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

Atomic Kitten 'I Want Your Love'

Chart Peak: 10

YouTube

'I Want Your Love' is the 3rd single release from cheeky threesome Atomic Kitten... The girls are busy building a huge following in the Far East there there is phenomenal demand for anything "Kitten" - they are heavily involved with MTV Asia's latest campagin, reaching an incredible audience of 675 million!

Speaking of reality TV, I wonder how many people nowadays can actually remember why Kerry Katona was initially famous. And should anyone think I was exaggerating about the risk of Scooch being dropped after a Number 29 single, legend has it that the Kittens were almost dropped in 2001 without ever having missed the Top 20; their founder Andy McCluskey (of OMD fame) begged the label to give them one last shot with a single called 'Whole Again', and the rest is of course history. If like most people you only know of the group's work after that breakthrough, you'll be used to them as purveyors of limp balladry, cover versions and weak Corrs pastiches, so it might come as some surprise to be confronted with a track like this, which actually sounds the way a band with a name like Atomic Kitten should.

Over a sample of the score from the film The Big Country (familiar even to those of us who haven't seen the movie, not least since it was also sampled on 'The Only Rhyme That Bites' by 808 State and MC Tunes) and credited elements of the KLF's 'Justified And Ancient' (Drummond and Cauty even get writing credits, perhaps ironically) this isn't the best song ever but it's much more outlandish and therefore more fun than what they became known for in the majority of their career. It speaks volumes that when their debut album was re-issued to include their chart-topping hits and new member Jenny Frost, this track was exiled to the very end of the album, they didn't even bother to replace the departed Katona's vocal.

One more Scooch/Kittens connection: Heidi Range auditioned for both groups. She was considered too young for the former act but got as far as recording demos with Atomic Kitten before departing. She of course went on to get further experience of line-up changes as a member of Sugababes.

Also appearing on: Now 45, 48, 49, 52, 53, 54, 56, 57 [with Kool And The Gang], 58, 60
Available on: Right Now

Scooch 'For Sure'

Chart Peak: 15

YouTube

Catchy new tune from Scooch, 'For Sure' is scheduled to hit the shops in late July 2000... The video for the new track sees the band carry-out a week-long romance complete with fun office scenes in an Ally McBeal style, packed dance-floor scenarios and a visit from a passing break-dancer!
Taken from the album For Sure.

Actually, the album was called Four Sure. See what they did there? Though not the most successful group of this era, I remember Scooch fairly clearly, not least because they were so transparently Mike Stock and Matt Aitken's attempt at a knock-off of their friend-turned-enemy Pete Waterman's success with Steps. The band members even looked similar (at least after the attentions of a stylist) although the fact that there were only four of them did rather seem to heighten the appearance of a cheapo own-brand substitute. It's presumably through Stock and Aitken's determination that they weren't dropped after the first single only scraped the Top 30, particularly in the knowledge that Steps' first hit was their smallest. But whilst they scored a Top 5 hit with the hopefully-titled 'The Best Is Yet To Come' they didn't make the Top 10 again until they entered Eurovision in 2007. 'For Sure' proved to be the last hit of their original career and was probably their strongest recording - certainly their catchiest number although a bit heavy on the Autotune for my taste.

The track's notable for the use of Latin-style beats that were really fashionable a year or two earlier, which might be another reason why they weren't more successful; they seemed a bit behind the times. Obviously 1999 is a bit late to show up with a pseudo-Steps, and whilst Ally McBeal was apparently still in production until 2002 it seemed to peak in pop-culture recognition. Personally I never saw an entire episode of the show (I have some vague memory of there being a unisex toilet involved?) but I'd like to think their set design was a bit more convincing, and I'd hope that they didn't suffer from that effect you see in the close-up dancefloor shots where it looks like a widescreen picture compressed into traditional aspect ratio. Even Jamelia's office scenes were more convincing. Also the other three members are so peripheral that if you didn't know otherwise you could be forgiven for thinking that Scooch was the name of the blonde woman (who actually seems to have been called Caroline Barnes) rather than a group; in the event it was the other woman Natalie Powers who had the solo career, though not to the extent of actually charting. Thanks to YouTube I can confirm the claim on Wikipedia that Russ Spencer (the blond man) did indeed take part in Boys Will Be Girls, a "reality" TV show in which former boy band "stars" pretended to be a girl group. I think the bit about them playing a gig with the Mission and Fields Of The Nephilim might not be true though.

Available on: Four Sure

Fe-m@il 'Flee Fly Flo'

Chart Peak: 46

YouTube

Fe-m@il, whose ages range from 15 to 19, are "on a mission to get the nation dancing"... Oyana is easy-going but hates cats, Ans is lazy - but a perfectionist, Nicci is a smiley violinist, Lauz (aka Laura) is a party animal and and Sally (Lauz's sister) enjoys fiddling with her belly-button because it freaks her big sister out!

