I miss the days when boy/girl bands were cool!.
Steps
- Thread starter johnoc2006
- Start date
And they were the coolest!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gKaObZ3MlqY&search= steps deeper shade of blue
How I loved them!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gKaObZ3MlqY&search= steps deeper shade of blue
How I loved them!
I fucking despise them, but the video to this song somehow manages to pull itself off.
Best song of the 90s.
They were camp as tits. Many of us like camp.
the end.
the end.
It was just that TIME wasn't it. Perhaps the Abba revival whet peoples appetite for a group that they could call their own, that had loads of really singable tunes that could define an era, that had someone for everyone. Cue Steps. They were OURS. For a short time, they were a bright ray of light on the charts, all smiling and dancing, moves to learn, idols... like all nostalgia, it gives you a warm glow looking back but you can never quite get it back.
"After the love has gone..."
Si.
"After the love has gone..."
Si.
They remain for me one of the greatest pop groups this country has produced. Great fun, classic pop songs and videos, character (very important), dance routines and phenomenal tours. Their Greatest Hits is just amazing, and they went out on top. You can't ask for much more than that in a pop group.
They weren't big or clever. Maybe when I was ten that was kind of the pull. Infact, I'm certain it was. I was obsessed, as was my younger brother. We saw them 'live' and everything.
But I can't stand to listen to 90% of their stuff now. It's really very contrived, near-offensively simple and all in all quite bland. There a few choice cuts I can bear, but even then, it's only if I have to.
But I can't stand to listen to 90% of their stuff now. It's really very contrived, near-offensively simple and all in all quite bland. There a few choice cuts I can bear, but even then, it's only if I have to.
Thank god I'm not the only one.
I was obsessed with them. I bought every single, every album, every piece of merchandise, went to nearly all the tours, even 'nearly' appeared in the You'll Be Sorry video (and what a shitty day that was, Steps fans).
I knew every dance routine perfect - even the 'rare' ones like Love U More and Baby Don't Dance. Looking back at 1998 all I can remember for the next three years is taping endless TV shows where they performed to perfect the routines for when I went out to the provincial gay clubs of yesteryear and run screaming through the crowd onto the podium at the faint whiff of a Steps record.
And now? Well. I can't stand them. The only two tracks I can even listen to are After The Love Has Gone (their 'Day Before You Came') and Paradise Lost, which really should have been a single. The others just all sound so cheap, tinny and have dated horrifically. I shudder at how embarrassing I must have looked, and how all those late-teen-queens got so caught up in the whole phenomenon, even so far as writing message board essays on how Deeper Shade Of Blue was Steps' 'growing up' record and would show the world they had matured.
They were rubbish, and they knew it. Back then that's what endeared me to them. "Oh they're camp, oh they love their gay fans, oh this is what being gay is all about." Now I can see how cynical and ridiculous the whole thing was. They didn't care about their 'fans' whatever they were, going on about how they loved doing G-A-Y and were grateful for them for giving them success. Oh please, they realised they had struck gold at not being actually very good but everyone buying into it.
I dread them now. 'Tragedy' got played at a wedding I went to the other month, and a friend who didn't know better tried to pull me onto the dancefloor. I had to leave the room for fear of losing it.
I wish I could understand why I loved them so much. I don't even want a comeback tour - everyone would realise the horror of how awful and embarrassing they actually were.
I was obsessed with them. I bought every single, every album, every piece of merchandise, went to nearly all the tours, even 'nearly' appeared in the You'll Be Sorry video (and what a shitty day that was, Steps fans).
I knew every dance routine perfect - even the 'rare' ones like Love U More and Baby Don't Dance. Looking back at 1998 all I can remember for the next three years is taping endless TV shows where they performed to perfect the routines for when I went out to the provincial gay clubs of yesteryear and run screaming through the crowd onto the podium at the faint whiff of a Steps record.
And now? Well. I can't stand them. The only two tracks I can even listen to are After The Love Has Gone (their 'Day Before You Came') and Paradise Lost, which really should have been a single. The others just all sound so cheap, tinny and have dated horrifically. I shudder at how embarrassing I must have looked, and how all those late-teen-queens got so caught up in the whole phenomenon, even so far as writing message board essays on how Deeper Shade Of Blue was Steps' 'growing up' record and would show the world they had matured.
They were rubbish, and they knew it. Back then that's what endeared me to them. "Oh they're camp, oh they love their gay fans, oh this is what being gay is all about." Now I can see how cynical and ridiculous the whole thing was. They didn't care about their 'fans' whatever they were, going on about how they loved doing G-A-Y and were grateful for them for giving them success. Oh please, they realised they had struck gold at not being actually very good but everyone buying into it.
