''7'' is the second

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

by British pop group

S Club 7 S Club 7 were a British pop group from London, created by former Spice Girls manager Simon Fuller and consisting of members Bradley McIntosh, Hannah Spearritt, Jo O'Meara, Jon Lee, Paul Cattermole, Rachel Stevens and Tina Barrett. The gro ...

. It was released by

Polydor Records Polydor Records Ltd. is a German-British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in the United States. ...

on 12 June 2000, and 14 November 2000 in North America. The album was primarily produced by

Cathy Dennis Catherine Roseanne Dennis (born 25 March 1969)Gregory, Andy (2002) ''International Who's Who in Popular Music 2002'', Europa; , p. 133 is a British singer, songwriter, record producer and actress. She was the vocalist for D Mob, which had the s ...

and Simon Ellis. It became the group's most successful album release, and reached number one in the United Kingdom, where it was certified triple platinum. The album peaked at number sixty-nine on the ''Billboard'' 200 albums chart and was certified gold. The album was re-released on 4 December 2000 to include S Club's 2000 Children in Need single "Never Had a Dream Come True". The re-release also included a previously unreleased cover of Stevie Wonder's " Lately", replaced the original album version of "

Natural Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. Although humans are ...

" with the radio edit, as well as including CD-ROM videos of both "Reach" and "Natural". The colour scheme of the album was changed slightly also, with more purple and lilac tones instead of blue.

Background

In February 2000, the group won the 'British Breakthrough Act' award at the 2000 BRIT Awards. In April 2000, S Club's second TV series, '' L.A. 7'' (renamed ''S Club 7 in L.A.'' in the US), was released. The series saw the group depart from Miami and move to Los Angeles to seek a record deal. It introduced the song " Reach", another retro-styled uptempo track, which was co-written by

and aired as the main theme tune to the second series. "Reach" was released as a single in May 2000 and reached number-two in the UK charts. It arguably became one of the group's most successful singles, paving the way for the group's second album, ''7'' which was released on 12 June 2000. This album was a departure from the overtly pop stylings of ''

S Club S Club 7 were a British pop group from London, created by former Spice Girls manager Simon Fuller and consisting of members Bradley McIntosh, Hannah Spearritt, Jo O'Meara, Jon Lee, Paul Cattermole, Rachel Stevens and Tina Barrett. The group ...

'', with several tracks styled more towards R&B and

hip hop soul Hip hop soul is a subgenre of contemporary R&B music, most popular during the early and mid 1990s, which fuses R&B or soul singing with hip hop musical production. The subgenre had evolved from a previous R&B subgenre, new jack swing, which ha ...

than the traditional nineties pop sound of their debut album. It reached number-one in the UK charts becoming certified Triple Platinum, and a certified Gold record in the US. The second single from the album, '"

", featured Stevens as lead vocalist. It reached number-three in September 2000. S Club 7 took an active part in promoting several different charities during their time as a band. As well as performing for Children in Need, the band launched, on 25 September 2000, a new television series called ''S Club 7 Go Wild!'' which saw each band member support an endangered species. Teaming up with the

World Wildlife Fund The World Wide Fund for Nature Inc. (WWF) is an international non-governmental organization founded in 1961 that works in the field of wilderness preservation and the reduction of human impact on the environment. It was formerly named the Wo ...

, each member travelled to different destinations worldwide with a hope to raise awareness about the seven endangered creatures, including the

Siberian tiger The Siberian tiger or Amur tiger is a population of the tiger subspecies '' Panthera tigris tigris'' native to the Russian Far East, Northeast China and possibly North Korea. It once ranged throughout the Korean Peninsula, but currently inh ...

and the

hyacinth macaw The hyacinth macaw (''Anodorhynchus hyacinthinus''), or hyacinthine macaw, is a parrot native to central and eastern South America. With a length (from the top of its head to the tip of its long pointed tail) of about one meter it is longer tha ...

. In October 2000, they launched the annual

Poppy Appeal A remembrance poppy is an artificial flower worn in some countries to commemorate their military personnel who died in war. Remembrance poppies are produced by veterans' associations, who exchange the poppies for charitable donations used to g ...

