Wonderland Burlesque's
Down The Rabbit Hole:
Eighth Wonder
Down The Rabbit Hole merely places a spotlight on something slightly unusual that's caught my interest. With the help of Wikipedia, YouTube, and other sites, I gather information and learn something new.
Today, we take a look at the brief musical history of the UK's Eighth Wonder, featuring Patsy Kensit.
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From Wikipedia and other sources:
Eighth Wonder began life as a band called Spice. The line-up consisted of Patsy Kensit on vocals, her brother 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 the autumn of 1983, and then spent the next year playing gigs in the hope of gaining the attention of record labels.
In late 1984, Davis left and keyboard-player Alex Godson joined. At that point, they renamed themselves Eighth Wonder and Patsy Kensit began to write songs for the band. At one of their gigs, Stephen Woolley, co-owner of Palace Films, and director Julien Temple offered Patsy Kensit the role of Crepe Suzette in their 1986 movie musical Absolute Beginners. In edition, Eighth Wonder was asked to contribute a song to the soundtrack.
By April of 1985, Eighth Wonder had signed to CBS Records and began recording in London, working around Patsy Kensit's filming of Absolute Beginners. In October of that same year, their first single Stay With Me was released. It achieved success in Japan, where it went to #1, and Italy, where it peaked at #4. while failing in the UK, where it only managed to reach #65. Shortly after, Lewis and Walters left the band. It was at this point that the band began using drum machines and substituting keyboards for their bass sound.
In August of 1986, they went to Los Angeles to work with producer Mike Chapman, best known for his work with Blondie. Drummer Steve Grantley then replaced Godson. The top songwriters of the times offered them new material and these tracks formed their debut album, Fearless. Of these tracks, Will You Remember was released in the UK where it only reached #83. They fared much better in Japan and Italy. In Japan, When The Phone Stops Ringing gave them their second #1, while in Italy Will You Remember slid into the Top 10, mostly due to the media attention surrounding their performance at a music festival in which Patsy experienced a wardrobe malfunction resulting in the exposure of one of her nipples.
I'm Not Scared, co-produced and written by the Pet Shop Boys and Phil Harding, was chosen as the next single in Europe, where it was greeted with media and public enthusiasm, becoming a Top 10 hit in almost every country in Europe. It went to #1 in Italy, #2 in Switzerland and Portugal, #3 in Spain, #4 in Greece, #5 in Germany, #7 in the UK, #8 in France and #20 in Austria.
In May of 1988, another single, Cross My Heart, found similar success, hitting #6 in Switzerland, #10 in Italy, #13 in UK, and France, and #56 in the US. The album was finally released in July of 1988, and by that October, had achieved almost 500,000 sales internationally.
However, the follow-up single, Baby Baby only got to #65 on the UK Singles Chart and would prove to be their final hit in Italy, peaking at #13. Shortly after this, the bandmembers parted ways, with Patsy Kensit deciding to focus on her marriage and acting career.
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Stay With Me - Eighth Wonder
Having It All - Eighth Wonder feat. Patsy Kensit
from the 1986 motion picture Absolute Beginners
When The Phone Stops Ringing - Eighth Wonder
Will You Remember - Eighth Wonder
I'm Not Scared - Eighth Wonder
Cross My Heart - Eighth Wonder
Baby, Baby - Eighth Wonder
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