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Post by SharksFan99 on Feb 12, 2018 9:54:03 GMT 10
A thread to discuss the latest news happening in the music industry.
 I happened to come across this a few minutes ago. #Infinity might already be aware of this, but Jo, Bradley and Tina from S Club 7 have recently re-united to form a new group; SC3. Coinciding with the reunion, the trio have released a new single called "Family". They also appeared on an ITV program to promote the new single. I wonder what encouraged the three of them to reunite? 
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Post by #Infinity on Feb 12, 2018 10:34:44 GMT 10
A thread to discuss the latest news happening in the music industry.
I happened to come across this a few minutes ago. #Infinity might already be aware of this, but Jo, Bradley and Tina from S Club 7 have recently re-united to form a new group; SC3. Coinciding with the reunion, the trio have released a new single called "Family". They also appeared on an ITV program to promote the new single. I wonder what encouraged the three of them to reunite?  Oh, they've been touring on their own for several years now, but usually without all of the other members, as many have sort of found their own respective hobbies. Hannah has made much more of a name for herself as an actress – she barely did any of the lead singing originally and was much more prominent on the show – Rachel is married and busy raising her family and representing WaterAid, Jon has focused mostly on starring in musicals but has since vanished into bizarre obscurity (he deactivated his Twitter account sometime last year), while Paul...well, ugh. The only time the entire group reunited was in the 2014-2015 school year, when they performed for a BBC telethon and then the Bring It All Back 2015 tour. From what I understand, "Family" was originally supposed to be released by the entire group right after the Bring It All Back 2015 tour, but then Paul prematurely abandoned the group, similar to his 2002 exit. The rest of the group did not want to release "Family" without the entire band together, so the track was left alone until this past Christmas, when it was released on iTunes to raise money for the Rainbow Trust Children's Charity. SC3 is not technically a new group. It's simply renamed from S Club 3, which Jo, Bradley, and Paul went under when they started performing again in 2008 but couldn't attract the rest of the members. After Paul departed from the group during the 2015 tour, Tina decided to stay permanently, so for a time, they pressed on as S Club 3. Then, Paul threatened legal action against the trio for using the S Club name without his permission (even though they had already done just this back during the Seeing Double era...sigh), forcing them to change their name to SC3. As you can see, Paul is quite a desperate control freak. He even auctioned off the awards he won while part of S Club 7 on eBay in order to make some spare change. Apparently he's been in financial dire straits for a few years now, but it's still pretty appalling the scheming ways he'll try to help himself out, even if it means shitting all over the group that made him originally famous. Anyway, with that long backstory out of the way, I think "Family" is a pretty nice song, primarily for its lyrics. It actually resonated with me heavily because of my relationship with my sister. The two of us have been close all our lives, but often I haven't always dedicated enough time with her or expressing how much she means to me, and especially with her now living far away in Spain, "Family" seemed like a perfect statement of how dear and influential she is to me. After all, she was the one who exposed me to all of S Club 7's other stuff besides just "Never Had a Dream Come True" back when we were kids, so it's only fitting! I actually referred her to "Family" when I wrote her a Christmas email last December, and she was highly appreciative of it, both the message as well as the song. Composition-wise, I will admit that "Family" is not the most interesting, especially compared to the enduring pop classics S Club recorded back in the late '90s and early 2000s, since it relies on a I-V-vi-IV chord progression and even throws in some of-the-time trap snares during the chorus, but on the bright side, the song as a whole still doesn't compromise any of the warm, uplifting, well-sung, melodious charm that endeared me to the group in the first place. In all honesty, I don't even hate the trap instruments on their own; the problem with trap is usually more the half-assed lyrics, mumbled vocal delivery, and scathing bitterness. "Family" sounds very modern, but it manages to deliver a mood that's completely opposite of your typical Post Malone and Cardi B suckfests. I very much wish more pop songs these days expressed a sentiment as positive as "Family." Sadly, with the mess Paul dug himself into, I doubt S Club 7 are likely to reunite entirely anytime soon, even with the group's 20th anniversary coming up next year. Hopefully, after enough time has passed and all the members are feeling nostalgic enough, they'll announce another tour, which I would definitely make the effort to go out and see. I actually just came back from a trip to the UK a couple of weeks ago to watch the singer Louise perform he first tour in about 15 years (I plan on discussing this trip further here soon!), and if S Club ever start performing with Rachel back in the fold, I'd definitely fly out again, though it would be even more convenient if they stopped in Los Angeles, where two of their show's seasons were set and filmed.
