5,6,7,8

Background and release

Steps were put together in 1997 following an advert in The Stage magazine asking for applicants to audition for a place in a pop band. Out of the thousands who applied, Lee Latchford-Evans, Lisa Scott-Lee, Faye Tozer, Claire Richards and Ian "H" Watkins successfully secured a place in the band. Latchford-Evans performs the majority of the song, while Scott-Lee sings the middle 8, or bridge. It was recorded at PWL Studios in London and Manchester, England, and mixed by Lee Sharma at the same venue. Upton also arranged the track and played the guitar, while the banjo, violin, drums and keyboards were played by Sean Lyon, Chris Haigh, Chris McDonnell and Twigg, respectively.

Al Unsworth and Bradlee Spreadborough served as the assistant engineers and it was mastered at Transfermation Studios in London, England. "5,6,7,8" features all of the band members on lead vocals except for Ian "H" Watkins, who only performs background vocals. Various versions of the song were included on the CD single in the United Kingdom, Europe and Japan, including an extended version, an instrumental and a remix by W.I.P.; the CD single in the United Kingdom and Europe also included the B-side, "Words of Wisdom", also written by Upton and Crosby. It was released in the United Kingdom in November 1997, and it was later included on their first greatest hits album, Gold: Greatest Hits (2001), the W.I.P. remix on their first compilation album The Last Dance (2002) and their second greatest hits album, The Ultimate Collection (2011).

Reception

Critical reception

Retrospectively, Lucas Villa from AXS stated that "5,6,7,8" "was the beginning of Steps' campy, feel good sounds." Upon the release, Andy Coleman from Birmingham Evening Mail described it as a "line dancing ditty". Gary James from Entertainment Focus noted that the song "stands out from the rest of their catalogue for being somewhat a novelty single." He added, "It's blend of country, techno and pop had us reaching for our lassos and thinking perhaps Rednex had returned with a 'Cotton Eyed Joe' for 1997." Sophie McCoid from Liverpool Echo named it an "epic tune". Mark Beaumont from NME described it as a "more traditional hoedown". Peter Robinson of NME gave the song a negative review in 2001. In his review of Gold: Greatest Hits, he wrote "Steps were only signed for one single – with good reason, for '5,6,7,8' was shit of the very highest order." Similarly, Digital Spy writer Robert Copsey wrote that retrospectively, the track was a "bizarre" choice of lead single in his review of The Ultimate Collection in 2011. In a review of Steps' best-selling songs for the Official Charts Company in March 2017, Copsey noted how "5,6,7,8" distinctly differs from the rest of their discography in terms of its techno-pop genre, line dancing lyrics and lack of lead vocals solely from Claire Richards.

Commercial reception

Commercially, "5,6,7,8" debuted at number 18 on the UK Singles Chart on 16 November 1997, and peaked at number 14 in its eighth week on 10 January 1998. It spent a further nine weeks on the chart from January through to March, and re-entered the chart for one week at number 100 on 18 April 1998. Altogether, "5,6,7,8" spent 18 non-consecutive weeks on the UK Singles Chart, 10 of which were in the top 20. Their first top 40 hit, "5,6,7,8" was the only song of the singles they released (prior to their initial split in late December 2001) not to chart within the top 10. By July 2012, it had become their fourth-best selling single in their career in the United Kingdom; but by March 2017 it had switched positions with one of their subsequent singles "Better Best Forgotten" to become their third-highest selling song, with sales of 365,000 copies, and is their most streamed track with 37,952,032 plays as of March 2021. It was certified platinum on 11 December 2020 for sales and streams exceeding 600,000. Copsey added that it is very rare for a pop band to be given a second opportunity to release more music following a top 20 debut.

Music video

Set primarily on a beach in Marbella, Spain, the accompanying music video for "5,6,7,8", filmed on 9 September 1997 and directed by Phil Griffin, opens with Latchford-Evans and Watkins riding quad bikes along the beach while Scott-Lee, Tozer and Richards drive a car on the road next to them, with close-ups of each of the female singers performing the chorus outside bathroom stalls. It is followed by a repetition of the chorus during which all of the members perform the song's associated line dancing routine, which was very popular at the time of its release, to the music outside a bar on the beach, attracting a crowd of beachgoers. Latchford-Evans performs the first verse, with Watkins walking slightly behind him from the beach to the bar. Afterwards, the chorus and dance routine is once again repeated, during which Watkins and Richards pull two beachgoers out of the bar to dance with the group, which attracts other beachgoers to the group's performance. Latchford-Evans then performs the second verse while playing a game of snooker with Watkins while the ladies play table football nearby. For the final chorus, the group members, now wearing red and black outfits, perform the dance routine in front of a crowd for a final time; however, the setting has changed to night time and inside a Tiki bar.

