Wednesday 8 May 2013

Steps 'Better Best Forgotten'

Chart Peak: 2

YouTube

Steps ended 1998 with a bang, when their double 'A' sided single 'Heartbeat/Tragedy' hit the No. 1 spot after 8 weeks on the chart!... And things are still on the up, follow-up single 'Better Best Forgotten' shot straight into the Top 5 in March '99.

At rather the opposite end of their career from Boyzone, Steps made their fifth chart appearance with what proved to be the third of thirteen consecutive Top 5 hits. The last single from their debut album - unusually for bubblegum pop, it's as late as ninth in the running order - has a title that invites dismissive comments, but it's actually one of their best singles, almost as close as they ever got to the Abba soundalikes Pete Waterman intended. To be sure, the song doesn't quite have the depth that some of the Swedes' music managed, but it is modelled on the more mature later songs rather than the obvious camp classics. I'm not among the people for whom resemblance to Abba is an instant win, but I can enjoy the melody and that naggingly familar wordless vocal part. It's formulaic, but the good sort of formulaic.

Also appearing on: Now 39, 40, 41, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51
Available on: Step One

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