Most of us recall S Club 7 fondly from what I can tell. So why’s that? Let’s take a look, shall we?
Reach for the SPOILERS!
The band was put together by Simon Fuller after he was fired by the Spice Girls. He auditioned people in Britain to find the members for his new band. In the end, seven people were selected: Tina Barrett, Paul Cattermole, Jon Lee, Bradley McIntosh, Jo O’Meara, Hannah Spearitt, and Rachel Stevens. There are different stories about what the “S” stands for, but the most common seems to be that it stands for “Simon.”
So the group recorded their first album and Fuller got them their own TV show. It was called Miami 7 in the UK but renamed S Club 7 in Miami for the US. I’ve already realized that they tend to spell it out for American audiences, like we’re too stupid to figure it out. Anyway, taking inspiration from The Monkees, the band members played exaggerated versions of themselves. Their management decides to send them overseas to America to perform in Miami, neglecting to tell them it’s in a sleazy motel.
The motel is owned by two incompetent brothers, Howard and Marvin (Alfie Wise and Paul Louis), who have a definite way of doing things. But of course S Club comes in and shakes things up. Their pop music brings people to the motel and starts to make it a hot spot in Miami. Of course, they have some hijinks and they do try to become even bigger. Each episode featured a song or two performed by S Club.
S Club gained popularity thanks to the TV show. I know there were a lot of us in my age range that watched it. And we can probably still sing the theme song if pressed. Probably even do the dance moves to “Reach” like we can do the dance moves to “Bye Bye Bye” (and 90s kids better not deny they can).
Speaking of “Reach,” we now arrive at S Club’s second series—L.A. 7 or S Club 7 in LA (because once again, we have to be really obvious in America). They couldn’t stay in Miami forever, right? So they took a cross country trip—that included specials where they first went back in time to the 1950s and then became camp counselors—and ended up in the City of Angels. There, they end up staying with Joni (Linda Blair, The Exorcist) after she nearly runs over Bradley. Once again, hijinks ensue as S Club tries to make it big.
Around this time, S Club released their single “Never Had a Dream Come True.” It was an instant hit, climbing up the UK charts and eventually reaching number 10 on the Billboard charts here in America. If you haven’t heard it, go YouTube it. I’ll wait. Okay, you back? Good. Isn’t a good song? Anyway, it started a run of hits for the band and they got to go on tour.
During all of this, they still managed to film ANOTHER TV show—S Club 7 in Hollywood (or Hollywood 7 for everyone not in America). In the show, the band packs up and leaves Linda Blair for Greg Brady. Yep, Barry Williams plays their new manager and things actually start to move for the band. They get a recording contract and even get to open for a singing sensation named Miguel. After recording a music video and having a concert, S Club starts to take off. It’s decided to send them back to England to start working on their international audience as the series ends.
In the show, Paul and Hannah start dating to reflect their real life relationship. The others accept their relationship, which also seems to reflect real life as well. Also during the course of the show, a companion reality show was produced that gave some lucky tweens the chance to form their own band. They called themselves S Club Juniors and went on to have some success.
After S Club 7 in Hollywood, Paul announced he was leaving the group. He wanted to go back to his more rock roots and it seemed the band he had been in was reforming. Paul stayed with the group for another tour and part of the next series before leaving for good.
That next series was Viva S Club (called either S Club or S Club 7 in Barcelona in the US). The band moved to Spain to launch their international careers, though Paul’s departure was addressed in the show. Paul stayed for about five episodes before both he and his character left. The band then figured out how to move on and continue to grow their careers. And the series comes to a conclusion with fond memories and the remaining six finally heading back to England.
With Paul’s departure, the group rebranded themselves as S Club. They continued to perform and put out new music, despite critics predicting their failure since most bands don’t survive losing a member (a warning for 1D? Or will they beat it?). S Club was unable to avoid the fall and their albums didn’t do as well. Despite denying it, they finally announced that they were breaking up after putting out one last album. Fans were not happy and some felt deceived.
So S Club split up and pursued solo careers. Hannah continued to act in movies and TV shows. Jon also acted but went into the theater. The others also did things here or there and Jo gathered some notoriety when she participated in Celebrity Big Brother over in the UK. She was caught being racist toward another contestant and disappeared for a bit. Recently, she’s re-emerged as has some other S Club members.
Earlier this year, it was announced that S Club 7 would be reuniting for a charity event. And fans went wild. It seems the group is still beloved.
Who knows what lies on the future for this group? But whatever it is, I’m sure it’ll be bright.
Next month: Halloweentown II: Kalabar’s Revenge
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