S Club Juniors was formed in 2001 through a reality television show and originally consisted of nine members. Original member Connor Daley was removed from the group soon after. It was originally thought he left to take a dance scholarship, [2] but it was eventually revealed that he was removed by management after he was found to be behaving inappropriately towards the other members, particularly the girls. [3] He later released music under the name Cjay Mizzy Kizzle Young. [4] The group went ahead with the 8 other members, Calvin Goldspink, Rochelle Wiseman, Stacey McClean, Daisy Evans, Hannah Richings, Aaron Renfree, Jay Asforis, and Frankie Sandford. Auditions were aired on CBBC. S Club Juniors' appearances were considered a success by 19 Entertainment, the management company that had created S Club 7 and auditioned S Club Juniors. Consequently, it was decided they should perform as a support act at all of the venues on the tour. The juniors made their first television appearance on Children in Need on 16 November 2001. By the end of the tour, S Club Juniors had created a following and, with the encouragement of 19, Polydor Records signed the group. Their first single was called "One Step Closer". It was promoted by the TV series S Club Junior: The Story and released in the UK on 22 April 2002 in a chart battle with the Sugababes who released their comeback single the same day. Although the Juniors remained number one in the midweek charts, the single dipped over the weekend and managed to sell 73,000 copies, compared to the Sugababes' 85,000. The Juniors stayed at number two for a second week selling a further 60,000 copies, compared to Holly Valance's 143,000. In excess of 250,000 copies were sold in the UK in total and they stayed in the UK top 75 for 11 weeks.
The group began working on their studio album in June 2002. A video for the second single, "Automatic High", was filmed in Spain, while S Club 7 began their fourth TV series. Released on 22 July 2002, the single reached number two in the UK charts selling 52,000 copies, and spent eight weeks inside the UK top 75 and sold in excess of 110,000 copies in the UK. The third single, "New Direction", was released on 10 October reached number two in the UK charts selling 55,000 copies in the first week. It became their third consecutive top ten hit, selling 130,000 copies in six weeks. The Juniors released their debut album Together on 21 October reaching number five in its first week of sale and selling 40,000 copies. Their fourth single, "Puppy Love/Sleigh Ride", was released on 9 December 2002. The single debuted at number six in the UK charts, and sold 85,000 copies in the UK, spending eight weeks inside the UK Top 40. The song was also used in the 2003 film Love Actually .
2003–2004: Sundown, "I Dream" and split
The group joined S Club on their S Club United tour in April 2003 where the announcement came of a name change to S Club 8 and a fifth single, "Fool No More". The single was released on 30 June and reached number four in the UK chart, selling 26,000 copies in its first week and overall 75,000 copies in the UK. A second single, "Sundown", was released in the UK on 29 September 2003 reaching number four in the UK and became their sixth and final top ten hit and selling 37,000 copies in its first week and 80,000 altogether. The album, Sundown , was released on 13 October 2003 and reached number 13 in the UK charts, falling to number 40 in the second week. Despite selling a total of 60,000 copies in the UK and 315,859 worldwide, the record company perceived the album as a failure. [5] In a review for BBC Music, Jack Smith stated that some of Sundown's tracks, "come across as brattier, livelier, younger relatives of... S Club('s)", and that "the album only really flags when the '8 attempt to do more grown-up songs". [6] The third single, "Don't Tell Me You're Sorry", was released on 29 December 2003 in the UK where it reached number 11, becoming the band's first single to chart outside the top ten.
Unlike the S Club 7 shows which focused upon the group's fictional exploits, I Dream saw S Club 8 as members of a larger ensemble cast. I Dream revolved around the summer school Avalon Heights, run by Professor Toone (played by Christopher Lloyd of Back to the Future fame), where the characters tried to improve on their talents in the performing arts. The show featured many songs and dances, normally two songs per episode. On 15 November 2004, the show's theme tune "Dreaming" was released as a single, sung by members Frankie and Calvin. The single charted at number 19, falling to 36 the following week, then out of the UK top 40. On 29 November 2004 an album titled Welcome to Avalon Heights was released, containing songs from the show performed by S Club 8 members and the rest of the cast. The album debuted at number 133, having sold around 700 copies. The following week, it left the chart entirely. [7]
The group disbanded in late 2004.
In 2020 band mate Jay Asforis hosted a series of Instagram live conversations with his former fellow band mates (not including Connor Daley.
When Jay interviewed Aaron Renfree, he discussed how Connor Daley, an original member of the lineup of S club Juniors, had been inappropriate to the other members, particularly the girls. Jay suggested Connor’s behaviour may have been due to socioeconomic reasons, and commented how Connor had a ‘very different upbringing’ and a ‘very different’ sort of Mum to the other members, however Aaron dismissed this as ‘not being an excuse’ for inappropriate behaviour, and that when Connor had been removed, it was the ‘right decision’ and none of them had fought against it, which Jay agreed with. The conversation then moved onto other topics. Aaron talked about how him and Calvin Goldspink, a fellow member, used to get on, but no longer had a friendship due to Calvin ‘going rogue’ and complaining to their management that Aaron was getting more opportunities in the band to showcase his dancing than him. Aaron also held a grudge with Calvin, due to the band being dropped from appearing on a British show, The Big Reunion. The 6 other members, without Frankie Bridge and Rochelle wiseman (who who were on tour with The Saturdays were due to perform on the show, but due to Goldspink pulling out, they were dropped and the show went ahead without the band. [8]
In his conversation with Daisy Evans she recalled her memories of the band's split, explaining that after I Dream was filmed, the band (along with their parents) were told by 19 Entertainment that the programme would be aired. However, following this, the band would be shelved for a while and their tutoring would be stopped and the band advised to go back to school. When Frankie and Calvin got kept on as a duo and releaesed Dreaming from iDream as a single, Daisy described that she was shocked to see them on TV and “knew nothing about it.” [9]
His interview with Stacey McClean also mentioned her memories of the split, explaining she was told the “lease was up” on the house she shared with fellow band mates Hannah Richings, Aaron Renfree and Calvin Goldspink. Following her move back home was told she would hear about “future projects”, but these did not happen and the group never reformed. Like Daisy, Stacey knew nothing about Frankie and Calvin releasing music together, and described feeling disappointed in both their management, and in them for keeping it private; at the time she felt it was disloyal of them. She also, like Aaron, expressed disappointment that they weren’t going to be part of The Big Reunion TV show after Calvin dropped out without informing them. [10]
His interview with Hannah Richings (now blackford) talked about how in the S club search auditions, she was only there accompanying her elder sister, Eloise, who was auditioning, and didn’t expect to get through the the auditions, other than far enough to meet S Club 7, who were judging some of the later auditions. However, whilst Eloise was eliminated earlier on, Hannah got through to the final auditions, and despite not making the final 7 lineup, she got a call after auditions had ended and got a place in the band alongside other late joining member, Aaron Renfree. It was revealed that Simon Fuller didn’t want the band to go ahead without Hannah in the lineup, as she was the only one who could harmonise. Hannah then went on to talk about how her mum was reluctant to let her join, both due to her sister Eloise being upset that she didn’t make the lineup, and her young age (Hannah was only 11 and the youngest in the band), but decided to let her take part in the opportunity. Later in the interview Hannah discussed how she didn’t get many opportunities to showcase her voice in the band compared to the others, and how it affected her confidence to this day and her struggles with low self esteem. [11]
