| S Club's interview in the US magazine Popstar (July 2001) *Patience is a virtue as S Club 7 strikes gold (platinum?) with the second single from their second album! Are they dreaming? S Club 7 is made up of Jo,Jon,Bradley,Paul,Hannah, Tina and Rachel, seven (get it?) photogenic performers who star in their own Saturday morning TV show. They're already household names in their native UK- where they have hit the top of the charts with their catchy hits-but it almost seemed that they would they would never find major success Stateside when single after single failed to ignite. But that unlucky streak ended with the fortuitous release of the mesmerizing power ballad "Never Had A Dream Come True," a song so good it caught all of radio by surprise and put the kids on the American pop map overnight. When we met them at the offices of their record label in New York City, they were still numb at the super timing of the hit. Our first question was whether they were shocked by the song taking off. We were met with a seven-fold, "Yes!!!" "One of the guys who was trying to get our single Natural on the radio happened to play Never Had A Dream Come True as well. The guys just put it on the air, there and then. And all the other radio stations have just picked up on it!" They plan to release a newly recorded remix of "Two in a Million" in the near future, too. It's not easy creating a hit single, but the guys and girls also confessed to us that making the beautiful, snowy video was even tougher. "Standing around a lot" is how Jon sums up the experience, and Tina laughs out loud that it involved a whole day of sweating! The TV series is what S Club 7 is known for in America (they were recognized by a disbelieving fan on the streets of New York the day we met them!), but the plan to take what Bradely calls a "big break" from the show while focusing on promoting their CD. "We work just as hard on both," says Tina, "but I'd say I like acting more than singing. Golden-voiced Jo weighs in with a confident, "I prefer music." "I prefer the music says Jon. "I think whoever does acting and singing, if they had a choice to record an episode or do a live concert, it would be a live concert. That is kind of like acting in a way." Adorable Paul reasons that "you can act a song, but you can't sing a script. Unless it's actually a song!" The S Club 7 "dream team" functions like a unit, with the guys and girls allowing each other to speak in turn, occasionally answering all at once (and in perfect harmony!). But we couldn't help asking if they ever get sick of the sight of each other. I mean, don't you ever wonder if S Club 7 turns into Fight Club 7? "We don't really fight," Jon says, "but we do get sick of each other, because we're in each other's faces constantly. But brothers and sisters fight." "But it's only when we're filming the TV series and we're away from home for three months," adds Bradley. Paul puts perspective on the issue by admitting, "My favorite is performing, anything on the creative side is my favorite, even if I'm away from home for a while." But all the kids love the travel that they get to do as part of S club 7, especially Hannah."I love the travel!" she blurts out as soon as we ask for her favorite part of the job. I't fun, but it's still a job. and there is also a verypublic element to consider. As young people, the members of S Club 7 have to endure a huge amount of attention and constantly struggle with privacy issues. Maybe the worst thing about making mistakes is they all seen magnified when they're in public. "I was doing this performance for a magazine awards show and my trousers split on the crotch," Tina remembers, mortified. "Luckily I realized, because I was going to kick my leg!" Don't cry too hard for S Club 7, though. They're a great group with a wonderful sense of irony about the whacky stuff that befalls them. They laugh at themselves and take things easy, which is why they totally deserve the late booming hit song "Never Had A Dream Come True." This dream team no longer dream of conquering America-thanks to a happenin' "choon" (as they call songs in the UK), they're well on their way! *On this issue of Popstar magazine there is also a poster of Paul and a caption which says: Paul Cattermole-Siner/actor Famous for: His "Natural" abilities. Hot for: his eyes Hottie Factor: 98% * Here's another short article about S Club 7 on Popstar magazine: As you'll read in the huge S Club 7 feature in this very issue, "Never Had A Dream Come True" was very literally a dream come true for the guys and girls of S Club 7. The British band-household names in their homeland for a series of top 5 hits and their poppy TV show-has never had a single hit in the USA, but have always told Popstar! that they dream of hitting the charts. "Never Had A Dream Come True" was a song that wasn't even on S Club's latest USA CD, entitled Natural. See, in the UK, S Club 7 has already worked through two full albums and are working on another. In the meantime, they release this super sweet ballad for the charity WWF, which supports the fight to conserve wildlife and the natural environment. An approximately outdoorsy video, S Club's name and a money song combined to bring "Never Had A Dream Come True" to the attention of the powers that be in America. Their label Interscope pitched the tune to radio and to MTV and got a resoundingly supportive response, which led to S Club 7 hotting the Billboard Top 40 for the first time the week of March 26,2001. It also led to all our readers buggin' on us, saying, "Hey, there's no S Club 7 in this issue! 'Sup with that?" We've fixed that problem! "If we were going to sit down and pick a song to got to America now," band mamber Bradley admits, " it probably wouldn't be 'Never Had A Dream Come True.' We'd try and release something a bit more upbeat." He shrugs with a smile. "Who knew???" |
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