Steps – Heartbeat
With Christmas fast approaching, ’90s pop music tradition dictated that it was finally time for Steps to release a ballad.
With Christmas fast approaching, ’90s pop music tradition dictated that it was finally time for Steps to release a ballad.
‘No Matter What I Do’ wasn’t quite the successful second single Will Mellor needed, but it was very good, nonetheless.
Almost two years after her first top 40 single, Ellie Campbell was back with one of the best songs Britney Spears never recorded.
As a product of Pete Waterman’s intent to push back against changing chart trends, Pop! made a strong argument with ‘Heaven and Earth’.
The final Christmas chart battle of the millennium(!) saw Steps enter the fray with their take on a Kylie Minogue classic.
Every pop act has to start somewhere, even if that place is techno-country line dancing. It’s time to begin, now count it in…
The arrival of Scooch saw Mike Stock and Matt Aitken attempt to play Pete Waterman at his own game. Line dancing and all.
The arrival of Britney Spears saw Ellie Campbell’s second single, ‘So Many Ways’ suddenly take her in an entirely new direction.
Glenn Ball is here to spill the tea on working with Pete Waterman, that long-lost Pop! album and his incredible dancing career.
‘Can’t Say Goodbye’ was as much a statement of defiance for Pop! as it was a familiar tale of disco-heartbreak.
As the lead single from Steps’ second album, ‘Love’s Got A Hold On My Heart’ was a risk-averse, but very welcome return for the group.
‘You’ll Be Sorry’ saw Steps hit back with a massive ‘f**k you’ (and a brilliant B-side) after years on the receiving end of heartbreak.
‘Deeper Shade Of Blue’ was a watershed moment for Steps, marking a significant shift in their sound and thrusting them in a bold new direction.
‘Better Best Forgotten’ allowed Steps to consolidate their identity as a chart-topping success, while hurriedly recording a new album.
Pop!’s third – and final – single ‘Serious’ saw the group go out on top. Or, as close to that as they were ever going to get.
Mining the Bee Gees back-catalogue for a hit had worked well for many groups in the late ’90s. So, what could possibly go wrong for One True Voice?
‘Say You’ll Be Mine’ is a significant – yet oft-overlooked – curio from Steps, as their first single to feature every member of the group on lead vocals.
By mid-2003, Girls Aloud had scored two hit singles and an album. One True Voice, on the other hand, had ‘Shakespeare’s (Way With) Words’…
‘Last Thing On My Mind’ arguably lay the first stone for Steps to become a serious pop act – well, as serious as they were ever going to get.
Armed with a new logo (the Scoodle™), Scooch’s second single needed to turn things around after their debut. And that’s precisely what it did.