Starring: Steps, Tina Cousins, Cleopatra, B*Witched and Billie 'Thank Abba For The Music'

Chart Peak: 4

Knowing Me, Knowing YouTube

This sensational collaboration of pop's hottest young stars - Steps, Tina Cousins, Cleopatra, B*Witched and Billie - was revealed at the 1999 Brit Awards, when this fantastic medley was performed as a tribute to one of pop's greatest ever groups - the legendary Abba.

Apparently the video of that performance is still on Youtube, but blocked in the UK due to the recent intervention of the BPI, who've taken down a lot of unofficial Brits uploads now they have their own channel.  So I've had to make do with an unofficial upload that's oddly synced to pictures of the real Abba, though fortunately the below is still available:


You almost have to wonder whether somebody saw that and didn't think it was a joke, don't you? Mind you, even as late as 1995 such a medley might have been an odd thing for such acts to be associated with - it really seemed like the social acceptability of Abba built during the 1990s, from the band nobody would admit to liking to the one nobody could admit to not liking. 1999 was the year that saw the 25th anniversary of their Eurovision and thus their British chart debut, and was duly marked by such promotional activities as a repackage of Abba Gold (which returned to the top of the chart), ITV's ABBAmania TV special and its accompanying charity album and the UK premiere of the musical Mamma Mia, which as we now know proved to be one of the biggest phenomena in theatre in recent years and spawned countless imitators, though only Queen's We Will Rock You really succeeded.

The teen oriented stars gathered here are sometimes billed as the Supertroopers, though this name wasn't used on the single cover (maybe there was some contractual issue?). Instead they're billed under their separate names  - in order of appearance, in case you're wondering how Tina Cousins gets second billing. Between them they (and some uncredited backing singers) work through 'Take A Chance On Me', 'Dancing Queen', 'Mamma Mia' and of course 'Thank You For The Music', of which this is technically the highest-charting version ever. It's not so much a medley as bits of four songs being sung in sequence, though, with no attempt to join the parts together beyond the fact that they're all being played on the same cheap-sounding keyboards. In fact, with the rushed production and anonymous singing, this sounds more like one of those "soundalike" versions that get thrown onto cheap compilations and lurk on download stores to trick the unwary. It does provide a sort of tribute to Abba, if not the one intended - it certainly emphasises how much effort went into the sound of the original Abba singles, and the fact that this isn't painful to listen to says something for the quality of the original songwriting. Just ask Jeremy Hardy.

Steps also appear on: Now 39, 40, 41, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51
Tina Cousins also appears on: Now 43, 44
Billie also appears on: Now 40, 41, 46, 47
Available on: Thank Abba for the Music

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

Steps 'Deeper Shade Of Blue'

Chart Peak: 4

YouTube

Before the guys and gals of Steps teamed up in 1997, they were already in training for a life of stardom; Faye was the star of a cabaret band, Lisa was touring as a singer/dancer, Claire was singing in her first band TSD, Lee was working in the theatre and "H" was entertaining kids at a holiday camp... 'Deeper Shade Of Blue' gave Steps their 7th Top Five hit in April 2000.

Apologies to anyone who was hoping to see this post yesterday but even I have better things to do on Christmas Day than to write blog posts about Steps. This also means that I'm writing this as the news arrives of Gerry Anderson's demise, which is a bit of a coincidence given the vaguely Thunderbirds-esque look in parts of the video, although the blue uniforms also slightly resemble the costumes Scooch wore for their Eurovision appearance seven years later (maybe not a total coincidence). Meanwhile, in the fantasy sequences Faye and Claire appear to be inventing Lady Gaga almost a decade too soon whilst Lisa is auditioning for Avatar.

It's the second dose of Steps on this album, of course, a rare event for such an established act, but at this point in their brief career they were flinging out hits at such a rate that it was becoming hard to keep track of them - obviously more easily done by a non-songwriting act and apparently this particular tune was originally recorded by Tina Cousins. Unlike their other contribution, 'Deeper Shade Of Blue' was a song that actually attracted my attention at the time and it's probably as close as I ever came to buying a Steps single, although I could never be bothered with all the remixes so I never did it. Although it doesn't sound to me especially similar to any Abba record, it does perhaps come close to their combination of the euphoric and melancholic, blending a big dancey chorus with the more downbeat verses; whilst those two elements should in theory undermine each other they actually dovetail pretty well, maybe because there's no attempt at gravitas. We're comfortably in dance-to-forget-your-troubles territory and even if I've rarely been able to do that successfully I like the idea. Plus this is appealing enough melodically not to demand much thought. Though it's inevitably dated a little over the last 12 years it's still one of their best singles, despite having the shortest chart run of any of their first run hits. It's a decent end to the album, although it does fade a bit weakly so maybe it should have been reshuffled a bit.

