FEATURE:
Too Good to Be Forgotten: Songs That Are Much More Than a Guilty Pleasure
PHOTO CREDIT: Rex Features
Steps – 5,6,7,8
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I am going to visit another decade…
other than the 1990s for my next instalment, but Steps release their new album, What the Future Holds, in November. Apart from a twelve-year gap between 2000’s Buzz, and Light Up the World, the band have been fairly consistent. Claire Richards, Lee Latchford-Evans, Lisa Scott-Lee, Faye Tozer and Ian ‘H’ Watkins have been together since their debut album, Step One, of 1998. 5,6,7,8 was the debut single from the group and, released in 1997, the face of British Pop was changing. It was a year where I think a lot of darker, more experimental sounds were coming in - but there was still a core of great Pop. Steps were put together in 1997 following an advert in a magazine, The Stage, asking for applicants to audition for a place in a Pop band. It sounds rather old-school, and I wonder whether bands now still advertise in magazines?! Their debut album is actually quite a good introduction and 5,6,7,8 was a pretty catchy introduction. I think people consider the song a bit of a guilty pleasure as they feel Steps are a bit uncool. 5,6,7,8 was written by Barry Upton and Steve Crosby and it blends a sort of Techno feel with some Country twang. Other songs on Step One include Heartbeat, and One for Sorrow, and there is enough personality and range on the album to appeal to most people.
I think it’s a fun album, and it still provides plenty of kick after all of these years. I feel like a lot of the other tracks on Step One were viewed quite warmly, but many highlighted 5,6,7,8 as being a weaker cut. Others disliked Steps and felt that they were (and are) too manufactured and lack any real depth. Maybe it is the slightly camp nature, but I have heard people refer to Steps’ debut single as a bit of a guilty pleasure and something they wouldn’t freely admit to liking. Look back to 1994 and Cotton Eyed Joe from Rednex and that marriage of hoedowns and big beats – a novelty single that actually is a lot better than people give it credit for! Those who dismissed 5,6,7,8 in 1997 felt that it was a strange choice for the lead-off single from Step One. Last Thing on My Mind, One for Sorrow, and Heartbeat are slightly heavier songs and not quite as giddy as 5,6,7,8, so many Steps felt that they needed to come in with something a bit lighter. Steps are, debatably, at their best when Claire Richards is on lead vocals, and 5,6,7,8 features Lee Latchford-Evans on lead. Last Thing on My Mind, a cover of the Bananarama song, has Faye Tozer, Lisa Scott-Lee, Claire Richards leading, whilst One for Sorrow is Claire Richards at the front. Latchford-Evans is not the strongest vocalist in the group, but I think his turn is pretty good, and 5,6,7,8 is a song that does not demand too much attention.
I think a lot of critics were a bit cold to anything that evoked line dancing and had a Country twang, and many others were not sold on 5,6,7,8 at all. Years down the line, and I think there has been a slight change in attitudes about the song. There are many who still think it is a classic guilty pleasure, but others judge it away from the 1990s and can just enjoy it for what it is: A Pop song that has plenty of energy and is catchy enough! Right through the 1990s, there was an interesting range of girl and boybands, but there weren’t too many groups that I can remember of male and female singers. S Club 7 released their debut album, S Club, in 1999, and it is an album that has a few highlights, but it is not quite as uplifting and strong as Steps’ Step One. Many would highlight Steps as a moment when Pop sort of lost its way, but their music is worthy of acclaim and respect. The group have often been compared to ABBA, and this was more apparent on songs like One for Sorrow. 5,6,7,8 is maybe not a song you will get up and dance along to, but it is a great track! Even though there were some negative reviews, 5,6,7,8 enjoyed the third-highest sales of any single of their career in the United Kingdom, selling 365,000 copies and receiving 34,239,387 streams as of 22nd October, 2020. The track peaked at number-one in Australia and reached the top-five in Flanders and New Zealand. Although not the strongest song Steps ever put their name to, 5,6,7,8 definitely gets the feet tapping and it will lift the spirits! 5,6,7,8 was performed on The Ultimate Tour in 2012 and the Party on the Dancefloor Tour in 2017 and, as Steps are readying themselves for another album, I wonder if 5,6,7,8 will get an airing…
WHEN they’re next back on stage.