Summer, 2000
My job through high school was as a working artist. A combination of teens and twenty-somethings would work together for the city of Boston to create murals and other pieces of installation art. During the summers, we would split off into teams and work at different sites. Our summer had led up to one more assignment. We were painting a mural on the side of a half pipe area where the Hyde Park Skatepark would be created. Though I don't quite remember what we were painting (it wasn't the most memorable of my mural projects), I can tell you that's where I noticed that S Club 7 was beginning to trend in the United States. Yes, I had heard about them through Disney Adventures magazine (who would cross-market with Radio Disney), but I was unfamiliar with their TV show. Yes, I was a high schooler who dabbled in Radio Disney's bubblegum pop music. And, yes I can unapologetically say that now.
S Club 7 was like the Monkees in that they were a pop group created not just to record hits, but to star in semi-autobiograhical TV shows. The British version show was released as four series and two television specials. Granted that they were working primarily for a different consumer market, the Monkees and S Club 7 released almost the same amount of TV content. Unlike the Monkees combination of a 3/4 American rock band, S Club 7 was a seven piece pop group known for a prolific list of hit songs and elaborate dance routines. Some songs were sung more as ensemble pieces while others would feature different members backed up by their bandmates. S Club 7 had a combination of young men and women! This is something that wasn't seen at the time. Up until that point, how many big acts had both male and female lead singers? ABBA. Roxette. the Fugees. My point is that a market saturated with pop acts were usually either packaged as a "girl group" or a "boy band". A*Teens came up after S Club 7. Who is to say that it wasn't just ABBA who inspired the four Swedish millennials to try that method.
In 2002 the UK was holding a Golden Jubilee to celebrate the 60th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth's service as reigning monarch. Not detracting from the Trooping of the Colour, and all of the other events, it was the "Party at the Palace" that made the biggest impression on me. Keep in mind that I saw it as a trimmed down version during one of PBS's pledge drives. Party at the Palace 2002 was a cross-generational event like no other. Neither the Platinum or Diamond Jubilees provided such a great experience, and it remains one of the few DVD's that I still have kept. Staying on topic (I'll dedicate a separate post to this epic concert) I wanted to explain that one of the high points for me was seeing S Club 7. Paul Cattermole was leaving the group. "Don't Stop Movin" was part of their core set and then they sang back up to Cliff Richard. I've geeked out about Cliff Richard in previous posts, and this was my first introduction to someone who rose up as a British Elvis Presley. Cliff's backup band became rock icons themselves through the surf rock genre. With Phil Collins as a house drummer for Party at the Palace and S Club 7 dancing and singing backup, who filled in for Hank Marvin on the song "Move It"? Brian May of Queen (the man who opened the show by playing the national anthem from the rooftop of Buckingham Palace).
In the following years, S Club eventually broke up. Rachel Stevens and some others had solo careers recording artists. Jon Lee became a star in the West End theatre. Some members would work together in partial reunions. In 2019, content creator Alfie Deyes got Jo O'Meara, Bradley McIntosh, and Tina Barrett to perform at Zoe "Zoella" Sugg's birthday party. A global pandemic later, I saw the seven appear in a February 2023 reaction video for Hits Radio where they promoted a 25th anniversary tour. Much more participatory in concerts than I had been as a teen, I was hoping (and legit manifesting) for S Club 7 to reach the States. Tragedy struck in April 2023 when Cattermole suddenly passed away, and the tour (for the sake of fans and performers alike) was put on pause while people were allowed time to grieve. There's a heartbreaking interview with Paul's ex-partner (and S Club bandmate) Hannah Spearritt when you can tell that she was not emotionally ready to give an interview on the matter. The Sun media group had crossed a boundary when asking for comments too soon after the fact. It was January 2024 when I found out that not only was the tour back on, but that Boston was one of the few stops for its North American leg. I hadn't realized that no iteration of S Club 7 ("S Club" now) had ever performed on a concert tour in the United States. Their only stateside concerts as a full septet were either one-off performances for TV broadcasts or footage for their TV series.