Promotion

"5,6,7,8" was included on the group's sixth concert tour, The Ultimate Tour, in 2012. Latchford-Evans stated in March 2017 that although the band does not like performing the song, they find new ways of performing it live as they know that it is a fan-favourite. It is also included on the set list of their eighth concert tour, the Party on the Dancefloor Tour.

Formats and track listings

'*Album version – *Step One''''' "5,6,7,8" – 3:22

CD single – UK, Europe, Australia

1. "5,6,7,8" (Radio edit) – 3:22
2. "5,6,7,8" (Extended version) – 4:03
3. "Words of Wisdom" – 3:52
4. "5,6,7,8" (Instrumental) – 2:52 CD single – Japan
5. "5,6,7,8" (Radio edit) – 3:22
6. "5,6,7,8" (W.I.P. remix) – 3:15
7. "5,6,7,8" (Extended version) – 4:03
8. "5,6,7,8" (Instrumental) – 2:52

Credits and personnel

A-side: "5,6,7,8"

Credits are adapted from the liner notes of Step One and the liner notes of "5,6,7,8".

Recording

• Recorded at PWL Studios (London and Manchester, England)
• Mixed at PWL Studios (London and Manchester, England)
• Mastered at Transfermation (London, England)

Personnel

• Songwriting – Barry Upton, Steve Crosby
• Production – Mark Topham, Karl Twigg, Pete Waterman
• Arrangement – Barry Upton
• Mixing – Lee Sharma
• Engineering – Chris McDonnell
• Banjo – Sean Lyon
• Violin – Chris Haigh
• Drums – Chris McDonnell
• Guitars – Mark Topham, Barry Upton
• Keyboards – Karl Twigg

B-side: "Words of Wisdom"

Credits are adapted from the liner notes of "5,6,7,8".

Personnel

• Songwriting – Barry Upton, Steve Crosby
• Arrangement – Barry Upton

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

References

1. Akenny, Jason. "Steps".
2. Flint, Hannah. (22 March 2017). "Steps Lee Latchford-Evans says they really don't want to perform debut single '5, 6, 7, 8' on tour". [[OK!]].
3. (2001). "[[Gold: Greatest Hits (Steps album)". [[Zomba Records]].
4. (2002). "[[The Last Dance (Steps album)". [[Jive Records]].
5. (2011). "[[The Ultimate Collection (Steps album)". [[Sony]].
6. Villa, Lucas. (19 June 2017). "Steps turns 20: Counting down the pop group's top 10 singles". [[AXS (company).
7. Coleman, Andy (12 May 1998). "Five Steps to pop music heaven...". ''[[Birmingham Evening Mail]]''.
8. James, Gary. (11 September 2018). "Step's Step One: looking back at their debut album 20 years on". Entertainment Focus.
9. McCoid, Sophie (20 November 1997). "Steps Back in Time to the Best School Disco; Review: Music Steps Echo Arena Liverpool". ''[[Liverpool Echo]]''.
10. Beaumont, Mark. "Steps – London Croydon Fairfield Hall". [[NME]].
11. Robinson, Peter. "Steps : Gold-Greatest Hits". [[NME]].
12. Copsey, Robert. (11 October 2011). "Steps: 'The Ultimate Collection' – Album review". [[Digital Spy]].
13. Copsey, Rob. (14 March 2017). "Steps' biggest selling singles revealed". Official Charts Company.
14. (16 November 1997). "Official Singles Chart Top 100 16 November 1997 – 22 November 1997". [[Official Charts Company]].
15. Myers, Justin. (15 March 2014). "Official Charts Pop Gem #49: Steps – One For Sorrow". Official Charts Company.
16. (2 August 2020). "Inside The Hit Factory: Steps' biggest singles revealed!". Official Charts Company.
17. "Steps-5,6,7,8". Spotify.
18. "Steps - 5, 6, 7, 8 - Steps Music Video - Generation STEPS".
19. Barr, Gordon. (9 April 2012). "Review: Steps at Metro Radio Arena, Newcastle". [[Chronicle Live]].
20. Barr, Gordon. (21 November 2017). "Review of Steps in Newcastle - has there ever been a party on the dancefloor at the arena like this?". [[Chronicle Live (Newcastle).
21. (14 September 1998). "Step One". iTunes Store.
22. (1997). "''Steps "5,6,7,8" (CD)''". Ebul.
23. (1998). "''Steps "5,6,7,8" (CD)''". Rhythm Republic.
24. (1998). "[[Step One]]". [[Jive Records]], [[EBUL]].
25. (14 March 1998). "Eurochart Hot 100 Single".
26. (17 January 1998). "Top 100 Singles 1997".
27. "ARIA Top 100 Singles for 1998". [[Australian Recording Industry Association.
28. "Jaaroverzichten 1998". [[Ultratop]].
29. "End of Year Charts 1998". [[Recorded Music NZ]].
30. "Najlepsze single na UK Top 40–1998 wg sprzedaży".