Steps - Love's Got A Hold On My Heart (#Steps20)

Original release date: July 12th 1999
Buy Love's Got A Hold Of My Heart here (Amazon UK)
Read all my Stepacular singles retrospectives here

One year before Steps declared it was the summer of love, they were launching their second album campaign with the equally sunny Love's Got A Hold On My Heart. As with any act, the stakes were high for the sophomore set - they needed to capitalise on the success of Step One while forging ahead with vibrant new rhythms that were fresh yet familiar at the same time. It was a tricky balancing act and failure to be the next ABBA was not an option. LGAHOMH was a resplendent continuation of their sound, a euphoric reminder of why we fell in love with them in the first place. As much a love letter to falling in love as it was a love letter the art of pop, the group imbued the lyrics about the all consuming, redemptive power of amour with a palpable sense of hope and radiant optimism. All this was cocooned in an irrepressibly joyful melody that sashayed its way into your brain and refused to leave. A chorus that was a constant crescendo of textured harmonies and ebullient instruments made for a thoroughly invigorating sing-a-long refrain. The song was allegedly written eight years earlier by Pete Waterman and Andrew Frampton (I like to think for the Nanas Please Yourself) but only emerged as a beautiful butterfly when Steps worked their magic on it. It certainly conjured up another hit as the single rocketed to number two (damn you Livin' La Vida Loca!!), spurred on, no doubt, by a number of TV performances where the fab five were decked out in summery yellow. These performances, along with the cheery video (still waiting for Steps The Movie) accentuated the lively personalities of the group and introduced the must-learn dance routine. True story - so smitten was I with this choreography that I (poorly) sketched it out on the envelope of a letter to a buddy (see here on Twitter). They, I'm sure, were just as charmed with the WIP remixes and that lovely, ballad b-side, To Be Your Hero. This brilliantly orchestrated release proved that Steps were here to stay and a force to be reckoned with. The rest is history.

UK chart run ~ 2-3-5-13-15-22-34-43-53-57-64-77-77-73