February, 2024
The S Club show at the Roadrunner in Boston is approaching, and it would be an understatement to say that I was excited. For me, it's not just that I was seeing an iconic pop group on their first ever US tour. It's that I've been coming out, and I am developing this new career as a journalist. As a closeted teen at an all boys high school, I was very quiet and withdrawn. Stepping into my own (identity-wise), I was also getting the opportunity combine that experience with the music and performers of my teen years. I got a fresh haircut days before the show, and carefully picked out an outfit of mustard gold corduroy, a powder blue Chicago Cubs tee with a logo from the baseball team's late 60's look, an I even shaved my arms in case it got warm in the venue. The Orange Line subway was down for construction work that weekend, but my route to the concert fortunately utilized three bus routes instead. For the duration of the first two buses (daisy-chaining route segments together), I was listening to Vogue's "The Run Through" podcast, and the main feature was Chloe Malle's new interview with Victoria "Posh Spice" Beckham. Fashion and family were the focal points, but hearing a Spice Girl giving a 2024 interview helped get me into the mood for a modern take on a certain era's Britpop. You know, speaking as someone who received a copy of the "Spice World" CD for Christmas '97. At that point, I was just on the edge of Brookline and switched to the S Club 7 Pandora station. The music mix at a concert before performers take the stage is usually designed based on the performers' typical following, but Pandora didn't have the Roadrunner's occasional Lady Gaga single. I was closing in on that zone. I found a place along the side where I could take in the show and great photos while not needing to be directly in front of the stage.
The lights went down, and the audience went quiet. People applauded the introductory remix track alone! 25 years built up that much anticipation. Jo, Jon, Bradley, and Rachel, emerged onto the stage, and the fans went wild. I would liken that reception to the Gen X'ers at Duran Duran's 2023 Boston show, but Duran Duran had played Boston before. I have no doubt that Duran Duran may have toured the US at their height. The remaining S Club five were welcomed by 3,500 loud and passionate fans. The performance of "S Club Party" was abridged. Partly for time management purposes, but the song's trademark role call would fall short without Hannah and Paul.
Most artists of this bubblegum genre were greatly influenced by Motown acts, and harmonies were important for an ensemble performance. Chris Kirkpatrick was explaining on David Lascher & Christine Taylor's 90's themed podcast that Lance Bass was selected for *NSYNC because they were specifically looking for someone to contribute from the bass vocal range. What stands out about S Club is that each member has songs where they sing lead, with the others backing them up. Jo is often seen as "the lead singer of the group". I would like to informally call these songs "S Club Spotlights". Just as with the regular ensemble songs that are sung together in harmony, there's no single lead member when you look at the group's song catalog as a whole. Each group member being able to sing lead depending on the song performed reminds me of when I saw the Linda Lindas last spring. Even in songwriting the septet taking part in the creative process is something that stands out from many other pop stars. The nostalgically named "Good Times" tour was chosen as a tribute to one of the songs where Paul Cattermole sang lead. To honor his memory and keep Paul's influence in the show, Jon and Bradley sang the song together with their bandmates coming in to back them up. The performance was bookended by rounds of applause to Paul and all that he gave the world.
Something else that stood out about these relative solo songs is Jon Lee's performance of "Sunshine". Jon didn't publicly come out until 2010, telling the Gay Times that "it's never needed to be huge change that I've had to tell everyone about". I can see how he would come to that conclusion, but we live in a world where cisgender and straight is a norm that's largely expected of people. I've been coming out as trans because it's as important for me personally as it is to communicate my authentic self to those around me. When a high percentage of pop songs are about sex and (or) romance, the performance becomes more of a role to play when you have to use pronouns and other gender identifying lyrics which may not line up with who a singer is personally attracted to. When I sing Whitney Houston's "How Will I Know", I adlib the gender identifiers not only to aline with my feelings but also to honor the singer's (albeit closeted) bisexuality. Digressing back to "Sunshine", Jon's singing received a huge show of support when he got to swap out the more ambiguous term of endearment "baby" for "boy". I would love to know (Jon Lee, if you're reading this) how great it must have felt to sing a song 23 years later, while in a position where you can be more specific in what ideal person you're singing to. Infrequently catching episodes of S Club 7 on the American cable station ABC Family, Rachel and Jon were the members that I could most identify with. Increasingly coming out as a femme woman, I can now see why.
