold On", which didn't really sound too different to "Rollercoaster". This would be their first single (excluding the Abba tribute thing they did with other groups) that didn't reach number one, it reached number four. Then in December 1999 they had the Christmastime ballad "I Shall be There" which failed to even make the top 10. With the twins turning 20 that same month, maybe they were now seen as being too old. Another blow came the following week when Westlife equalled their record of first four singles going straight in at number one.
At a last ditch attempt to get back to the top, they ditched the denims and tried to sex things up with a FHM photoshoot. Along came the single "Jump Down" which only made number 16 and that spelled the end. That same week, Westlife went straight in at number one with their 5th single therefore beating the record set by B*witched a year earlier.
They didn't split up until 2002 and afterwards the twins attempted a comeback as Ms Lynch and Barbarella without any success. Then in 2013 they reunited for the Big Reunion, so their reunion has now lasted longer than their glory days did.
So their chart career including their flop singles towards the end lasted less than two years and one of them was still a teenager when they were finished.
In terms of girl groups, the next big thing created by Simon Cowell was waiting in the wings in early 2000. Much hype was made about them, they were going to dominate the world of pop music and be even bigger than the Spice Girls. The band was called Girl Thing. Who are they? I hear you ask and many people asked when they appeared on the Big Reunion. Well when they finally released their single, "Last One Standing", it failed to make number one, reaching number eight. The follow up, "Girls on Top" was an even bigger flop and that was the end of them. Sadly as we all know,it wasn't the end of Simon Cowell.
Saturday, 27 August 2016
Nothing Lasts Forever - Spice Girls
People have recently acknowledged the fact its now 20 years since the Spice Girls debuted, so I thought it would be a good idea to write about them in the next instalment of my Nothing Lasts Forever series.
Early on in 1996 many young females were devastated at the news that Take That had decided to call it a day. At the same time, many young males including myself were very happy to see the end of Take That. In July of that year though it became apparent that whilst Take That had finished as a group, their members hadn't finished and Gary Barlow went straight in at number one with his debut "Forever Love". What was yet to become apparent was that it wasn't the number one of that week I should be worried about, it was the new entry at number three which you've probably guessed was "Wannabe" by the Spice Girls.
The following week the Spice Girls knocked Gary Barlow off number one and remained there for what seemed like an eternity. I thought this was bound to be a one hit wonder, or at the very least they'd follow it up with a couple of flops before disappearing. Even when I saw the TV debut of their follow up "Say You'll Be There" on The Noise (short lived music show presented by Andi Peters on ITV before The Chart Show) I thought it would flop, but no it went straight it at number one. After that I conceded they weren't going away any time soon.
They were a prime example of how marketing a band in the right way can bring great success. They were clearly there to fill the void left by Take That for the teenage girl audience, but gained a lot of attention from the male audience too which had nothing to do with the music. In those days, when you bought albums you'd often have a mail order card for additional merchandise, and the Spice Girls were no exception to this. One thing you could order was a poster of them in Baywatch swimsuits, when word of this got out many males would buy the album just to order that poster, I knew people who did that, no Google image search in those days. I even knew one person who bought the "2 Become 1" single purely because you could see Geris legs on the cover.
In 1997 the hype surrounding the Spice Girls just got ridiculous, it seemed anything which could be Spice Girls branded was. Then there was the movie which I happy to say that to this very day I've never seen. Music wise though, they only had three singles this year which all got to number one. This was the year they were at the peak of their success.
By 1998, although still hugely popular, the downward spiral would begin. First of all they had their first single that didn't reach number one which was "Stop" which got to number two being denied by Run DMC with "Its Like That". Then Geri Halliwell left the group, which musically wouldn't have made the slightest bit of difference, but it made people questioning whether the whole girl power concept was real or just a marketing campaign.
They finished the year with a Christmas number one with the appropriately titled "Goodbye". Whilst they weren't completely finished as a group, this really was the end of the Spice Girls era. Geri had gone, Mel B and Mel C had already begun their solo careers and both Mel B and Victoria were pregnant by this point.