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Post by SharksFan99 on Feb 12, 2018 20:50:57 GMT 10
Oh, they've been touring on their own for several years now, but usually without all of the other members, as many have sort of found their own respective hobbies. Hannah has made much more of a name for herself as an actress – she barely did any of the lead singing originally and was much more prominent on the show – Rachel is married and busy raising her family and representing WaterAid, Jon has focused mostly on starring in musicals but has since vanished into bizarre obscurity (he deactivated his Twitter account sometime last year), while Paul...well, ugh. The only time the entire group reunited was in the 2014-2015 school year, when they performed for a BBC telethon and then the Bring It All Back 2015 tour. Oh ok. That makes much more sense, as I thought it seemed odd that only three of them would reunite to release a brand new single. Either way, it's interesting to hear that some of the former members have moved onto different fields within the entertainment industry. That's understandable, from their point of view. It wouldn't have been ideal to release the track as S Club 7, without the entire group being together. Just on that, I wonder if "Family" would have been more successful on the UK charts, had it been released by the entire group and under the "S Club 7" name? I know the group haven't been on the charts since 2003, but i'm sure there would have been enough interest in a new S Club 7 single and it's possible that it could have charted within the Top-100. Oh ok. I'm not entirely familiar with the history surrounding S Club 7, so I thought the three members must have formed a new group. It's a shame that Paul acts in such a manner and puts his own interests ahead of the relationships he has with the other members. Honestly, i'm surprised that the other six members have any interest in maintaining contact with him, especially considering how he has treated them. Selling his own awards is a pretty desperate thing to do! Thanks for sharing the relationship you have with your sister. It's nice to hear that she really appreciated the Christmas email you sent her and hopefully you will both be able to stay in touch, even though she has moved to Spain.  I can understand how "Family" resonates with you on a personal level. Songs definitely have the power to be deeply meaningful and influential. While I personally don't have any siblings, the songs off Linkin Park's Meteora resonate with me in much the same way, namely because Linkin Park were my favourite childhood band and I have a lot of great memories associated with liking their music. It's interesting that trap snares were incorporated into the composition. Although, I guess it's not surprising that a modern element was included, as a song sounding like it's straight out of the Y2K-Era wouldn't work too well. I agree with the points you raised in regards to Trap music. The instruments don't really worry me either. I just don't like how they are used in the Trap songs on the charts. It's a shame that Paul is a burden on the group. Even if the group don't reunite for the 20th anniversary, I personally wouldn't rule out them reuniting sometime in the near future. If the relations between the six members remain healthy and Paul puts his differences aside (although, that's easier said than done), there's a very real possibility of it happening. Anything is possible! I remember you mentioning that you were going over to the UK in January. Hope you had a good trip!
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Post by SharksFan99 on Mar 8, 2018 13:00:45 GMT 10
www.rollingstone.com/music/features/how-billboards-new-streaming-rules-will-affect-the-charts-w511351Billboard is planning on adjusting the way it calculates music sales in 2018. When the changes come into effect, Billboard will no longer count free streams (i.e ad-supported version of Spotify) or YouTube views. As a result, only paid streams/physical sales will count towards the Billboard Hot 100 and Hot 200. This is a very significant change. Such a change could signal the return of rock music in the Top-40 mainstream, as rock fans typically prefer to purchase music. Personally, i'm pleased that these changes are coming into effect. I've always thought that there has been a discrepancy in the way streaming is calculated on the charts. For instance, here in Australia, "Run" by the Foo Fighters received very extensive promotion when Concrete and Gold was released at the end of last year. There were television commercials on free-to-air TV advertising the album/single, 60 Minutes Australia interviewed the band, a Pay-TV music channel temporarily converted itself into a "Foo Fighters TV" channel and the band were regularly referred to on radio in lead up to the new album. Yet, despite this, "Run" only charted at #53 on the ARIA Chart, when it really should have been a Top-40 hit.
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I can understand how "Family" resonates with you on a personal level. Songs definitely have the power to be deeply meaningful and influential. While I personally don't have any siblings, the songs off Linkin Park's Meteora resonate with me in much the same way, namely because Linkin Park were my favourite childhood band and I have a lot of great memories associated with liking their music.