We have been building up to this very special episode all year. With the opening night of 'Here & Now' just days away, we are thrilled to have writer of the show Shaun Kitchener on the podcast to tell us everything he is legally allowed to say before November 9th.

Is 'Experienced' the encore in the show? Does 'Words of Wisdom' make an appearance? Is there still time to work 'Hard 2 Forget' into the show? You best believe Brad didn't let us end the Zoom call unless those hard hitting questions were answered.

It was an absolute joy to chat to Shaun and we are so excited for what we know is going to be the beginning of an exciting new chapter in the Steps legacy.

'Here & Now' is playing at the Alexandra Theatre in Birmingham 9th-30th November 2024. Tickets are still available via thestepsmusical.com

Last remaining tickets to the Gala Night pre-show fan event are available via https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/the-unofficial-here-now-fan-party-tickets-1071477039669

Follow ‘Glitter & Gold: The Original Steps Podcast’:

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In celebration of its 25th anniversary this month, we are delving into one of the most poptastic albums of the 90s ‘Steptacular’.

Steptacular undoubtedly cemented Steps reputation as being the best pop act in the UK; producing 6 top 5 singles, 2 sold out arena tours and going 4x platinum. Released on October 25th 1999, It has sold over 1.3 million copies and remains their only UK number 1 studio album to date. It also performed incredibly well across the globe, going to number 1 in Scotland, number 2 in Belgium, number 11 in Ireland, number 25 in Australia, 25 in Japan and top 50 on the Dutch album charts. It was the 7th highest selling album in the UK of 1999 as well as the 45th highest selling album in 2000.

We take a HUGE deep dive into the album, our memories of this monumental time in pop history and go through every song on the album track-by-track. But most importantly we answer the question, is 'My Best Friends Girl' the sequel to 'Track 7'?

Follow ‘Glitter & Gold: The Original Steps Podcast’:

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Our H & Claire deep dive continues with Part 2 focussing on the album 'Another You, Another Me' and the conclusion of the duos story (for now...).

The album had some big name songwriters on board, including swedish writer Jorgen Elofsson who wrote ‘Its The Way You Make Me Feel’ by Steps and has written for Boyzone, Kelly Clarkson, Britney Spears and Westlife (just to name a few). Sam Watters who wrote ‘Im Outta Love’ by Anastasia. Mark Topham and Karl Twigg were also on board and the title track was written by 2 guys from a little band called Abba, who you may have heard of.

We talk through our favourite tracks, the albums roll out, why we think it didn't quite land in the charts the way it was hoped to and begin the manifesting for a vinyl release sometime in the future (H, Claire, Fascination.... if you're listening).

Follow ‘Glitter & Gold: The Original Steps Podcast’:

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Scott: @stepscollection_

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Brad: @bradszmerling

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The time has finally come to take a deep dive into the 'H & Claire' story.

In Part 1 we are deep diving into the formation of the duo and the 3 singles ‘DJ’, ‘Half a Heart’ and the AA side ‘All Out Of Love/Beauty and the Beast’.

We went into this with the goal to celebrate an era that has been somewhat ignored or a taboo topic at times. As we look back it's hard not to appreciate the incredible body of work, performances and content they did in just 12 short months and we will forever manifest the album to get its well deserved flowers in the future with a vinyl release (hint hint H, Claire, Fascination…. If you’re listening)

Part 2 focussing on the album 'Another You, Another Me' and the end of the H & Claire era, is coming in just a week's time on Monday September 16th.

Follow ‘Glitter & Gold: The Original Steps Podcast’:

Instagram, TikTok & X: @glitterstepspod

Scott: @stepscollection_

Shane: @stepmeister

Brad: @bradszmerling

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To celebrate it's 13th anniversary, we are diving into the 2011 documentary series 'Steps Reunion', which followed the band as they celebrated their tenth anniversary since their split. The show led to the 'Ultimate Collection' topping the charts and the sold-out 'Ultimate Tour'. It also inspired the similar show 'The Big Reunion', featuring other pop acts reuniting after their own splits.

Despite its success, 'Steps Reunion' stirred up controversy by revealing long-held secrets and rivalries, culminating in a tense dinner scene where the band confronted their issues. While Steps have moved on from the split, the documentary remains a crucial part of their story, contributing to the success of their 2011 reunion and their pursuit of a happy ending.

