Guilty Pleasure Bands That Should Reunite
Ever since Take That made comebacks cool (and financially viable), we’ve been inundated with pop bands returning to the live scenes. Ranging from BackStreet Boys with New Kids On The Block to The Spice Girls and most recently, Steps who have booked a massive UK arena tour (I’m not making this up). But while my first ever favourite song was “Viva Forever” and Step’s GOLD is the first album I can remember buying, I’m not entirely happy with the groups who’ve chosen to come back so here’s my list of those I’d prefer:
Busted:
Ever since Busted’s split announcement on the 14th January 2005, I have willed for the return of my favourite pop-rock threesome. Yes, I do rate these guys as better than Blink-182 and most certainly place them miles above The Jonas Brothers who recorded sacriligious ‘clean’ covers of Busted’s hits.
Why did they split, and where are they now?
Sadly, it all ended on less than amicable terms (whatever fan-friendly lines they use, we all know the truth) when Charlie ‘Eyebrows’ Simpson decided to give his other ‘serious’ band Fightstar his full attention.
Since then, James Bourne has stayed involved in music forming other bands Son Of Dork (whose songs he used for the musical “Loserville”) and Call Me When I’m 18 (both now defunct) as well as performing under the alias of Future Boy. Matt Willis also enjoyed a brief solo career before dabbling with celebrity activities such as reality TV and then settling down with his TV presenter wife Emma Willis, who is currently expecting their second child. As for Charlie Simpson, he has currently put Fightstar on hold for his solo career. Funny how he can press pause on one band to do another project, but he had to abruptedly end Busted, huh? What’s that about Charlie? I’m still holding a grudge.
Will they reunite?
No. As much as it pains me to say it, the future looks very bleak. There also seems to be reunion rumours but every time, our dreams are crushed by Charlie who continues to state that he has “no interest in re-joining Busted, and never will”. Looks like we’ll have to wait until the Year 3000.
S Club 7:
I’m be very clear here and state that when I say S Club 7, I’m emphasising the SEVEN. I want all of you – all SEVEN of you – to reunite, I don’t count 3 of you doing club tours as a comeback. Take note, guys.
Why did they split up, and where are they now?
Back in 2002, Paul Cattermole left to return to his ‘rock roots’ (although he didn’t have much success with his project Skua). After that S Club 7 began S Club although it was the beginning of the end as the next year (just 10 days after their first feature film “Seeing Double” was released), they announced their split. Their minitures S Club Juniors became S Club 8 (which included Rochelle and Frankie from The Saturdays) before they ended themselves in 2005 – presumably, because they were getting too old for the cute factor by then.
Since the split , S Club 7’s members have had a variety of jobs from solo singers (Rachel Stevens and Jo O’Meara), reality TV contests (insert nearly all their names here), actors (Hannah Spearritt, Jon Lee)
Will they re-unite?
Jo, Bradley and Paul formed ‘S Club 3’ and can be seen at Gay Prides and Fresher’s nights throughout the UK but as for a full-blown return to live scene, it looks unlikely but still possible as they were all photographed together (as S Club SEVEN) while watching Jon perform in the stage production of Jersey Boys in the West End earlier in the year. There ain’t no party like an S Club Party, that’s for sure!
Fast Food Rockers:
Remember them? No? Well they rocked and they sang about fast food. Is it coming back to you yet? Yes? All together now (with actions!!) – “At Pizza Hut, at pizza hut, kentucky fried kitchen”.
Why did they split and where are they now?
After the ill-advised release of “I Love Christmas” and poor sales for their amazingly named (but probably awful sounding) album “It’s Never Easy Being Cheesey”, they were dropped from their label. They then went back to McDonalds their day jobs. Martin had a brief re-appearance in showbusiness when he joined the girlband The Honeytraps. And when I said girl band, that was not a typo.
Will they re-unite?
If anybody wanted them to, they probably would but sadly there’s not much call for them but I expect if KFC rang them up with an advert deal they’d put back on those horrid costumes one more time. Although maybe nowadays they’d have to add a verse about healthy eating advice.
The Cheeky Girls:
Ok, Ok they haven’t split up (because they’re twins obviously) but they still haven’t released a single since 2005. Sure they appear at Gay Prides and turn on Christmas lights but they don’t do much else. Come on Gabriela and Monica, I want to see you do a joint tour with Jedward. I am entirely serious.
Why aren’t they recording anymore, and where are they now?
Every new single they released charted lower than the other before, so it’s most likely they quit while they were (marginally) ahead. They’ve kept busy with reality TV including a brief stint Channel 4’s Coach Trip and a bizarre audition for Britain’s Got Talent.
Will they start performing again?
They’ll most likely continue making ‘public appearances’ forever but it doesn’t look like they’ll ever return to music full time, and I’m sure that many (including Simon Cowell) are grateful for that.
B*Witched:
They were everyone’s (well every tweenie’s) favourite Irish girlband of the late-ninetiess/early-noughties but then it all went wrong and they disappeared.
Why did they split up, and where are they now?
Although B*Witched had planned single releases and video shoots for mid-2002, they were dropped by their record label. They had plans to get signed Telstar Records but when that deal fell through, it was all too much for oldest member Sinead O’Carroll who quit later that year. That was officially th end of B*Witched.
Since then, Lindsay Armaou has begun pursuing acting, Sinead became a TV presenter and twins Edele and Keavy Lynch both stayed involved in the music industry.
Will they re-unite?
Nowadays Edele and Keavy perform under the name of “Barbarellas” together and have been known to play B*witched songs so hey that’s 50% of the members still performing. But as for the other two? Who knows? C’est la vie!
The Faders:
10-year old me was a big fan of these three girls. They were the female Busted (with a bit more balls); essentially they were a rock band marketed at tweenies although their music probably had a lot more serious (less ‘guilty pleasure’) appeal than what they were given credit or the potential for.
Why did they split up, and where are they now?
After just two singles, they were dropped by their label when they realised that the appeal of female rock for little girls was actually quite niche (despite Avril Lavigne’s influence and Claire’s obsession with fingerless gloves). However, they all carried on musically and you may recognise Cherisse as Mika’s drummer.
Will they re-unite?
Who knows? Everything was amicable and maybe they’ll do a Hanson-style turn around and come back marketed all credible and that. I’d like that.
Who are your favourite guilty pleasure bands?
Who do you want to make a comeback?
