Former Steps stars H and Claire have been showered with bizarre gifts before gigs, including vegetables, mops, masala powders and even plastic cockroaches.
H said, “It’s really weird. I don’t why our fans send stuff like that to us. Masala powders I can understand. Vegetables too. But mops?”
Claire added “I used to get lots of Crunchie bars. Way much nicer.”
The missing ballad that Daniel Bedingfield wrote for H & Claire’s album has finally turned up.
The song, ‘Hold Me In Your Arms’, had been expected to appear on the ex-Steps duo’s debut album, entitled ‘Another Me, Another You’ but for some reason or the other, the track did not make the final tracklisting.
Luckily, fans aren’t going to miss out on Daniel’s efforts, as the smoochy heartbreaker that sounds somewhat like S Club’s ‘Never Had A Dream Come True’ appears on H & Claire’s new single, ‘All Out Of Love’. They say if you listen closely, you may just hear young Daniel on backing vocals so you might want to pay attention.
Daniel’s new single, ‘If You’re Not The One’, will be released on the 18th of November.
H and Claire have revealed their new album will be called ‘Another You, Another Me’.
The title comes from one of the tracks on the album, written by Benny and Bjorn from Abba.
It is due for release on Monday, the 18th of November.
Their next single will be ‘All Out Of Love’ and it’ll be a double A-side with the title track from Disney’s Beauty And The Beast.
H & Claire are to record a song written by Bjorn and Benny from Abba titled ‘Another You, Another Me’.
Manager Tim Byrne flew to Stockholm back in February for a meeting with Bjorn from Abba about him and Benny writing a song for H & Claire.
On the flight over was Sir Tim Rice who suggested that Bjorn might have a track he originally wrote for a Swedish duo, Gemini. After a further suggestion from Andy from Almighty Remixers, ‘Another You, Another Me’ emerged as the favourite track with Bjorn re-writing the lyrics to suit H & Claire.
‘Another You, Another Me’ will be produced by top USA producer/songwriters Sam Watters and Louis Biancanello in late August for inclusion on H & Claire’s debut album.
Sam and Louis have written and produced for the world’s top artists including Celine Dion, Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey and 98 degrees. They have also written two songs for H & Claire which will be recorded in the same session titled ‘Nothing At All’ and ‘There You Were’.
H & Claire’s brilliant follow-up to ‘DJ’, called ‘Half A Heart’ will be out in your favourite shops on the 12th of August.
Former Steps chanteuse Claire Richards was apparently none-too-pleased when filming SM:tv on July 6th, as former Five star Abs Breen’s video was screened during the show.
According to an insider, the bubbly singer was left reeling after she noticed that the saucy, crocheted dress worn by one of Abs’ dancers in his promo for ‘What You Got’ was the very same outfit Claire can seen be sporting in the video to her and H’s next single, ‘Half A Heart’, which was broadcast just 30 minutes later by SM:tv’s sister show, CD:uk.
“Claire’s usually smiley chops took a sudden a downward turn the minute she saw the girl in the same dress” the source revealed, explaining further “She just couldn’t believe that the videos were being shown so soon after each other.”
What makes matters even worse, both singles are released on the same day, 12th of August.
H & Claire, the two ex-Steps pop duo, have revealed more details about their forthcoming debut album, which is due in record stores sometime in November.
According to their authorized website, www.handclaire.com, the twosome have been veiled away in a studio working on new tracks with the likes of Mark Topham and Karl Twigg. They are of course, the talented pair who wrote and produced Steps’ hits such as ‘Stomp’, ‘Deeper Shade Of Blue’ and ‘One For Sorrow’. Apparently, this time round, they’ve come up with a couple of tasty ballads and an up-tempo track.
They’ve also spent the past week with ‘Gotta Get Through This’ sensation, Daniel Beddingfield, in what some have described as the most intriguing collaboration of the year.
Meanwhile, H & Claire’s new single ‘Half A Heart’ will be out real soon.
Ultra pop star Claire Richards has said she doesn’t think it’s right that Pop Idol winners Will Young and Gareth Gates are being nursed like superstars just because they’ve enjoyed a twosome of hits between them.
Speaking to an webpage, Claire admitted, “I don’t like the fact that they’re being portrayed as these mammoth pop stars when they’ve only released one single. You hear that ‘they can’t do this’ or even appear on ‘Top Of The Pops’ because they’re so famous. What trash. They’re riding on the crest of a wave at the moment but when it comes to their second album, they’ll have to start to prove themselves.”
While there’s still sometime to go before we even hear Will and Gareth’s debut albums, the pair will attempt to prove their worth when they release their second singles over the next month and half. Pop Idol winner Will is set to unleash ‘Light My Fire’ on May 27th, with Gareth’s ‘Anyone Of Us (Stupid Mistake)’ following-up on July 8th.
H & Claire’s debut single, ‘DJ’, is made its entrance onto the British singles charts at a not-bad No. 3 spot.
H has denied the entire buzz that suggests he’s dating his manager who goes by the name of Tim Byrne. Speaking to Heat magazine, the past-Steps star laughed the rumours off with a dismissive “Oh, please!”
H claimed that he doesn’t care about the constant gay rumours and explained that being involved in one of the most successful pop bands of all time means he hasn’t had time to meet anyone he can settle down with.
However, while he’s adamant that he’s not interested in men, H, whose real name’s Ian Watkins, also took the chance to express his concerns about Will Young’s decision to come out. “As long as Will was ready to come out himself, that’s fair enough” he said. “I hope that was the way. I just hope he wasn’t forced to do it.”
Other publications that have questioned, time after time, H’s sexual orientation would include the Gay Times and Boyz magazine.
Meanwhile, Claire has made public her fears for S Club Juniors, saying that they should be at school instead of prancing around singing pop croons at such early ages.Claire told a web-zine today, “I think there’s always a danger of messing kids up when they become famous at such an early age. Throughout history, the people who start too young always end up a bit mad. Look at Michael Jackson”.
The eight-strong S Club Juniors range from ages 11 to 13. The band, with their first ever offering ‘One Step Closer’, entered the UK Top 40 at No 2.
Concerned that the whole music business may be too pressurizing for them, Claire said “It just worries me that people won’t look after their interests and that they’ll be more interested in making a quick buck. At the end of the day, they’re just kids, people, and they should be at school, mingling with other kids their own age.”
As part of their jobs being presenters on SM:tv, she, together with H, revealed that they had interviewed the S Club Juniors and found them all to be real sweet kids.
Claire commented further “I don’t think people realise how difficult it is being a pop star. I just hope they’ve got a good team to look after them and keep them grounded.”
Their single, DJ, is already out in shops.
If you haven’t already heard, ex-Steps members, H and Claire, who were rumoured to have split the group up, are working together as a duo to bring you more “Steps-like” sounds.
Signing a stonking GBP4 million contract with WEA a couple of days back, Claire Richard and H, also known as Ian Watkins, have agreed on a 4-album deal. Steps’s old label Jive had hoped to sign the pair but Claire said, “They didn’t exactly offer the best deal.”
Their debut single, ‘DJ’, said to be shot in Miami, is due out on the 6th of May. Talking to the press, Claire said “It will sound similar to Steps but gradually we will change our sound slightly.”
The two popsters flew off recently to Sweden to work with Jorgen Elofsson, who wrote Will Young’s track “Evergreen.”
They’ll also have their very first live performance at the G-A-Y Nightclub come 4th of May.
Check H and Claire out at their temporary official website at: www.handclaire.com