In 2000 they did make a comeback and had a number one with "Holler", but I don't think too many people remember that. They also came back seven years later with a very forgettable song that failed to reach the top 10. There is also talk of a reunion to mark 20 years, but not all members will be part of it.
So the Spice Girls era may have felt like an eternity, but it only lasted 2 and a half years. Still, it's allowed them all to forge a lucrative career out of doing bugger all ever since so I don't think they'll be complaining.
Early on in 1996 many young females were devastated at the news that Take That had decided to call it a day. At the same time, many young males including myself were very happy to see the end of Take That. In July of that year though it became apparent that whilst Take That had finished as a group, their members hadn't finished and Gary Barlow went straight in at number one with his debut "Forever Love". What was yet to become apparent was that it wasn't the number one of that week I should be worried about, it was the new entry at number three which you've probably guessed was "Wannabe" by the Spice Girls.
The following week the Spice Girls knocked Gary Barlow off number one and remained there for what seemed like an eternity. I thought this was bound to be a one hit wonder, or at the very least they'd follow it up with a couple of flops before disappearing. Even when I saw the TV debut of their follow up "Say You'll Be There" on The Noise (short lived music show presented by Andi Peters on ITV before The Chart Show) I thought it would flop, but no it went straight it at number one. After that I conceded they weren't going away any time soon.
They were a prime example of how marketing a band in the right way can bring great success. They were clearly there to fill the void left by Take That for the teenage girl audience, but gained a lot of attention from the male audience too which had nothing to do with the music. In those days, when you bought albums you'd often have a mail order card for additional merchandise, and the Spice Girls were no exception to this. One thing you could order was a poster of them in Baywatch swimsuits, when word of this got out many males would buy the album just to order that poster, I knew people who did that, no Google image search in those days. I even knew one person who bought the "2 Become 1" single purely because you could see Geris legs on the cover.
In 1997 the hype surrounding the Spice Girls just got ridiculous, it seemed anything which could be Spice Girls branded was. Then there was the movie which I happy to say that to this very day I've never seen. Music wise though, they only had three singles this year which all got to number one. This was the year they were at the peak of their success.
By 1998, although still hugely popular, the downward spiral would begin. First of all they had their first single that didn't reach number one which was "Stop" which got to number two being denied by Run DMC with "Its Like That". Then Geri Halliwell left the group, which musically wouldn't have made the slightest bit of difference, but it made people questioning whether the whole girl power concept was real or just a marketing campaign.
They finished the year with a Christmas number one with the appropriately titled "Goodbye". Whilst they weren't completely finished as a group, this really was the end of the Spice Girls era. Geri had gone, Mel B and Mel C had already begun their solo careers and both Mel B and Victoria were pregnant by this point.
In 2000 they did make a comeback and had a number one with "Holler", but I don't think too many people remember that. They also came back seven years later with a very forgettable song that failed to reach the top 10. There is also talk of a reunion to mark 20 years, but not all members will be part of it.
So the Spice Girls era may have felt like an eternity, but it only lasted 2 and a half years. Still, it's allowed them all to forge a lucrative career out of doing bugger all ever since so I don't think they'll be complaining.
Monday, 15 August 2016
Nothing Lasts Forever - Happy Hardcore
When looking back on different eras of music, whether its genres, certain bands or different music scenes, one thing that is noticeable is just how short that era was.
This gave me the idea to start a series of posts about these things. To be clear, I'm not suggesting that music starts and ends in a defined period, indeed most scenes continue in a small way indefinitely not to mention big revivals you have of some too.
I'm beginning with one that's close to home, Happy Hardcore. When I first started showing interest in rave in 1994 I was told that there were two types of rave, Happy Hardcore and Jungle. This is the moment in rave history defined as being the scene split. At the time, the difference wasn't as obvious as you would think. For example, there was "Breaking Free" by Slipmatt, who would become a Happy Hardcore DJ, but that record spanned both Happy Hardcore and Jungle in reality. Then there were tunes like "Above the Clouds" by Sunshine Productions and "Positive" by Love Nation, perhaps both remembered as being Happy Hardcore tunes but they are both on a Jungle compilation I have from that time.
