In a stunning piece of local journalism in the on-line version of the Bristol Post, the journalist Chloe Parkman reveals that the popular beat combo outfit S Club 7 are reuniting this autumn to top up their pension funds. Sorry, it’s a reunion tour in celebration of their 25th anniversary, that’s what Chloe said. Anyway, who could possibly fail to be excited by this particular comeback? Well, me for starters since even first time round they were not really appropriate for my demographic. But for those who were of the right demographic, which is to say pre-pubescents, who had never had a dream come true (see what I did there?), this must be heaven.
I am not knocking the comeback middle-aged kids because unless the band is terrible, everyone will be happy. S Club 7 because they may never need to work again and the fans who will be able to wallow in the nostalgia from a quarter of a century ago. And nostalgia is big business these days, with all manner of heritage bands, or parts thereof, going out on arena tours or Butlins weekenders.
Some folk have already been complaining that S Club 7 look much older, which must have come as a terrible shock to people who have been asleep for the last 25 years, and worse still that some of them appear to “have had work done”. Does any of this really matter? True, I am not a big fan of “having work done” – although one glance in the mirror suggests maybe I should – but if that’s what people want to do and it makes them feel good then live and let live. In any event, as long as the band can still dance and warble their greatest hits I doubt that punters will be that bothered.
I never saw their TV show, which was how their ascent to the top of the pop charts began, but I read that their rise to fame was akin to the 1960s superstars The Monkees. Perhaps it’s just my age because I get the feeling that The Monkees have a stellar back catalogue compared to S Club 7, which holds up pretty well nearly 60 years on. If we’re still belting out “Don’t Stop Movin'” halfway through the 21st century just point that out to my ashes.
Still, well done to the Bristol Post for publishing yet another great story which appears to have been lifted directly from BBC’s lumpen ‘The One Show’ and for padding the piece out with tweets from fans who apparently “can’t breathe” because of the excitement. If that’s the case, take an inhaler with you to the gig. Or be like me and don’t go at all.
