It all began in London, but like all good things it spread around the world. Once upon a time, there were three incredibly talented, very sexy girls and two equally incredibly talented and similarly sexy boys who had never met one another. A year later, they had sold 300,000 copies of their debut single 5,6,7,8 in the U.K. alone and had No.1
records in both Belgium and Australia. They followed up this
achievement with the undisputed pop highlight of Spring'98, a song called Last Thing On My Mind which taught the
World to sing and dance in that funny 'washing your hair' kind of way! We know these five young people as STEPS! Steps began in the Spring of 1997. Lisa Scott-Lee had been
touring the UK and abroad as a professional singer and dancer;Faye Tozer was the star of a cabaret band at a major London hotel;Claire Richards was biding her time after the collapse of her first group, TSD; Lee Latchford was performing in a variety of theatre productions, having almost become a professional footballer; and Ian Watkins (more affectionately known as H for hyperactive) had completed summer seasons as a holiday camp kids entertainer. Lisa met H and then hooked up with Lee, Faye and Claire. They became Steps and their lives changed forever.The premise behind Steps was that life is always sunny in Steps World, and Steps would almost always be found partying. They recorded a song called 5,6,7,8, taking its essence from the huge line-dancing movement which had swept across Britain during the 90s but imbuing it with great helpings of pop to appeal to teenagers. They found a producer, The Hitman Pete Waterman, and record label, Jive, who released 5,6,7,8 in November 1997. It entered the UK charts at No. 18 and hung around the Top 40 for 3 months, outselling Peter Andre, Jamiroquai, Louise and many others. The band appeared on Top of the Pops, Blue Peter and This Morning and with every tv appearance, more fans bought this single. It was out of control! Smash Hits described Steps as five gorgeous poppettes, while the video to 5,6,7,8 sped up into the Box's Top 10 and took up residence. 5,6,7,8 then took Europe by storm and went Platinum in Australia. Soon, Steps were a global phenomenon. But now they had a small problem-how to follow up! The solution-one of the greatest pop gems ever recorded: Last Thing on My Mind. Last Thing on My Mind was released on 20April 1998, with a fantastic video which was shot in Cuba. The following week it burst into the UK Top 10 at No. 6. Three weeks later it was still in the Top 10 having sold 200,000 records. Steps appeared on Top of the Pops twice! They toured the country bringing joy wherever they went. Meanwhile, the group were comtemplating their next move-an album.They locked themselves away in a studio with a producer, some Ribena and a make-up bag, and began work on a record so fabulously ambitious and so totally pop that even those close to the group were amazed. Steps emerged occasionally to perform concerts, bring joy to journalists, visit foreign countries and sometimes forage for food. But the album was their priority. And now Steps are the biggest pop group in Europe with success in Canada too. Now Steps need to break in to America. Watch out for Steps, storming a country near you soon!