Also appearing on: Now 39, 40, 41, 42, 44, 45, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51
Available on: The Ultimate Collection

Steps 'When I Said Goodbye'

Chart Peak: 5

YouTube

'When I Said Goodbye is the latest single from UK mega-band Steps, and features as a double A-side with sunny pop-anthem 'Summer Of Love'... 'When I Said Goodbye' is a romantic duet featuring H and Claire on lead vocals and is accompanied by a video shot in the notoriously passionate city of Rome.

Somehow, referring to "the notoriously passionate city of Rome" seems to suggest that people are flying off the handle and shouting at each other all the time, rather than the romantic atmosphere that I think is what they meant. The video itself certainly tends to the latter interpretation, complete with lots of shots of them standing in front of famous landmarks so you can tell they weren't just filming in Basingstoke. Mind you, there is that shot at about 1:49 where it looks like the camera is about to run over Lee Latchford-Evans, so perhaps somebody was annoyed with him.

Anyway, this release was clearly an attempt to repeat the success of 'Heartbeat/Tragedy', as a bridge with one side (this) from their then-current album and the other ('Summer Of Love') from their next one: on this occasion they only got the one Now! appearance between them though. It seems like a bridge in another way too, as shifting the focus towards H & Claire as the main singers obviously presaged their career as a duo after the band split. In all honesty, this isn't a song I remember hearing at all at the time (I can't even remember which side they played on the chart rundowns) but listening to it now I'd rate it as one of their better slowies, although let down by some cheap-sounding production. I suspect that my tendency to listen to the tracks for this blog on headphones is bad for this track, although it's good for my marriage. Oddly, there are a couple of points where it seems like it's threatening to turn into Michael Jackson's 'Human Nature', though there's no way they could have afforded that sample.


Also appearing on: Now 39, 40, 41, 42, 44, 45, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51
Available on: The Ultimate Collection

Steps 'Chain Reaction'

Chart Peak: 2

YouTube

One track that wasn't quite a Number One, although at least it is a cover version of one: Diana Ross was of course at the top of the chart 25 years ago next month with the Bee Gees-penned song. It's not a totally comfortable fit for the more dayglo style of Steps, as the lyrical content is actually quite saucy when you listen to it but they don't seem entirely ready to sex-up their image as some comparable acts would at this stage in their career. The one exception is that rather disturbing grunt about 17 seconds in, which it's probably just as well they didn't follow up elsewhere on the record.

The production here is reminiscent of their other big Gibb-sourced hit, 'Tragedy', with a lot of the same percussion effects. If I had to listen to a version of this song (and fortunately I don't most of the time) I think it'd have to be this one. At least it doesn't have the screechy backing vocals.

Also appearing on: Now 39, 40, 41, 42, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 51
Available on: Gold: Greatest Hits

Steps 'Last Thing On My Mind'

Chart Peak: 6

YouTube

In theory, this record probably shouldn't have existed. By all accounts, Steps were convened to release one single, the line-dance cash-in '5,6,7,8'. But despite being one of the worst records ever made, that actually sold remarkably well (it's still one of the biggest-selling singles not to reach the Top 10) and so Pete Waterman stepped in (er, no pun intended) and a career was born.

Like the Karen Ramirez track earlier on this disc, 'Last Thing On My Mind' was once an unsuccessful single by a familiar act: Bananarama's original peaked at 71 towards the end of their initial run of UK success, when they were already down to their last two members. As a co-writer, Waterman clearly saw it as in his interest for the song finally to shift some units, and in doing so he established the template for future Steps singles; not only did this begin the run of Top 10 hits that lasted until their split, but the sound is all there too. The video depicts Faye Tozer, Claire Richards and Lisa Scott-Lee singing verses in turn, but anyone who can hear the difference deserves some sort of medal. And if they can figure out where the male vocals are, it should be a gold one. Theoretically downbeat lyrical material is delivered with a smile and the whole thing is, like a lot of this disc, utterly flimsy. But dash it if this isn't the most fun we've had yet.

Also appearing on: Now 39, 41, 42, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51
Available on: Hits for Kids, Vol. 7

Steps 'Tragedy'

Chart Peak: 1 (1 week)

YouTube

The first British act on the album. And in contrast to the singles people couldn't wait to buy, here's one that was first released in November 1998 but didn't make it to the top until January. Of course, there's a bit of a twist here, in that this was a double A-side single, and the slushy ballad 'Heartbeat' was promoted for the Christmas market (it duly appears on Now 41) with this more party-friendly track kept in reserve for the new year.

'Tragedy' is of course a version of the 1979 Bee Gees chart-topper. It tends to be the case that I like covers of Bee Gees songs more than their originals and I wouldn't say this was any exception. Sure, this is pretty stupid, but surely that was the whole point, and at least they don't sound like they're being scalded. This is honest, simple, meaningless music for the sort of wedding discos they show in the video, although we could have done without Pete Waterman's cameo, thanks.

Also appearing on: Now 39, 40, 41, 42, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51
Available on: Gold: Greatest Hits