In 1995 the difference started to become more obvious and Jungle had evolved into Drum & Bass, though you'd still find Helter Skelter and Dreamscape tape packs having both genres mixed together. It wasn't until new years eve 1996 when Helter Skelter first completely separated their Happy Hardcore and Drum & Bass tape packs and they would still keep a mixture of the two genres in the same room until the end of the decade.
1996 saw the start of Hardcore Heaven which was a Hardcore only rave which also released compilations. It also saw the start of the Bonkers compilation series. Although never commercially successful in the UK, this was probably the year Happy Hardcore was at its most popular. Around the same time, Dutch acts such as Charly Lownoise & Mental Theo and Paul Elstak were enjoying chart success in Holland.
For me personally, 1996 and 1997 were the years I was most active in my tape pack buying. I have fond memories of waiting for the new Helter Skelter newsletter and flyer for next event which would give details of how to order the latest tape pack. On receiving the tape pack I would always play the DJ Vibes tape first.
By 1998 I stopped buying new tape packs and started back filling my tape pack collection with Helter Skelter offering discounts on older packs, but also buying second hand packs from people who had now gone off the music. I still followed the scene though through compilations, but the two main magazines covering the scene, Dream and Eternity, had now ceased to exist. I'd also opened up to other genres of music too particularly house music which I'd previously written off for being too slow.
At this point, Happy Hardcore had fully established itself as being a genre that was seen as a bit of a joke. I remember at the time going into a record shop in Leicester which had sections for pretty much every dance music genre you could think of apart from Happy Hardcore. When I asked at the counter whether they stocked any Happy Hardcore, they laughed and said no. When I listened to Bonkers 4 that year, I could see where people were coming from and it was getting a bit too cheesy for my liking as well.
However, I would always leap to the defence of Happy Hardcore. I hated the snobbery of some house music fans about it and was determined to stick to Happy Hardcore and give the 2 fingers up to house, even though I was starting to prefer it purely from a musical perspective.
After the first Helter Skelter of 1999 I bought a new tape pack for the first time since 1997. I played the Vibes tape first as usual, the first track was "Forever Autumn" by Supreme and UFO which I first heard in 1996. I enjoyed the set, but very little of it was new material. Next up I listened to Force and Styles, the first track was "Pacific Sun" which I first heard in 1997 and again hardly any new material. The tape pack also featured some hard trance from Mark EG & M Zone, old skool from Ratpack and a DJ Seduction classics set, so really the whole pack didn't contain a great deal of up front Happy Hardcore, a sure sign the music was on its way out.
DJ Seduction officially retired later on that year and many of the other DJs had moved onto other genres shortly afterwards, most notably Hard House. The only big rave that still had Happy Hardcore in its main room was Slammin Vinyl, but even then they started to mix Hardcore and Hard House in the same room at one point.
So in summary Happy Hardcore grew out the original rave sound in 1994, established itself in 1995, enjoyed its glory years in 1996 and 1997, declined in 1998 before slowly grinding to a halt 1999 onwards.
Some of you may be thinking what about the 00s with the return of Bonkers, the start of Hardcore Till I Die and the Radio 1 show?
Well, basically that is a different era. It became UK Hardcore as opposed to Happy Hardcore and many of the 90s fans did not like the 00s stuff. I bought the comeback Bonkers album and didn't think much to it. Though admittedly I still hadn't become one of those people who would say "Yeah I used to listen to Hardcore", I was adamant that I still listened to it. My realisation that I was a raver of yesteryear in denial was when somebody said "Yeah I used to listen to hardcore" and I found out the beginning for him was the Bonkers comeback album, so after I stopped liking the new stuff.
This gave me the idea to start a series of posts about these things. To be clear, I'm not suggesting that music starts and ends in a defined period, indeed most scenes continue in a small way indefinitely not to mention big revivals you have of some too.
