Eighth Wonder (band)
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Eighth Wonder were an English pop band, formed in 1983 in London, initially composed of singer/model/actress
Patsy Kensit Patricia Jude Francis Kensit (born 4 March 1968) is an English actress and singer. Beginning her career as a child actor, Kensit gained attention when she acted in a string of commercials for Birds Eye frozen peas. She went on to appear in films ...
, her brother Jamie Kensit,
Steve Grantley Steve Grantley (born 8 March 1962) is an English rock drummer who plays for Stiff Little Fingers, and formerly the Alarm and RTZ Global. Between 1982 and 1987, he played drums for Jake Burns and the Big Wheel. He has also worked with Alicia K ...
, Geoff Beauchamp, Nigel Davis, Jake Walters and Lawrence Lewis. The band first enjoyed major success in Japan and Italy in 1985–87, before finally breaking through in the UK and across Europe in 1988, thanks to their hit single "
I'm Not Scared ''I'm Not Scared'' (, ''I Am Not Afraid'') is a 2003 Italian crime mystery thriller film directed by Gabriele Salvatores. Francesa Marciano and Niccolò Ammaniti wrote the script, basing it on Ammaniti's successful 2001 Italian novel with t ...
".


Biography


Early years

Eighth Wonder's roots are with a band called Spice. In 1983, Jamie Kensit auditioned his sister
Patsy Kensit Patricia Jude Francis Kensit (born 4 March 1968) is an English actress and singer. Beginning her career as a child actor, Kensit gained attention when she acted in a string of commercials for Birds Eye frozen peas. She went on to appear in films ...
, then aged 15, for the vacant job of lead singer in his new band. The line-up consisted of her on vocals, Jamie Kensit and Geoff Beauchamp on guitar, Lawrence Lewis on bass, Jake Walters on drums and Nigel Davis on percussion. Spice made their live debut in autumn 1983, and then spent the next year playing further gigs, hoping to gain some attention from
record label "Big Three" music labels A record label or record company is a brand or trademark of Sound recording and reproduction, music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a Music publisher, ...
s. In late 1984, Davis left to start the band Slipstream, and keyboard-player Alex Godson joined the remaining members. They renamed themselves Eighth Wonder and Patsy Kensit began to
write Writing is the act of creating a persistent representation of language. A writing system includes a particular set of symbols called a ''script'', as well as the rules by which they encode a particular spoken language. Every written language ...
songs for the band. Their first gig as Eighth Wonder was in November 1984 in
Wimbledon, London Wimbledon () is a suburb of southwest London, England, southwest of Charing Cross; it is the main commercial centre of the London Borough of Merton. Wimbledon had a population of 68,189 in 2011 which includes the electoral wards of Abbey, Wimb ...
and further gigs followed, including at Queen Elizabeth College in Kensington. It was at one of these that
Stephen Woolley Stephen Woolley (born 3 September 1956) is an English filmmaker and actor. His career has spanned four decades, for which he was awarded the BAFTA award for Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema in February 2019. As a producer, he has bee ...
, co-owner of Palace Films, and director
Julien Temple Julien Temple (born 26 November 1953) is a British film, documentary and music video director. He began his career with short films featuring the Sex Pistols, and has continued with various off-beat projects, including ''The Great Rock 'n' Roll ...
offered Patsy Kensit the role of Crepe Suzette in their 1986 movie musical '' Absolute Beginners''. Eighth Wonder contributed a song to the soundtrack.