If you've watched that video, I'd just like to reassure you that the world hasn't ended, you're not having a feverish dream, that song really does exist. There are some records that have a timeless quality, that are so individual that they can't be pigeonholed with anything else or be tied to a specific era; it's fair to say that 'Flee Fly Flo' isn't one of them. The very name of the act, with the pun and the use of the @ symbol (which always looks to me like it should be pronounced "fematil", surely the name of a hygiene product) is an instant throwback to the days when references to this newfangled Internet thing were trendy whether or not they made any sense. Even four years after 'Wannabe', people still thought there was some mileage in the concept of a feisty girl-group and especially one who could be promoted to a very young audience. To this end, the track is apparently based on a traditional song commonly sung at scout camps and similar, so it would be all the more familiar to schoolgirls. Even before release this track was included on a free video cassette with TV Hits magazine (another very of its time reference), but the kids didn't bite and as far as I know this was their only release, in the days when one flop was the end. I don't know whether a second single was recorded and abandoned, and neither do I know what happened to the ex-members of the band. Presumably they've all had to get proper jobs now but I wonder if they ever tell their colleagues about this.

Vangaboys 'Uncle John From Jamaica'

Chart Peak: 6

YouTube

Originally, "The Vengaboys" was the working title of DJs Danski and Delmundo, who toured Spain in a schoolbus for five years, holding illegal beach parties... Forward to the year 2000 and the band are riding high on chart success with a combined single sales total of over two million on the UK alone!

I said the other day that it was slightly odd to be listening to some of these songs in December, as it's a summer album. But as the end of the album nears, we start to hit the sort of novelty that seems to fit into the pre-Christmas week quite neatly. Though this was far from the last Vengaboys hit, it does find them well past beyond their peak. Though never a serious act, they were once on the same sort of level as pop-dance acts like Alice Deejay, making records you could imagine hearing in clubs; this is much more obviously pitched at kids too young for clubs and MTV viewers: the making of feature about the video indicates that it was actually filmed in Jamaica, although entirely in a hotel so it might as well have been Spain or the Netherlands.

The best thing about this song is that it's not as cod-reggae as the title threatens and nobody actually attempts a Jamaican accent at any point. The remainder of the song is silly but not in an especially outlandish or memorable way, apart from the costumes in the video. Amazingly, it's not even their worst song.

Also appearing on: Now 41, 42, 43, 44, 45

Jamelia 'Call Me'

Chart Peak: 11

YouTube

Birmingham-born Jamelia is currently been hailed {sic} as the hottest new talent on the UK RnB scene, claims which were supported by her 2000 Brit nomination for Best Newcomer... The video for new single 'Call Me' is based in an office - an ordinary atmosphere in comparison to the powdered-wig wearing, costume-drama-style video made for her previous single 'Money'.

I don't think it's an entirely accurate representation of an office, I have to admit. 'Call Me' is not a version of the Blondie or Go West songs, but an original composition: Wikipedia credits it to Jamelia alone, although two co-writers are named here. Either way, it was the third of four singles from her debut album, and possibly best described as a functional RnB track that does what you'd expect but little more, and the pastiche of turn-of-century US production styles unfortunately leaves it sounding very dated now, full of acoustic guitars, harps and clicking beats. Songs like 'Try Again' on this album are strong enough to grow into the production but there just isn't quite enough to this one. Generally I like Jamelia but this is just ho-hum. She didn't have another hit for three years.

Also appearing on: Now 45, 56, 57, 58, 59, 65, 66
Available on: Jamelia - The Collection

Tru Faith and Dub Conspiracy 'Freak Like Me'

Chart Peak: 12

YouTube

Tru Faith and Dub Conspiracy's debut garage offering started its journey to the dance floor as a bootleg cover of Adina Howard's US No1, also entitled 'Freak Like Me'... Due for commercial release this summer, the track is already an underground anthem following months of extensive airplay on pirate UK radio stations.

Possibly the most obscure act on this album, neither Tru Faith nor Dub Conspiracy merits a Wikipedia entry, and the article about the song makes no mention of this version either. In fact, pretty much the only thing I know about this particular version is that the uncredited singer is Imaani, previously heard on Now 40 as the 1998 Eurovision contestant. She didn't win.

Adina Howard's original was only a minor UK chart hit, but a big favourite on the RnB scene and much rotated on The Box channel. It's credited, if that's the word, with pioneering the "hypersexual" style among female singers in the genre, although it's something I find impossible to take at all seriously. The language barrier about the word "freak" doesn't entirely help here either, it always makes me think of a man with three arms or something. It was obviously familiar enough to clubbers to justify this bootleg (I wonder if they mean it was originally a remix with the original vocal?) in a style which faintly resembles Shanks & Bigfoot's chart-topper 'Sweet Like Chocolate' from the previous year with added garage beats. But there's not a lot to interest the casual listener and I only dimly recall this. There was of course another bootleg of this song a year later which became rather better known, but that's a few albums further down the line...

Available on: Freak Like Me