Campaign with Dame Thora Hird and supported

Woolworth's Woolworth, Woolworth's, or Woolworths may refer to: Businesses * F. W. Woolworth Company, the original US-based chain of "five and dime" (5¢ and 10¢) stores * Woolworths Group (United Kingdom), former operator of the Woolworths chain of shops ...

Kids First Campaign throughout 1999 and 2000. The group also recorded vocals for " It's Only Rock 'N' Roll", which raised money for ''Children's Promise'', an alliance of seven children's charities:

Barnardo's Barnardo's is a British charity founded by Thomas John Barnardo in 1866, to care for vulnerable children. As of 2013, it raised and spent around £200 million each year running around 900 local services, aimed at helping these same group ...

, Children in Need, ChildLine,

The Children's Society The Children's Society, formally the Church of England Children's Society, is a United Kingdom national children's charity (registered No. 221124) allied to the Church of England. The charity's two governing objectives are to: # directly improv ...

Comic Relief Comic relief is the inclusion of a humorous character, scene, or witty dialogue in an otherwise serious work, often to relieve tension. Definition Comic relief usually means a releasing of emotional or other tension resulting from a comic episo ...

, NCH and the

NSPCC The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) is a British child protection charity. History Victorian era On a trip to New York in 1881, Liverpudlian businessman Thomas Agnew was inspired by a visit to the New Yor ...

. A cover of

The Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the gritty, rhythmically d ...

song, the group contributed to the vocals alongside many popular artists, including

Mary J. Blige Mary Jane Blige ( ; born January 11, 1971) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Often referred to as the " Queen of Hip-Hop Soul" and " Queen of R&B", Blige has won nine Grammy Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, four American Music Award ...

Natalie Imbruglia Natalie Jane Imbruglia ( , ; born 4 February 1975) is an Australian singer and actress. In the early 1990s, she played Beth Brennan in the Australian soap opera '' Neighbours''. Three years after leaving the programme, she began a singing car ...

and the Spice Girls; it entered the UK charts at number-nineteen. Also during that time they filmed two specials: "Artistic Differences" and their "Christmas Special". In November 2000, S Club 7 were invited to provide the official song for the UK's BBC Children in Need Campaign 2000, so a new song, the ballad " Never Had a Dream Come True", was recorded. The song became popular in the US market eventually taking the group to appear on MTV's TRL to perform the song and chosen to appear at the "Now That's What I Call Music" US Edition. After topping the UK charts in December 2000, the song was added to a re-release of the ''7'' album, along with another new track, a cover of

Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris ( Judkins; May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, who is credited as a pioneer and influence by musicians across a range of genres that include rhythm and blues, Pop musi ...

's "Lately". After the album's re-release, remixes by Solaris and Almighty were commissioned for 'Bring The House Down'. This, along with the song being a fan favourite, indicated that the song was to be released as the next single. However, plans for this were scrapped and the band decided to focus on the next album. The almighty mix later received a commercial release on the 'You' single. "Spiritual Love" was originally recorded by Urban Species in 1994. The original version was used in TV ads of L'Oréal in the 1990s and in the movie ''Rainbow'' from 1996. "Stand By You" was originally performed by Danish duo S.O.A.P. in 1997. "Natural" is an adaptation of the song "Tous Les Maux D'Amour" by French singer Norma Ray. "Cross My Heart" was covered by Polish singer

Edyta Górniak Edyta Anna Górniak (; born 14 November 1972) is a Polish pop singer with a career spanning 3 decades. Górniak started as a musical theatre actress in 1990. She performed in the most popular musical in Polish history, the Tony Award-nominated ...

for her 2002 album ''

Invisible Invisibility is the state of an object that cannot be seen. An object in this state is said to be ''invisible'' (literally, "not visible"). The phenomenon is studied by physics and perceptual psychology. Since objects can be seen by light in ...

''. " Someday, Someway" is a cover of the original by

Marshall Crenshaw Marshall Howard Crenshaw (born November 11, 1953) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and guitarist best known for hit songs such as " Someday, Someway," a US top 40 hit in 1982, " Cynical Girl," and " Whenever You're on My Mind." He ...

Track listing

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:7 (S Club 7 Album) S Club 7 albums 2000 albums Polydor Records albums