Success in Japan and Italy

In April 1985, Eighth Wonder was signed by
CBS Records CBS Records may refer to: * CBS Records, a former name of Sony Music, a global music company * CBS/Sony, a former name of Sony Music Entertainment Japan, a Japanese music company division of Sony * CBS Records International, a label for Columbia Re ...
and began
recording A record, recording or records may refer to: An item or collection of data Computing * Record (computer science), a data structure ** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity ** Boot sector or boot record, re ...
in London, working around Patsy Kensit's filming on ''Absolute Beginners''. In October 1985, with the filming completed, Eighth Wonder's first single "Stay With Me" was released and achieved success in Japan, where it reached No. 1 and Italy, where it peaked at No. 4 in early 1986. It charted only at No. 65 in the UK Singles Chart. Shortly after, Lewis and Walters left. The band then started using
drum machine A drum machine is an electronic musical instrument that creates percussion sounds, drum beats, and patterns. Drum machines may imitate drum kits or other percussion instruments, or produce unique sounds, such as synthesized electronic tones. A d ...
s and using keyboards for their bass sound. In August 1986, they went to Los Angeles to record new tracks for their debut album, ''Fearless''. There they worked with producer
Mike Chapman Michael Donald Chapman (born 13 April 1947) is an Australian record producer and songwriter who was a major force in the British pop music industry in the 1970s. He created a string of hit singles for artists including The Sweet, Suzi Quatro ...
, best known for his work with Blondie. They were also approached by many songwriters, including Dave Stewart of the
Eurythmics Eurythmics were a British New wave music, new wave duo formed in 1980, consisting of Scottish vocalist Annie Lennox and English musician and producer Dave Stewart (Eurythmics), Dave Stewart. They were both previously in the Tourists, a band t ...
(although the song was eventually not used) and
Billy Steinberg William Endfield Steinberg (born February 26, 1950) is an American songwriter. He achieved his greatest success in the 1980s with songwriting partner Tom Kelly (musician), Tom Kelly; together they wrote or co-wrote the No. 1 hits "Like a Virgin ...
and Tom Kelly, writers of many hit singles including
Cyndi Lauper Cynthia Ann Stephanie Lauper ( ; born June 22, 1953) is an American singer, songwriter and actress. Known for her distinctive image, featuring a variety of hair colors and eccentric clothing, and for her powerful four-octave vocal range;Jerome, ...
's " True Colors",
Whitney Houston Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American singer, actress, film producer, model, and philanthropist. Commonly referred to as "Honorific nicknames in popular music, the Voice", she is List of awards and no ...
's "
So Emotional "So Emotional" is a song by American singer Whitney Houston. It was released as the third single from her second studio album '' Whitney'' (1987) on October 12, 1987, by Arista Records. The song was written by Billy Steinberg and Tom Kelly and ...
" and
Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone ( ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. Referred to as the "Queen of Pop", she has been recognized for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, ...
's " Like a Virgin". In February 1987, one of the Chapman-produced tracks, "Will You Remember", was released in the United Kingdom but only reached No. 83 - though it reached the Top 10 in Italy, after a memorable performance at the
Sanremo Music Festival The Sanremo Music Festival ( ), officially the Italian Song Festival (), is the most popular Italian song contest and awards ceremony, held annually in the city of Sanremo, Liguria, organized and broadcast by (RAI). It is the longest-running ...
, when a wardrobe malfunction caused Patsy to expose one of her nipples, live on TV. In Japan, the band achieved another No. 1 hit with another Chapman production, "When The Phone Stops Ringing", which was written by
Holly Knight Holly Knight (born 1956) is an American songwriter, musician, and singer. She was a member of the 1980s pop rock groups Spider and Device, and wrote or co-wrote several hit singles for other artists, such as " Rag Doll", " Obsession", " Love Is ...
and
Bernie Taupin Bernard John Taupin (born 22 May 1950) is an English lyricist and visual artist. He is best known for his songwriting partnership with Elton John, recognised as one of the most successful partnerships of its kind in history. Taupin co-wrote th ...
. The song was also a Top 30 hit in Italy. "Will You Remember" was successfully released as a follow-up single in Japan. This was in turn followed by ''Brilliant Dreams'', a Japanese exclusive mini album containing the singles and
b-sides The A-side and B-side are the two sides of vinyl records and cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a single usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or ...
.


Success in the UK

Whilst completing their first album, the band had another line-up change, with Godson being replaced by drummer
Steve Grantley Steve Grantley (born 8 March 1962) is an English rock drummer who plays for Stiff Little Fingers, and formerly the Alarm and RTZ Global. Between 1982 and 1987, he played drums for Jake Burns and the Big Wheel. He has also worked with Alicia K ...
. They worked with
sound engineer An audio engineer (also known as a sound engineer or recording engineer) helps to produce a sound recording, recording or a Concert, live performance, balancing and adjusting sound sources using equalization (audio), equalization, Dynamic range ...
, mixer and producer Pete Hammond, with the exception of one track, "
I'm Not Scared ''I'm Not Scared'' (, ''I Am Not Afraid'') is a 2003 Italian crime mystery thriller film directed by Gabriele Salvatores. Francesa Marciano and Niccolò Ammaniti wrote the script, basing it on Ammaniti's successful 2001 Italian novel with t ...
", co-produced and written by the
Pet Shop Boys Pet Shop Boys are an English synth-pop duo formed in London in 1981. Consisting of vocalist Neil Tennant and keyboardist Chris Lowe, they have sold more than 100 million records worldwide and were listed as the most successful duo in UK music h ...
and Phil Harding. Chosen as the next single for release in Europe, it was greeted with media and
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enthusiasm. "I'm Not Scared" became a Top 10 hit in almost every country in Europe, achieving No. 1 in Italy, No. 2 in Switzerland and Portugal, No. 3 in Spain, No. 4 in Greece, No. 5 in Germany, No. 7 in the UK, No. 8 in France and No. 20 in Austria. Pet Shop Boys recorded their own version of the song for their album '' Introspective''. May 1988 saw the release of another single, " Cross My Heart", which proved to be almost as successful chart-wise as "I'm Not Scared" (No. 6 in Switzerland, No. 10 in Italy, No. 13 in UK, and France, and No. 56 in the US - where it was their only Top 75 single). Eighth Wonder's album '' Fearless'' followed in July 1988, and by October it had achieved almost 500,000 sales internationally. However, the follow-up single "Baby Baby" only got to No. 65 in the UK Singles Chart and would be their last hit in Italy, peaking at No. 13. They had one more hit in Japan with "Use Me" in 1989 and, shortly after this, the band parted ways and Patsy Kensit began to focus on her marriage and acting career. In 1988, Hong Kong singer Elvina Kong covered "Baby Baby" in Cantonese.


Discography


Albums


Studio albums


Compilation albums


Singles


References


External links

* Allmusic.com biography* * {{Authority control English pop music groups Female-fronted musical groups Musical groups established in 1983 Musical groups disestablished in 1989 Pop music groups from London Sony Music artists