It seems there is no stopping US Steps fans! Once again [email protected] has been on to Steps-related people in the US trying to see if Steps will be appearing anywhere while they are in the US recording tracks for their long awaited third album (second in the US).

Their response was: “Steps are not performing while they are here in the US, I will however try and get a small interview for the website, indicating their future plans for USA.” This was from the people at stepstoons.com. From what I know about US plans is that Steps are staying out of the US limelight to hopefully clear them from peoples minds in the US then in 2001 try and relaunch the band as a new act from the UK yet again. Only time will tell!

Members of pop band Scooch have slammed claims that they’re Steps clones, instead comparing their hits, including Best Is Yet To Come and For Sure, to songs by Macy Gray and Oasis. Scooch’s latest single, For Sure, debuted at Number 15 in the UK recently, but after four hits the group is still struggling against Steps comparisons. The foursome is made up of two males and two females who sing along to bouncy pop numbers penned by hitmakers Mike Stock and Matt Aitken. ‘In 10 years’ time we’ll always be compared to Steps,’ singer David Ducasse tells worldpop. ‘I just think ‘Give us a break.” Scooch are quick to have their say when it’s suggested their upbeat pop tunes are cheesy. ‘All pop is classed that way,’ Russ Spencer argues. ‘We’ve got a young audience and we’ve got an older audience. If people like our music they like it, and if they don’t they don’t. Some people might think thrash metal is naff but other people don’t.’ David agrees, ‘Pop music is popular music, whether it’s an Oasis song or a Scooch song or a Steps song. A good song is a good song at the end of the day, whether it’s by Scooch or Macy Gray.’ (Source: Worldpop.com)

It seems that this will continue for a while yet. Also it could be due to the influx of mixed group bands onto the market such as S Club 7 and Scooch is another reason why STEPS are working with producers such as Max Martin to give them a different sound to the rest are producing. I know that S Club are varying their sound also such as their new song Natural (which seems to be a cover but that’s not news for this site!) so it seems that the UK pop scene is going from strength to strength!