I dread them now. 'Tragedy' got played at a wedding I went to the other month, and a friend who didn't know better tried to pull me onto the dancefloor. I had to leave the room for fear of losing it.
I wish I could understand why I loved them so much. I don't even want a comeback tour - everyone would realise the horror of how awful and embarrassing they actually were.
I like the novelty value of a handful of tracks, but the best things about Steps was Lee's pecs.
D
Deleted member 304
When I used to work in this bar called Prague V (RIP) in manchester Faye came in and performed with this band she was in one Monday night - they never got signed but it wasnt all that bad from what I can remember - which isnt really that much...
Some interesting responses.
I certainly don't hate them, I think I've grown up sufficiently to see them for what they were, a cash-cow that sucked the pink pound for all they could. Still, they provided me with 4 or 5 years' glee and regular exercise (although I'd NEVER do the moves now I'm tumbling towards 30).
I'll always value the music. It wasn't produced as well as it could have been (real instruments would've been nice, Abba managed it), but the songs had killer hooks and great melodies, (usually) good vocal performances etc...
Most of the content of Buzz is still great stuff, but hearing the ancient Casio-stylings of Step One's filler (Too Weak To Resist, Stay With Me...<shudder> Experienced!) makes me wonder what the hell I was thinking.
I'm not sure how I'd feel about a comeback. They belonged to the 90s and early 00s just as someone like The Human League belonged to the 80s. I bet I'll feel the same about Alcazar and Bodies Without Organs in a few years : (
Hud x
I certainly don't hate them, I think I've grown up sufficiently to see them for what they were, a cash-cow that sucked the pink pound for all they could. Still, they provided me with 4 or 5 years' glee and regular exercise (although I'd NEVER do the moves now I'm tumbling towards 30).
I'll always value the music. It wasn't produced as well as it could have been (real instruments would've been nice, Abba managed it), but the songs had killer hooks and great melodies, (usually) good vocal performances etc...
Most of the content of Buzz is still great stuff, but hearing the ancient Casio-stylings of Step One's filler (Too Weak To Resist, Stay With Me...<shudder> Experienced!) makes me wonder what the hell I was thinking.
I'm not sure how I'd feel about a comeback. They belonged to the 90s and early 00s just as someone like The Human League belonged to the 80s. I bet I'll feel the same about Alcazar and Bodies Without Organs in a few years : (
Hud x
Mvnl
Staff member
Though I sometimes wish I could listen to their albums with the excitement it brought me years ago, I do still love all their stuff, and most of their songs still have 5 stars in my itunes..
I actually recently bought the End Of The Road/Gold-dvd (I owned the video's but I thought it was time to purchase something that wouldn't get lines and noise with time)
I don't get the kick out of ITWYMMF, OFS and NSNA that I used to get, but in my eyes they're still classic pop tunes and "what pop's all about"
Let them have a comeback any day now, and i'll buy everything, including an updated Inflatable Claire..
I still get almost just as excited when I discover a 'new' old pure-pop-record (like the AllStars one) as I did with Steps' records, though my taste is a lot broader then it was back then (far more into poprock, electropop, R&B-ish pop, soul, etc.)
Oow, and wasn't This Heart Will Love Again great?
I actually recently bought the End Of The Road/Gold-dvd (I owned the video's but I thought it was time to purchase something that wouldn't get lines and noise with time)
I don't get the kick out of ITWYMMF, OFS and NSNA that I used to get, but in my eyes they're still classic pop tunes and "what pop's all about"
Let them have a comeback any day now, and i'll buy everything, including an updated Inflatable Claire..
I still get almost just as excited when I discover a 'new' old pure-pop-record (like the AllStars one) as I did with Steps' records, though my taste is a lot broader then it was back then (far more into poprock, electropop, R&B-ish pop, soul, etc.)
Oow, and wasn't This Heart Will Love Again great?
I missed the Steps craze. I borrowed Steps Gold a while back from a friend and realised I only liked two and a half songs - Tragedy, Deeper Shade of Blue and I kind of like One For Sorrow (but it waffles on way too much). Quite underwhelming really.
Kirkland said:
Oh Kirkland... I always felt an affinity with you before I read this!
I think it's so unfair to quote Steps as as an example of clever marketing etc. It was all so accidental. They were signed to Jive UK who had very little chart success, tehy didn't have major label funding or clever marketing to begin with, they just connected from the start and continued to do so. That's why I still find Steps so charming.
They were atrocious at the beginning but had a bit of luck and honed their art along the way.
Also, for those who think Steps was a totally cynical project. I can assure you that Byrne Blood who managed Steps, and several of the band members themselves are the biggest advocates of teen pop music in the UK. They live & breathe it and Steps was such a success thanks to their committment to and enthusiasm for the project. I actually can't think of a more honest pop project.