I'm beginning with one that's close to home, Happy Hardcore. When I first started showing interest in rave in 1994 I was told that there were two types of rave, Happy Hardcore and Jungle. This is the moment in rave history defined as being the scene split. At the time, the difference wasn't as obvious as you would think. For example, there was "Breaking Free" by Slipmatt, who would become a Happy Hardcore DJ, but that record spanned both Happy Hardcore and Jungle in reality. Then there were tunes like "Above the Clouds" by Sunshine Productions and "Positive" by Love Nation, perhaps both remembered as being Happy Hardcore tunes but they are both on a Jungle compilation I have from that time.
In 1995 the difference started to become more obvious and Jungle had evolved into Drum & Bass, though you'd still find Helter Skelter and Dreamscape tape packs having both genres mixed together. It wasn't until new years eve 1996 when Helter Skelter first completely separated their Happy Hardcore and Drum & Bass tape packs and they would still keep a mixture of the two genres in the same room until the end of the decade.
1996 saw the start of Hardcore Heaven which was a Hardcore only rave which also released compilations. It also saw the start of the Bonkers compilation series. Although never commercially successful in the UK, this was probably the year Happy Hardcore was at its most popular. Around the same time, Dutch acts such as Charly Lownoise & Mental Theo and Paul Elstak were enjoying chart success in Holland.
For me personally, 1996 and 1997 were the years I was most active in my tape pack buying. I have fond memories of waiting for the new Helter Skelter newsletter and flyer for next event which would give details of how to order the latest tape pack. On receiving the tape pack I would always play the DJ Vibes tape first.
By 1998 I stopped buying new tape packs and started back filling my tape pack collection with Helter Skelter offering discounts on older packs, but also buying second hand packs from people who had now gone off the music. I still followed the scene though through compilations, but the two main magazines covering the scene, Dream and Eternity, had now ceased to exist. I'd also opened up to other genres of music too particularly house music which I'd previously written off for being too slow.
At this point, Happy Hardcore had fully established itself as being a genre that was seen as a bit of a joke. I remember at the time going into a record shop in Leicester which had sections for pretty much every dance music genre you could think of apart from Happy Hardcore. When I asked at the counter whether they stocked any Happy Hardcore, they laughed and said no. When I listened to Bonkers 4 that year, I could see where people were coming from and it was getting a bit too cheesy for my liking as well.
However, I would always leap to the defence of Happy Hardcore. I hated the snobbery of some house music fans about it and was determined to stick to Happy Hardcore and give the 2 fingers up to house, even though I was starting to prefer it purely from a musical perspective.
After the first Helter Skelter of 1999 I bought a new tape pack for the first time since 1997. I played the Vibes tape first as usual, the first track was "Forever Autumn" by Supreme and UFO which I first heard in 1996. I enjoyed the set, but very little of it was new material. Next up I listened to Force and Styles, the first track was "Pacific Sun" which I first heard in 1997 and again hardly any new material. The tape pack also featured some hard trance from Mark EG & M Zone, old skool from Ratpack and a DJ Seduction classics set, so really the whole pack didn't contain a great deal of up front Happy Hardcore, a sure sign the music was on its way out.
DJ Seduction officially retired later on that year and many of the other DJs had moved onto other genres shortly afterwards, most notably Hard House. The only big rave that still had Happy Hardcore in its main room was Slammin Vinyl, but even then they started to mix Hardcore and Hard House in the same room at one point.
So in summary Happy Hardcore grew out the original rave sound in 1994, established itself in 1995, enjoyed its glory years in 1996 and 1997, declined in 1998 before slowly grinding to a halt 1999 onwards.
Some of you may be thinking what about the 00s with the return of Bonkers, the start of Hardcore Till I Die and the Radio 1 show?
Well, basically that is a different era. It became UK Hardcore as opposed to Happy Hardcore and many of the 90s fans did not like the 00s stuff. I bought the comeback Bonkers album and didn't think much to it. Though admittedly I still hadn't become one of those people who would say "Yeah I used to listen to Hardcore", I was adamant that I still listened to it. My realisation that I was a raver of yesteryear in denial was when somebody said "Yeah I used to listen to hardcore" and I found out the beginning for him was the Bonkers comeback album, so after I stopped liking the new stuff.
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