Rachel has been a celebrity crush of mine. Just like Maria Bello, Cindy Crawford, and pre-scandal Lori Loughlin. Gorgeous, and representing traits and values that I myself would like to represent. Are you confused by this combination? Welcome to the perspective of a queer woman figuring out her own identity. In a comphet ("compulsory heterosexuality") world, it adds another step to figuring out feelings for people. Not being cisgender adds another figure to that equation. Rachel singing lead on "Naturally" and "I'll Miss You" S Club spotlights that I had never noticed before when drinking in the audio recordings on streamed radio. Even before I knew who sang lead, those songs happened to be my favorite spotlights. Rachel's has a memoir getting released in April, and I look forward to reading more about her life.
One of Bradley's songs (when singing lead) was "Friday Night". I openly admit that I wasn't familiar with this song. For someone exposed mainly to the singles and living in North America, it was unfortunately under-promoted. Albums usually have two or three songs selected to be presented as singles, but every now and then there are albums consistently strong enough to produce more singles. "Come Away With Me" had four singles. "Jagged Little Pill" had six! Radio and Television giving less exposure to "Friday Night" limited the group's ability to diversify how the band's message could be expressed into different music genres. Why am I focusing so much on Bradley's less known song of the night? Because I've already mentioned his singing "Good Times" with Jon, and "Don't Stop Movin'" famously never fails to entertain.
Tina Barrett's S Club Spotlight for the setlist was a 2001 piece titled "Stronger". The song is extremely infectious. I wasn't 100% sure how to react to their having what should've been a strong single with Caribbean flavor. It was learning that Tina is half Guyanese that made this feel more appropriate and less appropriated. Especially if it was a way for her to bring her background to further diversify some of the of the S Club 7 tracklists. Just like Jon being able to personalize the lyrics to love song, we live in a time when a larger (and more balanced) variety of songs can increase how the S Club message of positivity its interpreted and shared. In 2024, or a new S Club album. Let's put this out into the universe and manifest it together. One that doesn't lose the positivity and uplifting vibes that are so intrinsically part of the group's brand, but also where the bandmates can contribute their own unique perspectives and styles. Think about ABBA's "Voyage" album. Decades removed from their last time recording together, the four created an album that captures that quintessential ABBA-ness while writing topical pieces like "Bumblebee" and "Keep an Eye on Dan" which addressed subjects that they may not have been ready to take on in 1982. There was a sad "elephant in the room" feeling that Hannah's contributions weren't specifically acknowledged during the show, but hopefully she'll at some point rejoin her bandmates. Think of Keith Strickland from the B-52's. There came a time when he stepped back from the live shows, but was available for in-studio work and could possibly appear at a future show during the band's Las Vegas residency.
I'm bringing this length post to a close by talking about Jo O'Meara, and to a greater extent how uplifting it is to see them perform now. Jo (at least in her S Club image) exudes this big personality. If one had to pick one individual member who represents S Club as a brand, it is O'Meara. There are too many examples of bands when a small fraction of the band is treated like the sole representation of the group. Usually that triggers drama, bandmates quitting, and severed relationships. The fact that all 7 members agreed to full reunion performances for two occasions speaks greatly about their bond and what particular leadership roles Jo plays. That kinship gives me hope for Hannah to rejoin.
Teamwork and support are also part of the S Club brand. The line that "I've. Got. You. And. You've. Got. Me." is part of what drives "Reach" to be one of the most iconic S Club songs. It's a song that brightens my mood now just as much as it did when they performed it at the Golden Jubilee. No matter where each one of us is in life's journey, it's important to look forward to each tomorrow, and find reasons to embrace and enthusiastically look forward to what positive aspects life can potentially bring. In S Club's post-tour interview with Entertainment Tonight, Jo explained how people want to reconnect with the positivity of the late 90's and early 2000's. I completely understand that read of the fanbase. However, I hope that the turnout for this tour has shown that we're not just celebrating what S Club 7 was, but what S Club is continuing to be. If Billy Joel can write and record his first new song in thirty years, and see it chart well. What reason do any of us have to not "climb every mountain higher"?
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