Our guest today, Conor Sullivan, was the production secretary on the documentary and worked closely with the band throughout the entire filming process. Most importantly, he is a Steps enthusiast like ourselves and we know you are going to love some of the incredible behind the scenes stories Conor shares with us from this time.

Follow ‘Glitter & Gold: The Original Steps Podcast’:

Instagram, TikTok & X: @glitterstepspod

Scott: @stepscollection_

Shane: @stepmeister

Brad: @bradszmerling

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Everyone knows Steps for their range of covers, including staple tracks like ‘Last Thing On My Mind’, ‘Tragedy’, ‘Chain Reaction’ and ‘Something In Your Eyes’ (just to name a few). But, did you know there have been a number of songs Steps recorded first (either as a group or solo tracks) that have then been covered by other artists? We deep dive into 14 versions of Steps and solo tracks that have gone on to be recorded by artists such as Agnes, Angel City, Sandy and Junior and even The Tweenies!

We also have a huge news round up as usual, including an in-depth discussion about the Claire & Delta Goodrem duet at Mighty Hoopla. Shane was in the audience for the show and gives us a detailed recap of the ICONIC moment.

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To celebrate 21 years of ‘Lately’, we are thrilled to have Pete Day & Paul ‘Bronze’ Newton from Point4 on the podcast to tell the complete untold story of the making of ‘Unleashed’, the original debut album from Lisa Scott-Lee that was recorded with Mercury records. The guys tell us EVERYTHING from writing and recording the singles ‘Lately’ & ‘Too Far Gone’, the cancelled 3rd single ‘I’ll Wait For You’ and a number of other tracks, some of which have never been spoken about or heard before.

After 21 years we finally get answers to questions so many of us have wanted and the boys had some of the most incredible “OMG moment” stories to tell of a time they have nothing but fond memories of.

In there words “We have never spoken about this before because, simply… no one has asked us”.

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There is SO much love for the b-sides from the original 1997-2001 run, so we thought it was about time we gave you our "Words of Wisdom" by taking a deep dive into them. Rather than talk through them in order of release, we asked you over on Instagram to vote for your favourite tracks so we could countdown based on your rankings and you came through with the votes (over 1200 to be precise).

Do you agree with the results? Lets us know over on our socials.

NOTE: Since the recording of this episode it has been confirmed the proposed statue of H in his home town of Cowbridge is false, and was part of a fake news prank for Joe Lycett's TV show 'Late Night Lycett'.

B-Side Spotify Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4j5bxNkXxKQfZiSahMQS95?si=bce2d8ef021643cd

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Joining us on the podcast this month is legendary remixer Gareth Shortland. Having first had the opportunity to remix tracks for Claires solo album 'My Wildest Dreams' in 2019, Gareth has since been an instrumental part of all the Steps and Claire campaigns and become the go to person for mixes for other pop legends including Will Young, Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Sarah Harding and Four of Diamonds (just to name a few).

We chat to Gareth in-depth about how his relationship with Fascination Management and Steps began, the process of how a remix comes to life and the joy of hearing those vocal stems. He also shares an incredible story about the time he had the opportunity to do some songwriting with the ONE and ONLY Mark Topham and play the piano that some of THE biggest Steps hits were written on. Plus, we expose which UK boyband Gareth was briefly a member of.

You can follow Gareth Shortland on Instagram @garethshortlandmusic and find all his remixes via his artist page on Spotify.

Follow ‘Glitter & Gold: The Original Steps Podcast’:

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The party (on the dancefloor) continues this month with Part 2 of our birthday celebrations as we listen to more of your FABULOUS voice notes and questions. You all came through with the messages and we cannot thank each and everyone of you enough for the love and support.

Along with our usual news round up, we also have a special recap from friend of the pod Frankie @justfrankstar who attended the musical launch at The Alexandra Theatre earlier in the month and was first in line to meet Steps and secure his tickets. He gives us a Steptacular run down of the whole morning including his dedication of lining up from 3am (we would do the same...)

Follow ‘Glitter & Gold: The Original Steps Podcast’:

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Email: [email protected] 

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